62 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[February, 



Switzerland ; and a similar certificate attested by 

 a consul in Austria -Hungary, 



" Introduction under ordinary conditions if 

 provided with a consular certificate, viseed, is al- 

 lowed in Portugal and its colonies." 



Protectiok from Drouth. — While some are 

 talking of contrivances against drouth, Mr. C. M. 

 Clay, of Madison, Ky., gives us the following ex- 

 cellent ideas : 



Deep cultivation is therefore essential to all 

 high culture. It gives more food and space to 

 the roots of plants, and thereby increases pro- 

 duction, but in dry times it especially secures 

 more moisture. The deeper the culture the 

 more rain is secured against surface drainage; 

 Hence, steep lands deeply ploughed are often 

 saved from washing, the soil absorbing all that 

 falls, and no surface drainage taking place. I 

 am now eating roasting ears of sweet Mexican 

 corn which grow upon stalks having had hardly 

 a single inch of rain. The ground was ploughed 

 deep and well pulverized; then the crop was 

 ploughed and hoed often, not waiting for weeds. 

 The space was small and used as an experiment. 

 The light rains and dews were utilized by imme- 

 diate hoeings, breaking all ciods, and drawing 

 the damp surface into broad, flat hills, thus 

 covering up, to some extent, the moisture. 

 Squash vines, which could not be hoed, laid 

 down in the same soil and ploughing, are entire- 

 ly dead ; and watermelon vines in grass sod, 

 turned ten inches deep, and followed by a small 

 plow throwing five inches more soil upon it, 

 making in all fifteen inches of depth, are barely 

 alive. Yet the corn grows under culture, the 

 melons not permitting it. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Grapes for a Cold Grapery,—" S. H.," Yar- 

 mouth, Mass., says: "I wrote you last month, 

 but it may have arrived too late. Which is the 

 best vine for a cold grapery, Gros Colman or 

 White Syrian, and which are best vines to get 

 from the South of France? Please answer in 

 your Gardener's Monthly." 



[It should be borne in mind by correspondents 

 that it takes a great many days work for the Ed- 

 itor to answer all the letters, and prepare for a 

 whole month's number of the magazine. The 

 matter for the printer has to go to the oflSce, for 

 the greater part, a month before the date of pub- 

 lication. Yet it is not unusual for some corres- 

 pondent, who may write on the 20th of the 

 month, to wonder why there is no notice of his 

 letter, when the magazine appears a few days 

 later. We do not wonder at this misconception, 

 for^few persons have a full idea of the immense 

 amount of work involved in getting up a num- 



ber like ours. In regard to the grapes, we would 

 not advise either of the grapes for a cold vinery. 

 There is nothing equal to the Black Hamburg 

 for this purpose. Nor do we think there would 

 be anything gained by introducing, for this pur- 

 pose, any from the South of France. Those 

 which have been already well tried in our vine- 

 ries should be preferred. — Ed. G. M.] 



Culture of the Quince.— Mrs. Alice M. A., 

 Kennett Square, Chester Co., Pa. This lady in- 

 quires for information as to the cultivation of 

 the quince. It is remarkable that so little has 

 been said of the culture of this fruit in works on 

 fruit culture, for it is one of the most useful of 

 fruits, and when well cultivated one of the most 

 profitable for market ventures. Though not 

 seemingly understood by authors on fruit, it is 

 by the old-fashioned but truly practical German 

 fruit gardeners of Southern Pennsylvania, where 

 large quantities are very profitably grown. 



For their successful cultivation there ia 

 nothing like a rich sandy soil. All fruits hate 

 poverty, but none turn up their noses more at the 

 man who cannot afi'ord manure, than the quince. 

 It dearly loves to be where it can have the wash- 

 ing of land above it, and hence when it finds 

 itself at the base of a steep hillside, it feels just 

 at home. Although for this reason it loves river 

 bottoms, it does not like standing water about 

 its roots; indeed, what is jocosely termed wet 

 feet by some fruit growers, is the especial abhor- 

 rence of the quince. All persons cannot have 

 just such situations for their quince trees, but 

 fortunately the plant will grow on the dryest 

 soil, with good success, if the surface be well 

 mulched. If one has the chance of hauling 

 some sand from ditches or river bottoms and 

 spreading it under the high ground trees, they 

 will do well. If this cannot be had, old corn 

 roots, gathered in spring from out of a corn 

 field, or any similar waste material that may 

 help to keep the body of the soil moist and 

 cool, does good. Kitchen waste mixed with 

 coal ashes is a capital mixture to spread under 

 the trees to keep the surface cool and make the 

 trees grow. 



To keep the soil cool and to keep the plants 

 manured enough to grow strongly, is the chief 

 art of quince culture ; but a few words may be 

 added on pruning. No fruit tree is so much 

 benefited by the free use of the knife, but only 

 to cut out the poor, weak branches. The strong 

 and vigorous ones should never be touched. 

 The chief troubles arise from the fire blight, 



