374 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
size and color, and the flavor of the fruit are de¬ 
termined by the richness of the soil. 
What manure shall we apply ? Barn-yard 
dung, simple and unmixed, might be safely used 
in moderate quantities; but doubtless, a mixture' 
of this, with rotten leaves, sods, ashes, bones, 
night-soil, street-scrapings and the like, would 
be better. Let these lie in a heap a few months, 
and then shovel them together, and the compost 
may well be labelled, “Pear-tree specific.” 
Spread this dressing over the roots every Fall, 
and work it into the soil in the Spring. Of 
course, the weeds and grass are to be kept down; 
for about as much good will come from this till¬ 
age as from the manure. 
The above directions apply with special force 
to dwarf-pears. The quince-root, being small, 
can not throw out its rootlets far and wide in 
search of food, when the soil near the trunk is 
exhausted. The food must be brought to it, 
regularly, and enough of it, too, to supply its 
constant wants. Follow this up, with systematic 
pruning, and the labor will be well repaid. 
Water in Ornamental Gardening. 
Persons living on the sea-board, or on the 
shores of our lakes and rivers, need little said 
to them in reference to our subject. They 
know well how important a feature water is in 
their scenery. They have become so attached 
to it, that it seems they could hardly live with¬ 
out it. A friend of ours who once lived on the 
sea coast, but now resides in an inland village, 
often goes down at evening to the shore of a 
fish-pond, that the motion of the little wavelets 
may remind him of the rolling sea ! "When per¬ 
sons who have long resided near the wateivside 
come to travel through scenery otherwise beau¬ 
tiful, but lacking this one feature, they exclaim: 
It’s all very well, but oh! where is the water! 
Fish Ponds.— It is our present purpose to 
speak of water on a smaller scale—of the uses 
that can be made of it in lawns and gardens, 
and retired portions of one’s premises. Few 
things are pleasanter than a simple stream or 
pond of clear water, partly overhung by trees 
and vines, and filled with fish. If our minia¬ 
ture lake is large enough for a boat, this will 
add much to its beauty and enjoyableness. 
There are many places now destitute of this 
attraction, which might possess it. Take, for 
instance, a valley with a small stream running 
through it. Throw a dam across the'lower end 
of the valley. Make it of stones, and firm 
enough to resist the pressure of any freshet 
Have a waste-way large enough to carry off all 
superfluous water, and to drain the pond when¬ 
ever necessary. Care should be.taken that the 
sides of the pond be irregular and flowing, 
not square, or exactly round. From no point 
should the spectator be able to see the whole 
body of water.at once. The stream should be 
large enough and sufficiently constant, to afford 
a steady flow of water in and out; else we shall 
have for our pains nothing better than a morass 
or frog-pond. At the outlet, the stones of the 
dam should be laid in a rough, picturesque man¬ 
ner, so as to form a musical cascade. 
--The dale 
With woods o’erhung, and shagg’d with mossy rocks, 
Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, 
And down the rough cascade, white, dashing fall, 
Or gleam in lengthen’d vista through the trees. 
Management oe. a Brook. —But a stream 
of water may be enjoyed in a different way, and 
on a still smaller scale. It may not be advisa¬ 
ble generally to introduce a brook into a highly 
dressed lawn or pasture; we should rather say, 
bring it in at some side corner, some shaded 
nook, where there is some little air of natural 
rusticity. Here, highten the native wildness by 
bringing in bowlders and mossy logs and 
stumps; plant forest trees, and shrubs and 
vines and plants from the woods, until the place 
is completely embowered, and has much the ap¬ 
pearance of a little forest. Make the sides and 
bottom of the stream jagged with rocks, and 
plant trailing vines and various water-loving 
plants to overhang it. Perhaps a cascade or 
miniature waterfall can be constructed, whose 
silvery music will always be pleasant. One of 
the most agreeable incidents in a recent journey 
of the writer was a visit to a friend’s cottage, 
near which was a scene like what we have above 
hinted at. And we now refer to it the more 
earnestly, because we know it is a practicable 
thing, and a cheap and simple source of enjoy¬ 
ment. Of the children’s water-wheel, and their 
fairies’ grotto, and their hut, we can not now 
speak more particularly, though we shall not 
soon forget them. Children always enj oy water, 
and in making water-wheels, boat building, 
wading, bathing, and skating in "Winter, the 
brook and the pond cultivate mechanical inge¬ 
nuity, and afford them amusement and exercise. 
Fountains and Jets d’eau are more artificial 
and costly, and properly belong to the highly 
dressed parts of the ground near the house. 
The water to supply them is commonly brought 
in through pipes underground from some ele¬ 
vated resorvoir. When the water is abundant, 
and the entire fixtures are well made, and of a 
pure classic design, the effect is very good. The 
silvery plash of the water in its marble basin is 
very soothing in a hot summer’s day. When 
the supply of water is quite small, instead of 
attempting a jet, a better way is to have simply 
a dripping fountain. “ A basin of any material,” 
says a judicious author, “from the coarsest 
common stone to white marble, with a block of 
the same in the center, supporting a graceful 
vase, in which the water boils up and falls 
gently over the rim into the basin, will give 
more pleasure both to the eye and the ear than 
any other application of the same amount of 
water.” And again: “ A small clear stream 
may be made to break from an apparently nat¬ 
ural fissure in a mass of rock-work, and flow 
down its side into a pebbly basin below; a 
graceful nymph may pour water from her urn; 
or many other beautiful uses may be made of 
even a small quantity of water, always provided 
it be of crystal purity. But by all means avoid 
making the likeness of bird, beast, or fish, 
throwing water from its mouth: in spite of its 
frequent use in celebrated fountains, this is too 
much like one of the most disgusting ills that 
flesh is subject to, to be anything but revolting 
to good taste.” 
Water-Pipes, etc. —For bringing in water 
from distant reservoirs, iron and lead pipes are 
unquestionably the most durable; cement pipes, 
well laid, are good, but logs of the right mate¬ 
rial, well bored and properly laid, will last many 
years. We have lately examined a set of log- 
pipes, a half mile long, which run down one 
hill and up another, through which a stream of 
water has flowed fifteen years with only two 
short interruptions. And we could not see why 
they might not last for as many years to come. 
Of the hydraulic ram, the wind-mill, and other 
contrivances for introducing water, we have not 
the space now to speak. This whole subject is 
an important and interesting one, and we com¬ 
mend it to the thoughts of our readers! 
Cherry and Plum Trees. 
In the partial failure of these trees in many 
portions of the country, there has been a strong 
tendency to abandon their cultivation entirely. 
A very unwise proceeding. The panic, we hope, 
has already spent itself, and trust that men will 
again return to their reason. 
cherry trees. 
In reference to the bursting of the bark, and 
the. dying out of cherry-trees from the cold of 
Winter or from other causes, these evils are not 
absolutely beyond control. They should be 
charged, partly at least, to the practice of plant¬ 
ing the trees in too rich and deep soil. In such 
situations, they make a very rapid growth, the 
wood is soft and watery, and when winter 
comes, the tender tissues are frozen and rent 
asunder. Here is an item from our own expe¬ 
rience, illustrative of the above: Ten years ago, 
we bought eight young trees of the finest im¬ 
proved varieties, among which were the May 
Duke, White Ox Heart, Black Eagle, Black 
Tartarian, Yellow Spanish, and Downer’s Late 
Bed. Four of these were set in a rather low 
and very rich and deep soil; and four of them 
on higher land, and where the soil was light and 
shallow. Indeed, where the last four stood, the 
top soil had been plowed and scraped off a foot 
or more, and carried into the lower ground 
where the first four stood. Yet the two lots 
were not "more than fifty feet apart, the only 
difference being in the character of the soil, and 
in about fifteen feet of altitude. How, mark 
their history. The first lot grew vigorously for 
two or three years, but soon began to show rup¬ 
tures in their limbs and trunks. After a while, 
two of them died outright in a single winter, 
and the others are now about half-dead. They 
bear a little fruit—only a little—on the few sur¬ 
viving limbs. The second lot grew quite slow¬ 
ly. They are now all alive, have only a few 
spots of rupture, and bear good crops almost 
every year. This year, they have done admi¬ 
rably. Such experience and observation lead us 
to think that if cherry-trees were treated to a 
little more neglect, giving them rather poor soil, 
setting them on exposed sites where they would 
grow slowly, and ripen their wood earlier, they 
would succeed better than they now generally 
do. Is not this worth a fair trial ? 
THE PLUM TREE. 
This is a comparative failure in many regions, 
owing to the black knot, or the ravages of the 
curculio. Yet in other places, and under a cer¬ 
tain course of management, it succeeds tolerably 
well. It is a plain case that the plum will not 
thrive and be fruitful, if neglected. 
Whether the knot is caused by an insect punc¬ 
turing the bark, or is a fungus arising from a 
diseased constitution of the tree, we will not now 
stop to consider. Experience shows that the 
only sure way to manage it is to cut it out, and 
cut it out again, whenever it appears. Cut down 
to the last vestige of it, and then cover the 
wound with shellac varnish or grafting wax. 
Begin with the tree early in the season, cut out 
every wart on the large limbs, and cut off every 
small limb that is affected, and burn it. If it be 
an insect that causes the knot, he will thus be 
put out of the way for at least one year. Do 
this for several years, and persuade the neigh¬ 
bors and the nurserymen to do it; and the knot 
will gradually disappear, or what little remains 
will do no serious injury. 
As to the curculio, we have heretofore discussed 
his case quite at length, and now will only re¬ 
peat that some growers succeed well by paving 
