AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
41 
l^rtiailturri geprtnterif. 
NOTES FROM OUR GARDEN, 
At Stonington, Conn. 
THE ORANGE WATERMELON. 
We see this beautiful favorite of southern 
gardens is not likely to work its way into 
cultivation at the north, without a struggle. 
Wm. Newcomb of Johnsville, N. Y., is out 
in the Country Gentleman against it. He 
says “ Great care was bestowed in their cul¬ 
tivation, and the specimens tested Avere very 
large. In the^first place it requires quite a 
stretch of the imagination to find a resem¬ 
blance to the orange, from which < it derives 
its name, in its segments. It is true that it 
separates from the rind, as there was at 
least two inches space all round the center 
or core of the melon, with the rind over an 
inch in thickness. It was good flavored, 
but stringy, and I consider it an entirely 
Avorthless variety, when Ave can raise with 
much less care and expense, much larger 
and better melons of the Green Imperial, 
Mountain Sprout and Black Spanish va¬ 
rieties.” 
Mr. Newcomb is one of the best garden¬ 
ers in Rensselaer County, and his opinion is 
entitled to grave consideration. There are 
two things, however, in no wise affecting his 
skill and judgement, Avhich may have very 
materially modified the result to Avhich he 
has come. His location is some one hun¬ 
dred and fifty miles north of us, and near 
the northern limit where melons can be ri¬ 
pened Avithout forcing. A tropical fruit 
Avithout acclimation would hardly show all 
its excellencies there, the first season, if it 
could be made to on further trial. It is quite 
possible that the seed with Avhich Mr. New¬ 
comb experimented Avas not pure. All this 
class of plants are easily impregnated with 
their congeners, and this variety is kept 
pure only Avith great care. The seed is of a 
dull white, and if any tincture of brown or 
black appears, it has been crossed. If his 
specimens were large they Avere very likely 
crossed, for this melon is usually small, six 
or eight pounds being the usual size. 
We have cultivated this melon for two 
seasons, and have formed a very favorable 
opinion of it. Last year the seed proved im¬ 
pure, but the melons, though small, were, we 
thought, the sweetest Ave ever ate. This 
year we had seeds direct from Mr. Peabody, 
the cultivator, who first brought them into 
notice. The year has been a bad one for 
all vines, but we had a tolerable crop. The 
fruit, both in quality and appearance, 
equaled our expectations. Stripped of its 
rind, and sent to the table with its segmented 
core, distinctly marked it as the most beauti¬ 
ful of melons. The proportion of core to the 
whole mass is larger than in other melons. 
The flavor is a matter of taste that good 
judges would differ about. Our specimens 
are not stringy, and the separation between 
rind and core is in no place more than one- 
fourth of an inch, while at the end the core 
adheres to the [rind, but parts easily. It 
seemed to us sweeter than the Imperial and 
Black Spanish, but not quite so sprightly. 
On the whole, Ave regard it as a superb 
dessert fruit. 
THE HOOSUNG. 
Of all vegetable humbugs, retailed at so 
much per seed, and hard to be purchased at 
the price, this is the happiest specimen. We 
had some seed sent us for trial last spring, 
and we planted them. The vegetable was 
represented to be a very delicious kind of a 
salad in the earlier stages of its growth, and 
when it sent up its seed stalks, it Avould 
give us a vegetable for boiling that would 
put asparagus to the blush. It Avas also 
represented to be far^more prolific than 
asparagus. 
It came up well, but showed only long, 
narrow leaves, having nothing of the tender¬ 
ness or succulence of good common lettuce. 
It Avas not Avortli gathering. The long, ten¬ 
der shoots appeared like the seed and stalks 
of any other lettuce, and Avere about as good 
for boiling. We had rather have a bunch of 
asparagus than a bushel of Hoosung. And 
now, if the vender of this precious Chinese 
salad asks Hoosung (who sung) at its advent, 
we have to reply that Ave did not. Were it 
named who cried, avc think purchasers could 
respond. 
DAVARE PEARS. 
We have this year gathered our first crop 
of dwarf pears, and have to confess to a 
change of sentiment in their favor. At first 
sight a dwarf pear, especially if it have not 
been subjected to proper cultivation, is an 
unpromising spectacle. It i is , so t small in 
comparison Avith a standard tree, that it 
seemed poorly Avortli Avhile for a man who 
has plenty of room to Avaste his energies 
upon it. A single Avell-groAvn standard will 
bear as large a burden of fruit as a half-doz¬ 
en dwarfs. Why, then, should a man con¬ 
fine himself to such a creature of “ small 
doings ” as the dwarf pear ? 
This is a superficial view of the matter, 
and one that a few years of good husbandry 
will modify. We began three years since 
with a few trees from the nursery, and have 
added every year more or less to our col¬ 
lection. 
THE VIRGALIEU ON THE SEA-BOARD. 
Here by the path is a dwarf of this variety, 
which is said to crack badly near the shore, 
it has been out in its place three years, has 
blossomed every spring, but has made Avood 
so rapidly, that no fruit held on until this 
year. We have just picked thirty Avell- 
groAvn pears from its limbs, Avithout a sign 
of a crack in any of them, and the tree 
stands within a stone’s-throw of tide-water. 
Besides maturing this crop, it has made a 
foot of neAv wood, and looks in good condi¬ 
tion, with plenty of fruit buds for next 
season. The mode of setting was a large 
deep hole, a plenty of compost, a bushel of 
bones, and a feAv scraps of old iron. It has 
received careful cultivation since with a 
top-dressing of manure in the fall. The 
ground around it has been cultivated with 
carrots. It Avas no doubt better for the tree 
that it did not bear for the first two years. 
We, of course, feel encouraged to hope for 
future crops of perfect Virgalieus from this 
tree, and others Avhich are coming forward. 
THE DUCHESS d’aNGOULEME. 
We grafted this pear some three years 
since upon a vigorous stock of the common 
Portugal quince. It made shoots of six feet 
in length the first season. It lias now a 
well-formed head, and is full of fruit-buds 
for another year. This variety grows Avith 
great vigor upon the common quince. How 
it will last and bear fruit, Ave can not, of 
course, tell at present. 
THE GLOUT MORCEAU AND BEURRE D1EL, 
treated in the same Avay, have done very 
well, but have not made so much Avood, and 
give no signs of fruit. 
VICAR OF AVINKFIELD. 
Here are three dwarfs of this variety set 
last fall. They were ten years old when set, 
Avere full of fruit buds, and have all borne a 
few handsome specimens of fruit this season. 
They have made very little Avood, but seem 
Avell established, and are full of fruit-buds. 
THE LOUISE BONNE D’jERSEY. 
Here are a half-dozen trees of this variety, 
set last fall, and six years old. They have 
nearly all borne fruit of the first quality this 
season, but have made little wood. 
THE BROAVN BEURRE 
has a very handsome glossy leaf, and if it 
never matured fruit, would be worth culti¬ 
vating for its foliage alone. But here are 
five russet pears of good size, and per¬ 
fectly smooth, upon a little tree not three 
feet high. The quality of the fruit we have 
not yet tested. 
THE LAAVRENCE 
has fulfilled all its promises, bearing abun¬ 
dantly fair fruit of the first quality. We 
have some thirty varieties in all, and have 
succeeded in making everything grow but 
the Flemish Beauty and the Bloodgood. 
These, from some peculiarity of soil or of 
treatment, have not been made to thrive. 
On the whole, Ave are well satisfied that 
the cultivation of the dwarf pear is yet in 
its infancy in this country. It can be grown 
with entire success, and one can begin to 
reap the fruits of his labor Avithin three years 
of the commencement of his operation^. 
These trees are Avell adapted to the garden, 
they can be set Avithin ten feet of each other, 
and we have little doubt that an acre set 
with dwarfs will give larger returns than if 
set with standards. There is almost an un¬ 
limited market for this fruit in all our large 
cities at high prices. Here is an inviting 
field open for the enterprise of fruit-growers. 
Private gardens, of course, will be more 
and more stocked with this delicious fruit, 
and our nurserymen Avill be kept busy in 
supplying the increasing Avants of their cus¬ 
tomers. Plant and cultivate thoroughly, 
and success is certain. 
Pears for VicinityofPhiladelphia. —Mr. 
Edgar Saunders, residing near Philadelphia, 
who is an experienced fruit raiser says that 
“ In a plantation of sixty trees I Avould se¬ 
lect as follows : Summer —2 Madeline, 2 
Beurre Giffard, 1 Bloodgood, 4 Bartlett, 2 
Rosliezer. Autumn —3 White Doyenne, 2 
Seckel, G Louise Bonne de Jersey, G Belle 
Lucrative, G Duchess d’Angouleme, 2 Beurre 
d’Anjou. Winter —1 Vicar of Winkfield, 3 
