144 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



where the gooseberry, five feet above the ground, 

 doubles the size of its fruit, and escapes the mil- 

 dew. Leaves and fruits are great consumers of 

 the atmosphere, and they can't thrive and bear 

 good fruit without it. For proof, examine a 

 (Closely planted and low branched orchard. The 

 wood and foliage is usually cankered, and the 

 fruit insipid and tasteless. Let the reader bear 

 in mind that low branched trees must be at a good 

 distance apart. I like this article the better for 

 its facts. Hanging out the thermometer is know- 

 ing something, from which conclusions may be 

 drawn. I should like to hear from " Subscriber" 

 again. 



The Gooseberry grafted on the Yellow Currant. — 

 Let us have a little more experience in this new 

 method. It may be a valuable mode of cultivat- 

 ing that equivocal sort of fruit; and if people will 

 eat green gooseberries — for I hardly ever knew 

 any one who liked ripe ones — pray let us have 

 them in as great perfection as possible. 



The White Bellefieur Apple. — This article is 

 what I like. Here is investigation and fact — no 

 fancy about it. If all promologists will go thus 

 to work, we shall soon know what is what in our 

 fruits. I doubt, however, whether the white 

 Bellefieur will prove a profitable orchard apple 

 east of the great lakes. For Ohio, and other 

 western states, it will unquestionably prove of 

 value. 



Design and Description of an English Cot- 

 tage. — Are we never to have any American cot- 

 tages ? Oar climate is unlike European cli- 

 mates, particularly England; and why copy ev- 

 ery thing of the house kind, excepting in internal 

 arrangements, from that country. But there are 

 some things about this house, bating the gimp and 

 pasteboard look of its outside, that I like; partic- 

 ularly its upper kitchen ; and had it only that other 

 indispensible appendage of a really comfortable 

 house, a large family bedroom on the main floor, 

 [ should like the interior plan of it right well. 

 Try it again Mr. Wheeler; add on the bedroom ; 

 throw the roof into some sort of ship-shape ; tack 

 a light veranda on to the front as well, and then 

 you will have quite a sensible house of it. What 

 a wretched bother this filagree work makes when 

 you want to repair a house. Let the owner of 

 one but try it, and he will be satisfied. 



Knevetth Giant Raspberry. — Glad to learn that 

 it is so valuable a fruit. Let it be cultivated 

 by all means, and to its greatest extent ; for the 

 raspberry is one of our best small fruits. Its hard- 

 iness is altogether a disideratum in our northern 

 states. 



How to make Strawberry Beds. — Capital, as 

 usuaL But, my dear "Old Digger," where are we 

 s.11 to get our " sixteen inches of manure" to fill a 

 ■' three foot trench," or even " eight inches, or a 

 foot" of it for a " two foot trench." No, no. That 

 may do for a rich man with only a few rods of 

 ground, near a large town, or a city. But it won't 

 pay in a " crop." We common folks must get our 



best grounds, and plow and manure as well as vr« 

 would for a crop of corn ; plant a good distance, 

 say not less than two feet apart, litter the plants 

 well, and they'll do. [We suppose the Old Dig- 

 ger's directions are for a bed or two in the private 

 garden ; not for a market garden. Ed.} I'm glad 

 you've shown up the " Washington Alpines;" and 

 there are some other things that want to be shown 

 up likewise. I recollect paying a man who came 

 peddling his plants round the country, two or three 

 years ago, with a picture of them as a sample, 

 and " first rate" certificates from " gentlemen of 

 the highest respectability," some four or five dol- 

 lars for a few. They all died but one, and last 

 June that bore, after a deal of pains in cultivation 

 and manuring, a poor little alpine strawberry 

 about as large as a ground sparrow's egg ! and of 

 flavor as contemptible as its size; served me right 

 enough too; I shan't be so caught again. " Dig- 

 ger's" last paragraph is very important. For 

 want of such caution many a beginner has failed 

 in his strawberries, and laid the fault to something 

 else. 



A Short Experience, §c. — This is a valuable 

 article, as it shows what can be done by extraor- 

 dinary cultivation, and manure. But, will it pay ? 

 I wish Mr. Fullerton had kept debt and credit 

 account' with his berries. However, for those who 

 can afford it, the plan is a good one. What do 

 you mean, my dear sir, by " a strong loam," on 

 which Mr. F. raised his berries ? Is it a clay 

 loam, or a sandy loam ? We like to know all 

 about these things. A clay loam, even stiff, is 

 thought by many the best for strawberries, partic- 

 ularly that which has a decomposition of old wood, 

 sods, and leaves among it. I hope Mr. Fuller- 

 ton will go on with his bed, and give the public 

 the results of its cultivation and bearing for another 

 year. Continued experiment is what we want. 

 [A strong loam is a loam with a good deal of clay ; 

 a light loam, one with a good deal of sand. Ed.] 



English Shows. — I am very glad that Mr. 

 Colman tells the truth to his countrymen about 

 the good, honest fashion, of English women going 

 to the great cattle shows, and looking at their 

 cattle. When will our American ladies think 

 they can look at " the chanting cherubs ' without 

 petticoats, and suffer their pianos to stand up 

 without pantaletts on? But they can do some 

 things — they can see Fanny Ellsler dance, and not 

 shrink behind their fans, or bolt the theatre door. 

 We shall mend our manners, probably, as we go 

 along. Mr. C. gives us fine accounts of the 

 incomes of English noblemen, and of their dogs 

 and of their horses ; but he does not set down by 

 the side of them the vast incumbrances on many 

 of their estates, which makes their proprietors 

 mere trustees for the " next heir male," nor detail 

 the destitution and misery which exist in the huts 

 and cottages of many of their dependants. There 

 is much in England that is good, and a great deal 

 that is very beautiful, but at vastly too much 

 sacrifice of human comfort and happiness. How 



