187Y.] 



AND HOBTIGULTURIST. 



15 



own pleasure chiefly, a good variety will interest. 

 Even if we were going to plant for profit Ave 

 should have some variety. If we wanted to set 

 out. a thousand trees, we might divide, say nine 

 hundred and fifty between a half dozen of the 

 well-known kinds in the district, but we should 

 set out the other fifty trees in fifty kinds, for the 

 chance that some might be an improvement on 

 the better known kinds, which could then be top 

 grafted with them if found desirable. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



SOUTHERN THORNLESS RASPBERRY. 



BY MR. W^ FOSTER, LOUISIANA, MO. 



I notice under the head of notes on " new 

 fruits," by Wm. F. Bassett, that he regards the 

 Southern Thornless as a distinct sort. I have 

 tried it side by side with Turner's Seedling, and 

 they are identical — my Southern Thornless from 

 Indiana, Turner's Seedling from Illinois. They 

 both prove to be well-flavored, good-sized ber- 

 ries, too soft for the market, and canes too tender 

 to stand hard winters here. The Turner is an 

 old variety here, and the Southern Thornless 

 was supposed to be new till tested. The Turner 

 seems to have strayed away, and come back 

 under a new name. 



THE TOMATO SEASON PROLONGED. 



BY GEN. W. H. NOBLE, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 



The supply of this most healthful and pal- 

 atable fruit can be extended easily several 

 months after the frost has cut down the vines. 

 I find so many ignorant of this fact that I 

 propose to tell my method. 



At the first approach of frost I gather all my 

 well-grown tomatoes of every variety, in fact all, 

 which if ripe would be of use. These I place 

 singly on boards, covering the bottom of any 

 cold frame, or the frame of a hot-bed, put into 

 the earth anywhere. Then put over your sash. 

 Your tomatoes, according to their maturity, will 

 commence ripening, and with care will keep you 

 in supply till well into December. Of course, if 

 one only has sash, he can easily make a frame 

 in which to ])ut his tomatoes under the glass. 

 Any one who has not glass can cover such a 

 frame with an old sheet. Glass is better, because 

 more translucent and defensive against frost. 

 Should the thermometer point to a thorough. 



deep freeze, cover at night with any old carpet, 

 weeds, straw, or such like protection. 



Any vacant space in a cold grapery or a room 

 or attic, with good Southern exposure, will work 

 much in the same way. I have no doubt that if 

 one would but take the trouble to cut off" all the 

 leaves from a tomato vine, and then transplant 

 it into the well-moistened earth, of a glass-cov- 

 ered space of any kind, that these fruits would 

 grow and mature long after those out of doors 

 were ruined by the frost. But the tomatoes 

 picked from the vines are just as good, more 

 can be crowded into the same space, and they 

 can be better gathered for the table. « 



Now, I have made this statement so lengthy 

 because I find so few who at once take up the 

 idea of this extended season, with all its proper 

 appliances, on the mere mention of this help in 

 the gar:len. 



If any body has got a better way, let him give 

 it in the Monthly. If every one only told the new 

 things he observes, we should all, by and by, get 

 a good deal wiser in the methods and products 

 of our gardens. 



A GOOD GRAPE MANUAL. 



BY W. H. W., READING, AU.SS. 



I have just been looking over the " Bushberg 

 Catalogue " of grapes, and I cannot but think 

 you may be doing a kindness to some, of your 

 readers by calling their attention to it. It is not 

 a mere dry catalogue as its modest name might 

 lead one to suppose. It is a large pamphlet of 

 about eighty pages, containing a clear and sim- 

 ple treatise on the best modes of growing, graft- 

 ing, pruning the vine, accompanied by de- 

 scriptions (many of them finely illustrated) of 

 almost every variety of hardy grape of any value 

 now in cultivation. It seems to me, considering 

 the amount and value of its information (es- 

 pecially about the most recent varieties) and the 

 exceeding moderateness of its cost, to be the best 

 treatise for beginners and amateurs with which I 

 am acquainted. And if any such one wishes for an 

 admirable guide or for reliable information con- 

 cerning an)' of the varieties now before the 

 public, let me advise him to send twenty -five 

 cents to Messrs. Bush & Son and Meissner, 

 Busliberg, Missouri, and ask for a copy of their 

 Illustrated Grape Catalogue. 



[We endorse the remarks of our correspondent. 

 The Bushberg Catlaogue is more than a cata- 

 logue — it is a valuable contribution to the litera- 

 ture of the grape. — Ed. G. M.] 



