Editors Letter- Box. 317 



P. B., Mass., wishes to know how he can best protect his grape-vines from 

 the attacks of the rose-chafter, which annually appears in great numbers, con- 

 suming the blossoms, and disfiguring the foliage. — The only reliable means yet 

 known for destroying the rose-chaffer, or rose-bug, is to gather them day after day, 

 by hand, or by brushing them into vessels of water, and by shaking or beating 

 them from the trees into sheets spread undemeath, and then crushing, burning, 

 or scalding them. But it requires the combined efforts of many persons, when 

 a district is overrun, to rid it of the pests. 



We have never been troubled by rose-bugs but once, when they appeared in 

 great numbers on a lot of young cherry-trees in the nursery. We immediately 

 set a boy at work gathering them into a pail with a little water in the bottom. 

 At night, the cold water was poured off, and boiling water poured in. The job 

 was completed in four days, about a peck of insects having been collected ; and 

 we have never been troubled with rose-bugs since. 



B. F. wishes information with regard to the difference in the hardiness of the 

 popular varieties of the peach, and desires us to give the names of two or three 

 sorts best suited for cultivation in the interior of New England. — We recom- 

 mend Cooledge's Favorite, Crawford's Early, and Oldmixon Free. Red-cheek 

 Melacoton and Kenrick's Heath may be added ; but the latter, though very hardy, 

 is only of second quality. It is entirely distinct from the Heath Cling. George 

 IV. is hardy and of delicious quality. The true Early York is very early and very 

 fine, but somewhat tender. It has serrated leaves ; and most of that class are 

 tender, the old Early Ann, Fay's Early Ann, and Early Sweetwater so much 

 so, that they have been dropped from cultivation. Seedling peach-trees will 

 often give a crop when all others fail ; and, if we wished to raise peaches in a 

 northern region, we should endeavor to secure stones from seedling varieties of 

 fine quality, as they would be likely to produce the same. In default of these, 

 we would plant seeds of the best worked varieties, taking care that they were 

 grown on healthy trees. A large proportion of these would probably give fine 

 fruit. 



B. inquires, " What are dwarf trees ? " — They are trees grafted on a slow- 

 growing stock, which would not attain so large a size as the species grafted on 

 it. Dwarf pears are now grafted only upon quinces ; but, formerly, the thorn 

 was used. They are less hardy than upon pear-stocks, and require higher cul- 

 tivation ; and are therefore less adapted for orchard than for garden culture. 

 For the latter, they possess many advantages, the greatest of which is, that they 

 come into bearing much sooner than standards. They also admit a greater 

 variety in a small garden, and, being within easy reach, can be much better 

 controlled and trained than tall standards. 



Dwarf apples are grafted upon several species of shrubby apples known as 

 Paradise or Doucin stocks. They frequently produce fruit when not more than 

 two feet high, and are perfectly hardy. 



The cherry is dwarfed by grafting on the Prunus Mahaleb, and is more hardy 

 than on the Mazzard stock, which is used for standards. 



