82 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[March, 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Best Grape. — In a letter before us the 

 writer says he has tried twelve of the grapes 

 " everywhere recommended as the best," and 

 after half a dozen years of trial, does not regard 

 any but the Concord to be worth growing in 

 New Jersey. Then at the recent meeting of 

 the Pennsylvania Society at Bethlehem, Mr. 

 Thos. N. Harvey stated that he had tried, a 

 very large number, and would discard all but 

 Concord and Clinton. We have not got down 

 to this yet. We see everywhere about us peo- 

 ple who raise other varieties to great perfection, 

 and we are ready to believe that the failures 

 are due to causes which can be remedied. 



Permanent Whitewash. — P. E. Cobden, i 

 Ills., asks: "Can you tell me through the' 

 Monthly what to add to lime wash to make 

 it stick to young trees through a rainy season ? 

 I find whitewash a good protection against rab- 

 bits as long as it adheres. Have used glue in it 

 without helping much." i 



[We have never before been confronted by [ 

 this question, but it may be noted that washes ; 

 of lime are used by plasterers in Philadelphia * 



who employ tallow, which is stirred into the 

 lime while it is slacking, and in that way mixes 

 very well with it. The coloring matter is gen- 

 erally mixed with the lime at the same time. 

 We have known these washes remain on walls 

 for many years, and they would probably 

 remain on trees the same way until the coating 

 cracked by the growth of the trunk. — Ed. G. M.] 



Grafting Pear on Pyrus Japonica. — 



"Quince" asks: "What has become of this 

 project? I tried a few, but they all died the 

 year after grafting, though I verily believe it 

 was the Pyrus suckers that helped to do the 

 deed. But then how are we to keep these 

 sprouts down, for it would seem the Pyrus 

 japonica could not live without root suckering? 

 Vegetables and Beauty. — A correspond- 

 ent insists that the beauty of American women 

 has increased immensely since he was a young 

 man, — now many years ago, — and he believes 

 that this has arisen from the more general use 

 of fruits and vegetables. We hope the elderly 

 ladies will forgive us for stating that the wretch 

 who wrote this had a Philadelphia post mark to 

 his letter, and may not perhaps have had expe- 

 rience in other places. 



Forestry. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Scarcity of Wood in Pennsylvania. — 

 Peter Kalm, on his visit to Philadelphia in 1748, 

 says then that wood was so scarce for fuel in 

 Pennsylvania that it brought eighteen shillings 

 a cord, Pennsylvania currency, and that the citi- 

 zens were seriously alarmed for the future sup- 

 ply of wood for the city. Coal had not then been 

 discovered, though it was being talked about as 

 likely. 



Catalpa K^mpferi. — We have yet letters 

 insisting that the dwarf, flowerless Catalpa is C. 

 Bungei, and the lobed-leaved flowering one is C. 

 Ksempferi. All we can say is that this is clearly 

 not the case as the plants are described in De 

 Candolle's Prodromus, which until we have bet- 

 ter authority we must accept as the law. 



Wood of the Patjlownia. — In making up 

 the census reports. Prof. C. S. Sargent is anxious 

 to get more information about the value of the 

 Paulownia as a timber tree. If any one has a 

 tree that has to be cut down for any purpose, he 

 would be glad of the log, and would of course 

 pay expense of transportation. Write to him 

 before sending, as he may have more offers than 

 he needs. 



Catalpas. — F. W. M., says : " This timber 

 is said to be better for posts than Locust. Can 

 you give me some information about it ? Is 

 there more than one kind of Catalpa, and does 

 one kind spread rapidly, and is that the valu- 

 able sort?" 



[The Catalpa is a first-rate post timber, but we 

 have our doubts about it being " better " than 

 Locust for posts. No one wants a better post 



