368 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
warm day, and shade with paper or muslin from 
the direct rays of the sun. 
-«*>~4 —«3<fr Ba —» C » . 
Apples Half Sweet and Half Sour. 
The note on this subject has called out several 
communications. We make a few extracts. Mr. 
Henry F Gifford, of Barnstable County, Mass., 
writes : 
One of my neighbors lias a tree, one limb of 
which produces apples half sweet and half sour. 
The way they are produced, he says, was by tak¬ 
ing a bud from a sweet aud sour apple tree, split¬ 
ting thorn, putting the two halves together, and 
budding the tree in the usual manner with them. 
Perhaps in some such way the tree of “ John 
Dunning” was produced. 
S. W. Thomas, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, writes : 
....In Northern Ohio many of us have had these 
trees in full bearing for several years past, pro¬ 
ducing not only apples half sweet and half sour, 
but those nearly all sour with a small portion 
sweet, and others directly opposite ; in short, 
they are of all grades, from entire sweet to entire 
sour. I can not give time, place, and name of 
person, but these were produced thus : At the 
time of budding a bud was taken from the It. I 
Greening, and another from the Golden Sweet, 
as we call it here. The two buds were cut length¬ 
wise through the center, each precisely alike, so 
that the opposite parts fitted exactly together 
when they were inserted as in ordinary budding. 
This is a nice job, I assure yea, but if correctly 
done, will as surely produce the hybrid apples a.i 
a single bud will produce a single variety. This 
maybe doubted by some, but repeated expen- 
ments have proved the correctness of the stat •- 
ments. 
AN EVER-BEARING APPLE TREE. 
William Crocker, Erie Co. N. Y., writes : I he 
instance of the hybrid apple, described in the No¬ 
vember number, reminds me of a curious wee I 
myself saw in South Carolina. There v/as on 
this tree, at the same time, blossoms, grem apples, 
and ripe fruit. The owner of the tree informed 
me that the tree produced five to seven crops in 
a single season—each succeeding yield, however, 
diminishing in size. 
———— --»-•-- 
Planting Orchards on a Northern 
Exposure. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I shoukl be individually obliged if you will state, 
for myself and others, whether planting apple- 
trees on a situation slightly inclined to the north 
or west, would be, in this latitude (43[°), likely 
to injure their growth, or Winter kill them, more 
than in a situation having a like inclination to the 
south-east. 
G. W. Sheldon. 
Fondulac Co., Wis. 
Remarks. —If the land has a good natural 
drainage—that is, a porous subsoil, and a dry lo¬ 
cality, a northerly exposure will not be prejudi¬ 
cial to the trees, either in “ growth ” or “ Winter- 
killing.” By reference to our orchard article in 
the January number (page 17), it will be seen that 
we prefer a gentle southern exposure, provided 
we could have our own way in all things. But if 
the soil is good, and we could do no better, we 
should embrace the opposite exposure by all 
means. We do not consider the degrees of lati¬ 
tude as governing the exposure at all, provided 
other circumstances are favorable ; still we would 
not plant an orchard right in the face of prevail¬ 
ing ar.d violent winds. In a case of this kind we 
can only speak generally, not knowing anything 
of the particular locality.—E d. 
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Walnut and Mulberry for Shade Trees. 
Milton Baldwin, of Greensboro, Tnd., referring 
to the article on shade trees in pastures given in 
the August Agriculturist, page 236, commends the 
practice of beautifying the farm with shade trees 
scattered here and there. But he would combine 
the useful with the beautiful, and plant the wal¬ 
nut and mulberry instead of the oak and elm. He 
thinks the former two are less liable to be blown 
down when standing alone."’^The walnut (hicko¬ 
ry!) naturally grows tall, but by early pruning it 
may be made to take a low branching form. Its 
timber is more valuable than the elm or oak, while 
it yields an annual crop of nuts for sale, and for 
the boys and girls as well as older people to crack 
during the Winter evenings. [Not very good to 
sleep on.— Ed.] The outside hull of the nut is 
also valuable for family coloring.. .The mulberry 
bears a fruit which is highly prized by the birds, 
and these trees thus draw around one a multitude 
of the cheerful feathered songsters. Some vari¬ 
eties of the mulberry furnish a fruit valuable for 
human, consumption. 
------- 
Elldive —(Chicorium enclivia). 
A Western subscriber says he sees in our 
“ Calendar of Operations ” frequent directions 
for sowing endive, but neither he nor his neigh¬ 
bors' know the plant, and they, and probably oth- 
e’v, desire a description of what it is, and how 
g £r*Yi and used. .. .The engraving above shows 
tl appearance of the growing plant. It is often 
called “ chicoree." It is a highly prized salad, 
and is, at this season, what lettuce is in the Spring 
and early Summer. 
To have it in perfection during Winter, the 
seed should be sown the latter part of July, in 
drills 12 to 15 inches apart. Transfer the plants 
to cold frames about the middle of August, water¬ 
ing and shading them until well established. Or : 
they may be grown in the beds where sown. 
Keep the plants thinned out, so as not to be 
crowded, and when freezing weather comes on 
lift them with a portion of earth adhering, and 
transfer to cold frames, which are used mere¬ 
ly as a partial protection. Cover with the shut¬ 
ters and with straw, or other litter, to keep 
out rain and hard frosts, but a free admission of 
air should be provided whenever the weather will 
allow. They will require less blanching when 
grown thus at this season, than when cultivated 
in the open ground at an earlier period. 
When the leaves become large tie them up 
while free from rain or dew, and not frozen, and 
draw a little earth around the base to support 
the plants. They will blanch in a week or two suf¬ 
ficiently for use Some prefer blanching (whiten¬ 
ing) them by laying a board over the plants, which 
flattens them down. A few dry forest leaves 
spread over the ground around the plants will aid 
to keep them clean and dry. Treated as above, 
endive will furnish a nice salad during the entire 
Winter. The French people and some others 
are fond of it boiled or stewed As endive does 
not appear to be widely introduced, we may, per¬ 
haps, add the seed to our distribution list. 
Freezing out Currant-Bush Insects. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I have a few suggestions to make in regard to 
the currant louse, which your correspondent D. 
Goodyear, described very accurately in the June 
Agriculturist. I did not observe, however, that 
they left my bushes in the form of a fly. On the 
contrary they remained in great numbers until 
both leaves and fruit prematurely fell off or with¬ 
ered, and on examining the ground late in the 
Fall, I found plenty of them just below the dead 
leaves. To try the effects of frost upon them, I 
dug the ground over just before the setting in ot 
Winter, leaving the earth in a fine loose stale 
that it might freeze deeply. I also kept the snow 
away from the bushes during the Winter for the 
same purpose. When the frost was out in the 
Spring, I sprinkled the ground liberally with lime, 
and am now happy to say that not a louse made 
its appearance on my bushes during the present 
season. I have had an excellent crop of fruit, and 
many of the leaves still remain upon the bushes. 
J. Thorniley. 
Franklin Co., Mass., Sept. 13, 1858. 
Remarks. —The above was crowded out at the 
appropriate season, but it may still afford a hint 
to those having bushes preyed upon by insects, 
as the ground will be unfrozen at times during 
this and the following month. Many of these in¬ 
sects are so fixed to the spot where they com¬ 
mit their depredations, that in addition to freez 
ing them out, they can be removed by taking away 
a portion of the soil containing the grubs and 
supplying its place with fresh earth. Late Fall is 
the best time for this purpose. The free use of 
lime is often useful upon ground infested with in¬ 
sects. 
- . m i ■aO c* 11 —► 
Interesting Notes on the Winter Cherry, 
and Husk Tomato 
Thomas Williams, of Nanticoke, Canada West, 
tw a business letter to the Agriculturist, adds the 
following items: ....A word on the fruit you 
call “Winter Cherry,” and various other names 
—here we call it the “ Ground Cherry.” I have 
cultivated for two years what you term Physalis 
viscosa, and am quite interested in it as a new 
garden plant. My seed came from Illinois, and 
though on my stiff clay garden soil it has not had 
a fair chance, it does well in Canada on looser, 
warmer soils. I received seed from the same 
source, which proves to be what you pictured un 
der the hypothetical name of “ Husk tomato.” 
The fruit did not ripen, owing to the attacks of a 
little black bug, which here perforates the leaves 
of the potato, tomato, and other kindred plants. 
The insects took a special fancy to the flowers of 
the “ Husk tomato,” and ate them as fast as they 
appeared, until quite late in the season, I saved 
a little seed, however, and shall try them again. 
I think we have varieties of the Physalis grow¬ 
ing wild, which differ from all the kinds you have 
described. In Canad-a and in several parts of the 
United States I have met with a sort which some¬ 
what resembles the P. viscosa, in the general ap¬ 
pearance of the leaf, flower, and husk ; but the 
leaf is a lighter green, more downy, and white on 
the under side; the flower is a brighter yellow ; 
the fruit is not so pleasant tasted and muclj 
