Editor's Lctter-Box. 351 



S. N., Boston. — There is no need of your waiting till every leaf has fallen 

 from j'our dwarf pear trees before removing them. You can transplant as soon 

 as the leaves are loosened, so as to be easily stripped off by passing the hand 

 down the shoots ; and though the ground may not freeze immediately, we are 

 very likely to have cold storms, which will make it 'cold and damp, and less 

 pleasant to work in as well as less favorable for the trees. We would strip off 

 the leaves, as they may still evaporate a little moisture, and the loss will not be 

 supplied by a newly-planted tree. Protect the roots with a covering of litter or 

 coarse manure on the surface of the ground as far as they reach. 



N. S. N. — A co.'ivenient way of making liquid manure, is to put a teaspoon- 

 ful of guano in a quart of water, and use once a week. Don't think you are 

 going to make your plants grow twice as fast by using it twice as strong ; you 

 had much better use it weaker than stronger. 



Mrs. J. H. B., Dyer Station, Lake Co., Ind. — Physianthiis albus is generally 

 considered a green-house plant ; but it has stood the winter in the vicinity of 

 Boston. It sliould, however, have a slight covering. 



A. P. J., Fond du Lac, Wis. — Gloxinias should not be taken up, but the pot 

 should be laid on the side to ripen off the bulb. If the bulb shows signs of 

 shrivelling, it must have water enough to prevent it. We hope soon to give a 

 full article on these beautiful flowers by a very successful cultivator. 



J. C, New Haven, Conn. — No special application of chemical or other fer- 

 tilizers has been found eilectual in counteracting the tendency to lose the foliage 

 and crack, in the case of the White Doyenne and Flemish Beauty pears, and 

 others similarly affected. The White Doyenne, when well cultivated in sheltered 

 city gardens, is as fair as ever, but some such specimens which we have tasted 

 were inferior in flavor to smaller and comparatively rough ones grown in our 

 own garden. 



R. U. — Rhubarb is commonly propagated by division of the roots, and autumn 

 is the best time to do it, as the plants start so early in the spring that it is diffi- 

 cult to do it in season. It is not usually raised from seed, except when it is 

 desired to produce new varieties. A friend who had raised many new varieties, 

 informed us that some of them when eaten produced vomiting as certainly as a 

 dose of ipecac. It is well known that the plant contains much oxalic acid, and 

 that death has been caused by eating the leaves when boiled as greens ; but the 

 quantity in the stems is not sufficient to be injurious. We sent some seeds to a 

 friend in Kansas, at a time when transportation of the roots would have been too 

 costly ; and he was successful in producing excellent rhubarb, without any of the 

 unpleasant emetic properties mentioned above. When the stalks are wanted for 

 use, the flower buds should be removed ; and this had been done to ours, except- 

 ing a few which escaped notice ; but if seed is wanted, a few of the earliest and 

 best flower stalks should be carefully saved. 



