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DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



a pistillate sort. This, indeed, appears to be the 

 settled form which the variety commonly presents ; 

 yet how are we to account for the variation from it 

 which appears in these stamen bearing plants just 

 referred to, and which were received so directly and 

 recently from the originator himself? Are there 

 two Hovey's Seedlings, or does the sort vary ? — Ed.] 



Salt for the Quince Tree. — Sir, I perceive 

 you recommend salt for the plum and other fruit 

 trees. I can also inform you, from continual expe- 

 rience, that this substance is equally of advantage 

 to the quince tree. 



When I first came to this section of the state, 

 twelve years since, I found, on the premises I pur- 

 chased, half a dozen fair looking quince trees, but 

 which I understood had never borne any fruit. On 

 inquiry, I learned that the quince tree did not bear 

 well in my neighborhood, and that my neighbors 

 thought it useless to plant this fruit tree. 



In making a drain from my kitchen, it so happen- 

 ed that it emptied its contents near the roots of one 

 of the quince trees mentioned. This tree, the sea- 

 son after, came into bearing, and as a good deal of 

 brine had been emptied into this drain, I supposed 

 the sale might have produced its fruitful state. 



Acting on this supposition, I commenced applying 

 salt early in the spring to the other quince trees at 

 the rate of three quarts per annum to the surface of 

 the ground under each tree, the trunks of which 

 were then about as large as a man's wrist. They 

 came into bearing the following season, and have 

 given me constant and good crops every year since. 

 My neighbors, who had never previously succeeded 

 in growing quinces, have adopted my plan, and now 

 find no difficulty ; and I have myself planted more 

 young trees, which are now beginning to bear well. 

 Your obt. servant. Oneida Co. ilf ay, 1347. 



How TO Plant Strawberries. — Dear Sir : I 

 have read with a good deal of attention the articles 

 on the Strawberry Question, and am glad to find 

 that at last all agree in one point, and, I suppose, 

 to cultivators the root of the matter, viz. that we 

 must choose pistillate sorts to have permanent beds 

 and large crops of the finest fruit. 



But since, as is said, the staminates outgrow the 

 pistillates, and are likely, before long, when the 

 two are planted in mixed beds, to crowd the latter 

 out, I would be obliged to you for your opinion, in 

 brief, about the best mode of planting the two clas- 

 ses; also a memorandum of the three or four kinds 

 whose character is so established that there need 

 be no hesitation about planting them. Yours, with 

 respect. j1 Constant Reader. Philadelphia, June, 



1847. .,, , 



[Answer.— The annexed arrangement will show 

 our correspondent a very simple and etTectual mode 

 of growing the finest strawberries, with the cer- 

 tainty of a large cro-p. In this * represents pistil- 

 late plants, occupying beds four feet wide ; t repre- 

 sents staminate plants, occupying intermediate 

 strips or beds one foot wide. Between the strip of 

 staminates and the bed of pistillates, it will be seen 

 that a walk intervenes on either side. This eflec- 

 tually prevents any intermixture of the runners — 

 always supposing, as would of course be the case. 



that the walks are kept free and clean. In this 

 case the beds are supposed to be planted with four 

 rows, and the plants to be kept in this form by cut- 

 ting off the runners every season. Following this 

 plan, and manuring between the rows every spring, 

 the beds will continue in fine order for several 

 years. 



Among the best pistillate strawberries that have 

 as yet come under our notice for the wide beds, are 

 the Black Prince, Hoveifs Seedling, Hudson, Wil- 

 ley, Bishop's Orange, etc. The best stamen bear- 

 ing sorts for the intermediate strips, are Large 

 Early Scarlet, Virginia Scarlet, Duke of Kent, 

 etc. These have perfect blossoms, and will always 

 give a good crop of themselves, as M'ell as abun- 

 dantly fertilize the whole adjoining beds of pistil- 

 lates. 



Besides these, some of the strips may be occu- 

 pied by the larger staminates, such as Swainstone 

 Seedling, Myatt's Eliza, Ross' Phanix, Myatt's 

 Deptford Pine, etc., which will, in suitable soils 

 where their flowers are perfect, not only fertilize 

 the pistillates in the four feet beds, but bear crops 

 of very large berries themselves. 



Apple Borer. — One of the greatest pests to the 

 grower of the whole apple tree tribe, including 

 thorn, quince, mountain ash, etc., is the insect 

 known as the Apple-tree Borer (Saperda bivittata.) 

 The perfect insect which appears here early in June, 

 and flies at night, is a brown and white striped bee- 

 tle, about half an inch long. This beetle deposits 

 its eggs in the bark of the trees most frequently 

 near the ground, or in the fork of the branches. The 

 egg hatches, becomes a white grub, which perfo- 

 rates the trunk in all directions, and often destroys, 

 it, when the insects are numerous, as completely as 

 if it were divided by a saw. 



The first indication that gives notice to the com- 

 mon observer, of the presence of this borer, is the 

 appearance of numerous small round holes in the 

 bark of the trunk, looking as if the tree had been 

 perforated by buckshot. 



This insect is a diffieult one to combat successful- 

 ly. In some parts of New-England, where it has 

 been allowed to multiply at its own pleasure, it has 

 destroyed whole orchards. 



