Dijon, Céline Forestier, Triomphe de Rennes; Maréchal Niel, a noble rose, requires a south wall. For beginners, Gloire de Dijon is best.

Tea-scented Roses. — For beginners, Sombreuil, Devoniensis, and Rubens. For others, Adam, Homer, Madame Margottin, Madame Willermoz, Souvenir d'Élise, first-rate; Bouton d'Or, first-rate for button-holes; and Souvenir d'un Ami. For glass, Élise Sauvage, Madame Bravy, and Vicomtesse de Cazes.

Tea roses are in their proper place when under glass. No roses are superior to them for this purpose. They may be grown under a south wall. They require but little pruning, good drainage, high cultivation, plenty of water, and great heat.

Hybrid Perpetuals, Tea-scented Noisettes, and Tea-scented roses are the best three families; and they are rapidly and justly superseding all others.

We have had a trying season, and it may help purchasers if I give the names of those roses that have beaten every thing here this year. These are, Charles Lefebvre, Jules Margottin, Duchesse d'Orleans, Sœur des Anges, Baronne Prevost, Monsieur de Montigny, Marguerite de St. Amand, Madame Knorr, Gloire de Vitry, Isabella Gray; in the open ground, Gloire de Dijon, Céline Forestier, Triomphe de Rennes, Sombreuil, Élise Sauvage, Devoniensis, Rubens, and Souvenir d'Elise, a most beautiful rose. Others have done well. On the whole, I have had a splendid season. It is almost impossible to conceive or describe the magnificence of the first series of flowers.

I advise persons about to commence rose-purchasing to find out what are really good, and accumulate them rather than heaps of roses erroneously termed varieties. The variety consists in the name. Begin with fifty or a hundred each of Charles Lefebvre and Jules Margottin. These are every-day and all-theseason roses. They always open, and never have a defective bloom. The same may be said of Gloire de Dijon, Céline Forestier, and Triomphe de Rennes.

I have discarded some roses here; but I have filled up their places with wellknown good kinds rather than with unproved novelties. The best novelties that I have had of late years are Alfred Colomb, Charles Verdier, Antoine Ducher, and Prince de Portia.

THE COMTE LELIEUR PEAR is described in the "Revue Horticole" for March, 1868, as a new variety; the seed having been sown in 1859, and the first fruit produced in 1865.

We received from M. De Wael, Secretary of the Horticultural Society of Antwerp, in the spring of 1842, grafts of a variety under the same name, which fruited in 1848. It has not been much disseminated: but we remember giving scions to the late Aaron D. Williams of Roxbury, and afterwards seeing the fruit in his grounds; and we also propagated it in the nursery.

The similarity, in form, color, season of maturity, and flavor, of this fruit. to the plate and description in the "Revue Horticole," suggests the inquiry, whether these two varieties are identical, or whether that described as new is a reproduction from seed of the older kind. R. M.

LIQUID MANure.

It would not be stretching truth too far (and we see pretty often at the present day some toughish straining at it) to say that the laws which control and regulate the application of liquid manures are less understood, simply because they are less studied, than are the other many and wise rules which arrange, direct, and govern the operations in both farming and gardening. Ask any ordinary rule-of-thumb farmer or gardener when and how he would apply liquid manure, and, twenty to one, he would reply, "Oh! put it on at any time when it's ready, and you've nothing else to do: it'll be all right." Ah! but, my unthinking friend, this will not do ; it will not be all right; and those off-hand, hit-or-miss, happy-go-lucky conclusions will fail you, simply because they cannot stand the test of quiet, searching inquiry. Now-a-days, the world is full of people who will not be satisfied with such loose, inconstant, baseless reasonings they insist on having a sound, positive, irrefragable "why" for every one of their persistent “wherefores.” "How do you do this?" Why do you do this?" "When do you do this?" and "What do you do it for?"

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Let me in this short paper see what I can do to throw a little light (it may be a very little) on the question of applying liquid manure; and possibly I may satisfy in some slight degree the questionings of many of your correspondents. (I quietly infer, you see, that you have queries of this description.) I will endeavor, at the beginning, to clear the ground, so that we may walk along without stumbling. First, then, what is liquid manure? It is water holding in solution all the chemical constituents and active agents of manure. Being in this state, its action on the crop to which it is applied is immediate; and successful results are attained with great celerity if the liquid has been judiciously applied.

The laws which regulate liquid manure growing must now be considered; and though these laws are elastic in their interpretation, yet they are still infallible and inflexible in their substance. In order, therefore, that the fullest effects may be derived from its application, and that without injury to the plants to which it is applied, it is absolutely indispensable, 1st, that it be weak, and frequently given; 2d, that it should be clear; and, 3d, that it should only be administered when plants are in full growth; for, if strong, it is apt to produce great injury, because of the facility with which it is absorbed beyond the assimilating power of the plants. If muddy or thick, it carries with it, in suspension, a large quantity of very fine sedimentary matter, which fills up the interstices of the soil, choking it, or, deposited on the roots themselves, very greatly impedes their power of absorption; and, if it is applied when plants are torpid, it either acts as in the case of being over-strong, or it acually corrodes the tissues. It must always be borne in mind, that, liquid manure being an agent ready for immediate use, its main value depends and lies in that peculiar quality: therefore its effect is to produce exuberant growth; and that it will continue to do as long (but no longer, mind) as the temperature and light required for its action are sufficient. These, then, are the true and inviolable laws which regulate this most important gardening operation: if these are well studied, no mistake can be made. The leading truths which we educe from these principles are, that it must be applied weak and often, and that it must be given according to

the nature of the plant and the object aimed at. Let me explain. The greatest danger in applying liquid manure is on the side of strength: to use liquid manure very weak and very often is simply to imitate Nature; and a safer guide the most obdurate sceptic could not desire. The carbonate of ammonia carried down to plants by rain is said to be, under ordinary circumstances, about one grain of ammonia in a pound of water. This looks so infractesimally small a dose, that many would be disposed to jeer at it. And I do not say that it is the only safe quantity; I have given and constantly do give stronger doses: but as a general, natural law, it has its due weight, and ought to be a guide to us somewhat in our artificial imitation of Nature's laws. Let us now consider for a moment why and for what object liquid manure is given, and the special results which are variously striven for when it is decided upon to administer it.

If, for example, wood and leaves are the aim of the cultivator, then liquid manure may be freely used from the time the buds burst until it is necessary that the ripening process should begin. In the case of flowers, it must be borne in mind, that, the more leaves a plant forms, the fewer blossoms it will throw that season. The application of liquid manure is therefore unfavorable to the immediate production of flowers. The true period of applying it with the purpose of perpetuating the growth and heightening the beauty of flowers, is most unquestionably when their buds are large enough to show that the elementary system is complete, and therefore beyond the reach of derangement; when the flower-bud is completely formed, and just about to swell more fully. Now, with fruit it is otherwise, as the best period of applying it to enlarge and improve fruit is after the flower has died off and the fruit is beginning to swell. We gain nothing by trying to enlarge the flower of a fruit-tree. The proper time is when the fruit is sufficiently strong, and has a power of suction capable of opposing that of the leaves: from this time, and as long as the fruit is growing, liquid manure may be used freely.

BEURRE DU CERCLE PEAR. This is a new pear of much promise. It is the first season of its bearing fruit in this country, to our knowledge. A little pyramidal tree in the Royal Horticultural Society's garden, Chiswick, has this season produced half a dozen large and beautiful fruit, which have proved of really excellent quality. The fruit is large, obovate, tapering irregularly towards the stalk; surface irregular, bulging out in places; skin smooth, of a beautiful peagreen color, with a slight patch of russet round the stalk; eye small, open, set in a very shallow, angular basin, almost level with the surface; stalk long and slender, inserted a little on one side without depression; flesh greenish-white, delicate, buttery, and melting, very solid, with scarcely any core; flavor rich and pleasant.

This is a pear which we anticipate will take a high rank. In appearance, it is somewhat like a Glout Morceau, but is distinguished by the very long slender stalk and the deep-green skin. The flesh resembles that of the Marie Louise and Glout Morçeau. Ripe in October. Grafts of this variety were received by the society in 1860 from the Société Impériale et Centrale d'Horticulture du Departement de la Seine Inférieure.

THE Editors of "Tilton's Journal of Horticulture" cordially invite all interested in horticulture and pomology, in its various branches, to send questions upon any subject upon which information may be desired. Our corps of correspondents is very large, and among them may be found those fully competent to reply to any ordinary subject in the practice of horticulture. Any questions which may be more difficult to answer will be duly noticed, and the respective subjects fully investigated. Our aim is to give the most trustworthy information on all subjects which can be of interest to horticulture.

We would especially invite our friends to communicate any little items of experience for our "Notes and Gleanings," and also the results of experiments. Such items are always readable, and of general interest.

We must, however, request that no one will write to the contributors to our columns upon subjects communicated to the Magazine.

Any queries of this nature will be promptly answered in our columns. Anonymous communications cannot be noticed: we require the name and address of our correspondents as pledges of good faith.

Rejected communications will be returned when accompanied by the requisite number of stamps.

W. B. H., Bridgeport, Conn. - Your plant is Euonymus Japonicus variegatus aureus, a beautiful evergreen shrub with distinct and constant variegation, but not hardy. It may, however, be wintered in the cellar, and planted out in the summer.

DOES it injure hardy bulbs to have the ground freeze? - Generally not; but tulips always give better flowers if the frost is kept out of the ground by covering of straw or litter. Very early-flowering bulbs also bloom earlier and stronger if well covered in winter, and the covering not removed until all danger of severe frost is past.

Is the new Golden-banded Lily (Lilium auratum) from Japan hardy? Precariously so in Massachusetts. We have known it to survive; but the best mode of culture is to cover the bed with a cold frame during the winter.

How can violets be had in bloom in winter without a greenhouse? There is nothing easier. Cover the bed, which must be in a sheltered, sunny place, with a frame in early autumn; keep out the frost by straw-mats and shutters; give light and sun every day when the thermometer is above freezing in the sun; and you may gather plenty of violets every day from November to May. The single varieties are the best for forcing, and the most fragrant, but do not sell so well in the market. The Czar and Giant are splendid single varieties, dark blue, very fragrant, long stemmed, and with flowers often an inch in diameter.

Is Andromeda floribunda, which is so showy in Central Park, New York, hardy in Massachusetts ? Yes generally so. We have large plants which bloom finely. It is well, however, to throw a few evergreen-boughs over the plants in winter, as the foliage is sometimes injured.

Are there varieties of the Tiger Lily? and, if so, are they desirable ? — There are several varieties, which differ in shades of color. We see in an English catalogue just received a new one advertised, said to bear forty flowers on a stalk. The old variety is good enough, and is very effective in the shrubbery.

What are the best two evergreen-trees among the choicer kinds which are perfectly hardy?— Supposing you have all the commoner kinds, we recommend Picea Nordmanniana and Abies orientalis, two very beautiful and distinct

species.

Is it a good plan to tie up plants in straw during the winter ?— We prefer to protect with evergreen-boughs; but, where these cannot be had, tying up with straw is a good mode of protection, and is not unsightly.

Are the new English clematis which have recently made such a sensation hardy? Probably not in Massachusetts; certainly not without winter protection. They have hardly had a fair trial yet. The best hardy clematis is the large blue C. azurea grandiflora.

How early should flower-seeds be sown in cold frames ? is quite early enough, and any time during the month will do.

The first of April

Can larkspurs be transplanted? — Not the annual kinds: they should be sown where they are to remain, as soon as the ground is well settled in the spring. Name a few fine plants for effective foliage. Cannas, or Indian Shot, and Ricinus, or Castor-oil Bean, in variety, Colocasia (Caladium) esculenta, Aralia papyrifera, and Wigandia Caracasana. All are easily procured, and, except the Wigandia, can be kept in a cellar during the winter.

What are the best three hardy rhododendrons for general planting ? — Roseum elegans, Album grandiflorum, and Everestianum.

Give the names of ten of the best hardy azaleas.

Calendulacea crocea;