1883.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST, 



335 



necessary, and a moderate quantity of plain food, 

 of the quality which you find by experience best 

 to agree with you. No man, not even a physician, 

 can prescribe diet for another. A stomach is a 

 stomach, and it is impossible for any one to reason 

 with safety from his own to that of any other per- 

 son. There are a few general rules which any 

 man of common sense may learn in a week — such 

 as this : That rich food, high seasoning, etc., are 

 injurious. I can say no more to you, sir ; you 

 must go and cure yourself." 



Improved Horse-Shoes. — Good hard roads 

 are desirable to every pedestrian except horses. 

 The softer it is, the better for the " pedes " of 

 horses, unless it is too soft to bear the horse's 

 weight. How to get good, hard roads, and yet 

 have an elastic shoe, has long been the puzzle. 

 All improvements so far have been in the direc- 

 tion of a grooved shoe, with some elastic material 

 forced into the groove. But in all these cases the 

 shoe wears out soon, and the owners seem to pre- 

 fer to risk the wearing out of the horse than the 

 certain wear of the shoe. Now we are told that, 

 an English mechanic has invented a horse-shoe 

 composed of three thicknesses of cow-hide, com- 

 pressed into a steel mould, and subjected to a 

 chemical preparation. It will last longer than the 

 common shoe, weighs only one-fourth as much, 

 does not split the hoofs, requ'res no calks, and is 

 very elastic. 



Let this English mechanic come to America 

 if he wishes to make a fortune for himself instead 

 of his grandchildren only. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Fran'Cis B. Haves Grape. — We have some 

 bunches from the originator. It is a medium- 

 sized, very compact bunch. It would be like the 

 Telegraph if black. But it is a white grape— or, 

 rather, an amber color. The flavor is sweet, but, 

 hke the Catawba, it leaves an astringency in the 

 mouth if its sweetness is "long drawn out." It 

 strikes us as having a fair field before it for suc- 

 cessful competition with the numerous white va- 

 rieties now before the public. 



The Best Plums to Plant. — A correspondent 

 inquires for a list of plums which are found to do 

 well in the vicinity of Philadelphia. They all do 

 well. The writer has all the leading kinds, and 

 no one seems to succeed any better than the other. 

 For some years he had no fruit, through following 



the numerous schemes for saving labor, which 

 really required more hard work. The last two or 

 three years he has fallen back on the old method 

 of shaking the trees, and has all the fruit he de- 

 sires now. 



Root Disease in the Peach in California. 

 — A California correspondent writes : " Although 

 a stranger to you, I take the liberty to ask your 

 assistance to determine the disease or malady af- 

 fecting the peach roots, samples of which I send 

 you. The nursery has been aftected in a hke 

 manner for several years past ; but the chmax ap- 

 pears to have been reached with all the peach 

 stocks grown last season, for now over one-half 

 are either dead or dying. In many instances the 

 bud refuses to start when the top is removed in 

 the spring, but the tree soon dies instead. I have 

 made only one or two observations in regard to it, 

 and that is, that only peach roots are attacked by 

 it, and that moisture of soil appears to be favor- 

 able to it. The smaller sample sent you has al- 

 ready been killed by it ; the other sample, together 

 with a section of the top, were taken from a tree 

 .in a fair way to die soon. I notice in the Garden- 

 ers' Monthly, which I take, there is a consider- 

 able discussion about the 'yellows.' Has this any 

 connection with the ' yellows' ? Can you suggest 

 any remedy for this disease ? If so, please inform 

 us." 



[This disease is pi'oduced by one of the small 

 fungi, known as carbon molds; and is so very 

 small that even good microscopists have failed to 

 make out its exact character. 



The disease known as the " yellows " is differ- 

 ent from this ; though that also is brought about 

 by a parasitic root fungus. There is no cure for 

 "yellows," because it has done its work before the 

 grower is conscious of it. The rule is, to get rid 

 of the trees, and plant others. — Ed. G. M.] 



Peach Trees in City Yards. — For small city 

 yards there are no more satisfactory fruits than 

 peaches and grapes. We have occasionally noted 

 the great success of Mr. Blodget, in a city yard in 

 Philadelphia ; especially in connection with seed- 

 ling peaches. In a note from Mr. Blodget he 

 says of these: "I have just picked half-a-bushel, 

 the last of the matchless Percivals ; and my peo- 

 ple have put up since Friday last, loo quart and 

 two-quart glass jars of the two Golden CUngs. 

 My crop altogether is larger than last year ; and 

 while the quality is excellent, the sizes are less 

 regular. I shall lose several trees — fortunately 

 not yet the Percivals or Golden Clings, although 



