58 Editors Letter- Box. 



Selma. — In my garden are several very thrifty pear-trees, of good size, that 

 have been set more than ten years, and yet have not given a single specimen of 

 fruit. I have got almost out of patience, and want to know how I can make 

 them bear something ? — Some varieties are much longer coming into bearing 

 than others : the Urbaniste is one of this class ; the Dix is another, even more 

 tardy in fruiting : while on the other side is the Bartlett, that bears too young 

 and too much. If your trees have room to spread, let them grow : they will 

 begin to bear when they get ready, and be able, on account of their large size, 

 to give good crops. If you really need the fruit, or find they have already taken 

 as much room as you can spare for them, then check their growth, and thus 

 cause them to make fruit-buds for the following year. Some prefer to accom- 

 plish this result by root-pruning, and thus check the luxuriance of the tree. If 

 this is resorted to, let it be done with some caution, and in the fall or early 

 spring, before the trees have started. After a trench has been dug far enough 

 from the tree to leave what roots will be needed to support it, then fill in some 

 manure, and cover up again ; and, if the operation be properly jDcrformed, good 

 results will follow. Another way is to bend down the branches, and keep them 

 so bent for a month or two, that the growth of the tree may be checked. Pinch- 

 ing in the new wood all over the tree has a similar effect ; induces the formation 

 of fruit-buds ; and, the following season, you may expect a crop. When once the 

 trees begin to bear, they will continue fruitful, as a general thing. We have seen 

 dwarf pear-trees treated very much hke a grape-vine, trimmed back to mere 

 spurs, and so pinched in during the whole growing season, that the tree had 

 little else to do than to mature its fruit, and form buds for the next year's crop. 



Mrs. J. A. P., Darcyville, Haywood County, Tenn. — Beard's patent glass 

 houses are not yet for sale in this country, and we are unable to furnish 

 items of cost. We have written to England for information, and shall be able 

 to furnish full answers to all inquiries. If the statements of those well qualified 

 to judge are to be relied upon, the introduction of these houses will work a 

 revolution in greenhouse architecture. 



What do you mean by "portable greenhouses".'' In England, they have 

 greenhouses which can be erected in such a manner as not to become fixtures, 

 and which are moved away by the tenant at the expiration of the tenancy. They 

 are not to be procured in this country ; but we can obtain information if you 

 desire it. It would, however, be a very expensive thing to import a greenhouse 

 at the present price of exchange and the higii duties ; and, when obtained, it 

 would be unsuitable for our climate, as the pitch of the roof would not be. the 

 best for our sun. 



Idem. — You can procure slips or cuttings from any greenhouse. Write for 

 what you wish, and you can receive them safely by mail, done up in oiled silk. 

 Young plants can also be easily sent in this way to any part of the country. 

 Under the present postal law, bulbs, plants, cuttings, seeds, grafts, are carried 

 by mail for two cents for each four ounces, or less quantity. The contents of 

 the package, whether seeds, bulbs, et ccetcra, should be marked on the outside. 



