Several of our associates in the advancement of horticulture have spoken of the magnificent gift bestowed by the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder upon the floriculture of this country by a deposit of more than one thousand choice and rare plants in the care of the Massachusetts Agricultural College Institute at Amherst. Mass.

It is not the present value of these plants - that could be measured by dollars and cents - which gives import to this gift of one of the noblest and best horticulturists which the world has ever known, so much as the kein that by it we have a precedent - which we hope will soon be followed - whereby men of taste and wealth shall give of their rare and long life-cherished products freely to the demands of every lover of Flora - shall place, without regard to recompense, and with expectation only of perpetuation, for the public good the results of their care, knowledge, and life-long practice. It is these points, not the mere cost, which to the horticulturist renders this gift especially valuable and calls for his blessings upon the giver.

It is well known Colonel Wilder has for many years, while devoting a large share of his time to the testing of fruits for the benefit of the public, found time, because of his love thereof, for the care and propagation of Flora's offerings. In this pursuit, sparing no expense or labor, he provided himself at once with the germs which his study dictated for the production of new and valued flowers. As long ago as 1839 he purchased of Floy his original seedling camellia named Florii, and it is now in his greenhouse, over fifteen feet high and seven feet across. From this, by crossing, he produced the celebrated Abbey Wilder, the original plant of which he yet retains; but the propagated stock was years ago sought for and purchased by European growers, at a high price, because of its great superiority over anything they had, with their hundreds of years' practice, accomplished. Continuing his love of the subject, and his practice, he has from time to time produced rare and superior varieties, until at this present time his list of seedlings, dedicated with respect, love, and remembrance to the members of his family, will outvie any collection of camellias known to commercial gardens.

There has been now one of each of them, together with hundreds of other rare and beautiful plants, deposited with the trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, to whom we may look for their propagation, dissemination, and perpetuation.

The list of seedling camellias produced by Mr. Wilder numbers eleven distinct and superior varieties, and while all are beautiful, two have been sought for, purchased at a high price, and the stock, with exception of the parent, carried abroad. There is one among those now sent to the Massachusetts College which demands a special notice, and the obtainment, if possible, by all of Flora's votaries. It is named after the woman who has cared for him in Ms sick hours, when all the horticultural world were daily anxious for a favorable record, when a want of care and attention of but an hour from her would have lost us the man we all esteem - his estimable wife, Julia. The flower is in form regular, symmetrical, imbricated, a rosy flesh color, say two shades darker than Lady Hume, each petal tipped with a lighter shade and striped with lake.