To the Editor of the "Nonts-Curwa Dart News."
Ste,—I notice that " correspondent in yesterday's paper, who signed herself "An Englishwoman" very kindly suggests that "Belle Heather" "should be sure of her facts before asserting that a Chinaman "deserves credit for hi staged the only plant new to Shanghi as she (the writer) has had jasmine growing in her garden for the last 20 years. I hope "An Englishwoman" will not mind very much if I criticise her in the very summary way in which she has Belle Hesth own words and saying '"'she should be sure of her facts" before she flies into print. As a matter of fact the sentence she quotes does not refer to "Trachhelospermum jaminoides," but tos new plant which I believe goes under the name of "Abbuca." Had An Englishwoman's" powers of observation been equal to her power of finding fault, she would have taken note of a period which divided the two subjects one from the othe: ju by way of proving that " Bel tries to the best of her ability to be in touch with her subjects as far as possible, may she be allowed, to unform an 28 Englishwoman" of 'a fact that the latter is evidently ignorant of, otherwise no doubt she would have used it to confound "Belle Heather" till further, that the jasmine which "an Englishwoman" says she has had in her len for twenty years, was in Shang-long before that, as it happens to be indigenous to this district, from whence it was imported to Europe 40 years ago by Fortune. I sincerely hope "an Englishwoman" will forgive.mo for claiming to be "sure of my facts" for once ina way. Another time perhaps she will be more success ul, as one can hardly hope to go on writ paper week after week without making some mistakes.
Tam, etc., '9th June,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.