176 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



than the Myatt's Linna3us, Mitchell's Royal Albert, &c., so that it is good 

 to eat in summer, when the others have become hard and woody. 



AMERICAN RHODODENDRONS AND ROSES — BY JOHN STANDISH, LONDON. 



He comprehends Kalmias and Azaleas, which also are native there. He 

 thinks the best place to grow them is in a moist subsoil, or in spots where 

 the earth can be raised so as to shed water to their roots. 



HOW TO RAISE VERY LARGE ONIONS. 

 From the " lUustrirte Gartenzeitung " of Oct., 1868. 

 Choose in Autumn the best, — put them in a suitable bag, and keep them 

 all winter suspended alongside of a stove {polle), where a fire is kept every 

 day, or nearly so. They almost entirely dry up before spring, when you 

 plant them in good suitable soil. They will give leaves and hardly any stalk, 

 but the bulbs will weigh nearly a pound and an half, and often more. 



HOW TO PRESERVE STICKS FOR PLANTS. 



Take 50 parts of resin ; 40 parts of chalk, pulverized ; 300 parts white 

 sand ; 4 parts of oil of linseed ; 1 part of red oxyde of copper ; 1 part of 

 sulphuric acid; mix and shake well. Heat it to paint the bottoms of the 

 sticks ; if it should be too thick, add the more oil. It dries quick, and 

 becomes as hard as stone. It answers for boxes, or any wood which is to 

 bear wet. 



A NEW PEAR. — H^iyshe's Bergaviot. 

 Mr. Huyshe, of Clythesdon Rectory, Collumpton, Hants, has obtained 

 it from the seed of the Marie Louise pear, by fecundating that with the 

 Gansel Bergamot. The new pear is as large as the parentis, but more 

 resembles the Marie. It is a very fine fruit. The skin is lightly colored 

 a fine brownish cinnamon. It is commonly fit to eat by Christmas. The 

 tree very productive. The pear is about nine centimetres long, and eight 

 round, or 3| inches by three inches and nearly two-eighths. 



Mr. Bruce called for the reading of the following papers, viz : 



THE ELDER BUSH. — VALUABLE HINT. 



It is known to many persons that the common elder bush of our country 

 is a great safeguard to plants against the devastation of bugs. If any one 

 will notice, it will be found that worms, flies, bugs, or insects never touch 

 the elder. This fact was the initial point of an Englishman in 1795, 

 and he communicated the result of his experiments to the Louden Maga- 

 zine. Accident exhumed this old work, and a Kentucky correspondent 

 last year communicated to the Dollar Newspaper a copy of the article. 

 The practical result of the experiments, as asserted by the English experi- 

 menter, are, that the leaves of the elder, scattered over cabbages, cucum- 

 bers, squashes, and other plants subject to the ravages of insects, effectu- 

 ally shields them. The plum, and other fruits subject to the ravages of 

 insects, may be saved by placing upon the branches and through the tree 

 bunches of elder leaves. 



