Editors Letter- Box. 381 



Editors of Tilton's "Journal of Horticulture : " — 



In an article entitled " Remarks on the Pink Family," written by that eminent 

 horticulturist, Joseph Breck, Esq., in your April number, I find at page 200, line 

 II, an error which I desire to correct. 



There is no such expression in the French language Tii, piquettke. The French 

 word Mr. Breck doubtless intended to use is the adjective picote., which latter 

 means " dotted '" or rather "pitted;" for instance, picote de la petite verole, 

 "pitted with the small-pox ; " and expresses the peculiar color of the flower. 



Piqueite, a substantive in the French language, resembling in orthography 

 the term erroneously used in the article, possesses a totally different meaning. 

 It is a word applied to a liquor pressed out of grapes, after they have been 

 squeezed, and water poured upon them ; an inferior kind of wine in use among 

 the poorer classes of France for centuries past, that differs, as you will perceive, 

 from the "gallized" article now extensively transmuted from water into wine by 

 the alchemists of the New Missouri School only in one particular, viz., the ad- 

 dition of sugar previous to fermentation ; a substance the French, from motives 

 of economy, I presume, do not employ in the fabrication o'i \.\\&\r piqiietie. 



As in the West, at least, thanks to the strenuous efforts of growers and deal- 

 ers who believe in manufacturing and selling rather for immediate profit than 

 for a lasting reputation, "gallized" wine is gradually superseding the pure 

 fermented juice of the grape, I suggest, that, for the want cT an Anglo-Saxon 

 term to designate the new article, we apply henceforth to this particular class of 

 fermented beverages the French appellation o{ piqjteite, to distinguish the same 

 from the juice of the grape fermented without the use of sugar, water, or other 

 chemical ingredients, and which latter, we will, for the present, in accordance 

 with the commonly-received notion, continue to call wine. 



Very respectfully your obedient servant, John F. Wielandy. 



Jefferson City, Mo., April 26, 1869. 



Q. — How far apart shall I plant standard appte and pear trees .'' — Fifteen 

 feet is a good distance for pears, and thirty for apples, on ordinary soils ; but on 

 rich soils they should either be planted farther apart, say twenty feet for pears, 

 and forty for apples, or else plant the pears ten and the apples twenty feet apart, 

 and remove every alternate tree when they begin to crowd each other. This is a 

 good plan for exposed positions, as the trees will shelter each other when young. 

 On poor soil, they may be allowed to remain at the same distance as planted. 

 Many of the best cultivators recommend planting more closely than was formerly 

 thought advisable. 



M. HixCHCLiFF, Bristol, Conn., wishes to know whether the Siberian arbor- 

 vitae will endure the weather in a very exposed situation. — Yes : it is perfectly 

 hardy. The sub-species, Wareiana, is equally as hardy, or even more so, and 

 quite as vigorous ; and the foliage is stronger, thicker, and of a deeper green. 



A CORRESPONDENT wishes to know where and at what price he can get trees 

 of the Newman Plum, described in our March number. 



