Orchids In America

The ease with which tropical orchids can be grown in America as compared with the old world is leading to their more general culture. A friend who has just returned from a visit to Mr. Such's magnificent establishment, speaks in high terms of their luxuriance.

Marechal Niel Rose

C. E. P. says: "In the April number of the Monthly, page 100,1 notice an extract from the Gardener's Chronicle relative to the origin of the Marechal Niel Rose. An article in the American Agriculturist, for 1866, says, " It is a seedling of M. Pradel, of Montau-ban, France, and first flowered in this country in the summer of 1866".

Achyranthus Gilsoni

C. E. P. says: " In the February Monthly, page 44, W. T. Bell, in a note on Achyranthus, asks which is correct, A. Gilsoni or A. Gibsoni? A. Gilsoni is correct.

It was named after its originator, Mr. Gilson, gardener to Mrs. Barton, of Tarrytown, N. Y., with whom it originated during the summer of 1868".

Camphor And Tobacco Stems

G. M. R., Auburn, Maine. Can any of our readers answer the following inquiry. The editor has had no experience: " Will crude camphor sprinkled on tobacco stems, when used for fumigating greenhouses, kill the Mealy Bug, and is it liable to injure plants when so used?"

New Grape Disease

A recent telegram from Europe says: "A Geneva dispatch says, 'A new vine pest has appeared in the Reinthal, in the Canton of St. Gall. It is said to resemble the potato oidiurn, but it is much more virulent, grapes affected with it becoming rapidly putrid. Several vineyards have been completely devastated by the malady, which is believed to be of American origin.'"

Dr. Ryder's American Fruit Drier

The circular, issued by the Drier Company of Cham-bersburg, Pa., explains the principles on which the drier is formed. We are glad to know that the drier is meeting with so much success. It was the first successful effort to place a cheap fruit drier in the hands of the people. Thousands of dollars worth of fruit - once wasted - have been saved by it. The discovery was a national blessing.

Mushrooms

A newspaper paragraph tells us that "Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York Sun, recently spent about $3000 in the construction of a cave for the cultivation of mushrooms. He has employed a professional mushroom grower to take charge of it and naturally anticipates, it may be supposed, after so liberal a provision, that the results will prove compensatory".