1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



19 



curculio, and this is what troubles me. I have 

 been thinking of a plan on which I ask your 

 opinion, viz., to plant an orchard, cultivate the 

 ground, sow lettuce under the trees, then with a 

 tight fence, and furnished with a pond of water, 

 pasture ducks and geese thereon. This idea is 

 original with me, and if you will be so kind as to 

 favor me with your opinion, also any other ideas 

 or hints which might be useful, I will submit the 

 same to our State Horticultural Society, and 

 thus, no doubt, be a source of valuable informa- 

 tion to others also." 



[This letter reads as if a reply was desired by 

 letter ; but, as we often get similar requests, w^e 

 take occasion to say that we have no time to 

 write private letters on public topics, but are al- 

 ways willing to speak of them through these col- 

 umns. The members of the Iowa State Horticul- 

 tural Society are readers of our magazine, and 

 it will do the same good, and probablj^ interest 

 numbers of others, by being answered here. 



That plum growing would be profitable, if suc- 

 cessful, is true. We may say it is profitable where 

 successful, for many succeed in keeping clear of 

 the curculio, and that is almost the only serious 

 obstacle. The insects are kei3t dowTi by jarring 

 the trees, when the insects fall into sheets and are 

 destroyed. EUw^anger & Barry have a snag made 

 by sawing off a branch a few inches from the 

 main stem. They hammer on tliis, and thus the 

 bark is saved from bruising. Dr. Hull liad a sort 

 of wheelbarrow, with a sheet spread on a frame. 



and a pad so fixed as to save the bark when the 

 barrow was run forcibly against the tree. Both 

 these methods of jarring are followed by consider- 

 able fruit. 



Keeping trees in chicken yards has been tried 

 with some, but not great, success. It cannot be 

 applied on a very large scale, and only to a score 

 or so of trees. The curculio is hard to catch, 

 even by one of the feathered tribe. Still some- 

 times it is very successful. One of our subscribers 

 in Philadelphia tells us that a half dozen trees in 

 a chicken yard are every year laden with plums. 

 "We suppose, in this case, the chickens destroy 

 the curculio. 



This is all we can say of- our correspondent's 

 proposition from experience. It may do, but it 

 is a matter wholly to be worked out by an ex- 

 periment. It is worth the trial, as good plums 

 are as profitable as any fruit can be. — Ed. G. M.l 



A Seedless Persimmon. — B. says : " I send a 

 small box of seedless persimmons. My reason for 

 sending is, I never heard of another tree of the 

 kind north of Texas, and the seedless feature is, 

 in my opinion, a valuable one. The fruit this 

 year is not as large as usual. The ow-ner of the 

 tree propagates from sprouts." , 



[Rather smaller than the average persimmon, 



but only three small seeds in a hundred fruit a 



siderable variety. It can be gi-afted on seedlings, 

 of tlie ordinary kinds, and in this way might be 

 increased rapidly. — Ed. G. M.] 



DITORIAL. 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY AND HORTICUL- 

 TURIST. 



A PIECE OF HISTORY. 



As will be known to most of our readers before 

 their eyes meet this, the Horticulturist has now 

 become a part of the Gardener's Monthly. Per- 

 sonally we regret the fact. We liave never felt 

 any rivalry in regard to our old friend, or that we 

 had anything whatever to gain by its absence 

 from the field. On the contrary, we have ever 



been ready, earnestly and sincerely, to lend it a 

 helping hand ; and not only to it, but to all enter- 

 prises of a similar kind. Mr. Williams resigns 

 it, primarily, because of his connection with so 

 many other w^orks ; but, of course, it would not 

 have come into our hands had other peoj^le felt 

 encouraged to continue it in an independent 

 form ; and the impression from these considera- 

 tions by the outside world must be, that horti- 

 cultural taste cannot be very wide spread on this 



