AZALEAS AFTER FLOWERING. - Azaleas after flowering should be repotted if they require it, be placed in a house with a gentle heat, and have frequent syringings and a moist atmosphere, with a moderate amount of air, in order to encourage free growth. Continue them in the house until a good growth has been made; then they should have abundance of air, and a situation well exposed to the light. Supply them with plenty of water, and keep them under glass until the buds are set, which you may know by feeling the points of the shoots. Those which have set for bloom will feel as if there were a hard knot în them; but, if there are no bloom-buds, the points of the shoots will be soft and empty. They may then be placed out of doors if the season admits: take them in towards the close of September, and place them in a light and airy situation in a greenhouse from which frost is merely excluded, giving plenty of air. It is better to retain the plants under glass after the buds are set, keeping them in a cool, well-ventilated structure.

This plant is propagated by

CYANOPHYLLUM MAGNIFICUM PROPAGATION. cuttings; the tops of the shoots being taken off below the second joint, not counting the extreme point. Cut them across below the lowest joint, and remove the lowest pair of leaves. Drain a pot well, and fill it to three-fourths its depth with a compost of sandy peat two-thirds, and one-third sandy loam, then to the rim with silver sand. A hole is then made in the centre of the pot, the cutting inserted to the joint next above that at which it was cut over, and the hole around the cutting filled with sand. A gentle watering should then be given, and the pot plunged in a hotbed of from seventy to seventy-five degrees, and covered with a bell-glass. Shade from bright sun; and with a brisk heat, and the soil kept moist, but not wet, the cutting will be well rooted in about six weeks, and should be hardened off, potted, and grown on.

FLOWER-POTS. The following are the technical names, and their sizes in inches Thimbles and thumbs; any size under three inches diameter at the top.

Width of top

in inches.

Depth in
inches.

Old

Name.

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G. B., Roxbury, Mass.- I have in my garden plenty of red and white Dutch currant-bushes; but I am advised to root up these, and plant the larger sorts. What say you? - Say no. The varieties you have named are among the best. We should advise you to plant a few of Versaillaise, Dana's White, and others of large size.

189

We

READER, Marlborough, Mass. What kinds of raspberries do well? What distance apart should they be set in field-culture? What is the yield per acre? What is the general market-price per quart in Boston? Do they need winterprotection ? The Franconia is the variety most extensively cultivated about Boston for the market. It bears transportation well. It is not a high-flavored sort. Knevett's Giant is large, early, and a berry of very good quality. Among the newer varieties, the Philadelphia is said to be very productive, and profitable for market-purposes. The Clarke is another new sort that is attracting a good deal of attention at the present time; the plants finding a ready sale at high prices. If we should recommend but one, we should say Franconia. should advise putting the rows about four feet apart, and the plants three to three and a half feet apart in the rows, so that there may be plenty of room for the plants to spread and form a stool. The yield per acre varies from five hundred to two thousand quarts, according to soil and cultivation. The market-price in former years was about the same as that of strawberries; but last year we know that sixty cents a quart was not considered too high a price. The red raspberries need protection, and all of them succeed the better for it. We wonder that the market-gardeners of Massachusetts should have so neglected this fruit for several years past; for it is more profitable than the strawberry-crop.

WESTERNER.

- Most of my neighbors believe that there is more profit in raising large apples than small for market, even if of poor quality. I do not agree with them, and have planted such varieties as give only small or medium-sized fruit. What is your opinion? It depends somewhat upon what use is to be made of the fruit. If for cooking, every thing else being equal, the largest apples are the best; if for the dessert, the reverse is true.. The Lady Apple, though very small, is yet one of the most beautiful little apples ever grown; yet we doubt if its cultivation would prove profitable. The Garden Royal, Fameuse, and others of that size, are among the best of apples for table-use; and considering the price they sell for, as compared with the larger and coarser apples, are quite as profitable to grow.

NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Cranberries grow spontaneously in this region, and there are thousands of acres where they would flourish if once the land was stocked with the plants. Can the culture of the cranberry be made profitable at this distance from a market? — We think so: for there is always a great demand for this fruit; and the price is high enough to pay for considerable pains and expense, not only to raise the crop, but to get it to market. The market cannot be overstocked with this fruit. There are many choice places where no crop that could possibly be raised would pay so well as this.

E. M., Rochester, N.Y.-Can scions of "President I ear that you have recently figured in your Journal be obtained of the originator or elsewhere? We think not. Dr. Shurtleff has let out none of his seedlings yet. We do not know what his intentions are. He can answer, and possibly may before long.

W. B. C., Duncannon, Penn. Which is the cheapest and best of the manures named below; considering the prices annexed?— barnyard manure at four dollars a cord, bone-dust at fifty dollars per ton, lime at twenty cents per bushel. What season is it best to apply bone-dust? How, and in what quantity per acre? How often should the application be repeated? - The barnyard manure is undoubtedly the cheapest. It should, however, if it is to be used for grapes, be allowed to lie over at least a whole year, and become thoroughly decomposed: it may then be applied in moderate quantities. Should apply bone-dust in the spring, and plough or cultivate it in lightly. We have used of ground bone, which works slower than the bone-dust, at the rate of a thousand pounds to the acre; but we should not advise using more than five or six hundred pounds of the dust. Lime does well on some soils, and may be used to some extent. We can give no definite rule about the application of special manures to vineyards that will apply in all cases. If you see that the vines need some fertilizer, apply it; always avoiding coarse, unfermented manures.

T. J. P., Goshen, O.- I have a number of Vicar-of-Winkfield pear-trees, both standards and dwarfs, two years planted, of good size and vigorous growth that I wish to change to some more desirable sort. Can it be done successfully by cutting off the entire top, and grafting into the stem? It is too much of a job to graft all the branches. I have the Beurré Clairgeau on quince-roots; but the trees do not appear to do well. The fruit is all that could be desired. Will the variety thrive well when double-worked? — We do not advise cutting off the entire top of your trees at once, unless they are quite small. If the branches are of any considerable size, cut off and graft enough of them, so that, when the grafts grow, they will form a symmetrical head. Small branches may be splicegrafted very neatly. It seems to us not too much of a job; for what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. The Beurré Clairgeau will thrive well when doubleworked on some strong-growing sort. Generally there is no difficulty in growing this sort; but the fruit is not always of good quality.

C. G., Philadelphia. At page 277, vol. i., C. C. Miller mentions the fact that the birds strip the black-cap raspberries from the bush, and will not touch the golden-cap growing beside them. May I state a little of my experience? During a recent fortnight's absence of self and wife from our country-home, the pantry or store-room was invaded by rats. The parchment and paper top of every pot and tumbler of raspberry-preserves was gnawed off, those vessels upset, the black-cap raspberries more or less eaten up, and the red Antwerps apparently not diminished in weight or bulk: the former seem to have been devoured with avidity and great rejoicing (to judge by the marks of the rat-paws and sirup on the wall), while the red were abandoned with contempt.

C. Is there a demand for cucumbers at this season of the year? Is it difficult, and does it pay, to raise them?—There is some demand for them from the best hotels in the large cities. It is rather difficult to grow good ones. It will pay well when you are successful in getting a crop. See a recent number of the Journal for an article on the subject.

J. W. H., College Hill, O., writes that "the Bartlett Pear is the most profitable pear grown in Southern Ohio. The Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, White Doyenné, Swan's Orange, Seckel, and Tyson are the most popular varieties grown as standards. Louise Bonne de Jersey, Vicar of Winkfield, White Doyenné, Belle Lucrative, Glout Morceau, and Flemish Beauty, are the most popular varieties grown here for dwarfs. The Early May Cherry is a certain bearer, very hardy, and is popular because profitable for the market. Knight's Early Black is also becoming more popular, being a pretty sure bearer. Wilson's Albany Strawberry is the most popular sort for field-culture. We gathered ten bushels last season from a piece of land forty by sixty feet, and the crop was much lessened on account of the great mass of plants."

D. W. G., Peoria, Ill. About my garden are some cherry-trees that have sprung up from time to time; and I wish to know what I had better do with them to make them profitable. — It would, perhaps, be better to wait until they bear fruit; and, if the same shall be good, then preserve them: otherwise graft the trees with some variety that you know is hardy and prolific.

S. T. M., Northborough, Mass. -I wish to learn through your valuable Journal if any of your readers have had experience in raising strawberries on land newly reclaimed from the forest. I have seen large fruit on the native strawberry-vines growing on such land. We have no doubt but the crop referred to can be successfully grown on such land if it can be made mellow, so as to allow scope for the roots. The fresh soil, with the ashes that may be left from the waste material burned on the land, would all be favorable to the strawberry. We hope to hear from those who have had experience on this point.

C. T. R., Pittsfield. — Neither scions nor trees can be procured of the President Pear. The whole stock is in the hands of the originator.*

J. S. D., Fairview, Ken. - How shall I destroy earth-worms in flower-pots ? Water the plants with a weak solution of lime (common lime-water), made by slacking quicklime in water: a lump as large as one's fist will be enough for six gallons of water. The worms will come out at the surface of the ground. Also many may be removed by carefully turning the ball of earth from the pot : the worms, generally, are found close to the side of the pot, and may be caught before they draw into the ball again.

How shall I prepare apple and other fruit seed for sowing? After they are washed out or separated from the pomace or pulp of the fruit, mix the seed with moist sand, and place them where they will keep tolerably moist through the winter away from the vermin. In the spring, the seed can be sown with the sand. We have for years successfully followed this course.

* Since the above was in type, we learn that Dr. Shurtleff has been prevailed upon to let out what stock he has now ready of the President and Pemberton Pears, which is limited to one hundred scions of each. See advertising columns.