1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



273 



to look at such things as matters of course. In 

 traveling around, little changes occur, and from 

 one to another the little changes become great, 

 till, with even the most perfect faith in an over- 

 ruling Providence, we have little regard for the 

 '■'■ truths of history." Our good friend, Mar- 

 shall P. Wilder, does not take to those troubles 

 quite so patiently, as witness the following from 

 the MassachuseW s Ploughman : 



" In the Ploughman, of May 4th, a writer 

 signing himself J. L. B., states that he used coal 

 tar on fruit trees to protect them from the rava- 

 ges of mice, by the recommendation of Mar- 

 shall P. Wilder, and thereby destroj^ed or injured 

 his fruit trees. I never gave such advice, nor 

 should I have used tar of any kind without first 

 wrapping the tree in cloth or other material so 

 that the tar might not come in contact with the 

 bark of the tree. Marshall P. Wilder." 



Culture of Orchard Trees. — Mr. T. T. 

 Lyon, a well-known and an excellent Western 

 fruit grower, and who was one of the pomologi- 

 cal judges at the Centennial, gives some good 

 advice in the Rural New Yorker on the manage- 

 ment of orchards during the summer. He shows 

 how the common recommendation of mulching 

 orchard trees during summer cannot be so good 

 as stirring the surface soil, and we quite agree 

 with him. We have always regarded " mulch- 

 ing" orchards, on any very extensive plan, as 

 impracticable, and never saw any large orchard 

 so treated. On these large plans w^e regard the 

 choice to be, first, between giving up the ground 

 wholly to the trees and keeping the surface 

 stirred by the cultivator, in order to pulverize 

 the soil and keep down weeds. Secondly, plough- 

 ing up and growing vegetables, fruits, or grain 

 among the trees. Thirdly, cultivating grass in 

 the orcbard for hay, or pasturing it with hogs or 

 cattle. Mulching for large orchards, we regard 

 as one of the things out of all calculation in 

 profitable fruit growing. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Burns Peach. — Mr. Downing writes 

 that he did not intend to convey a positive opinion 

 that the Burns and the Alexander were the 

 same, but only. that he had hoon informed ihdit 

 they were the same. 



The FIornet Raspberry. — A Massachu- 

 setts corrt!spondent informs us that the largest 



and best berries ever seen at the meetings of 

 Massachusetts, were there recently, of this 

 variety. One kind, probably the Belle de Fonte- 

 nay, has been doing duty for this sterling kind 

 on some occasions. 



Thomson's Orange Peach. — On the 26th of 

 July we received from C. W. Westbrook & Co., 

 Wilson, K. C, a specimen of the above named 

 Peach. It is quite a good sized Peach for an 

 early one, but is under the middle size of late 

 Peaches. It has a beautiful color, somewhat 

 like a golden Apricot, is free-stoned, and has a 

 very good sub-acid fiavor. It is the earliest yel- 

 low Peach we know, and on the whole is a 

 variety of good promise. 



Gumbo. — In a notice of Okra, our good neigh- 

 bor, the American Agriculturist, which, by the 

 Avay, we are glad to find as interesting as ever 

 under its new management, says : 



" Though in the catalogues, the plant is called 

 'Okra, or Gumbo,' the name Gumbo properly 

 belongs to the dish prepared from the pods, 

 rather than to the plant itself, as the Southern 

 cooks make Gumbo without the use of Okra, 

 but substitute the pith and young leaves of Sas- 

 safras, one of the native violets, and perhaps 

 other plants." 



Our impression is that Okra is the substitute 

 for the Sassafras, and not the Sassafras for the 

 Gumbo. As we are not sure about this, how- 

 ever, we call attention to it so as to get at the 

 " bottom facts " by those who are in the secret. 



Mowing the Leaves of Strawberries. — 

 W. H. W., Reading, Mass., asks: "Will you 

 please state in the Gardener's Monthly for 

 August, if possible, your opinion about the wis- 

 dom of cutting off the leaves of Strawberry 

 plants after the crop has been gathered?" 



[We have occasionally very good results in- 

 deed, especially in the cases of shy bearing kinds, 

 or varieties that ought to bear well but do not. 

 It is a question that cannot be decided by rule. 

 We fancy the tendency of the practice is to in- 

 crease productiveness at the expense of size. — 

 Ed. G. M.J 



Insects on the Grape Vine. — S. P., New- 

 port, R. I., writes : " I send by mail, with this 

 letter, a small box containing a portion of Grape 

 vine root. You will find, by applying the glass 

 to it, it is covered with small yellowish-green in- 

 sects, which feed on the same, as you see by the 

 piece of root sent, till they kill the root outright. 

 In the Spring they come out of the ground in 



