editor's table. 



We have noticed a tree near Baltimore, in "Visits to Country Places" (page 351), which, 

 by topping, had spread in the most extraordinary manner ; and we have a plant of consider- 

 able size trimmed into a large column, which looks at a short distance like a huge box-tree ; 

 its only disadvantage is its deciduous character, and late leafing. 



Wistaria violacea. — This new Wistaria bloomed, for the first time, in this country the 

 present season (June 28), on Mr. Buist's piazza. Mr. B. obtained it in France, a few years 

 ago. It is later in blooming than the other species ; the racemes more dense, the flowers 

 prettily variegated, having a shade of yellow, violet, and purple blush. Withal, it is quite 

 fragrant, and a great acquisition. 



A Parlor Fernery may resemble the accompanying cut. 

 ance is the selection of ferns, the smaller suiting better 

 than those of large growth. The hardier sorts, culti- 

 vated in pots, may be set out, under shelter, in summer, 

 on a layer of sifted coal-ashes or tan. The drip may be 

 obtained by suspending over the plant a vessel of water, 

 out of which a worsted thread should hang. This sup- 

 plies a succession of water-drops, which should fall on a 

 stone beside the plant, and above the pot. The ordinary 

 soil for ferns in pots, is a mixture of equal parts of soft 

 peat, fine sand, finely broken potsherds, and charcoal ; 

 this may be used in the parlor fernery, which will prove 

 a never failing source of amusement, if attended to and 

 kept suitably moist, without exposure to the sun. 



The n\atter of chief import- 





A powerful Pumpixg Engine. — One of the most ingenious and powerful machines for sub- 

 marine operations is the Gwynne Pumping Engine, capable, when driven to its full capacity, 

 of discharging the prodigious quantity of one thousand barrels of water per minute. By 

 means of this wonderful machine, a sunken vessel, even in eighty feet of water, can be 

 pumped out, filled with air, and thus raised without any injury. It is not necessary to 

 attempt to make the sunken vessel perfectly tight ; for leaks, admitting one thousand gal- 

 lons per minute, are of slight consequence where the engine will discharge as many barrels 

 in the same time. In case, however, of vessels being considerably shattered and broken, 

 the application, in addition, of pneumatic and hydrostatic lifting power, will effect the 

 object desired. 



Evergreens. — A new Enemt ! — A valued correspondent writes, on the 2Sth of June : " Do 

 you know that, with consternation, this morning I discovered that my large Norway firs 

 (seventeen years old) are curiously affected ? They have only grown, in patches and spots, 

 some of the terminal shoots, but the inner ones not started ; the old foliage looks dirty and 

 diseased, and, on examination, I find them more or less injured hy red spider ! My theory is, 

 that what with cold winter, and a cold, rainy spring, and the great shade to the ground from 

 the large masses of lower limbs laying on it, the ground and roots have not got warm enough, 

 even yet, to start anything except the extreme tips, which are full of younger life and ex- 

 uberance. In the mean time, this growth having stopped, what is to become of the rest? 

 Will it grow out of season later, or hold over for another year ?" 



Improvement of tue Portable Steam Engine. — The great improvement added to this 

 machine consists of the attached endless railway, which is coni})osed of a series of flat 



