Notes and Gleanings. 233 



ciety at Mattoon. We attempted to make some extracts from it, but found it all 

 so good that we gave up, and concluded that the only thing to be done was to 

 publish the whole. Ed.] 



The Hebe Pear. — The Rural Carolinian describes and figures this new 

 variety originated by Mr. William Summer, of Pomaria, S. C. It promises to be 

 an important acquisition, but has not yet been so widely tested as to determine 

 its value for general cultivation. It is thus described by Mr. Summer: — 



" Fruit large, specimens frequently weighing twenty-eight ounces ; color lemon 

 yellow, inclining to greenish, dotted all over with russet specks and deep irregu- 

 lar russet blotches ; stem short, thick, and in a deep basin ; form round obovate, 

 with irregular protuberances, similar to those of the Duchesse d'Angouleme ; 

 flesh sprightly, melting, buttery, with a slight vinous flavor ; seeds never ma- 

 tured, and seldom formed at all ; ripens in South Carolina in December ; tree 

 vigorous, with finely matured wood, free from thorns ; shape of tree naturally 

 pyramidal." 



Protection of Plants in Winter. — At the annual meeting of the Mont- 

 gomery County (Ohio) Horticultural Society, Mr. J. H. W. Mumma spoke of 

 the necessity of protecting plants during the winter. For strawberries, he had 

 found sawdust entirely useless, three fourths of all the plants protected with it 

 being dead in spring. He had tried spent tan bark with tolerably good re- 

 sults, but in its new state it is apt to sour the ground and cause the plants to 

 mildew. He had known sorghum stalks used, but judged that they were not 

 very good. 



Straw is a good protection when free from grass seed. The offal of a flax mill 

 has been used ; but it lies too heavy on the plants, and has an objectionable amount 

 of seed mixed with it. Forest leaves are as good a protection as can be had 

 when they can be placed around the plants so as not to be blown away ; but the 

 best material is fodder, which he had used with perfect success. He has a power 

 machine which cuts and grinds the stalks very fine, so that they can be worked 

 in around the plants. He uses it for bedding for horses, and applies it to the 

 plants after it is thrown out of the stalls. It acts both as a fertilizer and a winter 

 protection. It is excellent for protecting flowers, and for mulching raspberry, 

 blackberry, and currant bushes, etc. He applies a good-sized double handful to 

 a hill of strawberries, so as to nearly cover it, leaving it on in the spring, and let- 

 ting the plants grow up through it, so that the fruit rests on the mulch. All straw- 

 berries and other small fruits should be mulched either with straw, leaves, or 

 fodder. We should plant less, cultivate more, and give more attention to winter 

 protection, and success will be sure. 



The Grape Crop of Tennessee last year was large and of excellent quali- 

 ty. The premature dropping of the leaves — a disease which sometimes does a 

 great deal of damage to grape vines in that state — was not much noticed last 

 year. 



