Editors Letter- Box. 191 



B., St. Louis, Mo., writes, " I liave this year tried an experiment in protect- 

 ing my half-hardy rose-bushes. They are first tied up ; then covered with 

 straight straw, put up and down, which is tied fast. The earth is then hilled up 

 six or eight inches around the bottom of the straw. The whole is then covered 

 with tarred roofing-felt in a conical form, so that the bottom of the cone shall go 

 below the top of the hill of eartli. By this arrangement, the rain is thrown en- 

 tirely away from the roots of the rose-bushes, instead of running down the 

 straw among the branches and roots. Can some of your readers tell me whether 

 the coal-tar on the roofing-felt will injure the roses, with the straw interven- 

 ing?" — The coal-tar can hardly be injurious, as it is not soluble in water ; and, 

 even if it were, the cones of earth would conduct the water away from the roots. 

 We shall be interested to hear the result of your experiment. — Eds. 



E. W. B. — You cannot successfully keep your grapes far into the winter. 

 The best preservative is cork-dust, in which all foreign grapes which come to 

 this market are packed. Much, however, depends upon the condition of the 

 grapes : they must not be over-ripe, nor yet too green. Some varieties will 

 keep very well if laid in a dry, cool place : the berries shrivel a little, but do not 

 rot. Another mode is to cut the bunches when fully ripe, seal up the stem with 

 wax, and hang them up in a dry, frost-proof room. We have seen it advised to 

 suspend the bunch by a string tied round the lower part of the stem, thus revers- 

 ing the order of Nature ; but, beyond the berries thus falling more away from 

 each other, we have seen no advantage in it. The grand secret of success, in a 

 word, is to keep a dry, cool, even temperature. 



B. A. S., Haverhill, Mass. — The pears sent are Bleeker's Meadow, some- 

 times called Feaster or Feaster's Meadow. It is a native fruit, introduced by 

 Bloodgood & Co., of Long Island, some tliirty-five years ago. It is by no 

 means of first quality. 



Our esteemed correspondent Mr. Eugene A. Baumann writes us as follows 

 in answer to questions addressed us by a friend as to the management of varie- 

 gated ivies : — 



" To get a better growth of these plants, I plant them generally in open 

 ground in spring, and pot some of the best in the fall to keep them under 

 glass. In open ground, they turn freely green : those that keep the variegation 

 grow very little compared to those that turn green ; but if potted, and kept shady, 

 the growth they make under glass returns variegated again, and we have them 

 in spring very fine plants. The Taurian ivy is very heady, but a slow grower. 

 Some of the variegated Irish I have planted in the greenhouse, in shady corners, 

 where they grow luxuriantly, and keep the variegation all over, except on early 

 shoots, which we have to suppress. I propose trying whether, with a different 

 soil, the variegation may not be made more permanent: there must be some- 

 what in this operation, as plants I have sold to other parties are in some places 

 much finer than my own, although very strong, and kept out doors on the shady 

 side of buildings." 



