238 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



12th of Auprust with the Early Purple,* a speci- 

 men of which I sent you a few days since. From 

 that time the favorite varieties have been the Ear- 

 ly Anne, Honest .John, Royal Kensinj^ton, Yellow 

 Alber^e, Walter's Early, anil Crawforil's Early 

 Melocoton; to-ilay tiie Ohimixon Freestone makes 

 its appearance, sellinj; reailily at $2 per bushel. 

 The price of these varieties cultivateil with care, 

 has been from $2 to $5 per basket. For a few clays 

 $1 only was received, except for selected Craw- 

 forils and Kensingtons. Our careful cultivators 

 find no difficulty in selling- their fruit at gooil pri- 

 ces, while those who neglect their trees, except to 

 mow the hay under them once or twice in the 

 summer, may hawk their sour peaches through the 

 streets at fifty cents a bushel, and find a dull mar- 

 ket even at that price. 



In early days, i. e. some fifteen or twenty years 

 since, good peaches were plenty here in their sea- 

 son at from twenty-five to fifty cents a bushel, but 

 they were not raised by those who devoted much 

 attention to the subject; consequently their trees 

 perished from neglect, and the prices of the fruit 

 did not, in their estimation, warrant the setting 

 out of young orchards. Now our market is sup- 

 plied from orchards carefully cultivated; our fruit 

 is not merely good, it is first rate. With the qua- 

 lity have improved the demand and price, though 

 the latter will undoubtedly be somewhat reducetl, 

 when the thousands of young trees set within the 

 past few years come into bearing. In the mean 

 time the knowing ones are reaping golden har- 

 vests, well earned anil well deserved. Yours truly, 

 J. W. Bissell. Rochester, Aug. 8. 



A Budget of Queries. — Dear Sir : What pro- 

 portion of common tar, mixed with milk, will 

 make a paint that will protect nursery trees against 

 rabbits, and yet be harmless to the trees ? [Ans. 

 Just enough to give it the consistency of paint. — 

 Ed.] 



I have tried several times to produce the Black 

 Spruce Fir from the seed of young trees, say from 

 five to nine feet high. I shake them from the cones, 

 and cover them over lightly in a good soil ; but I 

 have never jet been able to make them sprout. 

 Will the seed from trees of that size vegetate ? 

 Do any or all evergreen seeds require soaking to 

 make them sprout ? What is the management ne- 

 cessary to grow most kinds of evergreens from 

 the seed ? Where can good seed be obtained ? 

 [Ans. — The seeds of evergreens, in oriler to vege- 

 tate, must be sown in autumn, as soon as they are 

 ripe. A deep mellow border must be made in a 

 shaily situation. Sow the seeds upon the top of 

 the well pulverized soil, and then cover them very 

 lightly with some very fine sand or leaf mould 

 from the woods. Afterwards cover the surface of 

 the bed with branches of evergreens till spring, 

 when they should be removed and the seeds will 

 vegetate. The only certain mode of getting ever- 

 green seeds to vegetate, is to plant them in large 

 shallow boxes, which are about six inches deep. 



* Not the irue Early Purple, but probably our Early York; 

 a scrratal le.-ived peach, and ou tlie whole uot surpassed by 

 ajiy early variety.— Ed. 



After the seeds arc sown in those, as just described, 

 place the boxes in a cold frame, i. c. a more empty 

 frame covered with glass, on the nurlh side of a 

 fence or building. Here they may remain till 

 S|)ring, when the lights should be taken ofl". Here 

 also the boxes should be allowed to remain all the 

 next season, and watered as often as they appear 

 dry. In this way nearly every seed will vegetate, 

 and the plants will be fit to transplant into the 

 nursery rows the ensuing S|)ring. — Ei).] 



Would you consider it safe to transplant the 

 peach, or any other tree, the first spring after ino- 

 culation ? [Scarcely. The inoculation should 

 grow one year before transplanting. But with 

 care they may be removed in the bud. — Ed.] 



What one variety of strawberry would you re- 

 commend as best adapted to extensive culture for 

 market ? [Iloveys Seedling and Black Prince. — 

 Ei).] 



Not being a botanist, I am desirous to know 

 whether a certain kind of thorn that grows in this 

 neighborhood, is what you call the Buckthorn; or 

 whether it is the same as any other kind of thorn 

 for hedges, noticed or described by you. Grow- 

 ing alone, it forms a round compact head, selilom 

 reaching a greater height than ten or twelve feet. 

 When not clipped or eaten off, the branches are 

 uniform in size, generally grow round a centre 

 stem, are numerous, and well supplied with single 

 straight thorns. The blossoms are small, wliite, 

 and in clusters; the leaves are smooth, glussy, and 

 evenly serrated. The fruit is small, round, and is 

 now (Sept. 15) of a light red color, but unripe. 

 It contains one and two seeils. I send you some 

 leaves, by which, with the description, you may 

 possibly recognize and name it. I have seen small 

 bushes of this shrub, that had been nibbled off by 

 sheep and cattle, that were almost impenetrable to 

 a bird. For a hedge it has many advantages over 

 the Honey Locust, among which are its more 

 compact and even habit of growth, and its being 

 much less disposed to throw up distant suckers. If 

 I were to select some native plant which is pre- 

 eminently valuable for a hedge plant (as a fence 

 not for ornament alone) I would point unhesitating- 

 ly to this thorn. But its claims to beauty are not 

 few. In spring its blossoms are quite ornamental, 

 and in midsummer its dark and glos,sy leaves and 

 dense foliage render it very beautiful. lis princi- 

 pal fault is, that it drops its leaves early, but then 

 the red fruit is pretty and conspicuous. [The 

 leaves sent us appear to be those of the Crategus 

 crus-galli, commonly known as the Cockspur or 

 Newcastle thorn, a native species of Hawthorn. 

 The description given of the j)lant also corres- 

 ponds with this species. It is one of the very- 

 best of all thorns for hedges in this country. In 

 some parts of the country — those long cultivated 

 — the borer is fatal to all the species of Hawthorn, 

 and hence, in such districts the Buckthorn, a total- 

 Ij' diffei ent plant, is preferred. It is very rapid 

 growing, hardy, and no insect will touch it. — Ed.] 

 Your remarks on the Yellow and Seed Locusts, 

 in the July number of the Horticulturist, were 

 very opportune. I was about to {)lant out a nur- 

 sery of seed locust for post timber, supposing it to 

 be the Yellow Locust. I used to hear much of 



