DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



tops of my beautiful bushes lying on the 

 ground, my propensity seized me, and I could 

 not consent to throw away the trimmings with- 

 out an effort to save them. 



So down I sat, on the edge of the border, and 

 after cutting off all the last year's growth, I 

 placed them in a warm, rich .soil; but I con- 

 fess, without /a?7A, even to the extent of a. hun- 

 dredth part of a grain of " mustard seed." 



Tliere T left them, for weal or for woe, ex- 

 posed to tlie full blaze of almost a summer's 

 sun. I passed by the spot every day for a 

 week, and each time thought how many fruit- 

 less experiments I had made, and this very one 

 likely to be another of them. Several weeks 

 pa.sscd away, when I thought I would visit my 

 cuttings, and to my utter astonishment, every 

 one of them had grown, and made nice plants 

 by autumn ! Tliis is a horticultural fact. 



I have a few now on hand, which I would 

 gladly present for the benefit of some one, who 

 may be even now, as verdant in these matters 

 as I was. previous to my sufferings. Thy sin- 

 cere friend. E. S. Hillside, Cayuga Co., N. 

 Y., U mo., Zd, 18-51. 



[We thank our fair correspondent for her 

 useful notice, and shall be glad to hear from her 

 again. Her postscript, in which she frankly 

 owns herself " a real live-woman horticultu- 

 rist," pleases us still more. When American 

 women know their gardens in this way — by ac- 

 tually shaking hands with garden tools, daily — 

 then they will begin to enjoy them in right ear- 

 nest. Ed.] 



Camellias in Rooms. — I have tried for two 

 years to bloom Camellias, but without success. 

 I have Elegans, Donkclarii, Varicgata, Candi- 

 dissima, Derbyana, Florida, Tricolor, and Im- 

 bricata. During the first year, I had them in 

 my sitting room, enclosed in a glass case, which 

 was aired every day. The room was warmed 

 by a furnace, supplied with air from without 

 the house. The thermometer in the room, 

 ranged from 60° to 70°. In the case, it was 

 much lower. They were frequently syringed 

 above and beneath the leaves, and occasionally 

 wiped with a wet sponge. The second year, 

 they have been kept in a closet, adjoining my 

 counting-room. The closet has a large window 

 looking south, and receives its heat from the 

 counting-room, which is itself heated by steam 



pipes. The thermometer in the main room 

 ranges from G0° to 70°, and in the closet, will 

 be 10° lower. The plants were kept back from 

 the window and in the shade. The window is 

 opened for fresh air, whenever the weather will 

 permit — and I have a tub filled with water, 

 warmed by a steam pipe, whenever used fur 

 watering the plants, or to make the air of the 

 closet of a proper degree of moisture. The 

 closet is 12 feet by G, and 11 feet high. During 

 the summer, the plants were kept out of doors, 

 and in the shade. I get buds, which swell and 

 promise, and show the tip of the beautiful 

 petals, within, and then become " done brown," 

 drop and perish . What is the matter 1 Yours, 

 A Floral Enthusiast. Lawrence, Massa- 

 chusetts, March 10, 1851. 



[Tlie Camellia is one of the worst plants for 

 close rooms, as it wants a great deal of air, and 

 a very uniform atmosphere, to bloom freely. 

 If you can contrive to ventilate your room or 

 plant-closet so as to have a stream of pure fresh 

 air (warmed of course) pass through it, we 

 think the flowers will open well. Ed.] 



Cherries — Pear Blight — At a sale of 

 French fruit trees, in New- York, April, 1841, 

 I purchased with others, over fifty cherry trees, 

 under the names of WliitcBigarreau, Red Bi- 

 garreau, Guine of Turkey, Bigarreati de Lyon, 

 Royale Hative, Black Griotte,&c., but on their 

 passage home the labels were lost ; none proved 

 to be better sorts than we had, except one 

 kind, and that 1 supposed to be the Bigarrcau 

 de Lyon, and have so called it. I have never 

 seen the cherry described in any foreign or 

 American horticultural or pomological work, 

 until in your Jan. Horticulturist, where you de- 

 scribe a cherry as "The Great B'garreau." 

 The shape, size, color and flavor, appear to be 

 identical with the sort I have. It has some- 

 times ripened a little before the Tartarian. It 

 has a remarkable growth ; the foliage is larger 

 and longer than any I have seen, and I consi- 

 der it the most desirable cherry known. If 

 among the list above named, you think I liave 

 selected the right, you can adopt it, or wait un- 

 til the bearing season, and I will .send you sam- 

 ples of the wood, leaf and fruit. 



Soon after the purchase alluded to, I com- 

 menced .setting pear trees on quince stocl 

 though told by ray neighbors that they 



