NEW YOKE, DEC. 3, 1881 
PRICE FIVE CENT 
$2.00 PER YEAR 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the Rural New-Yorker, tn the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
flimnilturnl 
purposes in landscape-gardening, just as bud¬ 
ding high standard roses have secured a definite 
value for the attainment of certain effects on 
the lawn. Ordinarily, however, I believe the 
low, bushy form of the Rose-acacia does bet¬ 
ter, and shows its peculiar attractions in a 
more natural and satisfactory manner when 
properly disposed on the outskirts of other 
shrub groups or in colonies by itself. 
bered by the gardener for its multitudes of 
mealy bugs. They have infested almost every 
thing, indoors and out. I have noticed, how¬ 
ever, two remarkable exceptions worth not¬ 
ing, the C'lerodondron Balfourii and Allaman- 
da Hendersonii, two of our best hot-house 
climbers. I nave looked in vain for a single 
mealy bug on either of them during the Sum¬ 
mer, both at home and elsewhere. These two 
plants enjoy singular immunity from insects 
of all kinds that usually infest climbing 
plants, and I call attention to the fact for the 
benefit of those who love climbers, but do not 
grow them because of the trouble of keeping 
them free from insects. The Clerodendron 
and Allamanda require some heat to bloom 
them well. They are strong growers and 
should not be overpotted. They bloom pro¬ 
fusely and long. I may add that they do not 
grow or flower well in rooms. 
Mr. Allen has not. It is an early pear, good 
to eat out of hand in its best condition, 
but is quite variable and only adapted to lo¬ 
calities. It is now superseded by more de¬ 
sirable kinds of its season. I have known in¬ 
stances of variation more remarkable than 
Mr. Parnell’s, which could only be referred to 
local causes. I know of several Seckel Pears 
(on quince stock) in the same garden, one of 
which always bears pears twice or three times 
the size of the others, the latter being of the 
usual size. It never produces so many flow¬ 
ers as the others, but the fruit is of such large 
size as can only be produced by thinning out. 
The ouly difference in the soil that I can per¬ 
ceive is the presence of a large quantity of 
leaf mold where this tree is planted. The soil 
naturally is S light loam. I have noticed a 
number of anomalies of this kind, for some of 
which I could And a plausible reason, and for 
others no reason that satisfied me. I could 
write a long chapter about such things. W ho 
can tell me why one Chasselas Musque grape¬ 
vine should so far forget its nature as to re¬ 
fuse to crack and shank, while two others in 
the same house performed in the usual obsti¬ 
nate way in spite of all my care? But what 
a splendid grape it is when there is enough 
of it left to eat. 
ROSE-ACACIA.—Robinia Hispida, 
SAMUEL PARSONS, JR. 
Apple trees and horse-chestnuts in flower 
in November are a rare sight. It is one of the 
curious resu'ts of the drought, of which quite 
an interesting list might be made. The won¬ 
derful crop of mushrooms formerly referred 
to was checked by a frosty night, but aj ain 
made their appearance in v - manors. 
Cannas cut down by the frost and left in the 
ground have now (Nov. 11) made a uew 
growth of three or four inches. At this time, 
too, salvias in sheltered places present a mid¬ 
summer brightness, while roses have not 
looked so fresh since June, and so of other in~ 
There seems now to be some doubts in re¬ 
gard to the real value of ensilage for feeding 
purposes. This is a vital point, and should be 
carefully looked to before going too largely 
into the building of expensive silos. I gather 
from notices in the press that ensilage is not 
popular ; r -laud and some farmers in 
Massachusetts and elsewhere report their 
dairy products as being favorably affected 
by its use. The Rural, of course, will look 
after both sides of the question. It seems to 
be conceded that green fodder can be Dre- 
Deso-Kuown naruy acacias, this species, as 
usually seen, is simply a straggliug, trailing 
bush; in fact, its habit in this respect resem¬ 
bles that of the rose. The young wood, too, is 
not unlike that of some strong-growing roses, 
brown and mossy on young stem ami twig. 
One is particularly charmed, however, by 
the flowers of the Rose-acacia. They are rose- 
colored, but there all real resemblance to the 
rose ceases, for hi all other ways they are true 
acacia blossoms, borne in 
racemes four inches long, 
pendent and very graceful. 
These flowers have the ad¬ 
ditional excellence of a 
long season, often nearly 
all iSummer. Though an 
old shrub, having been in¬ 
troduced to European gar¬ 
dens from the Carolinas m 
more than 100 years ago, m 
the Rose-acacia does not, fr y 
somehow, become as popu- /y 
lar as it .should. Its strag- %f) 
gliug, irregular habit is Wr.tr ftt'X k 
against it. The lovely flow- ftWnT f/ 
ers are trailed in the dust g b g fe fr 
by heavy rain-storms, and 
at times its reputation has 
suffered unfairly on the 
score of an imputed ten- 
deucy to succumb to the ■M/jMfjR vs§|k 
inroads of borers. To 
overcome this prejudice ***'J 
aud secure a proper ex hi- // 
bition of the charms of J/ 
this beautiful shrub, skill- 
ful pruning is necessary. 
There is need for the thin- w... • 
uing out that renews aud 
thickens the growth of 
young wood and cousoli- Xfj, 
dates the uutive straggling ^ 
habit into the irregular ' 
bushiness that should char- " 
actorize all well - grown '3®jV s 
shrubs. 
A striking fashion of 
growing the Rose-acacia 
is found iu the method 
I should think the abutilon (insigne) re¬ 
ferred to by Leon must be a beautiful plant. 
I have not grown it, but must now do so. A 
little timely pinching will doubtless keep its 
scraggy habit in reasona¬ 
ble subjection. 
Horticola. 
NOTES AND COM¬ 
MENTS. 
I would again call the 
attention of the readers 
of the Rural to the edito¬ 
rial remarks on page 752, 
relative to the severe prun¬ 
ing which hedges often re¬ 
ceive. I fully concur with 
the editor iu his opinion, 
and to those who are so 
fortunate as to possess fine 
hedges the editor's remarks 
are invaluable; and one 
cannot but notice that the 
finest hedges are those that 
are not severely or annually 
pruned. While a hedge is 
young it, of course, must be 
pruned more or less, so as 
to obtain a uniformity of 
growth and increase of size; 
but after it has nearly at¬ 
tained the desired hight it 
should not be pruned sev¬ 
erely, aud at least three- 
fourths of an inch of the 
young wood should be al¬ 
lowed to remain. As soon 
as a hedge begins to show 
signs of injury, or of weak¬ 
ness of growth, it is an ex¬ 
cellent plan to allow it to 
remain unpruned for one 
or two years. These re¬ 
marks are especially ap¬ 
plicable to the American 
Arbor vitae. It is worthy 
of remembrance that all 
severe pruning is a blow 
THE HOSE ACACIA—ROBINIA HISPIDA -(After the London Garden).— Fig. 542 
but what chemical changes it undergoes, and 
how far and in what manner it affects the 
products of the dairy,. do not seem thus far 
to have received any great amount of atten¬ 
tion. 
mates of the garden. Phmts, however, whose 
natural season for bloom is the Pall, such, for 
example, as the chrysanthemum, have flow¬ 
ered later than usual, aud less abundantly. 
Persons curious in such thiugs could make up 
a i.ong list like the above. 
struck at the vitality of the tree. 
In pruning Arbor vi„aa hedges it is well to 
remember that under no consideration what¬ 
ever should a part of the tree be cut back to 
the old or leafless wood, I happen to know of 
an instance where this had been done on the 
side ot a hedge a few years ago, aud the result 
I should judge, from the descriptions, that 
Mr. Parnell has the true Ott pear, and that 
The present season will long be remem 
