178 



THE GARDEA'ER'S MOA //// ) 



I y/""'. 



niidal th;in ll>;it of tlie HufTtini \w\\\\ and nn-atly 

 rcsombli's (hat of (lie I,(iml)anly l'<)i)lar. Its 

 foliam^ is lar<;i', (hick, with a liirht color and 

 flossy stem, wliich is rcniarkablv attractive. 

 1(8 vo«xct^i(ion is also very early. 0(her pears 

 near it lind just connnenced showing life, while 

 the Le C'onile pear was in full leaf. I(.s most 

 remarkable featnre is {[>> great rapidity of growth. 

 I saw Konu- specimens three years from the 

 cutting, and bearing, which were twenty feet 

 high, with a girth circumference of ten and a 

 half inches. I saw other.s, seven yeai-s from 

 cutting, which were thirty to thirty-five feet high, 

 with a girth circumference of eighteen inches, 

 and which had borne several bushels of fruit. 

 Tin- mother plant ha« bf)rne ei'j:hteen to twenty- 

 four bushels. The soil in which they were 

 growing wsis sandy and poor. Whatever may 

 be the origin of this pear, it is destined to be of 

 ~reat value to the South by its adaptation to a 

 li^ht poor soil, and tiiore is quite a fever growing 

 up for it-s culture. Its fruit came in small quant- 

 ity to Xew York market last July, and brought 

 twelve dollars a bushel. If any one has tried it 

 at the North, I hope he will publish his experi- 

 ence iu your Journal. 



Another plant which gave me pleasure was a 

 Magnolia fuscala, seven feet high and seven feet 

 in diameter, loaded with hundreds of blooms, 

 wi.h banana-like fragrance. The tea plant also 

 looked flourishing. The South is full of grand 

 capabilities. When faith and action go together, 

 tho whol.; country can be made a garden. 



SLITTING TH • BARK OF PEAR TREES. 



IJY MISS C. K. BHKWSTEII. 



I don't think all trees will bear slitting the 

 bark any more than all will bear " oil." It 

 seems to me that your grounds must bearre- 

 iirirkably sluidy specimens that can bear any 

 thing ; as we see children that do grow up into 

 sl.K feet manhood, in s))ite of paregoric and sooth- 

 ing syrup in babyhood, and tobacco in their 

 callow youth. I do know that we lost a great 

 quantity of cherry trees by slitiing the bark 

 thereof, under the eye of a noted horliculturist 

 and warm advocate of that theory, about twenty 

 years ago. We had fruit enough, besides what 

 the birds ate, to use and to sell, before that ter- 

 rible experiment was tried; and now we have 

 none to sp:!ak of. The few trees that survived 

 the ordeal have never borne enough for the birds; 

 i:i fact they are mere cumberers of tlie soil only. 

 IJcing valuable sorLs, we cannot bear to dig 

 them up. 



FDITOKIAL NOlliS. 



PkAU Cl'LTirUK IN THK Noinil WK.ST. — "Wo 

 see paragraphs in (he papers that the Pear i» 

 an utter failnic in Illincis, Iowa and Wiscon- 

 sin. Such sweeping statements are worth atten- 

 tion. The writ»'r of this has Keen I'ear trees in 

 Michigan jis large as the oaks of the forest, and 

 ;us sure to bear a.s abundant crops every year as 

 an oak would be to bear acrons. He hsis an im- 

 presf-ion that he has seen similar results in 

 younger trees in Iowa and Illinois, but in the 

 Michigan case he has (he trees now " in his 

 eyes." "Why these should not grow well and 

 bear good fruit on the Western as well as on the 

 Eastern shore of the J.ake, is not clear, and it is 

 worth a further inquiry whether there is any 

 such universal failure as here implied, and if so, 

 why ? 



Enough of a Goon Thing. — The English, 

 like us, are getting embarra^^sed at the number of 

 good fi-uits. Says the Horisl: " The varieties 

 of new Peaches of American and English origin 

 have become so numerous, that aniateui"s and 

 others who cannot test them as they appear," 

 are embarassed. It is easy to get a good fruit 

 from seed. We want no more good ones named 

 and distributed. Only those fruits should be 

 disseminated that are in some respect better than 

 an existing kind, and o"nly a competent authority 

 can decide this. 



Pkau Clapp's Favoiute in Canada. — Mr. 

 D. AV. Beadle, in Canadian Horliculturist, says 

 this variety is all that its friends claim for it, in 

 his region, which is St. Catharir.cs. It is hardy, 

 vigorous, health}', and fruit of superior quality, 

 it lipens Just before the Bartlett. 



The Ladv Apple. — Ameiicau-raiscd fruit of 

 this variety brought good prices in London, ac- 

 cording to ihe March market reports. 



SouvENiu DU CoNGP.Es Peak. — Specimens 

 were exhibited before the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society last year, which wcij.hcd a 

 pound, and measured in length seven inches. In 

 quality it was not found " best," but still " very 

 good." It was raised by Mr. Morel Lyon, Vaise, 

 France. 



The Early Season. — Among the most re- 

 markable appearances of the season, was au 

 abundanceof curculioby theendof April in Phila- 

 deluhia. With so much time to work, there 

 will 1)6 very little chance for an unaided crop of 

 plums. By the same date, myriads of Colorado 



