We have to notice in the Florist and Pomologist (" Journal
of Horti- culture" Office), a very useful record of the advances made in what has now become a great industry, the cultivation of flowers and fruit. The value of the periodical is further increased by an attractive coloured illustration, the March number giving us a very tempting-looking picture of the "fairy apple," that for the present month a representation of some now varieties of fuchsias about as largo as moderately-sized roses. The "fairy apple" is a remarkable instance of the way in which, as the writer says, "when left to herself Nature fashions an object with- out the philosopher's aid, excelling in merit all that he had dreamed of." Infinite pains have been taken in crossing varieties of the cultivated apple with the Siberian crab, without getting at any valuable results. But one of some seeds of the crab sown for getting stocks on which to graft ordinary varieties of apples turned out into this now sort, which is described as being excellent in flavour, of good keeping qualities, and is certainly very handsome in appearance. Human skill must, of course, claim some of the merit of the production, as the male parent of the new apple must have been the flower of a cultivated variety.
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