Editors of Tilton's "Journal of Horticulture: "

IN an article entitled "Remarks on the Pink Family," written by that eminent horticulturist, Joseph Breck, Esq., in your April number, I find at page 200, line II, an error which I desire to correct.

There is no such expression in the French language as piquettée. The French word Mr. Breck doubtless intended to use is the adjective picoté, which latter means "dotted or rather "pitted; " for instance, picoté de la petite vérole, "pitted with the small-pox ;" and expresses the peculiar color of the flower.

Piquette, a substantive in the French language, resembling in orthography the term erroneously used in the article, possesses a totally different meaning. It is a word applied to a liquor pressed out of grapes, after they have been squeezed, and water poured upon them; an inferior kind of wine in use among the poorer classes of France for centuries past, that differs, as you will perceive, from the "gallized” article now extensively transmuted from water into wine by the alchemists of the New Missouri School only in one particular, viz., the addition of sugar previous to fermentation; a substance the French, from motives of economy, I presume, do not employ in the fabrication of their piquette.

As in the West, at least, thanks to the strenuous efforts of growers and dealers who believe in manufacturing and selling rather for immediate profit than for a lasting reputation, "gallized" wine is gradually superseding the pure fermented juice of the grape, I suggest, that, for the want of an Anglo-Saxon term to designate the new article, we apply henceforth to this particular class of fermented beverages the French appellation of piquette, to distinguish the same from the juice of the grape fermented without the use of sugar, water, or other chemical ingredients, and which latter, we will, for the present, in accordance with the commonly-received notion, continue to call wine.

Very respectfully your obedient servant, JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., April 26, 1869.

John F. Wielandy.

Q. How far apart shall I plant standard apple and pear trees? — Fifteen feet is a good distance for pears, and thirty for apples, on ordinary soils; but on rich soils they should either be planted farther apart, say twenty feet for pears, and forty for apples, or else plant the pears ten and the apples twenty feet apart, and remove every alternate tree when they begin to crowd each other. This is a good plan for exposed positions, as the trees will shelter each other when young. On poor soil, they may be allowed to remain at the same distance as planted. Many of the best cultivators recommend planting more closely than was formerly thought advisable.

M. HINCHCLIFF, Bristol, Conn., wishes to know whether the Siberian arborvitæ will endure the weather in a very exposed situation. - Yes it is perfectly hardy. The sub-species, Wareiana, is equally as hardy, or even more so, and quite as vigorous; and the foliage is stronger, thicker, and of a deeper green.

A CORRESPONDENT wishes to know where and at what price he can get trees of the Newman Plum, described in our March number.

W. H. HAYWARD, Anamesee, Io., has understood that a grape-seed, of whatever kind, if planted, would always produce a grape, if the vine was a bearer, similar to those growing wild in the locality where it was planted; and such has always been his experience and observation. And he mentions several instances where this is supposed to have happened, and wishes to know how it is that the seed of a grape hybridized while in flower produces a vine the fruit of which is unlike the fruit of the wild vines in the neighborhood. Most of the cases mentioned by our correspondent may be explained by the well-known tendency of all cultivated fruits to return to the wild type. But in regard to the grape said to have been produced in Franklin County, Mass., from the seed of a raisin, and to resemble the wild grapes of that vicinity, we think there must be some mistake. We suppose the raisin grew in Europe, where it could not possibly have been fertilized by the pollen of our native grapes; and, under such circumstances, it is impossible for a seed of the European species to produce a vine of any of the American species. But when a grape is hybridized as described in our May number, a new element is introduced. The pollen which fertilizes the seed imparts to it more or less of the peculiar characteristics of the different variety from which it was taken. It is only in this way that the seedlings mentioned by our correspondent could have been modified by the vines growing in the neighborhood where they were raised.

V. M. H., Jefferson, O. - We regret to say that the pansy sent is neither rare nor in any way remarkable. It may look well in the garden; but a package of mixed seed of the lighter colors would give dozens quite as good.

SEMPER, Cumberland, Ind. Your hints on tropical plants give us nothing new, except the experience that fresh cow-manure applied to cannas in a liquid form throws them into profuse bloom. Write out for us your experience in bedding out caladiums; giving varieties, situation, height the plants attained, size of foliage, &c. It is a subject on which information is needed.

The tropæolum buds often fail to expand in the short days, owing to a want of light and heat. If you had not cut down the plant, you would have had flowers enough as soon as the days grew longer.

IDEM. Use common hydraulic cement for your aquarium, if a large one. If small, and of glass and stone, set the glass in white lead.

IDEM.

- Is Bignonia (Tecoma more properly) grandiflora hardy with you? Are you not rather far north for it? - Where not winter-killed, it blooms freely as soon as the plant gets age.

IDEM.

Camellias Sarah Frost, Lady Hume's Blush, Wilderii, Fimbriata, Alba plena, Landrethii, Imbricata, and Doncklerii are all good bloomers.

D. S. HAMPTON, Macomb, Ill. The evergreen shrub of which you sent us a leaf is Euonymus Japonicus.

M., Nantucket. The "cactus you send as hardy, and growing wild, is the prickly pear (Opuntia vulgaris). The habitat where you found it is almost its northern limit. We have it in our garden, where it does well. There is a long article upon it in the number of the "Revue Horticole " for April 16; a large patch of the plant having been found growing in an obscure village, where it had been from the earliest remembrance of the oldest inhabitant. O. Rafinesquii is a western species, and is far handsomer.

TYRO, Manchester, N.H. -- The following magnolias are hardy in the vicinity of Boston: M. tripetala, cordata, acuminata, auriculata or Fraseri, glauca, do. longifolia, conspicua, Soulangiana, and all the hybrid species (purpurea, gracilis, and macrophylla) after they attain age.

Of these, cordata, acuminata, and glauca would certainly be hardy with you; tripetala, conspicua, Soulangiana, and auriculata would probably stand the winter if not in too exposed a situation, and macrophylla and purpurea would probably prove tender.

ANNIE LAURIE. The berries found on a tree are evidently those of the nettle-tree, Celtis occidentalis. It may be popularly described as "an elm bearing cherries." Certainly it is worth transplanting. Sow the berries at once for young plants.

INQUIRER, Southborough, Mass. — It is as difficult to name a plant from the petal of a flower as from a leaf. We may be able to give a name in both cases; but the chances are against it. When writing for information, give us the benefit of all the knowledge you have, and we may assist you to a correct conclusion. The editors have no time to puzzle out your difficulties, but, if the case is fairly stated, do all they can to impart information.

Your letter and the enclosures are unworthy of one honestly seeking infor

mation.

BEACON STREET. - The flower sent as an amaryllis belongs properly to the sub-genus Hippeastrum. If a seedling, which we somewhat doubt, it is too near many of the old varieties to be of special value, and yet is a very good flower.

"CATERPILLARS."

Certainly destroy nests of the tent-caterpillar wherever you can find them. An effort was made for several years past to procure the enactment by our legislature of a statute for the destruction of insects injurious to vegetation. Our most prominent agriculturists appeared before the legislative committee to urge the bill; but, probably, as there was no axe to grind" in the matter, and no chance for lobby interest, the petitioners had leave to withdraw.

ORNAMENTAL BUSH.

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Your "bush" is Acer negundo fol. var., and is the best variegated tree we have. It does not, however, continue as beautiful all summer, as the sun injures the foliage.

W. S. H., Roxbury. - Magnolia Soulangiana is a hybrid between M. conspicua and M. purpurea. It blooms later than the former, and is more hardy than the latter. There are also other hybrids and many seedlings from these two varieties. They differ chiefly in the shade of purple and the markings of the flower. M. speciosa is the best, M. Norbetiana the darkest colored; M. Lenne is a new French variety with large, pinkish-purple flowers, which with us has survived the winter uninjured. All these should be budded on M. acuminata as a stock: they thus become hardier, of taller habit, and more vigorous in growth.

A NOVICE. - Names of Plants. No. 1, Fothergilla alnifolia; No. 2, leaf of a Corydalis. We cannot tell species by a leaf; but yours is probably C. nobilis. Is the flower yellow tipped with black? No. 3, Trillium sessile, a Western species.

CREEPER ? Hudson, N.Y.— Clematis montana is annually killed to the ground with us, though we believe Mr. Parkman (our best authority on the clematis) considers it hardy. The best clematis is Azurea grandiflora, and for a lighter color, Sophia. Passiflora cærulea is not hardy with us.

A PUZZLER, Worcester. — The plant which you have seen "with little trumpet-like yellow flowers and bracts of rich mauve color,” is doubtless Bougainvillea glabra, not a new plant, but one whose true culture has only recently been discovered. In our vicinity, Mrs. Ward of Canton has flowered it magnificently in her greenhouse, and often exhibited it at the rooms of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

There are other species, B. lateritia, with brick-red bracts, and B. speciosa, with rich mauve, and the best of this lot.

out.

They may be flowered perfectly well in a large pot, and need not be planted

SUNDAY WALK, Gambier, O.

The pink flower is Claytonia Virginica, or Spring Beauty. The blue were all tumbled to pieces; but the remains are Hepatica triloba, or Squirrel Cups.

ENGLISHMAN, New Bedford.

Medlars are not worth planting for the fruit ;

but are a pretty, low-growing tree, and are very showy when in flower.

QUERIST, Jamaica Plain.- William C. Strong, Brighton, can probably supply plants of Exochorda (Spirea) grandiflora. It is one of the most beautiful hardy shrubs.

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