VARIET7 OF SEEDS. 



olKstTvaiifo of this fact first led luc to examine the cause, when I found the youn^ 

 shoots with the stems ami much of the surface of the leaves coated with this adhe- 

 sive substance, which appeared plain to me must obstruct the evaporation of the 

 pa)) from the leaves, and, at the same time, prevent the absorption of the carbonic 

 acid gas of the atmosphere, thus producing a weakness in growth that caused 

 many of the leaves to fall.* Perhaps the week or ten days of mild weather we 

 had in the midst of winter, was favorable for the production of sugar in the su]), 

 as it is well known that such weather after cold weather, is favorable for sugar 

 making. 



The wood of the pear-tree is hard and compact, and the pores small ; and may 

 it not be possible that, under certain circuiustanccs favorable to a large produc- 

 tion of saccharine matter in the sap, the sap may be so thickened by it as to stop 

 the circulation entirely, and then i)utrefy ? Large numbers of the small spurs on 

 our apple-trees are affected the same way this year, disfiguring our trees very much 

 and very generally. There must be a cause for this ; and may not this be the 

 reason why our fruit set so badly this year ? Trees that were heavily loaded with 

 bloom, scarcely set auy fruit ; indeed, I have seldom known so general a failure, 

 except from late severe frosts ; but, this season, we had none after blooming. 

 Some suppose the failure was caused by rainy weather ; but that does not appear 

 satisfactory to me. We had rain, also, when our grape-vines were in bloom, and 

 we have seldom had them to set so freely. I should like to hear, through the 

 columns of the Horticulturist, whether the effect has occurred in other places. 



It has very generally been supposed to be favorable to the blight, when, after 

 a dry summer, a wet fall, favorable to late growth, occurs, and then an early and 

 severe winter ; but this was not the case the past season. "We had both a dry 

 summer and fall, no late growth encouraged, and the wood certainly was well 

 ri})encd generally ; the winter, it is true, set in early and pretty severe. 



The following varieties of pear have suffered badly with us, this year : Messire 

 Jean and Glout Morceau, Ilacon's Incomparable, Easter Beurre, Doyenne Gris 

 Jaune de hivre nouveau. Ananas d'Et6, Beurre d'Esperen, on ])ear roots ; and 

 Swan's Orange, Belle Lucrative, Ananas d'Ete, Beurre de Ranz, on quince. 

 Slightly affected : Louise Bonne de Jersey, Napoleon, Bergamot, Urbaniste, Jar- 

 gonelle, Bartlett, Ileathcot, Surpass Vergalieu, Beurre d'Areraburg, and Ott ; 

 the remainder (amounting to upwards of ninety varieties) of those most recom- 

 mended in the books, are uninjured. Our grounds are rolling, and naturally well 

 underdrained. 



Vitality of Seeds. — Permit me to send you three seeds of some Coniferous 

 plants, and also part of the cone, for your inspection. About a month back I 

 had seven seeds given me by a Mr. Brown, who has had the cone in his posses- 

 sion upwards of nine years, and previous to that it formed an ornament for many 

 years in a gentleman's hall in Yorkshire. It is probably forty years since it was 

 gathered from the tree. About three weeks ago, I sowed seven seeds in a small 

 pot, in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand, but, previous to sowing them, I cut a 

 notch through the shell of each seed. They have all vegetated, and were potted 

 off to-day in small and thumb pots. I always cut the rind of all the thick 

 skinned seeds I may save to sow. — Edayix Fancourt. [The seeds and cone are 

 those of Pinus Pinea, the Stone Pine. — London Florist.'] 



* This matter not being needed for growth in the formation of wood, was forced out 

 through the pores of the leaves by the ascending sap, and not evaporating speedily, was 

 left on the surface. 



