FEBRUARY. 



13 



The above is by no means an exceptional case with me, as I have cut fruit 

 of this Pine in winter, and kept them six weeks in a cool room, and then sent 

 them to my employers while resident at a distance from here, and there they 

 were not always cut up when sent, but were invariably pronounced excellent. 

 And only last month my employer, who is a good judge of fruit, said there was 

 no Pine equal to the Smooth Cayenne ; and such is my own opinion, particularly 

 for winter supply. And I have never yet seen an instance of its decaying at 

 the bottom before fully ripe at the top. The Prickly Cayenne and Black 

 Prince I have frequently seen decay in that way. The latte'r variety, as well 

 as Enyilles and Providences, I consider not worth growing, and confine my 

 collection to Smooth Cayennes, Queens, a few Prickly Cayennes, and what I 

 have as^ the Brocklesby Seedling, which is the best-flavoured Pine I know, 

 but it will scarcely keep a day after it is quite ripe. I have Hurst House Seed- 

 ling in fruit for the first time, and some of the fruit are fourteen-pip deep, in 

 8-inch pots. If the flavour of Hurst House Seedling is at all good it will 

 be a valuable Pine. 



Archerfield. D. Thomson. 



[We receiyed on the 20th December last a fruit of this Smooth Cayenne Pine from Mr. 

 Thomson, which was as sound and delicious as a summer Pino. It was 7 inches high and 

 17i inches in circumference, weighing 5| lbs.— Eds. F. & P.] 



THE BEST PEAR GROWN— KEEPING LATE PEARS 

 AND APPLES. 



Having at present some Winter Nelis Pears from an east wall just fit for 

 table, I am of opinion that this sort, take it for all in all, is one of the best 

 grown in its season. The specimens mentioned above are not large, but they 

 are covered with russet, and the flavour is most exquisite. From a south wall 

 the Winter Nelis ripened here in November and from a west aspect in 

 December, so that a succession has been kept up for three months of this most 

 useful and high-flavoured kind. 



I find the most satisfactory mode of keeping late Pears and Apples is to 

 pack them in shallow boxes with dry, well-sifted bran. The boxes I use arc 

 2 feet 6 inches long by 2 feet broad, and about 4 inches deep. When the fruit 

 are packed the boxes are placed one above the other, and only a lid is wanted 

 for the uppermost. In keeping fruit in air-tight jars or in sand a deal of time 

 is taken up in examining them, but in shallow boxes it is soon done. The fruit 

 being placed in single layers, they are soon looked over in the boxes, and if a 

 few rot they do not taint the others, the bran drying-up the moisture. There 

 is no danger in any well-regulated fruit-room of the bran getting heated or 

 nmsty in the boxes so as to give a bad taste to the fruit. Last year I had 

 Prince Albert Pears in good condition up to the middle of June, and the Leon 

 le Clerc de Laval kept till the end of July in such boxes. 



William Tillery. 



RELATING TO ROSES, AND TO THE ROSE SEASON. 



1. The Rose Season.— Though the Weather has been dismal, the Roses here, 

 on the whole, have done well. From January to July there was a succession 

 of frosts, hurricanes, hail, and rain. From August to November the weather 

 was favourable, and the season has ended well. As soon as the sun came out 

 they began to amend ; and, though there should be a severe winter, yet, as the 

 plants have made new roots and the skins are hard, I hope deaths may be few. 



