1853. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
General Hand Plum. 
One of the largest of all plums known, is one which 
originated somewhere in the State of Maryland, and 
which has received the nanle of General Hand. It 
has of late years received a good deal of attention from 
fruit cultivators, mostly on account of its great size, 
and we therefore furnish the accompanying figure. Its 
value is increased by its productiveness, and the uni¬ 
formity of its hearing. It is roundish oval, the suture 
rather obscured, smooth, color deep yellow, faintly 
marbled with green; flesh juicy, of tolerably good fla¬ 
vor, not equal to the Washington, and placing the fruit 
too low for amateur cultivation, and only for such mar¬ 
kets as give the preference to the most showy sorts. 
Garden Fertilizers. 
I wish to inquire whether guano, bone dust, super¬ 
phosphate bf lime, &c., will answer for gardening pur¬ 
poses on a large scale, as well as stable manure. I 
wish to use large quantities of manure the coming year, 
and the fertilizers above named will be vastly more 
economical for me to use, provided they will answer the 
purpose as effectually as stable manure. Except what 
I can make in the regular course of my business, sta¬ 
ble manure is a very expensive article ; and if, with a 
liberal application, more concentrated manures will be 
as effective, I should think it best to give them the 
preference in use, even if I put one thousand pounds or 
more to the acre. David H. Raymond. Hartford. 
There is no kind of manure so uniformly beneficial 
in its results as stable manure, doubtless in consequence 
of its containing a full proportion of all the essential 
elements of fertility, and including a large quantity of 
vegetable matter. Next to this, undoubtedly, of soil 
fertilizers, as are generally sold in market, is guano, 
which also contains many enriching ingredients, and 
in a high degree of concentration, but which must be 
(h largely diluted or mixed before they can be advanta- 
rjj\\ geously applied. There can be no question that one 
I :■■■■■ —.. . 
reason of the frequent failures in the use of guano, is a 
want of its very thorough previous intermixture with 
substances which shall hold it in a proper condition till 
wanted for the use of growing plants. Phosphate of lime 
or bone dust, and super-phosphate of lime or bones dis¬ 
solved in acid, are more limited in their composition, 
and specific in their application, and hence are less 
uniformly beneficial, although sometimes of great value. 
We would recommend our correspendent to make a 
compost heap, using all the stable manure he can easi¬ 
ly obtain, adding in successive layers with this, turf, 
loam, ditch scrapings, &c., but making loam .constitute 
a very important part in the heap. If the loam is de¬ 
cidedly clayey, a quantity equal to the bulk of the sta¬ 
ble manure will be sufficient; but if it is more sandy in 
its character, and therefore less retentive of ammonia 
and other ingredients, two or three times as much should 
should be taken. The thinner and more frequent are 
the layers of manure and' loam, the easier and more 
perfect will be the intermixture of the two when the 
heap is worked over, and the better the compost. Turf 
forms an excellent element from its vegetable matter, 
and from the looseness it imparts. Whatever deficien¬ 
cy there may be in the required quantity of this com¬ 
post, may be made up by the addition of guano, reck¬ 
oning, at a rough estimate, a ton of the best Peruvian 
as equal to fifteen or twenty tons of good manure—both 
being applied in the best manner. There should be 
from ten to twenty times as much loam as guano, ap¬ 
plied in as thin alternating layers as practicable. Bone 
dust or dissolved bone may be applied in a similar man¬ 
ner, but less care is requisite in providing large quan¬ 
tities of loam, except to dilute its strength. All these 
manures might, with greater convenience and perhaps 
better effect, be mixed with the stable manure compost 
heap; and if made long and rather flat, it could be 
pulverized and worked together best by means of a plow 
and harrow, and yoke of oxen. For accurate and spe¬ 
cific experiments, to test the comparative merits of each 
kind of manure, they should of course be kept separate. 
Loss of the Plum Crop. 
If any of your correspondents can give me a hint or 
two through your paper, in regard to plum trees, I should 
be thankful. Mine are fine trees, excellent grafts, but 
invariably drop their fruit before ripe ; the leaves and 
trees are hearty looking, but I never have any fruit 
worth mentioning. G. Kingsland. Belleville , N. J., 
August, 24, 1853. 
Undoubtedly the loss of the crop is the result of the 
punctures of that general and most destructive insect, 
the curculio, of which our correspondent may readily 
assure himself another season, if he discovers small 
crescent-shaped punctures in the young fruit, and 
larvae or small worms in the fallen specimens. The 
redemedy is jaring the insects down on white sheets, by 
means of a sharp blow on the stump of a sawed limb, 
and then destroying them, according to the directions 
repeatedly given in most horticultural papers, and in 
the best works on the culture of fruit. 
