Maiden hair Ferns, that Is if the Fern is an 
indoor one; as what, for instance, looks so 
elegant with a Gardenia as a bit of Fern, the 
bright green spray of which sets off white 
blossoms of all kinds to much advantage. 
The coat flower to which wa.- awarded the 
second prize at Birmingham last year con¬ 
sisted of a small spray of red Comhretum, 
backed with a frond of Maiden-hair. There 
are numbers of flowers suitable for such an 
arrangement as this, but care should be taken 
that such as are selected are good specimens 
of their respective kinds, and be a little 
shrouded in the Fern, as many coat flowers I 
have seen were quite spoiled by having only 
one spray of Fern, against which was laid the 
flower ; the latter, under such ciroumsts ’es, 
looking hard and stiff. Now, had there be n 
another small piece to fill up the space at the 
base, and a tiny bit drawn across the flower, 
the effect would have been much enhanced. 
This should always be done if the flower used 
is of a bright or glaring color. The coat 
flower represented in the accompanying illus¬ 
tration is a bloom of a yellow Itose, arranged 
in this way. 1 always like to see n Rose with 
a leaf belonging to itself behind it, and a few 
sprays of the young brown-colored growth 
around it. Such an arrangement may seem 
easy to manage, but this is not the case, as 
the Rose leaf must be wired, and that is one 
Of t he most, difficult of all tilings to do prop¬ 
erly. Take a Rose-leaf, and lay it face down¬ 
wards on a table. It will then represent a 
stem with two or three Bmall leaflets on each 
side, and one at the top. Down the center of 
each of these small leaves or leaflets is a com- 
porativelv thick midrib, with slighter ones 
bmnehing off from it. Take a piece of fine 
wire and pass it through the loaf (always se¬ 
lecting the top leaflet first), under one of 
these slight ribs, and bring it up on the op¬ 
posite side of the ribs. Subject two or three 
of the libs to this operation, always keeping 
close to the center rib: in fadfc, work as if 
you were sewing through the leaf, having the 
long stitches, if 1 may so call them, on the 
wrong side, und it will be found I,o talco great 
care and practice to keep them from being 
seen on the right side. The wire should be 
cut oil - at the top, so as not to let it appear 
above the point of the leal’. The other part 
should then be drawn down the long stem, 
and given a twist lie re and there ; but take 
care to keep the wire from bei&g visible. 
The little side leaves should be done in the 
same manner, the only difference being that 
the wire is cut off at each end, and not 
brought down the long stem like the top one. 
To do all this well takes some little time and 
trouble ; but a Rose-leaf, if not mounted as 
just described, is liable to get out of shape, 
and to hang down ; if wired, however, it 
keeps stiff, and can be bent back and ar¬ 
ranged accoi'ding to fancy, just as one would 
adjust au artificial leaf .—A . 11., in Garden. 
this will account for the under side of the 
branches escaping while the upper side was 
killed. We will not enter into a discussion of 
the many theories advanced in the endeavor 
to explain the reason why this is so ; but the 
fact is well known. A sheet of paper, or 
very tliin cloth, tied over a raspberry bush 
in winter, may prevent its being injured by 
the cold, while all others, not so shaded or 
protected (if we ehooBC to term so thin a 
covering, protection) will be killed to the 
ground. 
BUTTON-HOLE FLOWERS 
TREATING GIRDLED TREES 
Ferns used for button-hole, or indeed for 
any kind of bouquets, should be cut off plants 
that have been grown in a cool house, or 
that liave at all events been well hardened 
off, or otherwise, though they may look fresh 
and nice when cut, they shrivel up in a few 
hours, when of course their beauty is gone. 
I take the liberty of forwarding to you 
wood cut of my plan for the recovery of 
trees that have been girdled by field mice 
or rabbits. The following from the Scien¬ 
tific American of May 24th, will show the 
plan as furnished 
that paper by my- 
self ; and as the mat- 
ter is of interest to 
many of the thou- 
Bauds of readers of 'a J 
your valuable paper, Jjjy f f*-* t* 
1 am led to believe flf /</,'] I J 
that you will insert B f|I/ J ' VM 
in your earliest edi- B kb 
turn so os to be of H j|| l | l | j Jm 
Editor of Scientific wj ||(f(| | < I'M 
American—In your H 
issue of April 1 !), 1 tgj ly i 1 JJSI 
find an article head- H| \'JJ I!. <JwV 
ed “ A Cure for Gir- hi iH ;| 7 J 
died Trees,” in U [VI | fa 
which u system is ww , fa 
shown by which to yA \ '\Jg 
unite the bark both Wi jiw 
below and above the Jan' lUjflEWHK 
wound by the use of *' 
cions of lost year’s -gM 
growth of wood. In mH mgigW 
my home the rav- raffia'iaffil 
ages of field mice 
BRIAR STOCKS FROM SEED 
The first idea of raising briar stocks from 
seed has been claimed by M. Riviere for M. 
Guillot, a rose grower at Lyons, who has 
raised his stocks in this way for the last 
twenty years. To M. Guillot, also, belongs 
the credit of excogitating a means of pre¬ 
venting his briars from producing suckers. 
Reflecting that suckers are nothing more 
than subterranean branches, which, like all 
other branches, must issue from the axil of a 
leaf, he considered that by inserting the bud 
on the part of the stem below the axils of the 
lowest or cotyledonous leaves (which are 
usually under the surface of the soil) he would 
deprive the stock of all power to produce 
suckers in future. In practice M. Guillot 
simply removes t-lie soil from about the lower 
part, of the stock and inserts the bud close to 
the neck. The result is that, his roses seldom 
or never show suckers, and if one chances to 
appear, it is sure to be from the buried part 
of the rose graft, and not from the briar 
stock. 
This sounds well, but it does not work well 
in practice, because buds do not always 
spring from the point where leaves join the 
stem. The roots of briars, (or as vegetable 
physiologists choose to term them, subterra¬ 
nean stem); do frequently produce buds and 
suckers at considerable distance from the 
muin stem, consequently cutting out the 
buds at the time of planting or inserting buds 
of other sorts, very low' down, is far from 
being a certain preventive of suckers. The 
old theory of the origin of buds, wherein it is 
asserted that a leaf must have existed at 
some period in the life of the plant near the 
point from whence the bud starts, was long 
ago exploded. We now hold that each plant¬ 
cell may, under the proper conditions, become 
a bud. 
In the case of Maiden-hair it is a good plan 
to cut off the very young points, as, with the 
exception of these, the other parts of the 
frond keep well. Another point that should 
be remembered is always to keep the stems 
of the button-holes as tliin as possible, in or¬ 
der that they may easily pass through the 
coat, and nicely fit the little glass water-tubes 
which are now so much worn, and which 
keep both Ferns and flowers fresh so much 
longer than they otherwise would be. After 
the bouquets are made, many place their 
stems in water, to keep them fresh ; this I 
uee.s. rmcesritv, the mother of all mveu- 
Gone,’ ’ caused me to adopt a plan by whieb 
all the evils in your system arc overcome, 
and almost perfect success attained ; and as 
the matter may be of interest to many of 
vour readers, I will describe my system. 
When a tree is entirely girdled, 1 out, out on 
either side of the stock fixed upon, a space 
large enough to admit in a limb from half an 
inch to two inches in diameter, according to 
the Size of the tree, fitting in the parts of the 
limb to meet the bark both above and below 
the wound ; then with nails sufficiently large 
J nail the limb into the tree stock, fastening 
it securely, using two or more nails, placing 
three or l our of these limb-jointers upon each 
other, according to its size. When this is 
•lone, 1 bank up with soil sufficient to cover 
the connections, which will be all-sufficient. 
In case the wounds should be too high for 
banking, a mixture of clay und cow dung 
can be used, being belli in place by a canvas 
covering securely nailed to the tree. This 
system can be used up to the middle of J uly. 
Tuokerton, Pa. Auam Djcyshkk.’ 
LOCUST HEDGES IN ONONDAGA CO., N. Y 
A correspondent of the Country Gentle¬ 
man thinks that many growers err in not 
cutting back severely enough, and adds: 
“Perhaps they arc in too much of a hurry to 
get a full grown hedge, and the result, I think, 
will be that the hedge will lack compactness 
and be a partial failure. In discussing this 
subject a few days since with a friend noted 
for Ids keen obervation and practical good 
sense, he was of the opinion that the best 
mode of putting out a hedge was to set the 
plants from twenty to twenty-four inches 
apart, and after two years’ growth to bend 
down horizontally each plant in a line with 
the hedge and pin with a forked stick—t hese 
sticks can be cut very rapidly from almost 
any of our forest trees, especially the beech. 
The laterals, of course, will push upwards ; 
the roots of each plant will have no more 
room, and consequently each plant will be 
stronger and more vigorous than if set nearer 
each other. This mode appears to me to be 
unobjectionable, but having never seen a 
hedge grown upon this plan, 1 am not fully 
prepared to say that it is the best. 
APPLE TREES INJURED IN WINTER 
property, soma 5 yeare ago. 1 found upon it 
15 or 20 apple trees, not only very old, but 
which for many years, had been sadly neg¬ 
lected. Some of them were certainly more 
(lead than alive, and what, branches were 
living, were covered with tree-lice and moss. 
It looked discouraging to attempt the renew¬ 
al of these trees, but I went at it in good 
earnest, and am now reaping the reward of 
my labor. Some of the trees arc already in 
possession of entire new tops, from wlficli for 
two years, I have gathered grafted fruit. 
None of them had ever been grafted before. 
But now another evil befalls them, In trim- 
miug these trees this spring, I discovered that 
many of the branches wore turning black in 
certain parts or spots, and upon examining 
the same, found the upper part ot these 
limbs affected the worst—the wood being 
quite dead—while, often, the bark on the 
under bide, would be fresh and green. I 
went to my library for P. Barry on the 
“ Fruit Garden,” and on looking over the dis¬ 
eases of trees there mentioned, i came to the 
conclusion that “fire-blight” was the disease 
tints preying upon the very life of my orch¬ 
ard. From tlw account of this disease there 
given, the cause seems not to be kuown, 
whether it be occasioned by the sun, the at¬ 
mosphere, or an insect, and yet Mr, Barry 
says : “ The only remedy is to cut away in¬ 
stantly the Plighted parts and burn them up 
immediately,” If occasioned by the sun or 
atmosphere, what harm can they do after 
they are out off i And do they not ever re¬ 
cover after being once attacked ? I have a 
branch on one of my trees—about 5 feet long 
and 3 or 3 inches in diameter—it passes from 
the trunk in a horizontal direction—and along 
its whole length the bark on the upper side 5 
gone, and the wood dead; but the bark below 
is growing fast, and willsooncover the whole 
of the diseased limb. This limb was grafted 
three or four years since and the grafts are 
doing finely. Can you or your readers throw 
any light upon this subject, that may be of 
any benefit, to myself, and other readers of 
your valuable papar ? b. h. c. 
Friendship, N. Y. 
We do not think your trees are affected by 
the *• fire blight,” but were, no doubt, injured 
by the severe cold weather of last winter. 
Plants in the shade, as is well known, will 
withstand many degrees greater cold than 
those exposed to the sun, even in winter, and 
do not think a good plan, as, though the 
stems may be in the water, the Ferns are ex¬ 
posed to the air, and, thus circumstanced, 
they will not keep nearly so long fresh as if 
they were shut up in some air-tight box or 
drawer. 
Dealers in bouquets have numbers of-draw¬ 
ers lined with zinc in which they keep their 
flowers, mounted or otherwise, but though 
those who have shops must have such appli¬ 
ances as these, it is not to be expected that 
amateurs will be furnished witli them. If 1 
want to keep a button-hole flower from one 
# * day to another I 
place it in a lit¬ 
tle box made ei¬ 
ther of wood or 
cardboard, over 
at the fl o w e r 
shops or finds in 
the woods or on 
the back of the 
bouquet next the 
moss and cover 
the stem over 
with more wet 
moss. I then spi-inkle the flowers and Ferns 
well with water and shut down the lid, which 
is as air-tight as possible, and, treated thus, 
flowers and Ferns will keep fresh for days. If 
I want to send a bouquet by post, I put moss 
enbugh in the box to raise the bouquet wheu 
laid in it nearly level witli the lid when shut 
down, and across the face of the flowers I lay 
a piece of cotton wool, which keeps them 
from rubbing against the lid. 
COAT FLOWER. 
These I like associated with fronds of 
HOW I GOT A PLUM CROP 
Some ten or twelve yeai-s since, I attended 
the State Fair at Rochester, New York, and 
among others, EllWanger & Barry exhibit¬ 
ed a large variety of fruit. I was so pleased 
with the Plums, that I selected from their 
collection one dozen trees, one of each variety. 
The trees were planted und seemed to be 
thrifty growers ; but up to the fall of 1872 I 
had not taken one bushel of fruit from the 
dozen trees. Last spring I noticed in the 
Rural Nkw-Yrokek that by placing tin cans 
filled with sweet water, or corn cobs soaked 
in Bweet water, in the trees it would prevent 
the insects from destroying the fruit. I 
ordered my colored man to cob and can all 
of the plum trees, and he did it well, as every 
tree had several cobs as well as cans. The 
result was, every tree was loaded with plums 
—from one to two bushels upon each tree. 
1 had no faith at the time in such u simple 
remedy, and made this trial merely from 
curiosity. Above you have results, or in 
other words, every one of the twelve trees 
were loaded down with nice, ripe plums. 
Seneca Falls, N. Y. J. A. Rumsey. 
ARBORICULTURAL ITEMS 
Mossy Trees in an Orchard , P. F. is in¬ 
formed, generally indicates too much moist¬ 
ure in tiie soil—that is, that the soil needs 
drainage and the trees require stimulating. 
Give the ground under the trees a good top- 
dressing of muck and ashes, drain the ground 
thoroughly, scrape off the moss from the trees 
with a hoe, and wash trunks and large 
branches with strong soap-suds. But we 
should perhaps observe that while mossy 
trees generally indicate too much moisture, 
it is not always the case ; for trees on sandy 
soils are often mossy; and soils are covered 
with the same species of moss. Moss, there¬ 
fore, often indicates poverty of soil, or uucon- 
genia! conditions in some way; it may be a 
want of moisture as well as too much. Stim¬ 
ulate the growth at any rate, as we have 
above suggested, whether the soil is dry or 
wet. 
Stock for Cherries .—“ Addi,” in Gardeners’ 
Monthly, says two years experience has 
proven that either grafting or budding our 
C eras us sylvestris, or what. we. know as our 
cultivated Sweet Cherry, upon the wild com¬ 
mon sort of our woods, or Cerasas serotina, 
is a waste of time. The buds or grafts will 
grow to three or four leaves, xml possibly a 
few will continue the first season with five, 
but that will be their eud. 
POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP 
The Finest Apple at present in the Covent 
Garden Market, London, Eng., the Garden of 
April 19 says, is the French Colville Blanc, 
which is of large size, and of a beautiful yel¬ 
low color, the specimens of it which we ex¬ 
amined being in as good a state of preserva¬ 
tion as when they were removed from the 
tree. The fact that they realise from twenty 
shillings to thirty shillings per dozen, testifies 
to their quality. 
