of Rural Art and Taste. 



95 



have now some positive testimony from a 

 very authoritative source, which cannot be 

 disbelieved, in favor of this article, and we 

 think it bhould be made widely known. 



Mr. Pratt, Superintendent of the Public 

 Grounds at Concord, Mass., has for the past 

 three years had charge of the noble Elms 

 which line the streets of the ancient and 

 historic town. He has experimented care- 

 fully with printers' ink, by applying it in 

 various ways to the fruit trees, sometimes 

 directly to the bark, then by daubing tarred 

 or brown paper and winding that around 

 close to the ground. He has found it com- 

 pletely effectual, and has had best success 

 by merely smoothing the rough bark slightly 

 with a drawing shave, and then spreading 

 the ink directly upon the shaved surface. 



It does not injure the tree, and is not only 

 much faster put on, but more efficacious 

 even than the use of the tarred or sheathing 

 paper, for there is then left no hiding place 

 for th3 moth. 



The slightest contact with the ink is death 

 to the insect. 



After using the ink upon all trees, large 

 and small, Elm and Apple, without any 

 paper, and for a period of three years, he 

 se<^s no injurious effect on any tree. 



I'ltmts for Umif/ing liiishets. 



Why will writers persist in recommend- 

 ing the Coleus for hanging baskets ? We 

 think it very unsuitable, yet we see it almost 

 invariably spoken of. It is too tall, requires 

 a hot place, while most of the plants in the 

 basket, such as forns, etc., are lovers of cool, 

 moist earth, and even partially shady situ- 

 ations. The Coleus is very fine for an open, 

 standing basket, but never for a hanging 

 one. No plant of high upright growth, say 

 over one foot, should be used, yet we see 

 Fuchsias and Geraniums universally ap- 

 proved. Such plants as Lobelias, Ivies, 

 Linaria, Vincas, Ferns, Sedum and Begonia 

 are all very suitable. Carnations only look 

 best in open standing pots. The use of 

 moss placed over the top of the earth in the 

 basket is a capital plan for retaining an 

 even moisture in a dry, hot room. 



Tub Horticulturist is always welcome 

 and read with unusual interest. Every 

 paragraph it contains is readable and inter- 

 esting, and to fruit-growers, gardeners, flor- 

 ists, and every style of horticulturists, it is 

 a treasure, constantly advancing and im- 

 proving in matter and finish. It leads the 

 host of horticulture, and is the oldest and 

 best in America. — Utah Pomologist and 

 Gardener. 



starving I'e.ar Trees. 



Since writing a previous paragraph on Pear 

 trees, on this very subject we have met with 

 a little capital advice given by Shirley Hib- 

 berd, of the hondon Gardener's Magazine^ 

 to an inquirer who asked why his trees and 

 fruit did not thrive. He tells him that his 

 trees and fruit are shrivelled by root pru- 

 ning, and then adds — " you had better burn 

 Mr. Rivers' books, forget all you have read 

 about root pruning and pinching, and other 

 starving processes, and lay a foot deep of 

 fat stable manure over the roots of the trees 

 at once. The trees have been trying hard 

 to do you good service, and in your light 

 soil want help, and, as regards roots, they 

 cannot have too many." 



A. IPuie Uorticulttiral Tjibrarij, 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 have, we suppose, the best collection of 

 agricultural and horticultural books of any 

 institution in the United States. At con- 

 siderable expense, a complete catalogue has 

 been prepared and printed, a copy of which 

 we acknowledge the receipt. 



Knral Felicities. 



Vegetation at Bethlehem.— Cornfields 

 and vineyai'ds creep along the ancient ter- 

 races. In the spring, the hills and valleys 

 are covered with thin grass, and the aromatic 

 shrubs, which clothe, more or less, almost the 

 whole of Syria and Arabia. But they also 

 glow, with what is peculiar to Palestine, a 

 profusion of wild flowers, Daisies, and a 

 white flower called the Star of Bethlehem; 

 with a blaze of wild flowers of all kinds. 



