THE WEALTH OF LEARNING.

The helm may rust, the laurel bough may fade, Oblivious grasp may blunt the victor's blade ; But that bright, holy wreath which learning gives.

Untorn by hate, unharm'd by envy, lives.— GRAHAM.

E. W. BULL.-A correspondent calls attention to the date of the death of the originator of the Concord Grape as March 26, 1895. On page 238 of MEEHANS' MONTHLY for 1895, it is correctly given as September 27, 1895. The account recently given was condensed from Boston paper a sent to MEEHANS' MONTHLY for the purpose, and the error in the date not noticed by the compiler of the paragraph.

THE PINXTER-FLOWER. A letter, in the issue for July, which attracted my attention, was from Mr. Geo. D. Hulst, from Brooklyn, N. Y., in which he opposes the idea of Azalea viscosa being a Pinkster-flower." I am certainly not a judge about common names of American flowers, but I am a Hollander and know that, in Holland, pinksterbloem (not blume) is the blue German Iris, which grows in Holland everywhere along the borders of our rivers and ditches, and it is far more plausible that, when the first Dutch settlers around New York saw the purple flowers of Azalea amoena, or perhaps the nudiflora, they called it Pinksterbloem (Pinxer-flower) as that it has anything to do with the white robes of the children when they are christened. It may be new for Mr. Hulst, but it is true, that the children in Holland wear long robes when baptized. And it is new to me that Pinksterfeest (Pentecost) ever has been a special day for baptizing children, as in Holland, children are generally baptized in the church a few weeks after birth, as in the Protestant churches the mother is by custom (not by law) not allowed to go to church before the child has been christened. The children of Roman Catholics are mostly

baptized the day after birth, so I hardly think that there has been a time that Whit-Sunday has been set as christening day, as Governor Colden said, and furthermore, the use of flowers is not customary at christenings in Holland. P. OUWERKERK.

IVY POISONING.-The U. S. Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, p. 140, states-no doubt correctly-that toxicodendrol, the fixed oil of Rhus, is the cause of the poisoning, and that it is readily cured by acetate of lead. But the writer might have added that there is also a bacterium or microbe associated with rhus poisoning. As in so many other cases, the poisoning seems to have a two-fold origin. I am told that lime-chlorid will destroy the microbe at once. C. N. GREENE. The cause of poisoning by Rhus Toxicodendron, the Poison Vine, has not yet been demonstrated so clearly as to meet unchallenged acceptance. Bacteria are found everywhere when the food they require is present; they starve and disappear after they have devoured all the food to be obtained. Bacteria are found in dew drops, and that they are found in the extracts of toxicodendron is no surprise. But if they are the direct cause of the poisoning by Rhus, the immunity of so many has to be accounted for.

DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE.-A celebrated English writer, of the last generation, was celebrated for his asceticism. One saying with which he is credited is that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." This is particularly exemplified, at the present time, by the talks on microbes which come in the public prints. Just before us, as we write, is an article, in a magazine of some pretentions, which reads as follows:-"Fruit skins carry germs, and, when these are taken into the stomach, cause disease. The raw fruit, itself, is dangerous, and in many cases should not be eaten. Cooked fruit is in all cases preferable; but

when fruit is eaten, the skins should always be discarded. They are full of microbes, which they catch from the atmosphere and retain." The folly of this is apparent when it is known that the number of disease-producing germs is infinitesimally small in comparison with those which are beneficial. Nearly all the operations of life are carried on through the agency of these microbes; there could be no life without them. Ninety per cent., at least, of all the microbes that are attached to fruits do no more injury than to eat a dish of oysters.

GARDENING AS A DIVERSION.-One of the great advantages of a love of gardening, is the break it makes on the continuous strain of business thought. No real lover, and possessor of a garden ever died of insomnia. This is a disease which follows those by night who cannot throw off the thoughts of daily life. They retire to think, instead of to sleep, and the darkness and quietness of the night favor the thought. To leave behind the business of the city for the pleasures of the trees and flowers of the suburbs, has saved numerous lives that would have otherwise been broken down. This seems better understood in the Old World than with us. The famous jurist, Lord Penzance, did not take his law studies to his country home. There he thought only of his garden, and the floral treasures it contained. One of his hobbies in the garden was the improvement of the Sweet Briar, and the many beautiful varieties he raised, obtained as much fame for himself as did his legal opinions, to say nothing of the pleasure the flowers brought him.

THE SPIRIT OF FLOWERS.

If good angels in the sweet flowers dwell, Who would not protect and love them well! The senior editor of MEEHANS' MONTHLY makes such beautiful, appropriate poetic selection that I realize he needs no assistance in that department; but not to send a meagre letter, I will copy a few lines from an old volume, "Flora's Interpretee," by Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, published in 1839. The poem

was a translation from the German, and after saying that bright angels make their homes in the flowers during their stay on earth, and keep them in repair as other householders do, and that when they go back to their heavenly homes the flowers wither and die, etc., she continues

"If thou, my dear Lady, in truth art inclined The spirits of heaven beside thee to find, Make nature thy study, companion and

lover,

And, trust me, the angels around thee will hover."

Then recommending the care of lilies and roses, and that their angels will be the guardians of those who water and cherish, both by day and night, and

"When thus thou are kept by a heavenly spell,

Shouldst thou, now and then, dream that I love thee right well,

Be sure that with fervor and truth I adore thee,

Or an angel had ne'er set mine image before thee. MRS. E. E. ORCUTT.

San Diego, Cal.

PUBLIC PARKS IN BELGIUM.-King Leopold of Belgium, who has been a life-long patron of gardening, has donated the whole of his real estate in that country for parks and pleasure grounds for the people for ever. He could not do anything better to have his name held in grateful remembrance as long as his country

shall endure.

APPLE WEALTHY.-The spot on which the original Baldwin apple grew has been marked by a monument. The northwest is talking of doing something of the kind for the one known as Wealthy, introduced to public notice by the late Peter M. Gideon, of Minnesota, which has proved to be as great a public blessing to the fruit-growing and fruit-eating interests of that section as the Baldwin has been to the East.

HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION.-In many parts of the Old World horticulture is made part of a polite education. No one would feel obliged to say "griddle-cake flower," for fear of being thought affected if he used the Latin word Verbena. But with us there seems a general disposition to ridicule any one who ventures to show an interest in any intelligent subject outside of a discussion of the latest novel. The general ignorance of the simplest fact of gardening is remarkable,-but it is probably no greater in gardening than in other intelligent matters.

Probably much of this degeneration is due to the fact that professionals are doing most of the teaching. Educational serials, especially, are awful examples. If any ordinary persons were to talk as these people write, it would be no wonder if "learning" was under a popular cloud. Even though one of them may write so that we may dispense with a Latin or Greek dictionary at our elbow, the thoughts of the writers are so confused by the language, that the sentences are often unintelligible. Now before us, one writes: "Dr. Warner studied a vast body of school children with a view to their

classification upon the basis of actual capacity (to learn). Tables embodying the results of his examinations of 50,000 cases bear out his theory. Certain developmental defects and nerve signs are supposed to correspond to a low or disordered condition of the brain. The examination of 100,000 children as to the presence or absence of these signs and defects, and the comparison of the results with their school record and with the opinion of their teachers confirms the author's belief in the soundness of his theory." It is the province of good language to convey clear ideas. Under ordinary school arrangements, it would take at least ten minutes to examine, record and compare with the teacher's experience as narrated in each child's case,- so we are to understand that Dr. Warner was engaged for fully 365 days, 10 hours a day, for 4 years in the endeavor to prove a "theory," which after all

seems to have been but a hypothesis. Usually, also an examination and a comparison might confirm something, but in this case they "confirms" it.

Another article tells of the large number of school teachers who took a trip to Europe this year, and an examination of the steamers' registers, which showed so many of the ladies' names with the " prefix, Miss, before them," -as if a "prefix" could possibly be behind them.

It is experience of this kind that discredits intelligence. We may smile at "Higher Education," and yet hope that a love of sound intelligence will yet advance.

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VACATION SCHOOLS. — Mrs. Seliger, Hartford, Conn., says: "Since the inauguration of our first vacation school, by Miss Alida B. Clark, under the patronage of the ladies of the Civic Club, you mentioned in the June number of your magazine, we have had a second term of them in two schools last summer led by the same club of ladies who also have the expenses of them. This year they begin in three places when the public schools close and the

City Council has granted, upon petition, a sum sufficient to carry it out as proposed. We mean not to be tardy in any good purpose.”

PRESERVING NATURE.-America is doing well in preserving areas of special interest by government purchases. In England, there is a public society known as the National Trust, that is buying up tracts for the purpose of preserving wild plants and animals of rare value in natural history. Part of a huge swamp, known as Wicken Fen, has recently been purchased by this society for this laudable purpose.

WALNUTS IN CALIFORNIA.-Some idea of the extent of walnut culture in California may be formed from the fact that a single large association, in southern California, advertised for bids for 70,000 sacks to be used in the shipping of the coming crop.