DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



151 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Sea Kale- — Wm. Bachelder, (North Andover. 

 Mass.) Sea Kale grown in tlie open air does not 

 need any covering in winter here. In order to 

 blanch the youn<T shoots, we cover them early in 

 the sprin<r with three or four inches of sand, or 

 li<Tht sandy soil. You may, for safety in your lati- 

 tude, do this late in the autumn. The growth of 

 the sea-kale is improved by a top dressing of salt 

 every spring, like asparagus. 



Pkak Seedlings. — C. B., (New-Jersey,) will 

 find it very diiRcult to have success in raising pear 

 seedlings by the quantity. A rich, moist soil of 

 much depth, and one especially adapted in its in- 

 organic elements, is absolutely necessary for this 

 crop. Here and there a grower is successful from 

 possessing this soil, but it is rarely found in the 

 middle or southern states. 



Wm. B., (North Andover.) The seeds of com- 

 mon engrafted field pears, that are perfectly vig- 

 orous and healthy, give the best stocks for budding 

 upon. 



Selections of Fruits. — ^ Subscriber, (Phila- 

 delphia.) The five best plums for your purpose 

 are the following : Jeflerson, Green Gage, Impe- 

 rial Ottoman, Coe's Golden Drop, Purple Favor- 

 ite. 



B. P. R. The Fastolff is rather larger than 

 the true Red Antwerp Raspberry, but it is not 

 higher flavored, and is softer, and does not there- 

 fore endure carriage to market so w'ell. It bears 

 most abundantly with us. 



Quinces. — ./? Jerseyman. Prune Quinces very 

 little — let them form low, thick bushes, and ma- 

 nure them well every year. A good top-dressing 

 of manure and ashes, every autumn, will double 

 the size of the fruit. 



Tomatoes. — j1 Vermont Reader. Train your 

 plants on the south side of a wall, building or tight 

 fence, and you will find them to ripen two weeks 

 earlier. The cherry tomato is an early sort, and 

 one of very mild flavor. 



Manures. — An Inquirer, (New-Bedford.) You 

 ■will double or quadruple your charcoal in value if 

 you will have the urine poured over it. The ammo- 

 nia and salts of the latter will all be absorbed by 

 the charcoal, to be given out to the roots of plants 

 afterwards as required.—.^. R. C, (New- York.) 

 You will find it much the better mode to dissolve 

 the bones before using them. There are full di- 

 rections for this in our last number, p. 93. — /. B ., 

 (Philadelphia.) Apply the gypsum as a top- 

 dressing to your trees in the month of October. 

 Fork it under the surface very slightly. 



Arbor Vit^:. — A Young Hand, (Westchester.) 

 Gather the seeds in October or November, and 

 plant them immediately in a deep, well pulverized 

 border, on the north side of a hoard fence ; or, 

 (which is the better mode,) in flat shallow boxes, 

 (three inches deep and two by three feet across,) 

 filled with good light soil. These boxes should be 

 put in a light place, the cellar or in a cold pit, till 

 spring, being watered occasionally to keep the 

 earth moist. In the spring, they should be placed 

 in a place shaded, except from morning and eve- 

 ning sun, and well watered every evening. In 

 this way you will save all the seedlings, which if 



planted in the open border, more than half are usu- 

 ally lost the first year. Once large enough to 

 transplant into the nursery rows, they will grow in 

 any exposure. Seeds of the Laburnum should be 

 planted immediately in any open situation in good 

 soil. 



Strawberries. — Fragaria, (Boston.) The 

 spring is the preferable time for making new beds, 

 only because the plants are more certain to grow 

 then. There is a new white strawberry grown in 

 England, called the Bicton Pine. Will some of 

 our nurseymen import it ? Ross' Plimnix is a very 

 improved variety of the Keen's seedling; but though 

 it bears large crops of very delicious fruit in light 

 and deep rich soils, \ct so far as we have seen it, 

 it does not thrive well in heavy or stifl!" soils. Burr's 

 New Pine is considered the best of Burr's seed- 

 lings. If you have ehitrcoal dust in abundance you 

 cannot do better than to cover your beds one iixh 

 thick in November, and allow it to remain on al! 

 the next season. 



Evergreens. — J. Y. H., (Westchester.) The 

 best time to remove evergreens in our judgment, 

 is in the spring. Small plants will do quite well if 

 taken up in the fall and laid in earth, as you pro- 

 pose, in a dry cellar, till spring. The evergreen 

 magnolia, (lil. grundifiora,) will not stand the 

 winters north of New-"Vork. 



Lawns. — /. Willitims. One part white clover 

 to three parts red-top, makes the best lawn grass 

 mixture for a soil like that you describe. If you 

 wish to preserve its greenness in summer you must 

 trench the soil so that the roots may penetrate two 

 feet deep ; it cannot be done by top-dressing. 



Pear Trees. — A North Carolinian. Keep th© 

 surface of the ground under your trees coated with 

 straw, litter or shavings several inches deep. This 

 will keep the roots in an uniform state of heat and 

 moisture. See Mr. Cleveland's remarks on the 

 subject in this number, and those of a Maryland 

 Subscriber in a previous one. Nothing injures deli- 

 cate I'ruit trees so much at the south as the heat of 

 tlie sun, and the alternate dryness and moisture of 

 the surface of the ground. 



Grapes. — Jl Vigneron, (Ohio.) The rot in the 

 Catawba grape has also appeared in this part of 

 the country this season. The nature of this dis- 

 ease is little known, and no certain remedy has yet 

 been discovered. The only information we have of 

 any satisfactory experiment on this subject you 

 will find in the article of a correspondent in a pre- 

 vious page. The Bland grape is a shy bearer, 

 and -would not be profitable for market. 



Nurseries.— H. J3., (Philadelphia.) We have 

 no connection, either direct or indirectly, with any 

 nursery establishment or commercial garden. The 

 " Highland Garden" is simply the name of our pri- 

 vate grounds. T. C. Peters. — We have sent your 

 letter to a respectable grower in New- York, who 

 will send you the plants you wish. 



Imported Evergreens. — A Subscriber, (Pitts- 

 burgh.) The best time to have Norway spruces 

 and other hardy evergreens, sent from abroad, is 

 during the month of October, or as early as they 

 can be lifted in the nurseries there — say from the 

 1st of October till the 10th of November. They 

 should be packed in dry moss, and put up either ia 



