100 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



two instances, with complete success. But in 

 the case of large and old trees, it is not sufficient 

 to give the soil a top-dressing of these manures. 

 A trench must be dug all round the outside of the 

 roots, — the old soil thrown aside, and the trench 

 filled with new soil, mixed with ashes and animal 

 manure. Ed.] 



Mowing Machine. — Before good lawns can 

 become common in this country, there must, I 

 think, be a labor-saving machine invented for cut- 

 tin"- the grass. It has occurred to me that shears, 

 (not unlike the cloth shears used in a factory,) 

 might be attached to a one horse roller, with 

 which it would be but a boy's task to cut and roll 

 a lawn. It seems to me that an ingenious per- 

 son could invent a machine, combining these two 

 features of the roller and shears, or cutting 

 blades. I suggest it, hoping some gentleman 

 will take measures to have such a thing made. 

 Yours, /. C. R. Ballon, Ohio. [There are 

 mowing machines now in use, in England, which 

 mow and roll lawns very well; but they only 

 work on perfectly level and smooth surfaces, so 

 that the scythe, after all, holds its place for gene- 

 ral purposes. Ed.] 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Apples. — J. W. B., (Delaware.) The speci- 

 mens you sent us are not. White Juneating, but 

 Early Harvest, — a larger and better apple than 

 the former. Sugar-loaf Pippin is now (July 22d,) 

 beginning to ripen in our garden. It is a good 

 and constant bearer, and a handsome fruit — the 

 flavor only tolerably good; but it may prove a 

 good market fruit. 



Fruit-room. — A Subscriber, (New-Haven.) 

 The best place for a fruit-room is, we think, under 

 "round, so as to preserve a uniform temperature. 

 It should be kept rather dark, but well ventilated 

 and dry. The nicest point is to clear out every- 

 thing like decay every day, without fail; as the 

 fungus which causes the rotting of fruit spreads 

 from one to another very rapidly, — so that in a 

 short time, a dozen decaying pears will commu- 

 nicate the decay through the whole fruit-room. 

 Emerson's ventilators, now so much used about 

 Boston, would answer admirably in connection 

 with a fruit-room, and would enable us to keep it 

 dark, and yet fresh and cool. 



Carnations. — A. N., (New-Bedford.) Lay 

 your carnations immediately. It should have been 

 done a fortnight ago. For directions, see vol. i, 

 p. 78. If you are careful to water the layers 

 every evening, they will still root finely before 

 November. 



Bisque Labels. — Mr. Buist, seedsman and 

 florist, Philadelphia, informs us that the price of 

 these beautiful and useful labels, is from $2 to 

 $2.12 per 100, of three or four patterns. 



Plum on Peach Stock. — H, (Syracuse.) The 

 objection to working the plum on the peach, is 

 that it makes the plum comparatively a short 

 lived tree. The peach stock being much more 

 liable to the attacks of insects than the plum, it 

 is also less valuable on that account. 



Garden Vases. — A New Subscriber, (Bur- 

 lington, Iowa.) You can procure various pat- 

 terns, — some of them fine ones, at the warehouse 

 of Jas. Lee & Co., 11 Broad-street, New- York. 

 They are epiite durable, — being made of a species 

 of fire clay. 



Annuals. — W. A., (Staten Island.) The Cali- 

 fornian annuals, — Platystemon, Nemophila, Clarki- 

 as, etc., all require to be grown in the shade. 

 Your failure is owing to your planting them in 

 the open border, exposed to the sun. They will 

 do far better if sown the latter part of this month ; 

 as the young plants will stand the winter well, 

 and bloom, most acceptably, in May next. 



Cuttings. — A Lady Florist, (St. Louis.) In 

 order to carry your Verbenas, Petunias, Salvias, 

 etc., through the winter safely, you should strike 

 the cuttings this month. They will root very 

 readily now, if planted in pots, and the pots 

 placed in a glazed frame, set in a shady situation. 

 Dahlias. — W. Williams. Place some mulch- 

 ing of grass, straw, or litter, over the roots of 

 your choice Dahlias. It will keep them cool, and 

 preserve that moisture without which they can- 

 not bloom freely. To entrap the earwigs which 

 infest this plant, eating off the flower buds, place 

 a small flower-pot, inverted, upon the stake with 

 a little hay in the bottom, or put some bean- 

 stalks amongst the branches, and examine them 

 every morning, blowing off the insects into a 

 basin of hot water. 



Apricots. — No sorts can be depended on for a 

 crop like either Breda, or Dubois' Early Golden. 

 The latter is the earliest. The Large Early is 

 larger, handsomer, and better flavored, but not 

 so <rood a bearer. 



