84: 



The ac^e of our departed brother is not given, — we 

 trust it will not be necessary for the surviving mem- 

 bers of the fraternity to rival Methuselah in order 

 to get "comfortable." That one has been able to do 

 so under any circumstances must be however taken 

 as a very favorable sign of the good tim ecoming, 

 when good gardeners will be paid what good gar- 

 deners are really worth. 



OUR PRESENT NUMBER. 



It has been our ambition that the readers of our 

 journal should become a tliinldng class. Horticul- 

 ture cannot be taught in any other way, nor can the 

 most experienced improve without. Tell another 

 exactly how to do a thing, and he yet fails to do it; 

 or explain to him as much as you please the philos- 

 ophy of a practice and he fails to apply it. It is this 

 application of principles combined, theory and prac- 

 tice, which we have ever wished to make the pecu- 

 liar feature of our paper. The present number will 

 be found a particularly interesting one in this re- 

 spect. The paper on Pear blight is especially val- 

 uable. 



Those who have read our views know how repeat- 

 edly we have urged this view of the case perhaps 

 a little farther, as we do not think that a predispo- 

 sing cause is at all necessary for a parasitic fungus 

 to act injuriously. Mr. Fryer's paper is also an ad- 

 mirable article, and indeed the whole list of corres- 

 pondence is of that character which will just suit 

 the wants of ' 'our circle. " ' 



<I3= Communications for this department must reach the Editor 

 on or before ihe 10th of the month. 



<l3^The Editor cannot answer letters for this department pri- 

 vately. 



Best Grapes to Plant— ^. C. (7-, Tyre^ New 

 York. — I write to get your opinion in regard to the 

 lona and Israella Grapes, as I shall be very thank- 

 ful for a little information from those who have 

 some experience, and I shall be thankful for your 

 opinion about them. I want to plant two acres 

 with grapes this spring, and I want to plant the 

 best. I am near Cayuga Lake. My soil is a deep, 

 gravelly loam ; a south-eastern exposure, from forty 

 to fifty feet above the level of the lake. 



[The lona is a grape of first-class flavor, and 

 wherever the Catawba will grow, we think it per- 

 fectly safe to plant lona. The great misfortune of 

 the lona is, that it has been injured by zealous 

 friends, who seem to suppose it necessary to the 



success of their favorite, that all other varieties 

 should be depreciated. It was boldly avowed, that 

 in the lona we had a grape that was entirely free 

 from the mildew, and, in fact, with it the millen- 

 nium of grape culture had arrived. Finding that 

 everywhere it mildewed as badly as others, people 

 assumed (and properly on this ground) that they 

 were deceived, and hence the outcry against it. But 

 when we remember that we have no first-class 

 grape that is exempt from liability to these ills, 

 there is no reason why the lona or Israella should 

 not have a chance as well as any other. Our cor- 

 respondent must ascertain if the grape is generally 

 free from disease in his vicinity. If it is, he may 

 risk the choicer kinds. If disease is prevalent, he 

 had better plant kinds like Concord, Clinton, and 

 Hartford Prolific, which are not so likely to suffer 

 under circumstances that will injure other kinds.] 



Fruit Crops in McLean Co., Ky. — A cor- 

 respondent says: "We had a poor crop of apples 

 in this section of country the past season. The 

 Hewes' Cider Crab is the most hardy and produc- 

 tive variety we have for cider. I think, when it 

 becomes generally known, it will be planted by 

 thousands. Strawberries did well witli me. Grapes 

 on young vines did well. The old vines appeared 

 to be wanting in fruit-buds. When I say grapes, I 

 mean Concord, Delaware, Hartford, Diana and Ca- 

 tawba, and not Allen's Hybrid, Cuyahoga, Logan, 

 Rebecca, Pauline, To-Kalon, Anna, and a number 

 of others which I could mention, which are being 

 sold to the inexperienced at high prices, to result 

 in disappointment. Pears did well, though rather 

 scattering on the trees. But the worst thing hap- 

 pened to me was that the blight got on my dwarf 

 pear orchard, and killed more than one-fourth of 

 the trees. It was the first I had ever noticed on 

 them, and some of them were eight or ten years 

 transplanted. It was a kind of assortment orchard 

 of thirty or more varieties. It took the most 

 thrifty trees and varieties first, such as Vicar of 

 Winkfield, Glout Morceau, Beurre Diel, Fondante 

 d'Automne, Louise Bonne de Jersey, &c. Winter 

 Nelis, BufFum, Dix, Gray, Doyenne, and a number 

 of others it did not touch. After the leaves were 

 out in the spring, we had several days of cold, cloudy 

 weather, nearly cold enough to freeze, which, I think, 

 chilled the sap so much, that it ceased to perform 

 its office, and the lesult was the death of the tree. 

 What do you think was the cause? I have lost so 

 many thrifty young trees from cold, that I am al- 

 most afraid to advise persons to whom I sell trees, 

 to plant them in very rich ground, lest they should 



