mer, which clicks the growth of the flower 
buds until it is brought into a warm room, 
when they soon expand into a beautiful 
bloom. The Japan Lily, perhaps, is not ex¬ 
celled in beauty. Ours at present has three 
blossoms fully expanded and six buds still 
to open.—W. Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. 
Eupatorium Ageratoides. —Mart Tower 
says All professional gardeners, and I may 
say amateurs too, are charmed by the intro¬ 
duction of a white flower which combines 
the qualities of being a profuse bloomer, 
hardy and effective in masses. With this 
fact in view, it seems strange that we so 
seldom Bee the Eupatorium ageratoides culti¬ 
vated in our gardens. It is common in all 
our shady woods, blooming during the latter 
part of August and far into September. The 
only objection that can be brought forward 
is its rank growth, therefore requiring con¬ 
siderable room. 1 know of no more effective 
white flower for bouquets and floral orna¬ 
ments. 
Plants for a Wardian Case.—In answer to 
an inquiry made in Rural, some weeks 
since, I chu recommend the following Ferns : 
Maiden’s Hair, Shield, common Brake, or any 
of the smaller Ferns; Gold Thread, Solomon’s 
Seal—the two-leaved ; Rattle Snake Plan¬ 
tain ; Bishop’s Cap ; Mitrewort, Liverwort, 
SpringBeauty, Violets, Partridge Berry; tiny 
Hemlocks Cedars and Winlergreens, also the 
common Lycopods. These native plants, 
with mosses, are more satisfactory than 
greenhouse pets, and the Wardian case is the 
most delightful study un invalid can have— 
or a well person either.—Do re Hamllton. 
Border Plant for Bulb Beds. — Dr. Mc- 
•Carthy, before the Montgomery Co., 0., 
Hort. Soc., recommends the old-fashioned 
double May Pink as the best border to beds 
in which bulbs are planted. Its firm roots 
keep the margin well defined ; its dwarf 
habit and bright evergreen foliage make it 
beautiful throughout the year, while its rich 
profusion of lovely flowers and its unrivaled 
fragrance, coming as they do just as the per¬ 
fume of the hyacinth and the radiant glory 
of the tulip are departing, make it in the 
highest degree desirable. 
Soil for Verbena Cult ure. —Mr. Mundl be¬ 
lieves one difficulty connected with the cul¬ 
ture of the verbena is that soil too light for 
it to flourish in is too often selected; finds 
that it delights in a rich, substantial clay 
loam—one possessing considerable body ; 
says the soil composing the verbena- bed 
should be changed at least every two years. 
Exchange of Botanical Knowledge.—I 
would like to open a correspondence with a 
young gentleman or lady who can use Gray’s 
Manual of Botany to advantage. I have 
been botanizing two years, and know about 
all the plants growing spontaneously within 
the limits of six miles around.—R. C. Pop- 
pey, Box 972, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
need capitalists to build railroads, in order 
that our immense beds of iron ore and coal¬ 
fields may be opened up. Lands are worth 
from $15 to $25 per acre. Kingwood is the 
county seat; is near the center of the county 
and ten miles north of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad. It is a very neat and thriv¬ 
ing little village and contains about 1,500 
inhabitants. It supports four dry goods 
stores and two weekly papers —the Journal 
and Herald—which are both ably conducted. 
The junior editor of the Journal is consid¬ 
ered very good authority on the breeding 
CULTURE OF TUBEROSES, 
FROM HARRISON CO., WEST VA 
Charles T. Starr, Avondale, Pa., writes 
the Gardener’s Monthly: — Now I have a 
little practical experience to communicate 
in relation to the “ Tuberose.” I have been 
growing them to some extent for the past 
three seasons, having grown some 25,000. 
Well, my experience thus far gives me most 
PEAR. 
satisfactory results from three year old 
bulbs, they having produced two, three and 
four spikes from the one lar ge bulb, the past 
season, and also the flowerets were unusually 
large and fine. Be It understood that these 
bulbs were grown in the open truck field, in 
beds of four rows each, one foot apart each 
way, with a two foot walk between the 
beds. Now it seems that the Tuberose, 
when flowered among other plants, In the 
flower-bed,'border or In pots, is rendered 
worthless for future flowering, by its not 
getting leaf growth enough to build up the 
new side bulb thpt will form alongside the 
flower stalk, if it is planted in the proper 
place and condition that field culture gives. 
Now wbc-re the bulbs are kept in quantity 
in a greenhouse, in the spring there will al¬ 
ways be some with b lack instead of green 
germs, these black ones will not flower that 
season; but plant them out 10 by 12 inches 
in beds the same as onions or beets are grown 
in this latitude, about the middle of May, 
end they will make bulbs that will produce 
from two to five splendid spikes the next 
season, at loast such has been my experience. 
The tuberose buib will flower indefinitely if 
kept in its proper growing state; the bulbs 
that are planted out May 15th will make its 
first flower spike about September 1st, and 
in one month another spike will follow’, and 
these may be taken up just before frost, 
potted in seven or eight inch pots and put in 
greenhouse, where they wdll flower about 
Christmas, if the necessary heat and mois¬ 
ture are giveu them. 
MAURICE DESPORTE8 
and rearing of swine, and contributes fre¬ 
quently to the columns of his paper in regard 
to this subject. J - B - 
HOW TO HAVE APPLE3 EVERY YEAR 
Can an orchard be so treated that one can 
be sure of a reasonable crop of apples every 
year f My trees bear very heavily every 
other year and then rest each alternate year. 
How can I manage it ?— C. P. s. 
Not long since wc gave the practice of Mr. 
Pell in this respect. He succeeded. See 
the manner in which he did it, in the Rural 
New-Yorker Dec. 13, page 3S2. Another 
mode recommended (which wo have not 
tried, but which is said to work effectively,) 
is to take the cions from a tree in 1874 and 
graft on a good thrifty tree aud do the same 
in 1875 ; thus fruit will be got on each in 
alternate years. It is also asserted that if 
you cut off the thrifty trees the growth of 
1873 in the last of June, leaving three or four 
buds that would come out in 1874 you will 
force out the next years’ buds and gain one 
year. Again if all‘the blossoms are removed 
from one-half ot the orchard in the bearing 
year, the next year the half of the orchard 
from which the blossoms have been removed 
will bear. Tlds is true. Wo have had expe¬ 
rience in this matter. Bui it is better, we 
think, to thin out the fruit from trees, after 
it sets, every year and thus get an income 
from each tree annually. This matter of 
thinning fruit is not sufliciently attended to. 
With the present devices for pruning and 
clipping, it will require comparatively little 
time for the orchardist to go through hi6 
trees and thin out his blossoms or young 
fruit, thus preventing the trees from over¬ 
bearing one year and from resting the next. 
Besides the superior quality and size of the 
fruit thus obtained will nay for the labor by 
increasing its market value. 
MAURICE DESP0RTES PEAR 
I see that Ellwanger & Barry name 
this pear in their “select new varieties of 
pears,” and describe it as being “ medium 
to large, flesh finely grained, Bw eet and melt¬ 
ing ; a good gro\ve«r ; October.” Can you 
give me any further information concerning 
this pear, which a friend of mine speaks of 
highly 1— Amateur. 
We have never seen the pear. The accom¬ 
panying outline was made from fruit grown 
by the firm you name two or three years 
ago, and it was thesn thus described by Mi’. 
Elliott: —It is a peculiar formed pear, be¬ 
ing a long, acute pyriform, with a stem of 
one and a half inches, curved and pretty 
stout set, without depression. In color it is a 
pale, clear yellow, with a faint shade of 
blush in sun, and. thickly sprinkled with 
minute dull green or russet dote. The calyx 
is with stiff, broad, hall folded, erect seg- 
ements, set in a very shallow furrowed 
basin. The flesh is white, fine-grained, melt¬ 
ing, bottery, moderately juicy, with a pleas¬ 
ant but not high rich character; the core is 
small and, taking it all in all, it is a pear of 
good promise. 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Oleander and Japan Lily Blooms.—Wo 
have a bay window in our sitting-room, 
which is filled with choice plants, many of 
which arc In bloom. We admire them 
much, as they make our room so pleasant 
and beautiful these cold and snowy days. 
Among the plants in bloom we think the 
most of the Oleander and the Japan Lily. 
The Oleander has been in full bloom for 
three weeks, and has buds still to open. In 
order to have it blossom in the winter we 
place it the north side of the house in sum- 
FR0M KINGWOOD, WEST VA 
Early Beatrice Peach. — A Delaware 
correspondent of the Gardener’s Monthly 
says the fruit of this peach, in Mr. Bilyon’s 
original orchard, now belonging to Mr. Bel- 
lis, was shipped us early as June 25th; that 
the trees were very productive, the fruit 
rather small, handsome and entirely free 
from rot —reached New York in fine condi¬ 
tion, and sold at $4.50 to $5 per box—one 
crate with larger specimens sold for $S. 
Preston County is situated in the North¬ 
ern part of the State and borders on Penn¬ 
sylvania. We are blessed with plenty of 
pure water at all seasons of the year; the 
air is pure, the climate mild, good health 
prevails and portions of our county is the 
resort of city visitors during the sumrnor 
months, on account of its healthfuhiess. 
This is not strictly an agricultural county, 
though mostly adapted to stock raising. We 
Beware of a Tree Peddler ,—1 would like 
to inform the readers of the Rujral New- 
Yorker to be on the lookout for a tree ped¬ 
dler, claiming to be doing business for a firm 
in Rochester, N. Y., under the name of R. 
Blair. If they will consult their own inter¬ 
est, they will leave him and his trees alone. 
—L. W. Grafton Salem, Ohio. 
