DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



case no grafting clay will be needed, the soil 

 being drawn completely about the scion. 



Freshly burned plaster — such as is used by 

 builders in making hard-finished walls — is the 

 best thing to stop the bleeding of vines — but 

 unless a very large limb has been cut off, we do 

 not look upon bleeding as doing any harm 

 whatever. Ed. 



Ohio mineral Paint. — ^Ye have been a little 

 skeptical about the advantage claimed for this 

 paint, or at least have felt that time was 

 needed before any satisfactory judgment could 

 be passed upon it. We have much pleasure 

 however in bearing witness to an instance of its 

 excellence lately, as a surface covering for 

 metal roofs, and its superiority to the paints in 

 common use for that purpose. We saw the 

 roof of a building covered with tin, and used 

 for a purpose peculiarly calculated to try any 

 material of this sort, since it is constantly ex- 

 posed to great variations of temperature — tho 

 space under it being alternately heated and 

 and cooled — thus expanding and contracting 

 the metal beyond what is usually the case in 

 our severe climate. The proprietor had tried 

 various modes of making it tight without suc- 

 cess, but finally covered with two coats of 

 Blake's Paint. This was done two years ago, 

 and since that time it has never given the least 

 trouble. Decayed and defective gutters first 

 lined with muslin, and then thoroughly painted 

 with it at the same time, have also remained 

 perfectly water-tight. A single coat — as often 

 used is not suflicient — two coats are necessary 

 to answer the purpose, and three coats make a 

 strong and lasting coat of cement, unalterable 

 by sun or rain. 



Quinces on Thorns. — Some of the most 

 beautiful Quinces we have seen the past au- 

 tumn, were grown upon the common white 

 thorn, so abundant in many of the fields in the 

 country, that they seem quite a nuisance, 

 There is no mistake in tho matter, for we saw 

 the same quinces just after they had formed, 

 and watched them every time we passed that 

 way, (which was often enough,) till their matu- 

 rity, when they were large, fkir, possessed of 

 the golden beauty and veritable odor of the 

 Quince, Their taste, too, was that of the 

 Quince, and they could be nothing else. 



The trees on which they grew were very beau 

 tiful, the stocks being from I of an inch to 1^ 

 inches in diameter, and grafted about two feet 

 from the ground. The grafts were from two to 

 four feet in length, and were borne down with 

 rich golden fruit. 



The advantages of raising Quinces on thorns, 

 are that they assume more of the character of 

 trees, than Quince bushes will do without fre- 

 quent pruning. Second, the stocks are hardy, 

 being natives of our poorest and most exposed 

 soils. Third, they are not subject to the borer 

 and other insects, as the Quince has proved it- 

 self to be. There are thousands of thorn bush- 

 es in our county, which are now only eye-sores 

 to the beholder, and nuisances to the landhold- 

 er, which by grafting in this way may become 

 objects of great beauty, and highly productive 

 value. "W.Bacon. Richmond, Mass. Jan. 7, 

 1851. 



Stoves and Ventilation. — Mr. Downing's 

 leader, in the Nov. number of the Horticultur- 

 ist, ' ' Tlie Favorite Poison of America," is how- 

 ever, the article which is most attractive, as 

 most coincident with my own notions: for it I 

 feel constrained to extend a hand across lake 

 and mountain, to give him the grip of fellow- 

 ship. You are right, Mr. Downing — wage war 

 on the stoves. Oh, that we had some chivalrous 

 Knight, armed with battle-ax and mace, ready 

 to march across every valley and hill of the 

 country, through every street and alley of our 

 cities, destroying, as he went, those villainous 

 stoves, the Demons of the Castle of Hypochon- 

 driasis, as good old .John Bunyan would proba- 

 bly have called them, had he lived in this de- 

 generate age of pale faces and hot stove rooms. 

 AVith such a destroying champion of our cause 

 abroad, ah, what music would resound in our 

 ears, from kitchin and cellar, from parlor and 

 chamber, as the stalwart blows fell upon " air- 

 tight" and " ten-plate," cooking-stove, coal- 

 range and furnace! Who would not sue for the 

 honor of Knight-erranty in such a cause, and 

 believe that he could still do his country some 

 good service under such a leader! 



In serious truth, we fear the worst effects 

 ft'om the deleterious influences pointed out by 

 Mr, Downing. It is a growing evil, far more 

 serious in the Eastern States than we in the 

 West can well imagine. In my visits to an east- 

 ern city, the loss of the open fires is everywhere 

 oppressively felt — ^furnaces, furnaces, nothing 

 but furnaces— no bright, cheerful fires to enliven 

 the scene — ^all dull and gloomy, exhausted and 

 exhausting, reminding one of something as dif- 

 ferent as possible from what you gardeners call 

 a damp stove— ^I believe-=-a something, the ex- 

 istence of which is problematical, and which, 

 for vegetation, would probably be nonsensical — 



