m^-. 



H ] J 284 EDlTOtt'S TABLE. 



given by oxide of copper. This is to counteraot the injarions effects on vegetation, arising 

 from tlio use of white sheet glass. Tlic-re are 28,000 superficial feet of hot water pipes. A 

 high tower, at the <listaiue of ofjO feet, conveys the smoke ; to this, flues lead under ground. 

 Tlio coal is brought in ou a subterrancau railway. In ventilation, and otlier matters, the 

 building is eipially i)crfcct. Would that ire had l('i;islators alive to the importance of 

 instructing the people in such matters, but they are all engaged in horrible politics. 



Hen Maxurk, again. — (H. D., Waterville, N. Y.) This is a powerful manure, equal in its 

 effects to guano, or nearly so. Its "actual value" will depend in a great measure on the 

 facility or othenvise of pnxuring different manures, and the nature of the soil to which it is 

 to be applied. As a general reply to your imjuiry, wo miglit say it would be worth about 

 fifty cents per bushel to you, and would be advantageously used wherever guano has been 

 found beneficial. In preparing it for use, mix an equal jjortion of dry soil and some charcoal 

 with it, and pulverize as much as possible. 



PEAcn BouKR. — An Indiana correspondent writes : " A good plan to preserve peach-trees 

 from the grul), is first to wire* them, then throw fine sand round the stem, three or four 

 inches high ; it preserves them from the grub, and they grow very fast. One of your sub- 

 scribers takes this plan, and has no further trouble." 



Mathews' Curculio Remedy. — (P. B. W., Picton, C. W.) "What has become of Mathews' 

 curculio remedy ? Why don't the committee report ?" Can't guess — probably because it is 

 a secret remedy. 



(Hyacinth Bclbp.) " Will Uyacinth and other Dutch bulbs run out in this country ?" 

 Not if they are treated to the same care the Dutch florists bestow on them. To prevent 

 their deterioration — indeed, to see them at all in perfection, they require to be grown in the 

 open air, in sandy alluvial soil, well enriched with well decayed manure — cow-dung being 

 found most advantageous. Forcing, or growing them in rooms or windows, weakens them 

 to such a degree as to render them almost worthless for a second season. 



Angers Quince Cuttings. — (H. S., Harrisburg, Ind.) You will only succeed with these 

 by taking them off early in the fall — in your latitude before the 1st of (Jctober — and planting 

 at once in rich, moist soil. 



Belts for Screens. — Wliat are the directions for planting a l)elt of evergreens to screen 

 one from his neighbors ? There is in Downing's work, and through the Horticulturist, a lack 

 of definite information as to the size and number of trees, and tlie distance between them. 

 Can you give me a rule for a place of five acres, with a front of between two and tliree 

 hundred feet ? M. P. 



No better evergreen screen can be planted, for your purpose, than either the Norway Fir or 

 the American Arbor Vita. If the first is employed, it will take considerably more space in 

 your premises than the second, as the Norway Fir spreads its lower branches to a con- 

 siderable extent ; if this is not objectionable, plant them four feet apart, and when they 

 have attained the required height, cut off the leaders annually, bring the whole to a conical 

 shape, and you obtain a superb screen. If space is an object, employ the Arbor Vitre ; plant 

 two and a half feet apart, and keep them well sheared to give a thick habit. If your climate 

 admits, and the plants are to be had, a Juniper hedge, well kept, is extremely ornamental. 

 We say nothing of the holly, because it is probably too slow in its growth, and as yet it is 

 not to be had in quantities, though from the demand for the seeds the past season, it is evi- 

 dent that many are now turning their attention to its cultivation. Our correspondent is 

 mistaken in stating the absence of this kind of information in former volumes of the Horti- 

 culturist — see, for instance, vol. ii. p. 492. 1848. 



Burnt Soil. — (P. B.) When you are burning the brush, trimmings, &c. &c. of your 

 garden, make a semicircular mound with a few stones, and, as the heap begins to burn, 

 pile on it as much of your clay soil as can be, and burn it. During the first day or two, but 

 little care is required to keep the pile on fire ; but after this, if the fire is not allowed to 

 break through, and thus expand itself, it will spread through the whole heap, and a large 

 amount of soil may be burnt by still adding to the top. Burnt soil of this description seems 

 to possess even more nourishing properties than manure, and may be applied with great 

 advantage to fruit-trees as well as garden "truck." 



Figs. — (S. T. T.) Figs require a poor soil ; gravel, lime-rubbish, &c. is better than ma- 

 nure; to have a full crop, shallow, dry subsoils are the best, and the growth requires to be 

 checked if fruit is wanted. Pinch off the new growth as you serve your pears 



* Onr correspondent probably alludes to the plan of running a wire into the holes of any that may 

 already entered, to destroy them. 



