42 Notes and Gleanings. 



Missouri has been moving in tliis good work, and is likely to secure the val- 

 uable aid of a young man of great talent, Mr. C. V. Riley, whose scientific 

 research and labors in explaining the mysteries of insect-life are familiar to the 

 readers of " The Prairie Farmer." 



The State Horticultural Society of Ohio made an effort, at their last annual 

 meeting, in the hope of moving the legislature to make an appropriation for the 

 support of a State naturalist. This was seconded by the Agricultural Conven- 

 tion, which was addressed at length upon this subject by the President of the 

 Horticultural Society, with the effect of obtaining a strong indorsement by the 

 farmers. They have since been pouring in petitions from every county ; and, as 

 a result, the senate has originated a bill providing for the appointment of such 

 an officer, who shall report annually to the Board of Agriculture upon insect.s 

 injurious to our crops, upon insects not injurious, and upon those which are bene- 

 ficial ; also upon such birds as are injurious to fruit or grain, and upon the influ- 

 ence of birds in the destruction of injurious insects. This bill, it is believed, 

 will pass the legislature, and become a law. 



With regard to very young pear-trees, the object of pruning should be to 

 encourage the growth of wood in proper directions, rather than the production 

 of a few fruits at the expense of retarding that development of the tree. The 

 form in which the tree is to be trained must be first decided upon. For walls 

 and espaliers, the horizontal disposition of the branches is the best. If the tree 

 be a maiden plant, it must be headed back to three buds, — to the two best situated 

 for producing a horizontal branch on each side ; whilst the third, or uppermost, is 

 trained upright. If the tree is a year older, and has been treated as above in the 

 former season, the upright is to be cut a foot, or four courses of brick, higher 

 than it was formerly. Sometimes a little deviation will be necessary on account 

 of the buds ; but generally the upright should be cut immediately above that bud 

 which is nearest the line of brick-work along which it is desirable the horizontals 

 should be trained. The buds to produce the latter will, of course, be situated 

 below that line : it is proper they should be so, in order that the shoots may 

 grow diverging upwards a little way before they take a strictly horizontal direction. 

 These instructions with regard to the management of the upright leading shoot 

 are applicable every year till it is finally stopped on reaching the top of the wall 

 or espalier. If the horizontal shoots are weak, it will be advisable to shorten 

 them about one-third. — English "Journal of Horticulture. 



The Onondaga Grape. — W. Brown Smith, Syracuse, N.Y., wtites of this 

 as follows : "The Onondaga Grape is a seedling grown in Fayetteville, in this 

 county. A cross between Diana and Delaware. It appears to be entirely 

 hardy, quite as much so as the Delaware ; and the fruit ripens at the same time 

 ivith it. It is of amber color, good size, nearly as large as the Diana. We think 

 it combines, in some degree, the flavor of both these varieties, Diana and Dela- 

 ware. It has a thick skin, and is a good keeper. The amount of wood it makes 

 is not large; but what there is is strong, similar to the Diana." — American 

 Pomological Society. 



