CURRENT GARDEN LORE. 



59 



someness and easy culture. Chicory is a hardy plant, and 

 if sown in time the roots will be strong, and, like sea-kale, 

 may be taken up when wanted. For blanching, common 

 chicory is sown in May and June. The plant should 



5uNCH OF Blanched Chicory. 



have a rather light and moderately rich and deep soil. The 

 ground should be deeply dug, and the seed should be sown 

 in drills not less than 15 inches apart, and when they can 

 be well handled the seedlings should be thinned out to 

 one foot asunder in rows. Alter this the only attention 

 they require will be hoeing between the rows and wa- 

 tering in dry weather, till November or December, when 

 the plants will have shed their leaves and be ready to 

 take up for forcing. A number of roots should be taken 

 up and laid in soil in some cold shed or other structure 

 where they will not be frozen, and, from this store they 

 can be removed in batches for forcing as wanted. 



For a small family, as many roots as can be put into a 

 12-inch pot will be sufficient at one time. Whether the 

 roots are forced in a bed, or in pots or boxes, they 

 should be buried up to within an inch of their crowns 

 in light soil of any kind, watered, and placed in a tem- 

 perature of from 50° to 60°, and be kept in the dark. 

 The leaves should be cut when young and tender, 

 and always just before they are required for salad, 

 for which purpose they are prepared like lettuce or 

 endive. When sent to market, blanched chicory is 

 tied up in bundles by the roots, as shown in illus- 

 tration. — Gardening Illustrated. 



Fighting the Gypsy-moth. — The Gypsy -moili 

 Commission has taken the precaution to send out ten 

 of its best and most experienced scouts to look for 

 traces of the pest within the limits of Boston 

 They have already made a strict inspection of tin 

 trees on the common, but not a sign of a moth was 

 found. The work will be continued for thirty 

 days as a matter of verifying what they believe to be 

 the truth — that no moths have crossed the border. 

 If any should be found, a war of extermination will 



be begun without delay, as the commission is anxious to 

 be able to make a satisfactory report to the next legis- 

 lature. The work has been delayed until the present 

 time in order to give the leaves a chance to fall, thus 

 making the inspection easier and more thorough. — 

 Boston Transcript. 



Pears Without Cores. — Writers often express sur- 

 prise that there should be an orange without seeds, but 

 this experience is met with in almost all kinds of fruits. 

 There is an apple called Mennechor's Nocore, so 

 named expressly from the total absence of seeds. An 

 illustration of this is in the Rutter pear ; it is extreme- 

 ly rare that seed is found in it, although they are occa- 

 sionally there. The common currant — Zante currant of 

 the stores — is simply a grape which does not produce 

 seeds. A singular feature about these varieties is, that 

 they seem to increase in productiveness by reason of 

 this want of perfection in the seed. The Rutter pear 

 especially is a great bearer ; there seem to be almost as 

 many pears as leaves on the tree. Unfortunately, if 

 all are allowed to reach perfection, the fruit is of inferior 

 quality, but when properly thinned out the flavor is 

 delicious. — Meeh ati's 3 do nthly . 



Home-made Nut-cracker. — A nut-cracker like the 

 one shown in illustration may be made of the flexible 

 branch of a tree ; that of the nut-tree itself will do. 

 Cut in the branch selected a niche as thick as the finger 

 and quite deep, leaving only some fibers of wood and 

 the bark intact, so as to connect by a flexible band the 

 two ends of a branch. Take each of these handles in 

 the hand ; after having placed a nut in the cleft, bring 

 them together with force and you will break the shell. — 

 Southern Planter. 



The Salubrity of Forest Air. — Biederman's Cen- 

 tralhlatt, a German review, afiirms that the atmosphere 

 in the neighborhood of forests does not contain any ex- 

 cess of oxygen. The salubrity of the air ought to be 

 attributed to the great purity of the atmosphere. 

 Wooded districts are not troubled with smoke, injurious 

 vapors, or germs and bacteria that are found in towns. 

 The innumerable leaves and branches of a forest in a 

 manner filter the air, and retain the micro-organisms, 



