No. 9. The Dix Pear. — The Duke of Devonshire's Conservatory. 



289 



to £55, and in several instances, £60, or 

 perhaps fully j£60 was obtained. Good mares 

 were also much in demand, and can scarcely 

 be quoted lower, according to quality, than 

 the best order of colts. Young colts and 

 mares rising from 2 to 3 years, were equally 

 in demand and brought from £30 to £40; 

 roadsters and harness horses were not nu- 

 merously offered, but were high in propor- 

 tion ; few ponies were offered ; on Wednes- 

 day the features of the market were not ma- 

 terially different from those of Tuesday. 

 The show was again rather below an ave- 

 rage, but the demand was fully as good, and 

 prices perhaps a shade higher. Secondary 

 animals were according to quality high in 

 price. As one feature we may notice, that 

 Mr. Gumming, a dealer from Glasgow, had 

 fully 100 animals, purchased recently either 

 in the surrounding districts, or picked up in 

 our market on Tuesday, which may be esti- 

 mated, taking one with another, at no less 

 than £50. Out of that stock he made a 

 number of sales to railway contractors and 

 others. — Kelso Mail. 



The Dix Pear.— A Profitable Tree. 



A neighbour of ours, who resides but a few- 

 rods from us, and in whose garden stands the 

 Dix pear, has recently harvested the crop. 

 After the high winds of autumn, and more 

 particularly the gale of the 13th of Septem- 

 ber, he gathered, about the first of Novem- 

 ber, two barrels of pears. These were in- 

 tended for his own use; but a dealer, who 

 had seen the pears upon the tree, and knew 

 something of their value, made him the 

 tempting offer of fourleen dollars for one 

 barrel. Having so large a quantity, he re- 

 luctantly consented to let them go. Some 

 weeks subsequent to this, in conversation 

 with the person who purchased them, he in- 

 quired how much he gained by his purchase; 

 he stated that he had sold ticenty-five dozen 

 atjive shillings per dozen, and eight dozen 

 at about seventy-Jive cents per dozen, the 

 latter being of the smallest size, the barrel 

 netting upwards of twenty three dollars ; the 

 whole having been sold to retail dealears in 

 Boston, to sell again. Thus the two barrels, 

 had they both been sold, would have brought 

 the very great sum of .1H6. The tree was 

 not so full, nor the pears so large and hand- 

 some, as in 1845, when onr drawing was 

 made. It will be difficult to find a more pro- 

 fitable tree. — Mag. of Horticulture. 



is composed of hog's lard, wheat flour, and 

 black lead (plumbago.) The lard is to be 

 melted over a gentle fire, ;ind the other in- 

 gredients — eijuul weight — may be added, till 

 the composition is brought to a consistency 

 of conuiion paste, without raising the heat 

 near the boiling point. One trial of this 

 paste will satisfy any one of its superior 

 utility. — Exchange paper. 



The Duke of Devonshire's Conservatory. 



Ofthis grand conservatory no better idea can 

 be given than by telling you that it is a glass 

 structure which covers an acre of ground 

 — and that the carriage road is continued 

 directly through it, so that the duke and his 

 guests can drive through with a coach and 

 four! The whole building is heated by hot 

 water, the pipes to convey which measure 

 miles. — The temperature of various climates 

 is imitated, and the collection of trees and 

 plants embraces all that is fairest and love- 

 liest in the vegetable world. Here is a 

 whole avenue of bananas and plantains, lin- 

 ing one of the grand walks, and among them 

 the Musa Caveveisoii, foil of flowers, and 

 laden with heavy masses of fruit. There, 

 in an appropriate climate, is a charming 

 grove of oranges and lemons. In an aqua- 

 rium or pond of water are the lilies, and other 

 aquatic plants of the tropics. And near by 

 is a wild mass of rock work, of Derbyshire 

 spar — looking like a rich bank by a forest 

 stream, where rare exotic ferns, lichens and 

 air plants enjoy something as near as possi- 

 ble to their natural homes. 



Over this hill of rock work, is conducted 

 a flight of steps; this leads yon to a light 

 gallery carried quite around the conserva- 

 tory, whence, as you imagine, the eye of the 

 spectator revels in the strangeness and no- 

 velty of the masses of oriental vegetation, 

 not plants half starved and dwarfed in pots, 

 but trees nearly full grown, and lu.xuriani 

 with their roots in the warm soil — palms, 

 dates, and bananas, developing almost all 

 their native grandeur and oriental wildness! 



Greasing Carriage Wheels. — The best 

 composition that can be prepared, to relieve 

 carriage wheels and machmery from friction, 



DovvNi.NG says the Plum is naturally a 

 marine tree, and it is surprising how much 

 salt it will assimilate and thrive upon. We 

 have, ourselves, given a single large tree a 

 half bushel of salt in a season, applied to 

 the surface of the ground in the spring, over 

 an area as wide as the extent of the branch- 

 es. The tree was in a sickly and enfeebled 

 state, and it had the effect of restoring it to 

 a liealthy and lu.xuriant condition. But we 

 consider this an extreme case, and should 

 not recommend the abundant use of salt 

 every year. 



