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DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



dme well, and the best Virgalieu and Bartlett 

 pears, I have seen the past season. Was it not 

 for blight we could supply large quantities of pears. 

 Many trees have died within two years, and as 

 many as 100 in one gentleman's garden that I 

 know of. The Northern Spy, and Norton's Me- 

 lon apple are extremely short, and I fear good sum- 

 pies are not to be had. Among strange things, 

 we are importing apples from Canada, fine Pom- 

 me Oris, Spitzenbergs, Rhode Island Greenings, 

 Golden and lloxbnry Russets, have been brought 

 over from there. If they, the Canadas are to be 

 annexed, we shall be more glad to weleomo them 

 with good fruit. Truly, James H. Watts. Ro- 

 chester, Monroe Co., N. 1 



Improvement of the Soil. — Dear Sir: I beg 

 to offer a few remarks on the improvement of the 

 soil. Too much cannot be said to impress the 

 importance of ameliorating the soil on the minds 

 of all who own an acre of land, especially to the 

 o-ardening class, whose success depends so much 

 upon it. °In many instances, how often you will 

 find amateurs, and even gardeners complain that 

 certain vegetables will not do here, or that worms 

 always destroy certain others, and that others 

 again are affected by blight and do no good. All 

 this is in no way to be wondered at, when we 

 consider the unimproved state in which the ground 

 is in, perhaps never having been dug more than 

 six or eight inches deep. This is the main cause 

 of all such failures, because the roots have no 

 depth of soil to work in. Therefore, the import- 

 ance of deep culture, I would recommend all to 

 trench as much of their garden ground every win- 

 ter as they can, to the depth of two to four feet, 

 as their soil and time will allow, turning the sur- 

 face to the bottom and bringing the bottom to the 

 top, leaving it in rough ridges, .with as much sur- 

 face as possible. Ridge-up also, all that you have 

 not time to trench, and dig the remainder, sending 

 the spade in its full depth, and thoroughly turning 

 it up from the bottom. Do not content yourself 

 with the common idea that little can be done in the 

 garden in winter. In my opinion, it is the most 

 valuable season of the year, embrace every frosty 

 morning, and fork over the ground previously 

 trenched, ridged or dug, turning up the frozen sur- 

 face, and loosenins up the soil below to the action 

 of the weather. Thus continuing, you destroy the 

 thousands of insects that are harbored therein, 

 and which in their course devour your crops. You 

 also o-ain a great depth of well pulverised and 

 sweetened soil, in which your crops will flourish in 

 excellent health, as well as be far more wholesome 

 to the consumer; besides, should the season prove 

 dry, you have such a depth of soil that no contin- 

 uance of dry weather will affect it, and should it 

 prove wet, there is the same extent for the mois- 

 ture. By pursuing this method, you will in a few 

 years have your ground in an excellent state of 

 cultivation, and much greater success will attend 



your culture of fruits as well as vegetables. Ma- 

 nuring is of course highly essential, and to be un- 

 derstood as accompanying trenching. I also find 

 very valuable results from charred materials, 

 which I get by collecting all refuse from the gar- 

 den, and all that I can procure here and there, in 

 the shape of wood, brush or rubbish. When I 

 have enough together, I start a good body of fire, 

 on which I put layers of wood, clay or earth, sods, 

 and all the general rubbish, lastly covering it up 

 with soil, to prevent any outbreak. In a week or 

 two, it will be all completely charred and lit for 

 use, this I apply on the ground, (which is made 

 beautifully mellow) in as hot and dry a state as 

 possible,- thoroughly intermixing it with thrce-ti- 

 ned forks, which is far better than the usual way 

 of digging in with a spade; of such charred heaps 

 endeavor to have as many of them throughout the 

 year as you can. Never allow the untidy appear- 

 ance of any rubbish, or the unwholesome smell of 

 decaying matter, when you can by such a process 

 turn it into valuable manure. Another valuable 

 end might be gained by turning your attention to 

 the great amount of bones that might be gathered 

 in the woods, and if you have not the means of 

 grinding or dissolving them, just turn them into 

 the bottom of the trenches they will decay in time, 

 and as fast will the roots of young fruits or vege- 

 tables feed upon them. James Stewart. Memphie, 

 Tennessee. 



Fruits in Mississippi. — Dear Sir : After eight 

 years' experience in the cultivation of fruits in 

 Amite county, Miss., lat. 31°, I will give you the 

 results. My land is rolling, light loam with red 

 clay subsoil, contains very little lime. Spring wa- 

 ter of the purest free stone. The lands around 

 me have very much the appearance of that near 

 Washington City. 



I purchased my trees at Cincinnati, Ohio, and 

 at Vicksburg, Miss. The trees from Vicksburg 

 do much better than those from Cincinnati; I have 

 lost a great many of the western Ohio trees, they 

 seem to become diseased near the surface of the 

 ground or in the roots ; I was very careful in set- 

 ting them out — I put them thirty feet apart, in 

 holes from four to six feet square and eighteen in- 

 ches deep; I filled the holes about half full of rich 

 soil from the forest, placed the tree in the proper 

 position, then drove down a stake, tied the tree to 

 it with a piece of strong cloth, putting a handful 

 of straw between to prevent the bark being rub- 

 bed off, I then filled the hole with rich mould, and 

 trampled down, leaving the top as level as possi- 

 ble, and finished by putting some straw or leaves 

 around each tree to preserve moisture during sum- 

 mer. I have my orchard plowed and harrowed 

 once or twice a year, and weeds, &c.,kept down. 

 I use lime and ashes around my trees every spring. 

 I find that your fall and winter varieties ripen 

 here in summer. All of the early kinds do well ; 

 and I have a number of summer apples, but only 



