CURRENT GARDEN LORE. 



757 



Willow- Hedge. — In answer to the question, what 

 time of the year is best for setting out a willow-hedge, 

 the Country Gentleman says : The best time to set the 

 cuttings is in spring. They may be of any size up to 

 two or three inches ; about an inch is a convenient 

 length. They may be placed upright or sloping. The 

 accompanying cut represents a willow-fence made some 

 years ago at Cornell University. The sticks were about 

 four years old, two inches in diameter, cut four feet long, 

 and sharpened 

 at one end. A 

 double furrow 

 was plowed 

 and manure 

 placed in it, 

 Willow-Hedge, and then a sub- 



soil-plow run through it several times. The sharpened 

 willows were driven in the furrow seven inches apart. 

 A strip of board was placed on their even tops. If the 

 sticks are of different sizes, sort them and place the same 

 sizes together. This fence may be changed to a hedge 

 by allowing side-shoots to come out at the ground. The 

 willow must be of a kind that sprouts rapidly. 



Ready Made Kerosene Emulsion. — Why does not 



some one put up for sale in pint or quart packages a good 

 kerosene emulsion for spraying trees and plants in vil- 

 age dooryards? When one has the pump and is fitted 

 out for the work, it is but little trouble or expense to 

 make emulsion by the barrel, but it is quite a task to make 

 a pint. Village residents, and small poultry keepers too, 

 would like to use it in small quantities, if it is sure death 

 to insects. Somebody can make a little money out of 

 this suggestion. — America^t Cultivator. 



Plant Some Chestnuts.— Plant them now. rw 

 your pockets with good, fresh nuts. Take a hoe and go 

 to your stump-land, or to the lot you are to cut off next 

 winter. Poke away the leaves to the bare earth, put 

 two or three nuts in a place, and cover them with leaves 

 or other light material. Don't expect every one to grow, 

 so plant liberally. Five years from now you can look 

 over your lot with satisfaction, if your venture turns out 

 as mine has. You will find a sprinkling of chestnut 

 trees from 5 to 8 feet high. My only regret is that I did 

 not plant more. I have planted the black walnut in the 

 same way, but have not looked for the trees yet. — J. 

 Bartlctt, in Farm and /lo?nc. 



Making Fruit-Trees Productive. — The manner and 

 ■especially the time of pruning has much to do with 

 making trees productive. Pruning only when the trees 

 are dormant promotes thrift, but at the expense of the 

 more important matter of fruitfulness. It is no check to 

 a tree to prune its top severely when not in leaf. If only 

 a few buds are left to grow, they will be all the more 

 vigorous for having the entire sap which the roots sup- 

 plied before to the entire tree. But old trees deficient in 

 vigor are often made more fruitful by severe pruning 

 when dormant, and for precisely the same reason that 

 such pruning on young and thrifty trees is inadvisable. — 

 American Cultivator. 



The Seneca Pear. — The Rural New-Yorker is in 

 receipt of a specimen fruit of a new pear named Seneca, 

 from Wm. Parry, of Parry, N. J. The following are 

 notes made of it, when perfectly ripe, Sept. 13 : 



Seneca Pear. — Large, obovate-pyriform. Stem nearly 

 two inches long, rather stout, flattened at the junction, 

 where the union is made with a curious fleshy ridge. 



Seneca Pear. 



Calyx open, basin rather large and uneven. Color 

 light yellow, marked with bright green mottlings and 

 black dots. Bright blush on sunny side. Flesh white, 

 fine-grained, very vinous and sprightly, melting and de- 

 licious. Good to best in quality, desirable for either 

 home or market. — Rural Nevu- Yorker. 



Old Age in Varieties. — Black Hamburg and Muscat 

 of Alexandria grapes are as good as ever they were- 

 There has been no falling off of the good qualities of the 

 Jargonelle pear. Green Gage plum, or Crown Bob and 

 Whitesmith gooseberries. These fruits were cultivated 

 in England more than a century ago. Some of our bes 

 American fruits are nearly as old. Good culture and fa- 

 vorable treatment will retain the vigor of fine old vari- 

 eties. Among the pears which have become of little value 



