172 



THK POMOLOGIST. 



December 



dry fruit room, and when brought from such 

 a fniit room iiito a w::riiu'r atmosphere are 

 not much iiflVctcd by the change. 



The great difficulty in krc; iiig -n-iiitcT 

 pears phuwp and sound, wliich we liiid Lii 

 this Climate, is, that it is ahuost imposMble, 

 wilhout the aid of a cold fruit house, to car- 

 ry even winter pears tlirough the hot weath- 

 er ia October, when tlie theriuometer fre- 

 quently shows seventy five degrees of heat, 

 and no ct-llar or vault can be fiund suffi- 

 ciently cool and dr_y to keep the fruit frum 

 passing into a state of partial decay. It re- 

 quires a temperature nearly down to forty 

 degrees to keep pears for a long period of 

 time, and in this part af the country no cel- 

 lar, rocky vault, twenty-five feet deep, or 

 rocky well, seventy -five feet deep, has ever 

 showii a temperature lower than fifty de- 

 gree-s or thereabouts; gem-rally tlie coldest 

 lager beer vaults (rocky cavern-:, thirty feet 

 deep), are coi stajtly at fifty and filly- five de- 

 grees. 





■^ 



About Wintering House Plants. 



We know that mauy of our lady readers 

 cultivate house plants, and no doubt many 

 more woulii, were it not for the want of time 

 to take proper care of them, or for the want 

 of suitable conveniences for wintering them. 



It is certainly poor encouragement, after 

 tending such plants carefully all throngh the 

 summer, and thinkiug what a fine display 

 they will make in the winter, to have them 

 all cut down just as we are beginning to en- 

 joy them. Where a person has choice 

 plants, with facilities for cultivating and 

 preserving them successfully through the 

 winter. It is better to head them iii well, 

 where practicable, and put theui awa.y until 

 spring in a cool cellar, where they will not 

 freeze. If the cellar be very dry, they may 

 require watering occasionally during the 

 winter. In this way most of the common 

 house-platt smaj' be kept with s-ifety, and 

 will start vigou.-ily when brought out in the 

 spring. 



Many who have the care of house plants 

 ia winter, water them too much, when they 

 are least able to throw ofl" the surplus moist- 

 ure. They should have all the light aiid air 

 possible, and the leaves thoroughly syringed 

 or sprinkled every few days, water spariiig- 

 ly, unless the plaut be growing vigorously, 

 or is in blossom, in which case it will b.-ar 

 more. 



Flora of NewHampshike.— Dr. Nathan 

 Barrows, of Claremoiit, N. H., says that the 

 fiora ot the Stale is characterized by the 

 abundance of willows, duck-weed-<, pond- 

 weed-:, ladies' slippers and f -rns. We have 

 1447 Howering plants, and 410 of the lower 

 orders, making a total of 18.37 species of 

 plants in the Stale. 'J'he summit-; of New 

 Hampshire are said by the doctor to be 

 islands of arctic vegetation, having no p-ir 

 allel this side of the Mississippi. Over 50 

 are found nowhere else in New England, 4 

 being quite common oa the very tip-lop of 

 Mount Washington. All are perenLii:ils and 

 are in no wise dwarfed ; 70 per ciint. of them 

 are found on similar summits in Europe. 



"What Flowers Teach. 



Flowers teach us the tenderness of God's 

 character. If lie h-id made m tliiig of this 

 kind; if his works had be-n for hM\- utility 

 auj- coarse aad more substantial creation 

 oidy, tlie tender .side of the Uivine character 

 would have fail.;d of the revelation it now 

 has in nature. You cannot come across a 

 delicate, trembli;ig llowir in the shade of a 

 wood, so small that your h el could crush 

 out its lif; with oiie cari h ss step, but that 

 you will think how gentle Uo.l must be, who 

 made this flower in its exquisite beauty to 

 live there, ai d daily cares for it in the regu- 

 lar course of His provid'-nce. 



Following the same id: a, the sl.'ep of the 

 flowers touches our sympathies. Many of 

 these at Light will f ild th ir j^etals closely 

 togetlr r, and hke the dariiLgs (.f a kind 

 mother, rqiose Iru.-tfnlly in the care of their 

 Creator. And during th' lo.g, daik night, 

 they gathir the dews which distil in the 

 quiet air, and wdi u day coines, the first 

 beams of tiK' morning fdl on millions of 

 glittering drop^-, and flash b ckfrom leaf, and 

 bud, and petal, and grassy blade, in sueh 

 brilliance that the wholj waving and nod- 

 ding field of blooming beauty se^ms dress, d 

 ia gems more resplendant than any dream 

 of orie.:tal magnificence. — Stlectcd. 



LiLiuM AuRATiM. — Of this superb lily, 

 several varieties have b.eu sent out from 

 Japan, and are appear!; g in the caialogues 

 of the iiiu'ser3'men, especially in Europe. 

 We have had several ourselves, but find that 

 they are not permanent, at least with us. Of 

 this we have a notable instance in a very 

 beautiful variety, in which about two-thirds 

 of the golden stripe in the middle of the 

 petals is of a deep crimson color. Last j'ear 

 a plant in our possession came true, but this 

 year it produced' flowers which were pure 

 white, with golden stripes, but not a particle 

 of any other cokir, the very .spots being 

 wanting. 



We mention this to avoid disappointment on 

 the part of those whimiy purcliase some of 

 these varieties, and to ijrevent ae.y accusation 

 of deception being brought against the 

 nurserymen or florists who may liave the m 

 to sell. Our experience with tliem is i hat in 

 some seasoi.s they come correct, and ia other 

 seasons vary in their characteristie's. — 

 Hearth and Home, 



What is a Flower ? 



Flowers are merely leaves, so arrar.gad as 

 to proleel tlie vital orga..s within them, and 

 color; d so as ta attract i.isects to scatter the 

 fertilizoig pollen, and to rjfleet and absorb 

 the liglit anil heat of the sun for ripening 

 the seeel. 



We see the whole gradual process of the 

 change of th.; common leaf ia all the pans 

 of a flower, most beaut fally displayeel in the 

 flower of the common white poiallily. The 

 outermost circle of jk tals is greenish, ap- 

 proaching the herbaceous texture and c.ilor 

 of the calyx ; tlu next circles are purer and 

 more succuLnt, anil the innermost ones are 

 snowy white, entirely cellular, and begi.i to 

 show rudimeats of an auth./r at their points. 

 Gradually the petals becmue smaller and 

 narrower, while tiie anthers on tlirir sum- 

 mits bcune more distinct, until at length 

 the usual tliread-like filameats, and goldeu 

 dusty authrs of p. -i feet slameus ajipear in 

 the iicart of the flower. — Tlu: Gardener. 



ArriiE Poetry. — A thirsty wag, imitat- 

 ing what Josh Billings calls "poetic prose," 

 wrote the following: " Pic'ii apples iiosv, 

 and cidiT make, aael through a barrel juice 

 it; then g^l a straw, without ;. flaw, and 

 tliroush tlie straw reduce it.'. 



Myrtle-Leaved Orange. 



This is a plant selelom seen iu our green- 

 hou.ses, but should be in every collection of 

 plants for winter flowering. It is easily 

 propagated by budding at the proper season 

 on seedling stocks, planted iu the open 

 ground. Under such condition.s, success is 

 nearly as certain as with the peach. 



In two yi_ars from the bud, this orange 

 forms nice compact plants, and flowers pro- 

 fusely. The small, intensely green leaves 

 contrast so finely with its pure auel fragrant 

 flowers that each little sprig is a boquet in 

 itself Other varieties of orange have leaves 

 too large, which are often of a sickly green. 

 In the cultivation of the orange, our practice 

 is to turn the plants out of pots into the 

 open ground every second season. If this 

 practice is pursued every year, the plants 

 grow too strongly to flower well, so they are 

 kept iu pots alternately and plunged to the 

 rims in the open border. The fruit is small, 

 and of no value except for ornament. 



Martins vs. Caterpillars. 



A correspondent of the Cincinnati Oazelte 

 says:— "I had a martin box near my orchard 

 this season, I observeel the tents of these 

 caterpillars, forming on several difl'erent ap- 

 ple trees, which were neglected through the 

 hurry of farm work, but to my surprise they 

 all had disappeared without my help. Hav- 

 ing a wild cherry tree near my orchard, 

 which had been much troubled with tent 

 worms, I noticed the martins- in great num- 

 liers flying about this tree. In watching 

 their motions I soon eliscovered that they 

 were devouring the tent worms. Hence I 

 could easily irjfer what had become of those 

 on m.y apple trees. If any one would free 

 himself from this pest, it cau be done, I 

 think, by keeping a number of martin boxes 

 jn or near his orchard." 



Cf.ouD OF BoTTERFLiES. — An Exchaugc 

 pni)er says: — O.ie evening near the first of 

 this mouth several gentlemen at the Virgin- 

 ia Military Institute saw a strange flight of 

 butterflies. The column was fifty yards 

 wide and stretched across the horizen as far 

 as the eye could reach. They were of the 

 large, broad-wing kind. They seemed wea- 

 ry, and several lighted on the buildings, 

 rested, and then resumed their journey. 



The Cabbage Worm. — Our exchanges 

 fnun the Eistern States speak of the ravages 

 of a new worm that infests the cabbage. 

 About Albany, N. Y., and other localties 

 where large Ciuantities are raised, the total 

 destruction of many plantations is complete. 

 The worms are so numerous that the entire 

 head of the plant is eateu out in a few hours. 



C0RR.\NT Borer.— The Minnesota papers 

 complain of the depredations of the currant 

 bore iu some localities iu that State. 



