SEEDLING FRUIT, AND OTHER HARD-WOODED TREES. 
43 
ford, well known as one of the most success- 
ful raisers of strawberries, has this season 
exhibited one which he considers distinct, and 
has named Eleanor. It appears to be very- 
prolific, and is a handsome looking fruit. In 
form, it is bluntly conical ; in size, rather 
large ; in colour, light red, scarcely so delicate 
as the British Queen. The flavour is brisk, 
but somewhat acid, perhaps hardly so rich as 
some others. 
Aphides on Vegetable Crops, to de- 
stroy. — The Aphides, or plant-lice, do much 
injury to vegetables when they attack them, 
and are suffered to get the upper hand. To 
remove them, dredge the plants well early in 
the morning, while wet with dew, with dry 
wood ashes, charred wood, or sawdust, or 
chimney soot, either of which will be distaste- 
ful to the vermin ; the three together, how- 
ever, have a most beneficial effect, not only in 
clearing away the nuisance, but also in adding 
to the fertility of the soil. 
Cabbage-root Maggot. — The maggot 
which infests the roots of the cabbage, and 
other crops of the Brassica tribe, such as 
bi'ocoli, cauliflower, kales, &c, and which, if 
left undisturbed, often destroys whole crops, 
may be dislodged by applying a liquid prepa- 
ration formed by mixing wood-ashes and 
chimney- soot with water. A peck or more of 
soot and ashes may be mixed well in a hogs- 
head of water ; the ingredients should be well 
mixed, and then allowed to settle, and the 
clear liquor used. A good soaking application 
is necessary. 
SEEDLING FRUIT, AND OTHER HARD- 
WOODED TREES. 
Many are deterred, by the long period that 
elapses between the sowing and coming to 
maturity, from attempting to raise subjects 
that would, nevertheless, well repay them for 
the trouble ; but still the usual period required 
may be shortened by means that are easily 
applied. An apple-pip will be some years 
before it grows to a bearing tree. The apri- 
cot, peach, nectarine, cherry, pear, and other 
fruits, are, perhaps from the discouraging 
period of growth before bearing, all neglected 
alike ; but say that seven years is the shortest 
period that maturity and fruit-bearing can be 
hoped for under ordinary circumstances, and 
that then ninety-nine of every hundred are 
worse than the parent, it is enough to dis- 
courage any but an enthusiast to attempt 
growing seedling fruit-trees. Let us set some 
young gentleman or lady a task, not an un- 
pleasantvone if there be ground at command. 
Get the finest specimens of fruit that can 
be had; or rather, as you come across any 
fruit remarkably fine, save the seed. If it be 
cherries, save the stones ; apples, the pips. 
No matter what it be — if a wonderful fine 
strawberry, peel off the outside, with all the 
seeds on it, and save it in a bit of paper; the 
rest is not the worse for eating for losing its 
skin and seeds ; wash out the seeds from the 
pulp as soon as you get home, and put the 
seed on blotting-paper to dry. Raspberry, 
gooseberry, or currant, ditto ; in short, 
no matter what fruit it be, if the speci- 
mens are remarkably fine, save the seeds. 
Gooseberry, raspberry, and currant (the latter, 
perhaps, is not worth the trouble), must be 
saved whole, and the seeds be obtained by 
squeezing the berry and washing out the juice 
and pulp, as directed for strawberries; place 
them on blotting-paper to absorb the wet, and 
when thoroughly dried put them in paper. 
If nothing remarkably fine comes in your 
way, seek them. Contrive to procure the 
finest apple, pear, plum, nectarine, peach, 
apricot, cherries, gooseberries, raspberries, and 
other fruit ; a dozen apple-pips ; as many 
pear-pips ; cherry-stones and other stone fruit, 
half-a-dozen or a dozen each; and thus pro- 
vided, get a small patch of good strong 
ground, plant in all the stones two inches 
apart, in rows six inches apart, and mark the 
ends of the rows, because it will enable you 
to clear away weeds between the rows with- 
out disturbing the seeds. The strawberry, 
gooseberry, and raspberry seeds must be 
sown as you would sow annuals ; and as these 
seeds are to stand all the winter's rough wea- 
ther, and the risk of being disturbed by 
vermin, place over the whole, cuttings of 
gooseberry-bushes, branches of thorn, holly, 
or other prickly subjects, not enough to 
exclude the light, but enough to prevent the 
intrusion of cats, fowls, &c. In the spring, 
some of these subjects will come up, and 
others will lay some time in the ground ; but 
weeds must be cleared off as fast as they come 
up, and it can only be done safely by hand, 
for the hoe or spud may disturb the seeds and 
young plants. Let them be watered regularly 
all the summer, whether up or not, and con- 
tinue to keep clear of weeds. If the straw- 
berries, raspberries, and gooseberries are too 
thick, they may be carefully thinned, and the 
plants taken away and replanted in good, rich, 
strong ground, three inches apart every way, 
and that is about the distance to leave those 
in the seed bed. The time to thin these must 
therefore be when the plants are large enough 
to handle well, and this will get us fairly 
through the first season. It must be borne 
in mind that, when seeds are in the ground, 
they would be greatly risked if the soil in 
which they are placed were to be allowed to 
get dry, so as to evaporate any of the ab- 
sorbed moisture from the seeds; therefore on 
