ivy onco lose thoir lioM, llioy nro never still sviffuifntly long to l>e aide to ifattacli 

 selvos ; but, by cutting away to the point of contact, they are enahleil to jirocccd in the new 

 growth, and thus to hold fast. Cut oflf tlie hanging branches as soon as seen ; for, by swing- 

 ing about in the wind, the injury is constantly increasing. 



(P. W.) MicNONETTE, iu its native country, Barbary, is a shnili, aiid not an aiimi.il as 

 with us. It should be sown in a light sandy soil, a.s when it is grown in a stiff soil it loses 

 its fragrance. ^V^len it is wished to obtain the tree mignonette, a vigorous jdant of the com- 

 mon kind should be chosen from the seedlings sown iu April, and put into a pot by itself; 

 all the summer the blossom-buds should be taken off as fast as they appear ; and, in tin- 

 autumn, the lower side-shoots should be taken off, so as to fonn the plant into a miniatuii' 

 tree. It should afterwards bo transplanted into a larger pot, with fresh soil formed of turl 

 broken into small pieces, and sand. The plant should ha kei)t in a greenhouse or warm 

 room all the winter, and regularly watered every day, and in the spring the stem will begin 

 to appear woody. The second summer the same treatment should be observed, and the 

 following spring it will have bark on its trunk, and be completely a shrub. It may now be 

 suffered to tlower, and its blossoms, which will be delightfully fragrant, will continue to be 

 produced every summer for many years. 



(T. A.) Many gardeners are very particular in planting a tree with the same side exposed 

 to the sun as it had in its former position. Some of them say, if this is not attended to, the 

 plant loses a portion of its strength in trying to get its branches into the same positi(m with 

 regard to the sun as it was before. Wliether this is so or not, as no injury can result from 

 thus planting, we can see no reason why it should not be x»i'^t-tised. A slight mark on the 

 north side before removal would be all the trouble. 



(A. A. IltJLL, Mount Pleasant, 0.) 1. The sweet and sour apple — sweet in one part and 

 soiir in another — was noticed so long ago as in Cox on Fruit Trees; also in Thomas's Fruit 

 Ctdturist, and iu Elliott's American Fruit Croiver^s Guide. But the notion that it is produced 

 by the junction of sections of a bud, as you suggest, from a sweet and sour variety, is entirely 

 a fiction. The " sweet and sour" apple is a monstrosity raised from seed, and is propagated 

 by grafting or budding in the usual way. 



2. Different kinds of raspberries, when planted iu close proximity, will fertilize each other. 

 No evidence, however, of this cross fertilization will be manifested by the size, form, color, 

 or flavor of the berries thus produced. But when the seeds of such berries are planted, then 

 the resulting plants may be expected to show the effects of the hybridization. 



3. American arborvitres, to produce a " windbrake," may be planted two and a half feet 

 apart. To raise them from seed, practise the same method as rectmimended for the hemlock 

 in the last volume, page 517. Where you can procure the small plants at one cent each 

 (say from Maine), this will be a more rapid mode. 



"What is a really good plant?" (A. M.) We should say that there are four points or 

 properties to constitute a really good plant : first, fine evergreen foliage ; second, handsome 

 sweet-scented flowers ; third, abundance of bloom produced in succession for a long season ; 

 and fourth, easy of culture and propagation. And, for an example, we would instance the 

 Steijhanotis floribunda as possessing all these. 



Question. I have a large dog-rose, on which a skilful gardener has budded many kinds 

 of fine roses the past July. The buds have all taken. Should it be strawed up, covered 

 with cedar boughs, or left to the hands of nature ? S. 



If the buds are of very scarce and valuable kinds, which it would be a great loss to lose, 

 wrap some cotton around each bud, as occasionally they will get killed in winter. As a 

 rule, buds of this kind are left to themselves, and generally survive to give a good account 

 of themselves the next season. 



