i6o Editor's Letter-Box. 



Mr. Editor : — By your kindness I have received three numbers of your 

 excellent Journal, in the April number of which I find an article on " PruTiing," 

 by George Jaques, Esq., which I know to be sound throughout. 



I have been pruning all deciduous trees on or about the summer solstice, as 

 nearly as practicable, for more than twenty years, and with the best success. 



I also concur in opinion with him, that good oil paint is as good a protector 

 to the wood of the amputated limb as we need. J. W. 



Baltimore, April 3. 



[We have seen lately in one of our exchanges a statement, that the liquid 

 grafting-wax, described in our last number, had proved superior to paint for 

 covering wounds in trees. The wounds healed more quickly. — Ed.] 



Fruit Prospects at Norfolk, Va. — The peach and pear blossoms have 

 opened nearly together this season, the pear opening nine days earlier than last 

 year. Hopes are entertained of a good crop. G. F. B. L. 



March 23. 



A. C. T., Nauvoo, 111. — Some of the best Cannas for foliage are annei, 

 jnuscBfolia, nigricans, }naxi?na, zebrina, atro-ttigricans, and gigantea. For 

 flowers, bicolor and limbata, and for both foliage and flowers nepalensis. An 

 excellent article on C. Bihorelli and Rendatleri, is published in the present 

 number. 



The only Caladiums useful for bedding out, are esciilenta and bataviense. 

 For culture under glass, argyrites, 7nirabile, chantini, and tricolor, are among 

 the best. On page 357 of our last volume, you will find the names of the varie- 

 ties which took the first premiums at the Annual Exhibition of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society. They are all fine. 



G. B., Baltimore, Md. — Hard wooded plants may easily be kept in a pot 

 sunk about three feet in a well-drained soil, and covered with glazed sashes, and 

 in very cold weather with straw, mats, or boards. Air should be given when- 

 ever the weather is mild. But for herbaceous plants you will need a house, and 

 we doubt whether the " Green-house for a Short Purse " would answer at Balti- 

 more without fire heat. A cheap and effectual way of warming a green-house, 

 is by a stove, with a flue and chimney built of pipes, either cement or vitrified, 

 such as are used for house draining. If wood or charcoal is used, the stove 

 may be in the green-house ; if coal containing sulphur is used, it must be in a 

 separate apartment. If you have a hill-side, with a southern aspect, into which 

 you can build your green-house, it will assist greatly in economizing fuel, and in 

 any case the walls may be made double, and filled with tan or similar material, 

 and banked on the outside with tan, so as to effect a great saving. 



The pansy is a plant of a cool climate ; and while the seed may be sown in a 

 warm place, especially in autumn, the plants should be transplanted into a cool, 

 moist spot, but not with too much shade. 



