04 



The Horticulim^t and Journal 



Led of Lycopod, with here and there mag- 

 nificent blooms of Marechal Nicl and other 

 grand roses, interspersed with Lilies of the 

 Valley. 



The decorator who supplied these flowers, 

 pays upwards of S2,000 annually for cut 

 blooms of these varieties of Geraniums, and 

 $3,500 a year for Lycopodium Denticulatuni. 



J^i'ofit.i of Grtipe Culture. 



Although the profits of grape growing 

 have steadily declined during the past five 

 years, and many discouraged cultivators are 

 yearly giving up all interest in the subject, 

 yet there are occasional examples of local 

 success. 



One grower, three miles from Washington, 

 D. C, planted in the spring of 1866, 1,000 

 vines, one-half of them Concords, the others 

 of various kinds. The third year he built 

 a trellis, trained the vines, and allowed 

 some to bear as much as 15 lbs. each. All 

 the fruit was sold for 15 cents per lb. As 

 his vines came more into bearing, prices 

 steadily declined until, in the fifth year, they 

 were but one-half the prices of the first 

 year, yet his produce was so heavy, the 

 vines netted him $70 per acre. 



Starvint/ I'ear Trees. 



We never yet knew any way to make 

 pear trees bear, but to feed them well and 

 take care of them, but even too much of 

 this brings the blight, especially on natu- 

 rally rich ground. To escape this blight, 

 some growers take the other extreme, and 

 recommend starving them. Mr. George 

 Hussmann, of Missouri, takes this ground, 

 which we think sorry advice for all parts of 

 the United States. It might answer for the 

 rich soil of Missouri, but not for the East- 

 ern States. 



Mr. H. says he has been growing pears 

 for twenty-five years. When he commenced 

 he had pears on rich land and cultivated 

 them highly ; they grew fast, and as soon 

 as they commenced to bear, commenced to 

 blight. 



" I looked into the matter carefully and 

 thoroughly, and soon became convinced that, 



in order to raise pears successfully we must 

 starve our trees ; and the next pear orchard I 

 planted and cultivated with this end in view, 

 and I succeeded, and one of the regrets of my 

 life is that I ever disposed of that orchard. 

 It is a permanent income to the present 

 owner. It consists of 900 trees, 300 dwarf 

 and 600 standard for market, and some 150 

 specimen trees for experiment. My trees 

 were selected and grown with low heads. 

 In this way a standard will bear as early 

 as a dwarf, especially on poor soil. Stand- 

 ard Bartletts will bear the second year from 

 planting ; Beurre Bosc and Flemish Beauty 

 the third, and nearly all the fourth year. 

 Choose poor soil, plow deeply, get your 

 trees with low heads, plant carefully, and 

 give very little cultivation and no manure, 

 and you need not apprehend much, if any, 

 damage from blight." 



We have a pear orchard planted on light 

 soil, yet we find it pays to manure them 

 well with bone, lime, ashes, muck, etc. None 

 of these fertilizers will ever induce blight. 

 No pear grower should neglect giving his 

 trees good nourishment. The starving pro- 

 cess is a failure at last. 



Atuericnn Pears in Tjondon. 



Specimen pears from the famous pear 

 orchard of G. F. B. Leighton, Norfolk. Va., 

 were sent the past season to London, Eng- 

 land, and exposed for sale in Covent Garden 

 market. They were pronounced equal, both 

 in size and flavor, to the same kind of pears 

 imported from France. They weighed from 

 16 to 21 ozs. each, and measured 14^ inches 

 in circumference. 



Printers' InTc, 



Some of our readers may remember that 

 four or five years ago the claims of printers' 

 ink as a protection against the canker worm 

 were very generally and thoroughly dis- 

 cussed in all the Eastern Agricultural papers. 

 Since then the subject seems to have 

 dropped and become remarkably quiet. In 

 the meantime its friends have not been idle, 

 and with faith inspired, and faithful in 

 works, have kept at its constant use. We 



