DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



to his stock, and he must add more or grow a 

 less number of plants; the latter could not be 

 done, and another hundred feet of ground, 

 worth almost as many acres a few miles from 

 the citj', was added. But now other objects 

 divided his attention. The grand displays of 

 fruit were so rich and inviting that to be a 

 mere admirer would not do: why should not 

 success attend the growth of fruit, as well as 

 dahlias; there could be no doubt of it. His 

 resolve was made, and the corners were filled 

 with young pear trees. On they went, growing, 

 thriving, pushing up their vigorous shoots, and 

 spreading out their leafy branches, making sad 

 inroads upon the territory of the Mexicans, and 

 in fact showing a disposition to dispute all the 

 ground they had heretofore occupied. Time 

 rolled on, golden fruit hung from their heavily 

 laden boughs, and a rich harvest crowned the 

 efforts of the cultivator of the city garden. 



And now accompanying him further, we find 

 ourselves on a beautiful spot, on the banks of 

 the Kiver Cliarles, in the pretty village of Wa- 

 tertown, overlooking its flowing waters on one 

 side, and the thickly settled plain on the other. 

 Terraces of immence size, covered with trees 

 in full bearing, all the work of half a dozen 

 years, rise one above another, and skirt the 

 river bank. Ascending by several flights of 

 steps, we reach a broad plateau, on which 

 stands the mansion, in the olden style, large, 

 capacious, without ornament, but with that es- 

 sential of the country house, comfort. It is 

 reached from the front by an avenue from the 

 Milldam road, and is screened in that direction 

 by a grove of gigantic pines, oaks and hickories. 



Such is the residence of Mr. Stickney, who 

 was fortunate in purchasing, eight years ago, 

 the estate of Madame Hunt, containing about 

 thirty-five acres, accessible in 20 minutes by the 

 AVatertown Branch Railroad, the station being 

 within five minutes' walk. Few places more 

 capable of being made a perfect villa residence, 

 are to be found in the vicinity; and the posses- 

 sion of all this, now under a high state of cul- 

 ture, and affording so much enjoyment to its 

 owner, has been the result of his admiration of 

 a beautiful flower." 



The English Crab, and the Apble. — Prof. 

 Mapes objects to the position taken hy the 

 Maine Farmer, that the English Crab is a dis- 

 tinct species from the common apple, and that 

 the latter did not spring from the former as 

 some have supposed, and as Downing and others 

 maintained. Scientific authority and facts ap- 

 pear fully to establish the entire distinctness of 

 the two. The celebrated English botanist, Ray, 

 regarded them as distinct, and later authorities 

 have given the following specific characters, 

 show them to be more unlike than many 

 universally admitted as distinct. 



English Crab. — Leaves ovate, acute, villous 

 underneath ; styles bald ; fruit acerb, astrin- 

 gent, austere. 



^pple Tree. — Leaves ovate-oblong, acumi- 

 nate, glabrous; styles villous; fruit more or 

 less sweet. 



In accordance with these marked distinctions, 

 is the experience of centuries ; for the English 

 crab has been propagated from seed from taiie 

 immemorial, without changing its character, or 

 presenting any resemblance to the fine varieties 

 of the common apple. It may be observed that 

 the American crab apple, is totally distinct from 

 both. 



The Baldwin Apple in the North. — The 

 Granite Farmer furnishes the information tliat 

 in Hanover, N. H., the young Baldwin apple 

 trees suffer seveiely by winter-killing, and that 

 it is found the cultivation of this fruit will have 

 to be given up, in that region. It appears to 

 succeed best when grafted into full grown trees. 

 Perhaps the mode adopted by the most skillful 

 nurserymen in cold-wintered Wisconsin would 

 be best — that is, to bud the trees instead of 

 grafting tliem, at three or four feet above the 

 ground. This answers well there. 



Apple Trees killed by Potash . — Medicines 

 in excess become poisons. The New England 

 Farmer mentions the case of an orchard of one 

 hundred and six thrifty Baldwins, that were 

 washed with a solution of a pound of potash in 

 a gallon of water. The owner found in two days 

 that he had killed the whole of his beautiful and 

 valuable trees. Soap suds or ashes in water, 

 are strong enough . Guano is an excellent thing 

 for trees, and salt is sometimes good, but it is 

 one of the easiest things in the world to kill trees 

 with them in excess. 



Profitable Pear Trees. — Wra. S. Lapham 

 of Macedon, N. Y., has a pear tree of the Vir- 

 galieu or "White Doyenne pear, standing in a 

 corner of his house yard, which is probably over 

 25 years old, and which yielded the present 

 ye&v fifteen bushels of fine smooth pears, which 

 sold on the ground at two and a quarter dollars 

 per bushel, or about thirty-four dollars for the 

 crop. One hundred and sixty such trees on an 

 acre — which of the size of this would not be 

 crowded — would at the same rate yield the 

 handsome sum of five thousand dollars. If half 

 this were the yearly interest, (and crops nearly 

 as large as this are often obtained) what would 

 be the value of the principal, that is, of one acre 

 of such trees. 



Since writing the above, we have been in- 

 formed of a still larger crop. Israel Delano, 

 of the same neighborhood, gathered from two 

 trees of the Virgalieu, forty-two bushels 

 pears, all of which were sold at two and a 

 ter dollars per bushel, or 9-1 dollars for the 



