A beautiful novelty was introduced here last year, and flowered for the first time. It has the habit of the old, well known and popular Tiger Lily, but is very distinct from it, in the fact that it contains double blossoms. The stems reach three feet high or upwards, and the individual flowers are about four inches across. In the ordinary Tiger Lily there is usually but one series of petals around the centre disc, but with this new variety there arc six series - -one lapping regularly over the other to the top. It is certainly a great novelty, and is, as yet, scarce.

A correspondent of the Country Gentleman pleads earnestly for the Downer's Prolific:

Perhaps there is no Strawberry grown that will color a few berries earlier than the Wilson, while its main crop, or picking, is fully four to fire days later than many other sorts.

The Downer's Prolific ripens up a few pickings with me before the Wilson's Albany, if not grown on too rich soil; and, too, the bulk of the crop ripens up early, which is not the case with the Wilson.

This same thing is noticeable in the Raspberry or Blackberry. The Philadelphia will turn a few berries as early as the Kirtland, but the last yields all of its crop early, at three or four pickings, while the Philadelphia extends along for weeks and months. Just so with the Miami and Doolittle. The first will ripen up a few berries as early as the last, but the last will all be gone by the time the first is yielding full pickings. The Wilson and Kittatinny blackberry show the same characteristics. The last will ripen up a few berries as early as the first,' but not its general crop. Now, what are the adavntages of one over the other? Simply, that the Downer, Doolittle, Kirtland and Wilson's Early are all marketed when the price is high, while the other dwindles along late and brings less price - that is, in the markets where earliness is a requisite for profit.

Another point. The Downer should not have rich, heavy soil. If grown on such it grows rank, sending up long leaf stalks and large leaves, which cover and shade the fruit, and which detract from the fruitfulness of this variety and make it fully a week later. The same with the French. They delight in a light, sandy soil, of only medium richness, and, when planted on such, seem to run wonderfully to fruit and yield their crops very early. Rich soils do not seem to affect the Wilson so much in that way. This is an important matter, that all should consider. That some varieties are affected more than others by soil, especially in earliness, and in order to test the earliness of different sorts, the soil that is best adapted to them, and that affects the earliness and lateness of each, should be taken into consideration. Give the Downer a light sandy soil, and not over rich.