642 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



vigor, and has bloomed since perfectly. There 

 was too, till lately, a specimen at tiie Hamilton 

 estate, below Pbiladelpliia, planted by Pursh, 

 Mr. H.s' gardener, whicli did well, till the place 

 was ne<Tlected and went down, when some animal 

 rubbed and partially injured it. There are many 

 others smaller than the foregoing, bearing the 

 present hard winter perfectly, as far as I yet per- 

 ceive; and I mention them in the hope that no 

 planter hereabout vrill neglect to procure one or 

 two specimens, at whatever cost. Nothing that 

 I know of could tend to make his heirs, if they 

 have any rural appreciation themselves, so proud 

 of their aiicesters, as a good Magnolia grandifo- 

 Ha, a Deodora, and a Cedar of Lebanon. 



The present is the season for removing trees, 

 and getting together the variety, without which, 

 planting is little less than useless. Young plant- 

 ers should not be discouraged because they cannot 

 get together, in one season, all that they may 

 want. Collecting even a moderate variety, in 

 this country, is about as discouraging at first as 

 forming a collection of coins or autographs. Good 

 specimens of the most valuable trees are very 

 scarce. For the best kinds there is little or no 

 demand, because the mass of the people have not 

 learned their names, or their value ; consequently, 

 the gardeners raise only the rapid growing and 

 rapid selling. This is somewhat modified of late, 

 and specimens are coming forward ; but it is dis- 

 couraging, when one wants a Deodora Cedar, to 

 find only small plants of one foot high. I know of 

 rone others for sale. Let those who would benefit 

 posterity plant these, however, and for immediate 

 effect put in bushes, such as the filbert, the mist 

 tree (or Venetian Sumac,) &c. &c. Filberts are 

 excellent to hide a boundary, or to close the vista 

 of a walk; and, moreover, produce really valua- 

 ble fruit. 



One of my favorite trees is the Siberian crab ap- 

 ple, which bears abundantly, and is very orna- 

 mental when loaded down with its delicate fruit, 

 from which, too, may be prepared one of the most 

 agreeable winter preserves. By no means forget 

 the native holly, all the hardy Rhododendrons, 

 the climbing plants named in the February Horti- 

 culturist, and especially the Irish ivj', which will 

 make six or seven feet growth the first year, if 

 well rooted when it is set out. The Irish ivy 

 alone is worth cultivation to those who wish rapid 

 results ; and unfortunately it is not always to be 

 had. I have rooted one thousand plants in a 

 green-house this winter, and distributed them 

 wherever my neighbors have the good taste to 

 apply for them. But many persons will not ap- 

 preciate the beautiful in nature; and one, other- 

 wise well informed individual, has just said he had 

 plenty of ivy, but did not know if it was evergreen 

 or not ! Loudon says there is a species of yel- 

 low ivy which, if planted with the green, would 

 entwine among it, and appear at a little distance 

 like flowers. See, in his Jlrboreium. Brittanicum, 

 the article on " Ivy," some extracts from which 



it would be appropriate to publish in the Horti- 

 culturist. My pen would never tire of these 

 themes; but your columns are too valuable for 

 long communications. Yours, /. J. S., PAi/o- 

 deiphia, March 5, 1849. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Evergreens. — B. Thompson, (New- York.) 

 These may be planted till the young shoots are 

 grown from half an inch to an inch long. Al- 

 though it is somewhat opposed to theory, yet 

 many of the most successful planters in this cli- 

 mate prefer to wait in the spring till the buds are 

 swollen, and the young shoots begin to put out. 

 Clioose a moist day, keep the roots wet, and pre- 

 serve some earth about them whenever it is possi- 

 ble, and you will find no difficulty in removing 

 evergreens. — W. W., (Baltimore.) As Finns 

 cephalonica has proved hardy in our grounds, 

 there is no doubt of its doing well with you. — .An 

 Amateur, (Trenton, N. J.) The Deodar cedar is 

 hardier than the Cedar of Lebanon, and will bear 

 a temperature of 12 degrees below of Fah. with- 

 out injury. 



Annual Vines — A Lady, (New Haven.) The 

 best and most rapid growivg vines for your pur- 

 pose, are Cobea scandens, (blue bell-shaped flow- 

 ers.) Pcrgularia odoratissima, (white flowers,) 

 Tropcolum canariense, (yellow flowers,) Mauran- 

 dia Barclayana, (purple,) and M. lophospermum, 

 (pink flowers.) All these can be had in pots, of 

 any of the leading florists. Turn them out in a 

 rich border, and they will climb from 10 to 20 

 feet, and flower all the season. Among the an- 

 nuals, the Cyprus vine, Scarlet and Morning glory, 

 Orange Loasa, and Balsam pear are the best 

 vines. Sow the seeds any time this month — the 

 sooner the better. 



Florists' Flowers. — A Tyro, (New Bedford.) 

 If you use chopped turf from an old pasture for 

 the basis oiyouv compost, enrich it with manure 

 from an old hot-bed, and lighten it with silver 

 sand, you will succeed so far as the soil is con- 

 cerned. — JR. B. W., (Philadelphia.) Rananculu- 

 ses must not be planted in an open border, as they 

 will not bear our blazing summer sun. They also 

 want a cool, deep, rather moist, but well-drained 

 site, and are, on the whole, by no means easy of 

 culture in the United States, though we occasional- 

 ly see very beautiful small collections. 



Bulbs.—/. C. W., (Weverton, Md.) Prepare 

 a border for the hardy bulbs which do not succeed 

 with you, by throwing out all the soil 20 inches 

 deep, rejecting your clay subsoil, and filling up 8 

 inches deep with small stones. On the top of this 

 place a foot of good, light, rich soil, in which 

 plant the bulbs. The Double Narcissus needs an 

 open exposure, so that the leaves may grow large, 

 and mature fully ; it will then bloom abundantly. 



Drying Fruits. — W. S. Matthews, (Canton, 

 Ala.) The flue in the German apparatus for 

 drying prunes, is of the thickness of a common 

 brick. This flue passes through the middle of the 



