^arboriculture 
•* v iew uays since we lound some specimens 
°f remarkably large size in a Broadway 
store, and upon inquiry -we learned that 
tliey came from Kansas. We obtained some 
samples, and from one of them our illus¬ 
tration was made. The shell is a light 
brown, and very thick; and from these and 
other characteristics we conclude that they 
are not a variety of our Eastern or white 
shell bark hickory,but what is usually called 
Western shell bark (C. sulcata.) It is cer¬ 
tainly a very good sort, but will not compare 
with Hale’s Paper Shell, or many others 
found in various localities. Wo believe that 
the last named variety is the very best 
hickory nut known in tins country, aud if 
any of onr readers have a better one, will 
they please favor us with specimens? 
P. S.—There are no trees of Hale’s Paper 
Shell in the market, although we believe 
that it is being propagated for the purpose 
of dissemination. 
the Muscadine, known to you as the purple 
Scuppernong, the others all belonging to the 
Fox family except the winter and fall grape. 
In 1857 a Mr. Williams, under the in¬ 
structions ol the Agricultural Bureau in 
Washington city, visited this country for the 
purpose of examining all the wild varieties 
of grapes lie could find, and from such as he 
deemed worthy of experiment to obtain cut¬ 
tings and plants. "Unluckily, there was a 
most disastrous late frost that year, and all 
fruit, was killed. His only resource, in that 
case, was to inquire in the different, localities 
as to the quality of the fruit of the different 
vines which came under his observation. 
duccd upon a strong, healthy and hardy na¬ 
tive vine, of anything I have yet produced ; 
although 1 have been experimenting in that 
direction, and with that object, near twenty 
years.” 
Bcurrc il’Albrct Pear. 
We have received at this office, from some¬ 
body—we don’t yet know who—some excel¬ 
lent specimens of the above named pear. If 
they were sent us for name, we have named 
them. But we should like to know who 
grew them, and where they were grown. 
They were delicious, and a barrel of them 
would moke a man happy, whether his taste 
was “ cultivated ” or not. 
HICKORY NUTS. 
Cracking hickory nuts is one of the pas¬ 
times of boyhood, that men seldom forget. 
But with all its popularity, and the almost 
universal acknowledgement of the good 
qualities of the hickory not, very little lias as 
yet been done to improve or propagate the 
best varieties. The common shell bark {Carya 
alba) and the pecan nut {C. olimformi #) are 
generally admitted to produce the best nuts; 
but there is a great difference in the size and 
quality ol these, and varieties are abundant, 
some of which are far superior to others. 
FRUITS RECEIVED, 
BY F. R. ELLIOTT. 
Scedline Grapes. 
Prof. J. P. Kjkti.and sends me a seedling 
grape, the hunch of which is compact like 
Diana, and Die grape much like it in form 
aud color; hut in flesh is more like Catawba. 
1 do not think it equal to the latter. 
Morris Jackson, Brooklyn, O., also sends 
orintlfnrr 
WINDOW GARDENING, 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES, 
Names of Plants Suitable. — Soil, Potting, 
anil Treatment, 
Plants suitable for window gardening 
may be divided into two distinct classes— 
those grown for their flowering qualities 
and those remarkable for color, form, or 
scented foliage, In naming a list of flower¬ 
ing plants, 1 would commence* with the rose, 
the monthly and tea varieties being well 
adapted to this purpose, and keep up an al¬ 
most constant succession of flower through¬ 
out the year; the numerous varieties of 
fuchsia, witli their graceful pendant spikes 
of bloom; petunias, both single and double; 
the fragrant heliotrope, or “ cherry pie;” the 
sweetly scented, free-flowering monthly car¬ 
nations; the graceful Ethiopian lily — C'alla 
JWiiopica ; the Chinese and Japan chry¬ 
santhemums, for fail and early winter; the 
Neapolitan violets, for early spring; the 
modest but uprightly Chinese primrose; the 
Persian violet— Cyclamen Pi / sh-mu —valualtie 
also for its foliage; the showy azalia; the 
well-known and ever popular geranium; 
the white Ceylon jasmine, with its tropical 
fragrance; 1 he Daphne mezoron, giving a 
sweet odor to a large room; the hyacinth, 
and other bulbs, either in pots or water, and 
doing equally well in both. 
For foliage plants 1 would recommend 
the numerous varieties of graceful ferns and 
lycopodiums; the dragon-blood plants, Ura¬ 
emia terwinaUs; the velvety appearing 
begonias and gesnerius; some varieties of 
cactus, a most interesting class; the horse- 
shoe-leaf geraniums, and, for scent, the rose 
and lemon geraniums; Aloysia citrodora, or 
sweet-scented verbena; musk, aud many 
! others, as the fancy or means of the amateur 
may dictate. 
When the plants have been obtained, 
the next tiling is to take care of them, and 
here is where a great deal of mistaken kind¬ 
ness takes place, sometimes in the shape of 
too much water, at another in too much 
heat, and so on, thus often rendering abortive 
the object aimed at, and bringing to grief 
the hopes indulged in of deriving pleasure 
from the daily unfolding of fresh beauty in 
our pets, In some measure to counteract 
this, I would offer the following suggestions 
on cultivation: 
The first point is good soil; without this 
no plant will thrive well. Fresh sandy 
Pi-utet'iinir IVacIi Trees. 
We live in so cold a climate that we cannot 
nose peaches without protection. Last fall T 
pinned a number of branches to the ground, 
and covered them with litter or straw manure! 
Jbese branches were, loaded with fruit this sea- 
son, while nearly all Unit were not protected 
wise K lied. H ill It answer jls well to rover with 
iiii t. J him nnsin# n kug-o orcluirri of peachy in 
roleiytici- to laying them rlmvri without disturb- 
ln K the roots. I intend to lav down one ornhnivl 
- 1 intend to lay down one orchard 
t in- bill, end /f if is tolerably safe to cover them 
w itn onrtli, I shall do «o, us ft is much the elicup- 
• •-t way of protectiinr them, ns there Is but little 
v cKvi.iblo mn tier t)ds season with which to cover 
them.—Jo/si, intAPKH, .Xe.brmM ('ity, fob. 
Having had no experience in protecting 
pcacli trees with earth, we cannot advise on 
tliis point, but should think it safe. We 
cover tender roses, grape vines, and many 
other plants with earth for protection in 
winter, and have never known them to re¬ 
ceive any damage therefrom. Our plan is to 
cover as late in fall ns possible, and uncover 
before the ground gets very warm in spring. 
Wc hope Mr. Draper will try soil and re¬ 
port to us the result. 
Hale’s Paper-Shell Hickory Nut. 
To produce improved varieties from seed 
would be a slow and tedious process; but it 
can, and will be done, although at present 
we may well be satisfied witli the very best 
natural seedlings that can he found in various 
sections of the country. The hickory is a 
difficult tree to propagate by the ordinary 
methods of budding aud grafting; ami we 
should be happy to hear from any of our 
readers who have been successful in propa¬ 
gating it by either of these methods. At 
present we do not know of any better plan 
Ilian to splice or clell graft the young seed¬ 
lings. 
One-year-old plants should he used; at 
least they are preferable to older ones. These 
should be taken up in autumn as soon as the 
loaves are ripe, and worked immediately. 
As hickory seedlings usually have a Jong, 
fleshy tap-root, it may be divided into at 
least two sections, and a graft inserted into 
each. I lie entire top of the young seedlings 
should be cut off, and the cion inserted into 
the crown, just below the surface of the soil, 
or in that portion which was covered before 
removal. 1 lie insertion of the cion must not 
darof Lebanon at the Horticultural Society 
in Philadelphia. Whether flic first in Ameri¬ 
ca, 1 know not; I only wish to tell you that 
the same tree, planted thirty-four years ago, 
is again in full bearing, and a beautiful object 
it. is. Perhaps few of nature’s productions 
exhibit more perfect beauty than a Cedar of 
Lebanon cone. Its form, solidity, with the 
elegance of the spray to which it is so firmly 
attached, cannot be surpassed. The whole 
i - a. model; and then the. historical character 
that attaches to its biblical record. Why 
are they .so few? Possibly they grow too 
slow for Americans, hut a fine 1 Cedar ’ is an 
heirloom on any place, and I would advise 
more planting of them.” 
Cheap Manure for Apple Trees, 
A. R. Rowe asks the Rural New- 
Yorker if chip manure is good for old 
apple trees. Bless you ! yes! Especially if 
they stand in grass, as nine-tenths of the old 
orchards do. So is any kind of manure 
that is made on a farm—especially muck 
from old ponds or “sinks,” if the soil is 
clay or loam, or sand. 
Chestuill m in MinucfiOta, 
In answer to an inquiry whether chest¬ 
nuts will grow in Minnesota, a Minneapolis 
paper says:—•“ They will grow in summer 
LILY’S NO. IQ OILAJPJC. 
Most of the persons giving information had 
never seen or lasted one of Ibe cultivated 
varieties, and could only compare the flavor 
and quality of one wild variety with another, 
and hence were not competent to judge. 
In his wanderings lie statue, that atone 
place lie was told marvelous things about a 
certain grape, which was nearly extinct, os 
it grew only in rich creek bottoms; and as 
these were mostly all cleared up for cultiva¬ 
tion, it, was.so nearly eradicated as to be very 
scarce, and when found, the birds were so 
fond of the fruit that persons might never be 
able to see the fruit from this cause alone. 
Tho statement concerning t he clearing of all 
the creek8 is not so, for noumc-tbird of such 
lands have ever been cleared in this section 
of the State, and it seems rather strange that 
t his vine only grew in such places as wore 
cleared, and nowhere else, as there are tens 
of thousands of acres of just such lands still 
virgin forest. Hero it was lie heard the 
French part of it, and mentions it in his re¬ 
port, afterwards published by the Depart¬ 
ment. Having nothing to guide him in his 
selections, his cuttings, Arc,, were made and 
me a seedling that In hunch resembles the 
Diana and in flavor^L. Catawba; but it lias 
less of the hard center surrounding the seeds, 
generally called (hut without any reason) 
“pulp” and is an improvement on Catawba 
or Diana, so far as I can judge from tire 
specimens before me. All these new sorts, 
I must here remark, may appear good as 
now shown, aud yet in other locations or 
soils or seasons, he utterly worthless. I 
therefore assert that no new grape should 
have any public comment for culture until 
it bos been most fairly and extensively tested 
in various localities and soils all over our 
States. 
Ellwainrei- <fc Barry’s No. 19 Grope. 
Messrs. Eliavangek *fc Barry send me 
again, samples of their No. 19, of which, 
herewith, I send you drawing, as it is one 
worthy attention and trial. The leaf is large, 
thick, white underneath, three-lobed, ami ca¬ 
pable, apparently, of withstanding climatic 
influence. Its bunch is medium to large 
shouldered, or almost double shouldered; 
compact, with short peduncles. Berries of 
medium size, roundish oval, dark, rich claret 
red, with a light bloom; flesh meaty, with a 
little of the native hard pulp in the center; 
whitish, stained purple near the skin; two 
seeds; skin moderately thick, without as- 
tringency; juice abundant; sprightly,sweet 
and rich, and free from any strong, native 
Art® 
perature of the room; the higher the tem¬ 
perature, the oftener they will require to be 
watered. In winter draw the water and let 
it stand in the room an hour before using 
it. A great deal of material damage is done 
by using water at 40° when the plants may 
be in an atmosphere of 70 . Sprinkle fre¬ 
quently overhead. Set the plants outside 
for a short time in mild weather; wash the 
pots occasionally to keep them porous as 
well as clean ; break the caked surface fre¬ 
quently to allow evaporation, and keep a 
sharp lookout for insects, as they arc es¬ 
pecially fond of most plants suitable for in¬ 
doors, and require prompt extirpation to 
prevent mischief. David Foulis. 
We would add to the above list Daphne 
cneor-unk , or give it the place of D. mezeron, 
as it is a far better plant for house culture. 
It is a dwarf evergreen shrub, aud blooms 
almost continuously, while the mezeron only 
blooms once in a year. We also believe in 
Kansas Hickory Nut. 
but in most instances arc frozen in winter. 
We do not know of a solitary instance of 
the success of the chestnut” 
POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 
OUACHITA GRAPE. 
In the Rural New-Yorker of October 
32d, yon wish to know something of a grape 
called Ouachita, having seen notices of the 
same in au Arkansas paper. I have lived in 
this State over t wenty years, and have seen 
and examined all the wild varieties of grapes 
in this section of country, and have never 
yet found one that was even fit to eat except 
Oninpbell’s Secillingr Grain 
Geo. Campbell, Delaware, O., lias a seed¬ 
ling grape—a hybrid grown from Concord 
seed, fertilized with pollen from Joslvn’s St. 
Alban’s or Chasselas Masque, the vine of 
which he says “ seems even stronger in 
growth than Concord, and the foliage very 
nearly as good.” He adds:—“I think it 
comes nearest to a fine foreign grape, pro- 
tiiimac in Minnesota. 
A Minneapolis paper says“ We notice 
several large lots of sumac being brought to 
this market. It is purchased by the dyers, 
and brings the nice sum of twelve dollars 
per load.” 
Occasionally we find in our markets 
hickory nuts of very large size, which 
usually come from Ohio or farther West. 
