40 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



choicest varieties, will Vje forwarded, so 

 that any fruit injured en route may be 

 promptly replaced. The collection is 

 now being carefully packed, and will be 

 shipped to its destination not later than 

 next Monday. There is no doubt that 

 this magniticent display will i-eflect 

 much credit on the western district, 

 and it is a cause for congratulation that 

 the city possesses a gentleman of such 

 enterprise as Mr. Saundere. — London 

 Free Press. 



LE CONTE PEAR. 



A gentleman residing in Floi-ida 

 writes to the Country Gentlenuin that 

 this pear, by its superior vigor, rapid 

 grovvtli, early bearing and abundance 

 of fruit, which sells at satisfactory 

 prices, is making for itself a reputation 

 second to no pear before the public. 

 He says : I can show your readers trees 

 one year old from the cutting — we 

 i-aise them all from cuttings — cut back 

 to two feet last winter, that are now 

 (Sept. 1st) twelve feet high, with from 

 four to six branches, and larger trees 

 with proportionate growth. Some idea 

 of the size of a fruiting tree of twelve 

 years old may be obtained from one I 

 lately measured : Spread of branches, 

 35 feet ; height, about 20 feet ; circum- 

 ference of trunk, one foot above the 

 ground, 42 inches. Another, of the 

 same age, produced 45 bushels of fruit, 

 which sold on the tree for $26 before 

 it was gathered. The fruit sold from 

 here this season, in New York and 

 Boston, for $2.75 to $5 per bushel. It 

 improves in quality with the age of the 

 trees. Some of the best nui-serymen in 

 the South think that growing the Le 

 Conte here will, in the near futiu'e, re- 

 volutionize pear growing, using it for a 

 stock for others. One thing is certain 

 — we can now, with the Kiefler fol- 

 lowing, have pears for home use from 

 June to October in abundance, and 



one of the most profitable market pears 

 known. 



We desire to caution our Canadian 



readers by telling them that this pear 



tree will not endure our climate. 



PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS A 

 PLANT-FOOD. 

 A writer in the London Garden 



gives the following interesting account 

 of his experiments with permanganate 

 of potash as a fertilizer : — 



" I had been using a solution of this 

 for some time as a deodorizer and dis- 

 infectant, and as such recommended it 

 to a fi'iend. For convenience sake he 

 kept the liquid in an old watering-can 

 in the potting-shed, near to which was 

 growing a houseful of pelargoniums in 

 pots. It happened one day that a very 

 young practitioner watered the plants 

 on one side of the house with it ; dire 

 results being, of course, anticipated. 

 Such was not the case, however, but 

 quite the reverse, for the dosed plants 

 showed increased instead of diminished 

 vigour. I at once commenced a series 

 of experiments, using an unvarying 

 strength of as many crystals of per- 

 manganate as covered a six-penny piece 

 to a gallon of water for watering the 

 soil with, but for ovei'-head syringing 

 using double the quantity of water. 

 Rare ferns in a Wardian case four feet 

 by two feet have been syringed once a 

 week for some time with this, and are 

 to all but myself a mystery of luxuri- 

 ance. From ticuses to fuchsias, aspi- 

 distras to adiantums, tender grasses, 

 seedlings in pans, and roses in pots — 

 all without exception seem to derive 

 much benefit from its administration. 

 In order to ascertain its fatal strength, 

 I planted two plants of Tropceolmn ad- 

 uncum, one in sand saturated with a 

 strong solution repeatedly passed 

 through it, the other in the liquid 

 itself, covering the surface with cork to 



