bright, rich color—very similar to that of 
cranberry sauce. The quality of the apple 
is not especially good, but it is certainly 
quite a novelty, aud as such is worthy of 
cultivation." 
xboxhnmxxt. 
THE RHODODENDRON. 
A very long name, it. is true; but in our 
language it means simply Rose-tree. Per¬ 
haps some of our readers will say, as did 
Lindley Murray's preceptor, “ why didn’t 
Jioseum clegans —Rosy red, shell tinted, very 
handsome; Lee's Dark Purple —Very dark 
bluish purple; superb. 
Fr#*ezinfi: Fear Seeds. 
A reader of the Rural New-Yorker, 
residing at Oswego, N. Y., asks if it is ne¬ 
cessary to freeze pear seeds to make them 
germinate. If pear seeds have been kept 
dry for several months they require subject¬ 
ing to either a high or low temperature, ac¬ 
companied by moisture, in order to swell 
and open the pores of the husk which sur¬ 
rounds the seed proper, and thereby permit 
the entrance of water, which is necessary to 
the germination of all seeds. 
board admits abundant fresh air at all times. 
Mr. Curtis C'oe, Springport, N. Y., argues 
that ventilation at the bottom, in all out¬ 
door hives, is all important. The principle 
is correct, and when in connection with the 
straw filter just described, is as near perfec¬ 
tion, for the purpose, as any modern ar¬ 
rangement. The opening at the bottom 
should be so arranged as not to fill up with 
any dead bees that might drop. 
The advantage of straw hives for winter¬ 
ing bees is acknowledged generally. They 
winter better, come out stronger in the 
spring, and swarm earlier by several days. 
Straw hives can be made of any size and 
shape, adapted to any movable comb hive, 
and combs transferred to it. We made a 
large number several years Bince, same size 
inside as board hive, changed combs at the 
commencement of cold weather, and again 
in early summer, and found a great advan¬ 
tage in so doing. We arc using some of 
them now. It will pay; but the large hive 
before mentioned will pay better. It is a 
little better and less trouble, when making 
the hive is considered; will supercede the 
other eventually. We have packed away 
some two hundred in this way, and up to 
date (Feb. IkI) remain in the best possible 
condition, and seem to say, every time you 
look at them, “If this i3 winter, we would 
like to have it. prolonged.” Would like to 
exhibit actual condition to any one that will 
call. M. Quinby. 
St. Johnsville, N. Y. 
^larintltnrjc. 
WARDIAN OASES. 
Daisy B., Camden, N. Y., asks if the sides 
of a Wardian case should be of glass or wood; 
if the plants will grow without watering and 
airing every day, if they would be apt to 
freeze in a room where common house- 
plants freeze; if ferns and mosses from the 
woods can he transplanted in them ; if they 
are pretty for summer as well as winter; if 
such plants will live without being covered 
with glass, <&c., &e. 
An illustration of a Wardian case is here¬ 
with given. A bed or box of well drained 
soil with a (cheap or costly) glass case over 
it, comprise a Wardian case. The sides 
should be of glass, else the plants will 
“ draw,” that is, “ spindle up.” Take a com¬ 
mon table frame, with the top of the table 
oft. Nail on boards on the bottom of the 
lomolcrgtcal. 
SubMimt«‘ for Bee Bread. 
In answer to II. L. Lankton, in Rural 
New-Yorker, January 21, .T. H. writes: 
“ Early in spring, as soon as the bees are out, 
and before the willows and soft maples open, 
I take corn starch, dry, place it in open comb 
in front of the apiary. The bees will work 
it readily. Care should be used not to feed 
too much, as they work it rapidly, aud in 
some instances fill the brood comb with more 
than is beneficial.” 
be (fiarbriur. 
CAULIFLOWERS. 
“ Suelocta " says that he and his family 
are ver.v fond of cauliflowers, and they also 
sell for a good price in market, but he lias 
failed to make more than one-fifth of the 
plants cultivated produce heads. The soil- 
in which they are grown is light, sandy 
loam, but rich and good. Judging from our 
own experience on a similar soil, the plants 
suffer for moisture. To obviate this diffi¬ 
culty, we have recourse to mulching; and 
when this is applied early, or soon after the 
plants are set out, and in a liberal quantity, 
a crop of cauliflowers has been almost as 
certain as cabbages. We hope the readers 
of the Rural New-Yorker who are fond 
of this delicious vegetable, or have an oppor¬ 
tunity of supplying a good market, will try 
the mulching process the coming summer 
and report to us the result. Sow a few seeds 
early in spring, or even in hot-beds now, and 
others later for a fall crop, and then follow 
the above directions, and see if good, large 
heads cannot be produced even in the months 
of July and August. A cool, moist and rich 
soil are the things required; and two of the 
number are supplied by the use of mulch, 
Hay, straw or even weeds from the garden, 
may be used, and will answer the purpose 
as well as anything else. 
--♦-*-♦- 
Cabbage l'lnnts In Cold Frames. 
I am attempting, for the first time, to pre¬ 
serve some cabbage plants in cold frames. I 
have three different frames, all protected on 
north and west by a board fence six feet 
high. The plants in two of the frames are 
keeping splendidly, but I am fearful of those 
in the third. In this third frame the ground 
freezes in deep cells, exposing the stems of 
the plants to the action of the frost, and 
thereby increasing the danger of safely keep¬ 
ing them. All the frames are drained; but 
thinking this particular one might not be 
sufficiently drained, during a recent thaw, I 
deepened the ditches on both sides, north 
and south. It seems, however, to have been 
of no benefit. The grouud is at present 
frozen into deeper cells than at any former 
time this winter; and when it thaws many 
of the plants will be lifted, as several times 
before, completely out of the ground. Can 
you tell me what to do to preserve them ?— 
Inquirer. 
A superabundance of water is the cause 
of your t rouble, and the ground being frozen 
the ditches dug on the outside of the frame 
will do no good until it thaws. Cover the 
frame and keep the plants frozen until the 
weather becomes sufficiently warm to allow 
the entire mass to thaw, and then remove 
the soil and put in new, or some additional 
drainage. It is the frequent alternate freez¬ 
ing and thawing of the plants that injure 
them in winter, and we should prefer to 
have them remain frozen for a month or two 
at a time, than subjected to a great change 
of temperature every few days. If the plants 
are well hardened in the fall they will not 
require muck heat or light during winter. 
frame, line the whole with zinc, fill with 
earth (or set the plants in the case in pots,) 
and over it put a case made of glass—com¬ 
mon window glass will answer. Any glazier 
can make one at little cost. It may be made 
of any shape and bight desirable. There 
should be a door or a sliding pane in it, so 
as to gain ready access to the plants. In the 
center of the bed should be a hole for drain¬ 
age, over which a plant saucer should be in¬ 
verted. Fill the bottom of the bed, for an 
inch or two, with broken charcoal. 
The case may be made in spring or 
autumn. If in spring the ferns may be 
gathered from the woods, and will grow all 
summer. It, is a better time to make selec¬ 
tions than late in the fall. Plants in a 
Wardian case are not so likely to freeze with 
the same degree of cold in a room as unpro¬ 
tected house plants; but the room should be 
kept warm nevertheless. The plants in a 
Wardian case require less care than plants 
in a room. Drench the. soil well when the 
planting is done, and they will require 
watering but once or twice a month. They 
will need ventilation by removing the slid¬ 
ing pane or opening the door of the case 
occasionally, when the moisture on the glass 
seems in excess—so as to obscure the glass. 
Not only ferns and mosses, but, winter 
greens, princess pine, partridge berry, the 
trailing arbutus, and scores of other pretty 
wood plants, can be grown and arranged 
with rock and shell work, to suit the fancy 
and please the eye of Daisy or any other 
pretty girl. We are astonished that these 
cases are not more common in the homes of 
the people. 
-- 
OOB53A SOANDENS VARIEGATA. 
One of the most beautiful and useful 
climbing plants of recent introduction, either 
for green-house or window decoration, is the 
Caban scandens variegata. Of remarkably 
vigorous growth and easy culture, its grace¬ 
ful habit, abundant and elegantly marked 
foliage renders it a conspicuous aud striking 
object in any collection. Its rather large, 
pinnate, often slightly auriculate leaves are 
beautifully edged with a wide, irregular mar¬ 
gin of creamy white, frequently approaching 
a delicate sulphur yellow. The ends of the 
young shoots and foliage, together with its 
airy aud delicate tendrils, are of a soft, red¬ 
dish purple, changing to intermediate shades 
of green, assuming at maturity its charming 
variegation, which remains permanent and 
distinct even under the influences of our dry 
and scorching summer sun. Its large, pur¬ 
ple, bell-shaped flowers are also produced in 
abundance, and add much to the attractive¬ 
ness of this truly elegant novelty. 
Like the ohl and well-known Cohan scan - 
dens , it is also admirably adapted to out-door 
culture as a summer climber, making a rapid 
growth in warm and sheltered positions— 
often one hundred feet or more in a season. 
It will not, however, bear frost. 
The Cobm is a native of Mexico, and is 
classed by Gray among the polenumuicea, 
and with the phlox and giUa. In out-door 
culture, it grows well in any good garden 
soil. In pots, a com post of three parts fresh 
turfy loam, two parts leaf-mold aud one part 
sand will be found to meet, its requirements. 
G. W. Campbell. 
Delaware, Ohio, 1871. 
jY EIIODODENDROiSr TREK. 
you say so?” to which we reply that Jfosc- 
tree is not its name, although the word means 
that and nothing more. Rhododendrons 
are found in almost all parts of the world, 
from Siberia and KamtacJuitkn, in the North, 
down into the tropics. 
We fear that few of our people who have 
only seen the email specimens of these plants 
growing in gardens, think that many of the 
hardy species and varieties ever reach a size 
sufficiently large to be classed among trees ; 
still, it is a fact, and by being patient, and 
giving proper care, we may all sit in the 
shade of our rose-trees. Borne of the spe¬ 
cies are only loose trailing plants of a few 
inches in bight; but our hardy native kinds, 
such as It. catawbieim and R maximum, and 
the seedlings and hybrids therefrom, will, in 
time, become trees twenty or more feet in 
bight. 
In many of the old gardens of the Eastern 
Slates there are large specimens, although 
in some instances they are not very old, the 
great, size being due to good culture and a 
congenial soil. In the grounds of Messrs. 
Parsons & Co,, Flushing, L. I., to whom 
wc have often had occasion to refer, there 
are extensive groups of large Rhododen¬ 
drons, eight 1o twelve feet high, with stems 
several inches in cliameler, and from one of 
these the accompanying illustration was 
made. A small group of such plants would 
be a magnificent ornament in any garden, 
and one that the owner might always point 
to with pride, without regard to its intrinsic 
value. 
Rhododendrons being evergreen shrubs 
or trees, they are, in conseqnence, exceed¬ 
ingly ornamental at all times of the year, 
and their dark glossy leaves peeping t hrough 
the snow in winter, give one a foretaste, as 
it were, of the season when the roses and 
rose-trees shall be awakened by the revivify¬ 
ing showers of an ever welcome spring. 
Small plants of these beautiful trees can be 
had of our nurserymen, and at a moderate 
price. There are such large numbers of 
really desirable varieties that we are often 
puzzled to make a selection. The following 
half-dozen sorts are excellent, and have suc¬ 
ceeded in out grounds without any more 
care than that given to common deciduous 
shrubs: 
Catawbieim —Dark reddish purple; Maxi¬ 
mum —Pale pink, nearly white, with yellow 
and purple spots ; Ghrandiflorum —Deep rose, 
inclining to crimson; Album cleg am —Near¬ 
ly white; a handsome and vigorous grower; 
By placing the seeds in warm water for 
several days before sowing, or in warm, 
moist, sand, the husks will be softened; but 
freezing appears to be the most natural pro¬ 
cess, and far the best in the hands of those 
who have had but little or no experience in 
raising seedlings. It is not necessary nor 
advisable to sow the seeds in autumn, but 
merely put them in a box mixed with sand 
and place where they will freeze. Imported 
seed arriving late in winter may be mixed 
with sand and placed on the north side of a 
building where they will be kept cool until 
the time arrives for sowing. 
(Tbc Apiarian. 
LARGE HIVES vs. SMALL. 
When we had to depend on bees swarm¬ 
ing of their own freewill aud accord, and 
did not dream of any farther compulsion re¬ 
garding them; and also depended on their 
notions when to go into the boxes, we all 
thought that the dimensions of the hive 
should not exceed such a point—2,000 cubic 
inches; otherwise, we had frequent failures. 
But since arriving at the point in our prac¬ 
tice, where the time of swarming depends 
more on our notions than on theirs , and their 
going into the surplus boxes to work, is de¬ 
cided by ourselves, and the yield of honey 
more than by the bees themselves, we have 
found many advantages in large hives, not 
possessed by the small ones. 
Beside the advantages of room inside the 
hive for the surplus boxes, or t he extra combs, 
when the Extractor is used, another great 
advantage is realized in preparing the hive 
for outdoor wintering, by turning t,lie frames 
the other way, and leaving a space outside 
of them—between the combs and side of 
hive; any hive that supports the combs on 
frames, on the bottom board, can be man¬ 
aged thus. The space on every side, and 
top, can be packed with straw. When the 
walls of a hive are of inch boards, aud it is 
exposed to the cold, the vapor from the bees 
inside soon changes to frost and ice, the bees 
suffer, and often perish. Three or four inches 
of soft straw, closely packed on every side, 
will retain the heat, or pass it so slowly that 
the bees hardly miss it; while the moisture 
is absorbed and disposed of through a venti¬ 
lator near the top, and no frost and ice can 
accumulate. An opening in the bottom 
P0M0L0GI0AL GOSSIP. 
Blooming Orange or Blenheim; Pippin. 
W., Tyrone, Pa., writes the country Gen¬ 
tleman that, in 1862, lie distributed cions of 
this apple, and now, after nine years, hears 
from Canada, from New" Jersey, from Illi¬ 
nois, and from nearer places, of jts mani¬ 
festing the same vigor, beauty aud excel¬ 
lence, combined with an unusual power of 
resisting trials of climate, which have dis¬ 
tinguished it here. He adds:—Mr. Down¬ 
ing, to my great delight, joins in this testi¬ 
mony, and is now convinced of what was 
before supposed, that ibis is indeed the real 
Blenheim Pippin. The nine years since 
1862 have disclosed no defect, only that it 
must be stored early and kept equably, to 
have it over the holidays, nor any need of 
change in the statement made then.” 
Tin? Curiusiiir Apple, 
The Western Farmer says:—“ Some time 
siuce we received a box of ‘ Curiosity’ apples 
from our correspondent, G. V. D. Brand, 
Waupun, Wis. This appie is said te be a 
seedliug from the Surprise, and like that va¬ 
riety, has red flesh. On having them cooked, 
as requested, we found the sauce to be of a 
FOREIGN PEARS. 
At the recent meeting of the Western 
New York Horticultural Society, George 
Ellwanoer of the Committee on Foreign 
Fruits, reported the following varieties of 
pears as having “ proved well worthy of 
recommendation 
DucIicmbc Precoce. 
September.—A large pyramidal, handsome 
fruit; skin greenish yellow; flesh melting, 
juicy, sprightly. Will rank as good, and on 
account of size and appearance will make a 
good market fruit. Tree a moderate grower, 
and very prolific. 
l.ongue dc Bosquet. 
September.—Fruit medium size, conical, 
regular, not unlike Tyson. Skin yellow, 
with red cheek; flesh greenish or yellowish, 
melting, juicy, sprightly, excellent. 
l.uriul de Barney. 
September.—Fruit medium size, resembles 
Stirling, but darker; covered with light 
streaks of red. A fine melting pear, and a 
vigorous grower. 
Bonne do I’nil*. Ansnult. 
September.—Size medium to large; skin 
russet, like the Golden Beurre of Bilboa. 
Flesh melting, juicy and very fine grained ; 
sweet, with a rich flavor and aroma. A first- 
class fruit. Tree a vigorous grower. 
Thereat; Appert. 
September.—Large pyriform, with skin 
deep yellow, dotted with russet. Flesh 
melting, vinous, juicy and flue. Tree a 
good grower. 
Calrltnaap d’ Octobre. 
October.—Fruit large, long, pyriform ; 
skiu smooth, pale yellow, with a flue ruddy 
tint on one side. Flesh melting, fine grained 
and juicy. Tree vigorous. 
Maurice Deaportcs. 
October.—Size medium to large; pyriform, 
tapering to a point at stem. Of a dull yel¬ 
low color, with russet streaks, mottled a lit¬ 
tle like Paradis d’ Autoume, but less 
russet. Flesh fine grained, sweet and melt¬ 
ing; not high flavored. A good grower. 
Mine. Hnpriate l)e»porte«. 
Fruit medium to large; roundish oval. 
Skin yellow, marked with russet. Flesh 
very fine, melting: similar in flavor to Ed¬ 
monds ; first-rate. A medium grower. 
We append also the following from the 
report of J. J. Thomas on native fruits, 
which we find said concerning pears: 
Eastern Belle. 
A new, promising variety, raised by Jas. 
McLaughlin of Baugor, Me., who kindly 
furnished me specimens, and informed me 
that the tree is hardy, vigorous, and has been 
a constant bearer for several years. 
Fruit of medium size, obovate pyriform, 
somewhat obtuse; skin pale yellow, shaded 
with pale red where exposed to the sun, slight 
nettings of russet and many russet dots. 
Stalk short and stout, somewhat fleshy, iu- 
cliued, inserted in a slight depression often 
by a lip, much russeted; calyx open, basin 
medium, nearly smooth with their russet. 
Flesh whitish yellow, a little coarse at the 
core, half melting, juiejq sweet and rich, with 
a slight musky perfume ; quality very good. 
Ripens in September. 
Rok«m’ or Dean's Seedling. 
Raised by A. J. Dean of Roxbury, Mass. 
Tree vigorous, upright and productive. 
Fruit of medium size, oblong, obovate, ob¬ 
tuse pyriform; skin yellowish, sometimes a 
shade of dull red where exposed to the sun, 
and many green and russet dots. Stalk 
long, curved, inserted in a slight depression, 
sometimes small cavity; calyx open or half 
closed; basin rather small, slightly corru¬ 
gated, whitish yellow, half fine, juicy, half 
melting, sweet., slightly aromatic; quality 
very good. Ripens in September. 
