48 



THi' c \ i<ni' M- ir s M(h\Tiii.y 



\ Fi'/'i Hiiry. 



turn out rij^lit. by and by. Pears cspciially we 

 rccoinuu'iulod sliould bo well cultivated in grass, 

 putting,' it partiiularly on the ground of its hcalth- 

 fulness, and ilhistrating it as the experience of 

 Abraham Barker, near Pliiladelphia, Avhose or- 

 cliard, on the jdan invented by yEsop, whieli, 

 •• (hiu' around and manured, to k^t in the air and 

 the food'' to the roots, eame near being a disas- 

 trous faihn-e, till he took our advice and sowed 

 it down in clover and grass, and top-dressed witli 

 manure afterwards. To-day that orchard is one 

 of the best about here. We have also referred 

 to another orchard of 50,000 pears, set out by its 

 •enthusiastic owner to show expressly that we 

 were wrong. This orchard has been the victim 

 •of disease till but a few are left. Immense num- 

 bers were dug up and burned; and this orchard 

 too within gun-shot of the very successful one 

 •of Abraham Barker. These and similar /ads 

 we have continually referred to; but we have 

 been told that we must \w wrong — that Elwan- 

 ger and Barry "■cultivated." and they had no 

 • disease; that Marshall P. Wilder "cultivated, 

 that C. M. Hovey and Patrick Irwin "culti- 

 vated," and they had no disease. But on our 

 own examination of the orchards of Wilder and 

 Hovey, we found that though they were not 

 actually in grass, they were practically on our 

 plan; for the surface was barely stirred, and the 

 latter top-di'esscd with seaweed. However, we 

 need not here go over again with all that has 

 passed ; but we now know — everybody now 

 knows — that the best orchards in the Union 

 everywhere are those which are well cultivated 

 .in grass. 



It gives us great pleasure to append the fol- 

 lowing from the Country Gentleman. We give 

 it with the more satisfaction because we always 

 felt that the Country Gentleman, while oppos- 

 ing our views, did so honestly, in the belief 

 that we were advocating not good culture in 

 grass, but absolute neglect in grass; and we had 

 full faith that as it came to understand us fully, 

 .there would be little difference of opinion be- 

 tween us; for the Country Gentleman is too pro- 

 gressive a paper not to be willing, as we are, to 

 learn as we go along. It says : 



" Since the wide prevalence of the blight in 

 the pear, a large number of instances are reported 

 •of gi'eater immunity from this disease in trees 

 growing in grass ; while in rarer cases the reverse 

 has been observed. The evidence, however, pre- 

 ponderates in favor of pear orchards in grass — 

 .this remark applying to standard trees," 



Calhok.ma Wink. — It is said the Califor- 

 nians intend to make a sti'ong exhibit of their 

 wines in Paris. 



PkIDIC of TIIK IIl'DSON Rasi'mkimiy. — This is 

 a n(>w variety which is spoken of in intelligent 

 quarters. 



TiiK Fig in Ohio.— The Montgomery (Ohio) 

 County Horticultural .Society reports that the 

 Fig can be quite successfully grown in that 

 State, with but slight protection in Winter. 



Tka Plants ix Calikounia. — Recent exper- 

 iments do not seem to be a great success. It is 

 said the leaves fall in Summer from the warm, 

 dry atmosphere. 



The Beai'ty of the Philadelphia Pear 

 Tkee. — The Belgian Horticultural h'eview says 

 that in the fall of the year, the American Pear, 

 Philadelphia, has its leaves turn to the beauti- 

 ful brown color so characteristic of some Maples 

 and Sumachs. It also speaks of Clapp's Favor- 

 ite, in connection with its large and showy 

 foliage. 



Phylloxera ajtd Grapj: Rot. — The Valley 

 Katxiralist tells us that at a recent meeting of 

 the St. Louis Academy of Science, the President 

 C. V. Riley, alluded to the prevailing impression 

 that the Phylloxera caused the grape rot. It 

 says : "In consequence of some othcial statements 

 by Prof. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultural Col- 

 lege, the President desired it to go on record 

 that he totally disagreed with the professor as to 

 there being any connection between phylloxera 

 and the rot on the vine. 



Dr. Engleman agreed with the Pi*esident in 

 this view." 



Best Apples for Mississippi.— The most 

 popular apples in this State, seem to be Schock- 

 ley, Yates, Kentucky Streak, and Xickajack. 

 The last name has a wide popularity in the 

 South. The apple does very well in the north- 

 ern part of the State. 



Grape Disease and Phylloxera. — It is 

 the misfortune of many good ideas to be so rid- 

 den as get run into the ground, and tliis is the 

 way with the Phylloxera. This pest is bad enough 

 in all conscience. It injures roots to such an ex- 

 tent, that, once etfectcd, the plant is liable to 

 mildews and many other diseases. But now 

 come people w^ho forget that there are many 

 other enfeebling causes ; and moreover, mildews 

 and moulds do not always wait for weak plants, 

 before besinning their destructive work. Mr. 



