And all our yeamings seem in vain. 

 And blessings that we pri^e the most 



Are blown in winds or dropped in rain. 



Eldorado Grape. — Sixteen varieties of grapes fruited 

 for me last season, among them being such good ones as 

 Brighton, Vergennes, Agawam, Diamond and Delaware ; 

 but Eldorado was superior to all others, being very 

 sweet and very sprightly. The grapes are very hand- 

 some, equally as handsome as the Diamond, and my one 

 vine was as prolific as any others, except Worden and 

 Wilder. Wilder was by far the most prolific and fra- 

 grant. Blossoms of Eldorado are imperfect like 

 Brighton and Vergennes, but they fertilized better than 

 either of these. — Emory P. Robinson, Ohio. 



The Western Chinquapin. — Castiwopsis chrysophylla 

 is sometimes a short, sometimes a tall tree, and 

 grows in California and Oregon. It has evergreen 

 leaves, smooth and shiny above, but thickly covered 

 underneath with yellow scabs. The flowers hang in 

 slender aments from the base of the leaves (the stami- 

 nate above the pistillate). Each little flower has five or 

 six lobes and ten or a dozen stamens. The first, which 

 is edible, is a rounded, three-cornered nut, borne within 

 a prickly bur. — K. P. S. Boyd, California . 



Kentucky Raspberry Notes. — Among the smaller 

 fruits the raspberry holds a high rank ; and as it ripens 

 immediately after the strawberry, it usually commands 

 a good price in the market. 



The best soil for the raspberry is a deep, rich, moist 

 loam ; wet lands should be well under-drained. How- 

 ever, the raspberry will do quite well on any fertile soil, 

 if not too wet. The soil should be broken rather deeply, 

 and should be well pulverized, just as it is for cereal 

 crops. The best distance for planting is six feet each 

 way ; some, however, plant six or seven feet one way, 

 and three the other. But for several reasons the first 

 named method is preferable ; the bushes grow larger 

 and more symmetrical, the berries are larger and ripen 

 more uniformly, and the facilities for cultivation and 

 gathering are better. Set the young plants in hills 

 made at the intersections of the marking furrows, at a 

 depth of three or four inches. Draw the soil up well 

 and press it firmly, that the plant may not be dislodged 

 by the wind. Evening is the best time for planting, and 

 if before a shower so much the better. If the soil be 

 very dry, water should be supplied when planting. 



Cultivation should begin early, as soon as the plants 

 begin to grow, or before this if grass and weeds take a 

 start. A light cultivator is the best for the purpose of 



tillage, but the hoe is often necessary to remove the 

 weeds near the plants. In most respects the cultiva- 

 tion of the raspberry may be the same as that for corn. 

 Cultivate about four inches deep, and once a week, till 

 the middle of July or August, during the first year after 

 setting out the olants. Too late cultivation, in some lo- 

 calities at least, keeps the plant growing, and the wood 

 does not mature sufficiently to prevent winter-killing. 



In order to make the plant take a strong, self-support- 

 ing, bush-form, the first year's growth must be cut back 

 to about ten inches from the ground ; during the follow- 

 ing years, all the laterals must be cut back, leaving them 

 about twenty or twenty-five inches in length. By 

 this process a strong, well-balanced bush is formed, 

 the long rainbowed canes which are so annoying are 

 avoided, and larger and better fruit is obtained. 



Among the varieties that can be safely recommended 

 may be mentioned the Souhegan and the Tyler, for 

 early crops ; and the Gregg for later bearing. These 

 are black-cap varieties. The most popular red-cap va- 

 rieties are the Cuthert and the Turner. These are said 

 to withstand drouth better than the black-caps. — James 

 I. Baird, Kentitckv. 



Satsuma Orange. — After a week of hard frosty 

 nights, in which the thermometer got as low as 20° 

 above zero, with bright sunshine glaring on the frozen 

 foliage in early morning, I am glad to say that I cannot 

 perceive that any injury has been done to the Satsuma 

 orange trees planted here last spring, and fully exposed. 

 Our trees are worked on the hardy trifoliata stock. 

 We are strongly in hopes that the trees will come 

 through safely. On the Citrus trifoliata stock they 

 will probably make dwarf spreading bushes rather than 

 trees, and if not entirely hardy when fully exposed will 

 be in a shape in which they can easily be protected by 

 a covering of evergreen boughs. Our specimen hedge 

 of Citrus trifoliata planted last spring made a fine 

 growth, and we hope in a few years to demonstrate the 

 vast superiority of this orange as a hedge plant for all 

 parts of the country, over the miserable maclura or 

 Osage orange so widely cultivated for this purpose. 

 This true orange will make a dense impenetrable hedge 

 with half the trouble that the misnamed Osage orange 

 will. Its thorns are long real spines projecting in every 

 direction, and not long prickles as are the maclura, and 

 it grows naturally more dense than the maclura does 



