DIVISION OF GARDENS AND GROUNDS. 675 
afterwards in the condition in which it was put on. I have used lime at the rate 
of 25 bushels to the acre, but not with the result expected, and intend to apply the 
same quantity of common salt, in the hope that it will destroy the worms. 
Will you kindly say if I have adopted the proper method ? and any advice you may 
tender will be very kindly received and carefully followed. 
Answer.—There can be no permanent or satisfactory improvement made upon 
such land as described until it is thoroughly tile-drained. Thorough draining 
would involve parallel lines of tiles not more than 25 feet 2part, and placed to a 
depth ayeraging 30 inches. ‘Then it should be deeply plowed in the fall; fall plow- 
ing is an important factor in the management of heavy land, as no mechanical ap- 
pliances can pulverize it so effectually as the influence of frost. 
After plowing in the fall, sow salt at the rate of 15 to 20 bushels per acre, and 
when it is dry enough to work in spring, spread lime over the surface at the rate 
of from 50 to 75 bushels per acre and harrow it in before putting in a crop. 
It should be well understood that land of this character should never be worked 
when wet. After heavy summer rains there is always a period between wetting and 
drying when it can be pulverized on the surface and thus effectually prevent its be- 
coming hard or compact. 
Draining will greatly modify the tendency to cake or become hard on the surface. 
It will also allow of a gradual deepenin of the plowed stratum, and is, in fact, the 
foundation of all improvement towards increasing the productiveness of lands rest- 
ing upon a clay subsoil. 
APPLE TREES. 
J. kK. &., FAIRFIELD County, S. C. 
* * * Also, I want what information you can give me about apple trees for 
this climate. Iam told that Northern-grown trees, or trees from Northern nurs- 
eries, are not desirable, as the fruit will not keep for any length of time during the 
winter, or after it is taken from the tree. I am comparatively a new-comer here, 
but would like to set out some apple as well as other fruit trees, and would act ad- 
visedly in the matter. 
Answer.—So far as concerns the trees, provided they have been weli grown, 
healthy, and wood properly matured, it probably makes but little difference whether 
they are from Northern or from Southern nurseries; but when it comes to the 
selection of varieties, especially winter-keeping kinds, itis essential to recognize that 
most of the Northern winter varieties become summer and fall ripening kinds when 
grown in South Carolina. 
It therefore becomes necessary to precure the best kinds from Southern nurseries, 
where attention has been given tothe propagation of fruit specially adapted to their 
sections, of which there are numerous varieties, which for size, beauty, and quality, 
are equal to any produced in more northern regions. 
COFFEE. 
W. W., Erte County, N. Y. 
my desirous of gaining information in regard to the cultivation and raising of 
coftee. : 
I should like also to get cuttings or slips of the coffee tree for grafting purposes. 
I have a ranch in California upon which there is wild coffee growing which pro- 
duces a berry similar to Mocha, only smaller. If I could get cuttings or buds to 
graft I should like to make an effort to see what could be done in the matter. 
Answer.—The so-called Wild Coffee of California is the seed of a plant belonging 
to the Buckthorn family, called Rhamnus Californicus, and has no more relation to 
Arabian coffee than it has to a hazel bush or a maple tree. 
Of course it would be wholly impracticable to graft or bud the coffee into a 
Rhamnus and expect the cion to grow. 
The Coffee plant, so far as experiments have been noted, has not been a success 
in California. 
The tropical summer period is too short and the winter temperature too low over 
by far the greater pertion of the State. The Coffee plant suffers or is checked in 
growth when its surrounding temperature is so low as 40° F, 
