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THE POMOLOGIST. 



Feb. 



Evergreen Shrubs. 



FROM ELIOTT'S " LAWN AND SHADE TREES." 



A more common, free, and abundant use 

 of evergreeen shrubs should be adopted, 

 because of the cheerful, bright, verdure-like 

 appearance produced in the landscape when 

 their dark and light green foliage and blue 

 or scarlet berries cover with harmonious 

 life-like beauty what otherwise in the dreary 

 winter scenes would be barren and unsight- 

 ly. Their use among deciduous shrubs can 

 be more general than that of evergreen 

 trees, from the fact they only rise a few feet, 

 and therefore, unlike trees, cannot exhibit 

 shade and gloom to the scene. Manj' a place 

 is made beautiful in summer from the foliage 

 of shrubs and the bloom of flowers, that in 

 winter presents a dreary barren aspect, 

 which in easily changed and draped with 

 foliage and beauty by the simple planting of 

 evergreen shrubs. Were we to write an 

 entire book in advocating their general use, 

 it would not half express our feelings, or 

 perhaps anymore advance their frequent 

 planting than onr present few words. To 

 the planter who seeks to create constant 

 beauty, or who desire easy gradations and 

 harmonious combination in landscape ; to 

 him who has but small grounds in the sub- 

 urbs of a city; to those who desire to clothe 

 the la.st resting place of earthly friends with 

 emblems of eternity and lasting beauty, let 

 me urge upon their attention the claims 

 found in, and beauty derived from, the use 

 of shrub evergreens. 



Among the mo.st hardy, and adopted to all 

 sections and positions, "the juniper in its 

 varieties is, perhaps, most worthy of frequent 

 and univeral planting. There is, as we have 

 described, trees under this head that do not 

 bear clipping ; but all the dwarf or naturally 

 small-sized trees of this class bear well a 

 free use of the shears, and may be kept in 

 any form or shape agreeable to the wants or 

 taste of man. 



IRISH JUNIPER AND SAVIN. 



The Swedish juuipei' — suecica — is of a py- 

 ramidal habit with a Idiiish green foliage 

 and quite rapid growth, it sometimes is 

 liable to break down from our winter snows 

 or severe storms, and should therefore have 

 a wrapping of small wires to keep it in form. 

 Its growth is from ten to twenty feet high, 

 although it may be kept, by means of clip- 

 ping, down to a height of only five to eight 

 feet- It is adopted to point groups on the 

 corners of diverging roadways or paths, and 

 with the pndocarpos and Irish juniper very 

 effective little clusters may be formed. 



The Irish juniper — Ilibernka — forms one 

 of the prettiest of little point trees; it is 

 perfectly hardy, and always keeps a beauti- 

 ful rich green color, rather darker than the 

 Sweedish' It can be kept at any height, 

 from tliat of two feet upward to that of five 

 or six. The common juniper — communis var. 

 Canadensis — is well known, but too rarely 

 planted because it is common. Singly, upon 

 a lawn, it grows rapidly; and allhoiigh ris- 

 ing but a few feet high, it spreads over a 

 broad surface and forms a remarkable and 

 effective object. Juniperus squamnta is also 

 a variety effective as a large spreading plant 

 upon an extensive lawn. Junipencs nana 



and ecJiiniformis are of a lighter, more yellow 

 green and compact habit, "and for positions 

 where only a limited space can be given 

 them are very beautiful. They are nearer 

 allied to the junipcnis sabina, or common 

 savin, a variety well known, and that forms 

 one of the best masses of low growth among 

 the whole collection. 



The juniperus prostrata is a very low 

 creeping variety, of value in rock-work, and 

 for massing and forming a low evergreen 

 bed upon a lawn. It is admirable also for 

 planting on small mounds aud in cemeteries 

 over the graves of the departed. 



Effect of Dew on Grapes. 



In the October number of the Oardener^s 

 Monthly, I find an article on the culture of 

 the grape on Kellcy's Lsland, in which the 

 writer attributes the success there attained 

 to the absence of fog and dew, and asks the 

 correspondents of the Monildy to give their 

 views and experience on the suliject. Al- 

 though I am not on your list of correspond- 

 ents, yet I will take the liberty of giving you 

 my views aud experience, aud you may dis- 

 pose of them as you think proper. 



I have for many years been of the opinion 

 that two things were essentially necessary for 

 the healthy growth of the grape, namely: 

 Natural, or artilicia! protection from dew, 

 and thorough drainage. The reasons for en- 

 tertaining this belief are these : Some ten 

 j'cars ago my father tried some experiments 

 on three vines of the Isabella, planted on the 

 east side of the house. At first they were 

 trained close to the wall, where they would 

 be protected from dew by the projection of 

 the roof, and while grown thus, they bore 

 regular and fine crops of grapes, but subse- 

 quently, the}' were permitted to run on some 

 framework, so as to make a kind of arbor in 

 fnmt of the house, and where the dew would 

 fall on the leaves, after which the grapes in- 

 variably rotted, both on the arbor, and under 

 the roof, and on tlie wall; and I have ob- 

 served the same thiag in other loailities, thus 

 showing that it is not the fault of the soil or 

 climate, aside from dew ; besides, whv is it 

 that grapes do so much better when allowed 

 to run on large trees '? Not because thej" are 

 not pruned, as I have known some to contend, 

 but because the foliage of the trees keeps the 

 nightly dew from the leaves of the vine. 



I have always noticed that, here in Mis- 

 souri, wherever the grape succeeds, it is upon 

 hind that has thorough natural drainage, and 

 if any part of the vineyard is in a spot so 

 situated as not to have good drainage, the 

 grajjes will generally rot, while the balance 

 of the vineyard is perfectly sound. We can 

 also see the same thing exemplified by noting 

 the results of different years, and I think tlus 

 has been one of the best to prove my opin- 

 ions to be correct ; for while, in ordinary 

 seasons, more or less grapes are affected by 

 the rot, this year they have been totally ex- 

 empt therefrom, and the reason is evideiitly 

 the unusual dryness of the season, and but 

 very little dew having fallen after the first of 

 June. 



Such are my views on this subject, and I 

 give them for what they are worth, aud should 

 any one be led thereby to investigate the 

 matter more thoroughly than I can do, and 

 succeed in discovering the true cause of the 

 rot, and its preventive, I shall be amplj' 

 repaid for writing this. 



The Josephine de Madj^line on the 

 Thorn. — There is a peculiarity in tree of this 

 charming and excellent Pear, which cannot 

 be too widely known, viz ; its perfect aijd 

 enduring health when grafted on the White- 

 thorn ; so that any one possessing a good 

 White-thorn hedge may grow abundance of 

 this valuable late Pear, b}' selecting some 



clean stems and grafting them, so that the 

 heads of the trees are clear of the hedge. 



A tree now growing in a hedie on a hill 

 of gravel close to the town of Hertford, is 

 now some fifteen or more years old, and it 

 seldom fails to give some pecks of fine, clean 

 fruit, equal, and sometimes superior, to those 

 from Pear or quince stocks. My attention 

 was very recently drawn to some trees of 

 this kind, grafted on tlie White-thorn, and 

 growing in a stiff cla_v. To my surprise, I 

 found the junction of the graft with the 

 stock scarcely to be distinguished, so perfect 

 is the union. The trees are remarkably 

 clean and healthy, aud bear very flue fruit. " 



Unlike some kinds of Pears, when grafted 

 on this stock, the cores of my White-thorn 

 Josephines are not hard, neither is their 

 flesh gritty, but nearly always perfectly 

 melting, and of a rich, jjerfumcd- flavor. 'l 

 have had thirty years' experience of this 

 most distinct variety, and no winter Pear 

 has varied so little in its character, and no 

 late Pear, in my opinion, more deserves 

 extensive culture. 



The only kind of Pear that succeeds well 

 on the White-thorn, for a long term of years, 

 is the Passe Colmar, of which I know a tree 

 some twenty-five years old. But this .sort 

 does not, as a rule, ripen well, although it 

 bears abundantly. Josephine de Malines is of 

 the same race. Last season (1866) my fruit 

 of this sort were in perfection all through 

 March and April, 1867. This season they 

 ripened towords the end of December. Such 

 is the subtle influence of climate on the 

 ripening of fruit, about which we, as yet, 

 know so little. — T. Rivers, in London Jour- 

 nal of Mirticvlture. 



Propagating Grape Cuttings. 



I make cuttings in the fiill of perfectly 

 ripened wood. Bury them six inches deep 

 in any dry ground. In the spring, after the 

 frost is out, spade a trench or trenches two 

 feet wide, and six inches deep ; cover the 

 bottom with any cheap or refuse boards. Set 

 up at each side a six inch board, aud spread 

 on tlie bottom some old ha_y or straw, half or 

 two^thirds rotten, about one inch thick when 

 packed, and make it very wet. 



Fill the box with rich earth. Now, with. 

 the hand, open across one end a V shaped 

 trench down to the old straw. Press the 

 cuttings against the side of this trench, about 

 two inches apart, with the upper bud at the 

 surface of the ground. With the hand, take 

 the dirt from the front side of this little 

 trench and press it against the cuttings, leav- 

 ing a similar trench, which fill with cuttings, 

 and continue till the bed is filled. Then 

 mulch with loose hay or straw two or three 

 inches deep, and with a spout or rose sprink- 

 ler make the bed pretty nioi.st. 



Now the theory is this: the rotten straw 

 in the bottom retains moisture. The boards 

 prevent the surrounding earth from absorb^ 

 ing that moisture ; the mulching ]irevents 

 the moisture from evaporating, and there- 

 fore the cuttings remain moist. 



My experience is this — 95 per cent, of all 

 my grape cuttings treated as above have 

 grown. 



There is another item or two in this pro- 

 cess worthy of notice ; when the plants are 

 to lie lifted for the vinery or for sale, first 

 lift out the side boards, then with a shovel 

 or fork, the plants are taken out with roots 

 entire and uninjured, and also that they may 

 be easily watered, and to some purpose in 

 the dry time. — Exchange. 



■ — It is predicted that Florida will become 

 one of the largest sugar-producing loeilities 

 on this continent. The character and soil 

 are admirably adapted to its culture, and the 

 crop is a sure one. 



