Notes and Gleanings. 371 



Asphalt- Walks. — The following is the mode of forming them : Take two 

 parts of very dry lime-rubbish, and one part coal-ashes, also very dry, and both 

 sifted fine. In a dry place, on a dry day, mix them ; and leave a hole in the mid- 

 dle of the heap, as bricklayers do when making mortar. Into this pour boiling- 

 hot coal-tar; mix ; and, when as stiff as mortar, put it three inches thick where 

 the walk is to be. The ground should be dry, and beaten smooth. Sprinkle 

 over it coarse sand : when cold, pass a light roller over it, and in a few days the 

 walk will be solid and water-proof. 



These walks do very well during the greater part of the year : they are, how- 

 ever, liable, if tlie subsoil is not well drained, to be unsettled by frost ; and some- 

 times in summer the heat of the sun so softens the asphaltum as to make them 

 undesirable for a promenade. 



Quince Stock for Pears. — With regard to the quince as a stock for the 

 pear, — ist. The disposition of its roots is more shallow: hence it is better 

 adapted for thin soils ; also for planting where the subsoil is of an unfavorable 

 character, such as a wet, undrained, stiff clay impregnated with iron. On shal- 

 low soils, the quince, having its roots near the surface, can be fed by rich top- 

 dressings ; and, as its roots do not descend into the subsoil, the trees do not die 

 of canker as when the pear stock is employed where the subsoil is calculated to 

 produce that evil. In thin soils, however, the pear on the quince should be 

 planted on a raised mound, which secures roots near the surface ; and any loss 

 of moisture and coolness can be counterbalanced by rich surface-dressings, 

 copious supplies of water, and liquid manure occasionally in dry weather. Fur- 

 ther, the shallow disposition of the quince-roots is in its favor where the situa- 

 tion and soil are low and wet, because pear-trees in such soil root deeply, and 

 abundance of wood is produced; but the prospect of a crop is small, and, if 

 canker do not commence, the trunk and brandies of the tree are plentifully cov- 

 ered with moss. The quince on such soils is quite at home, requiring only to 

 be planted on a mound or hillock twice as high as where the soil is shallow ; 

 that is, in a wet soil, the tree should be planted on a mound twice the height of 

 the roots, measuring from the uppermost fibres to the ba.<;e ; which distance, on 

 an average, I find to be nine inches : hence the mound should be from a foot to 

 fifteen inches above the ground-level ; whilst, on shallow soils, the trees may be 

 placed on the ground, and the roots covered with soil. 



2d, The tree is more dwarf in growth. This is an incalculable advantage. 

 An amateur with but a few square yards of open ground can have his pear-trees. 

 They do not grow so vigorously as to smother every thing else ; and though 

 small, and occupying but litde space, he has not to wait years for the fruit : 

 whilst, if he were to plant trees on the pear stock, he would probably have no 

 more than room for one tree, growing well, no doubt ; but years must elapse be- 

 fore it can furnish an abundance of fruit, and that coming in all at one time. 

 On the quince, the trees fruit in a year or two at most ; and, as they occupy less 

 space, several varieties may be grown, so as to afford a successional supply. 



3d, The quince will grow and thrive where the pear will not. In a cold, wet 

 situation, pears on the quince will ripen fruit when those on the pear stock will 



