S14 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[OCTOBEH, 
ful when in flower, and propagates very rapid- 
ly, as it throws out slioots similar to the straw- 
berry, but it loses its foliage during winter. Iris 
pumila looks fine, with its rich purple flowers, 
but it loses its foliage during dry weather, and 
then presents a shabby appearance. The old- 
fashioned June-pink makes a good edge, lasting 
about three years in the same soil ; to succeed 
well, it should bo transplanted every spring. 
Lamium maeiilatiim, with a prettily marked 
leaf, and white flowers, and a constant bloomer, 
will require cutting several times during the 
summer; it loses its leaves in winter. A 
Strawberry edging combines usefulness with 
beauty; it is troublesome to keep free from 
runners, but it will furnish employment for the 
children, and keep them out of mischief Thyme 
and Sage make a veiy profitable edging ; if the 
seed be sown in the spring, a good crop can be 
cut, which, when tied in small bunches, meets a 
ready sale in the market. These all form substi- 
tutes for box, but in our estimation very poor 
ones. If in an exposed situation, where it is 
likely to be killed during winter, box-edging 
should have the soil drawn up to its sides, and 
thus protected, it will stand the most severe 
winters. Sedum SieholdAi is perfectly hardy, and 
makes a good edging. [We thank Mr. Cavan- 
agh for his suggestions, though as a matter of 
taste we disagree with him in regard to the use 
of Sage and Thyme. Both that and Parsley 
make appropriate edgings to beds in the kit- 
chen garden, but we much prefer the others 
he has named in the flower garden. — Eds.] 
Weeds— The Indian Mallow. 
(Abiiiilon Amccnna.) 
This summer we have frequently passed by a 
lot containing a crop which we could not recog- 
nise ; ther(f was an excellent "stand" of plants 
of uniform size, and growing so luxuriantly 
that their leaves soon hid the ground. "We 
thought as we rode by, there is a nice crop of 
something, and how free of weeds it is, and were 
often tempted to stop and make a closer inspec- 
tion of it, and find out what it was that grew so 
rSDI.VN M.ILLOW. 
Jiromisingly. One daj', being near the place 
on foot, we concluded to visit this unrecog- 
nised crop, and to our astonishment found a 
number of women engaged in pulling it all up, 
and leaving exposed rows of poor, weak, ruta- 
bagas, which had been hidden and starved by a 
perfect covering of weeds. A near view of the 
weed showed it to be an old acquaintance — the 
Indian Mallow, a flowering stem of which is 
shown in the engraving. Its heart-shaped 
leaves are so soft to the touch that it is some- 
times called Velvet-leaf. The small yellow 
flowers are succeeded by a fruit composed of a 
number of 2- to several-seeded pods arranged 
around a central stem. The fruit is bell-shaped 
and flat on the top, the free points of the pods 
of which it is made up giving it a rather pretty 
star-like appearance. The plant accommo- 
dates itself to circumstances, and in a poor soil 
flowers and fruits when only a foot or two high, 
while in a rich one it attains to the hight of 5 
or 6 feet, and is not inelegant. It is more 
common near the coast, but we have seen 
here and there a few plants at the West, which 
for their foreign look were tolerated as a curios- 
itj'. We give a portrait of the Oriental wander- 
er, that he may be known and cast out as a 
worthless intruder. Being an annual, the In- 
dian Mallow is easily disposed of, if pulled be- 
fore it has time to ripen and scatter its seeds. 
Is Pear Culture Profitable ?— Examples. 
Some time ago there was a great mania for 
pear-culture. It was shown how many pears 
a dwarf tree three years planted, ougJit to bear, 
and the jiricc which these pears would bring in 
the market : having these Sata and knowing how 
many trees would grow on an acre, it was easy 
to figure a large profit from a given space, and 
one only need to have a few acres in pears to be 
sure of a very comfortable income. Somehow 
the thing did not work, the trees were planted, 
the income was mainly an out-go, and then pear 
culture was voted a humbug. To be profitable, 
fruit culture, and fin- that matter, culture of any 
kind, must be made a business, and an intelli- 
gent head must direct industrious and careful 
hands. In a congenial soil and climate, the 
pear will, in the hands of one cultivator, pro- 
duce a profitable crop, while with another it 
will fail. Some set out the trees and let them 
take their chances ; the grass grows close 
around them, and the soil becomes exhausted, 
and the fruit, as a consequence, is so small and 
covered with blemishes that it is diflicult to 
recognise the varietj'. Another cultivates bis 
trees, but puts crops between them ; he forgets 
to put on manure enough for the crops and 
the trees too, and although the orchard is cul- 
tivated, the trees fail to do well. This season 
we saw a market gardener growing so coarse a 
feeder as rhubarb, close among bis pear trees, and 
we much doubt that the profits from the rhubarb 
will compensate the damage to the trees. But 
instead of enumerating causes of failure, it will, 
perhaps, be better to give an account of a suc- 
cessful pear orchard. We recently had the 
pleasure of visiting the grounds of Doct. I. M. 
Ward, near Newark, N. J., with whom the 
culture of the pear is a specialty. Dr. Ward has 
a favorable location, and his orchard of about six 
acres, is well protected from winds by evergreen 
and other trees. The trees, mostly standards, 
have the ground all to themselves, and are well 
fed and taken care of Every autumn a plenti- 
ful supply of manure is spread around each 
tree as far as the roots extend ; in the spring the 
ground is thoroughly cultivated, and later it is 
mulched with 4 to inches of salt marsh hay. 
The mulch keeps the surface of the ground 
moist, and the trees do not suffer from drouth ; 
it prevents the soil from compacting, and upon 
lifting it anywhere the earth beneath is found 
in a light pulverulent condition ; weeds have 
no chance to grow, the few strong ones that 
work their way up through this mat are so 
small is number, that they maybe readily hand- 
pulled. Another, and not insignificant benefit 
of the mulch is, that it affords a soft cushion 
to receive the falling frui't ; in a large or- 
chard, a considerable quantitj' of fruit is blown 
off by high winds, and it is no small item to 
have this free from bruises and dirt. In au- 
tumn, the mulch is made up into cocks between 
the trees, the annual manuring is given, and in 
spring it is replaced with sufllcient addition of 
fresh material to make good the waste. A part 
of the orchard is not mulched, owing to the 
difficulty of procuring material, but the uncov- 
ered portion receives the same annual manur- 
ing, and the cultivator goes through it so fre- 
quently that the soil is kept in excellent condi- 
tion and free of weeds. This is the routine of 
culture, and the result is an abundance of fruit 
of a quality that brings the best market prices. 
Trees so equally covered with well developed 
fruit,so uniform in size, we have never before seen; 
they are a splendid testimony to the value of 
abundant manure, mulching, thorough cultiva- 
tion, and judicious thinning. The varieties culti- 
vated here are Bartlett, Duchesse, Lawrence, 
Onondaga, Doyenne Boussock, Seckel, and some 
few others. AVe do not propose to go into a 
gentleman's private affairs and tell how much 
he makes from his orchard. Sufllce it to say- 
that he is satisfied that pear-culture is profitable. 
A short time after seeing Doct. Ward's or- 
chard, we paid a visit to that of Mr. C. T. 
Schmidt, which is situated on the banks of the 
Hudson, opposite Dobbs' Perr^', upon a high 
plateau between the river and the Palisades. 
This orchard consists mainly of dwarfs, there 
being about 2000 of these interspersed with 
something like one fourth that number of stand- 
ards. Though the trees are but five years old, 
they for the most part are bearing very satisfac- 
tory crops. The rows of dwarf Vicars were 
something wonderful for the amount and beau- 
ty of the fruit with which they were loaded.- 
Both dwarfs and standards, with the exception 
of a few specimens attacked by the blight, were 
exceedingly vigorous in appearance and all well 
formed. Mr. S. first directs the energies of the 
tree to making wood, and in order to bring it 
into satisfactory shape it is severely cut back 
when young. The dwarfs are well furnished to 
near the base with branches, and as well as the 
standards, are models in shape. Though this 
orchard is just beginning to m.ake returns, from 
what we saw already upon the trees and their 
promise of future fruitfulness, we doubt not, its 
proprietor will also find pear-culture profitable. 
Flower Pits and Green-Houses. 
Every one who has a garden of much extent, 
finds it necess.ary to protect many half-hardy 
plants during the winter, and where there is no 
structure for the purpose, the plants are placed 
in the cellar. This treatment answers very 
well in many cases, but it often happens that 
the cellar is too dark, too damp, or too warm, 
when the plants will sufler in some manner. 
Those who cannot manage to have a green- 
house, will find the cold pit a much better 
substitute than the cellar. Such a structure 
may be made of a temporary character, but 
where one is permanently located it is better 
to build it in a substantial manner, as it will he 
found convenient for other purposes than win- 
tering plants. The principal expense is in pro- 
