the earth with a plank. When the bud has formed, between the seminal leaves, I pluck up the weak plants, leaving a stand about a foot apart. My cultivation is then to hill up once, so as to support the stem erect, and keep clean. From a bed of this size, I have fed my family of about twenty-five, and have gathered, myself, a bushel at a time for hogs, that were not yellow. I think the fruit sets earlier, and that the earth, being well shaded, they last longer. How it will do in your climate I know not, but my teacher- the lady alluded to says, in Virginia, it is decidedly the best plan. In consequence of my success in this, pursuing it since 1838, I have put my melons six feet by about four, my former distance being eight feet square.

"My peach orchard numbers over one" thousand, instead of "one hundred ;" these, with six hundred apples and three hundred and fifty pears, will not admit of wrapping with paper and then tarring. I must have something more readily applied. I will rely on whitewash with cowdung, for even milk and soot would be too costly where one feeds his cows entirely from his house, as I do, through choice, instead of being uncertain, the cows not coming up.

I use, in my nursery, narrow strips of the pasteboard from sperm candle boxes, hung on lower limbs. This frightens off the rabbit.

I know the pear will succeed in this latitude, and do not think Boston, or the northernmost limit in which they will grow, can excel us. The only difficulty is winter pears. My object is, not to prove this fact, but to prove which are the best varieties. I am greatly pleased that you approve this step of mine, for I really feel that I wlll do immense service to my country, and of course secondarily aid all nurserymen. I am a cotton planter, rely only on that business for a living, and ought to be considered a disinterested witness. But the fruits will be here, side by side, to show for themselves.

I am influenced by a desire to induce men and women and children, to love home, be industrious and temperate. If they could enjoy fruits and flowers in abundance at home, they would, it seems to me, become attached to the trees and plants; they would be at home all the time, and would inadvertently work among them; ennui, the ruin of this country, could

never be; and, having fine fruits to hand to visiters and to eat without stint, dram-drinking would become a thing of yesterday. This is my first desire, and in truth my exertions have been to this end, from the beginning. If there was less desire to accumulate wealth, and more taste for the beautiful, I have no doubt but what morals, education and religion, too, would be advanced. I have acted under this belief, and I hope to taste the fruits thereof ere I am borne hence. My motives have been impugned; but I expected it, and only for a moment have I faltered,—and who can bear to have his nearest friends call one a theoretical book-farmer, a humbug, and all that sort of croaking slang? That I have been often wrong, is to be expected, but I have tried to be right.

Have you ever budded the apple on the pear? A gentleman of great zeal in aboriculture, and of unquestioned truth, assures me he has had the apple to fruit, two years from the bud, when put on the pear.

We have much to learn yet, and I fancy amateurs must do much of the teaching, because regular nurserymen and gardeners have their hands full, without trying experiments. I have myself no fondness for extra natural things, and have never tried any, in that way. I have worked pear on apple, but upon the strong recommendation of a friend; I do work apricot on the peach, but I cannot get a better stock; and if worked, so as to cover the wound in the earth, I really see, by practice, no kind of objection. I will continue until I can get a thrifty stock. I am planting a number of apricot seed; if I succeed well with them, I will adopt this as a stock. I do not think there will be much more, if any, time required. I can produce apricots from the bud, at least eight to ten feet, and why should a seedling not do this?

You must only notice my rambling remarks, for I have but little time to write for a magazine of merit.

Log Hall, Edwards, Miss., Dec. 14, 1846.

The communication of our correspondent contains many good hints and suggestions, which the practica man, as well as the amateur, will find worthy of attention.

The growth which trees make in the south western States. is certainly remarkable; but is such a rapid growth desira

ble? Does it not tend to produce blight? And can the wood be so well matured as when the growth is slower? These are subjects worthy of consideration by the orchardist.

Such trees as our correspondent states he has had since 1832, without coming into fruit, we should deem fit subjects for root-pruning; this, we are sure, will speedily induce them to bear. It at once checks the growth, and causes the formation of fruit spurs. We have tried this ourselves, and seen it fully and successfully tried by others. It may be done the coming spring.

We have root grafted the pear, apple and plum, but never the peach, as we could not see that any thing could be gained by the operation, for the seedlings are always of sufficient size to bud the first year, and there is far more leisure in the months of August and September to do this, than to graft in the spring. We do not doubt but that the operation of root grafting may be as well done on the peach as with the plum; and of the latter we have had fine trees; as to the graft making a much handsomer tree, we think this must be an error. No better trees can be produced than those we have raised from buds, being clothed with branches to the ground, — far more numerous than should be allowed to remain when the trees are removed where they are to stand. Where peach stones are difficult to procure, root grafting may be very desirable, as roots from old trees can be had for the purpose.

Root grafting the rose is very extensively practised with us, and of the very rare kinds we raise hundreds in this manner. So successful is the operation, that, from scions cut from trees imported from France in October, we have had plants a foot high in May, and ready for planting out into the border, and, of perpetuals, in full bloom in nine months.

The apricot will do very well upon the peach, and where the peach borer is not troublesome, it will answer every purpose. But in this region the borer commits such ravages that the plum stock is far the best; besides, the plum checks the rapid growth of the tree, and consequently the wood is better ripened and able to resist severe winters. We work our apricots upon the muscle plum, which is a free grower. The Chickasaw and Canada plum are both unfit, though we know many nurserymen who use them altogether. We have sev

eral trees, procured of various nurserymen, in our collection, on the Canada plum, and, in a late gale, a large tree was broken off at the junction of the graft, from the overgrowth of the scion. We would recommend the muscle plum to our correspondent, as the very best stock for the apricot.

We have never budded the apple on the pear. Though the apple will undoubtedly grow, it is doubtful whether such a union will be of any utility. Perhaps, to test a new variety as soon as possible, it may be advantageous; but we need experiments to show whether trees will continue to produce fine fruit after they once begin to bear. We shall be happy to learn the results of any experiments of this kind, which our correspondent or his friends may be induced to try.-Ed.

ART. II. Results of the Cultivation of the Pear and other Fruit in the Southern States. By R. CHISHOLM, Esq., Corresponding Secretary of the Beaufort Agricultural Society.

I PROMISED you, last summer twelve months, to communicate my experience in fruit, but the past summer has been so very unfavorable that I have had very little fruit, nearly all having rotted on the trees. Of peaches, nectarines, and plums, I did not get one single good fruit, though my trees were loaded, except from a tree of the Bolmar Washington plum, which bore about fifteen or eighteen, which all came to perfection, the largest being fully six and a half inches in circumference. My apples were generally wormy and rotted before ripening. My pears did rather better, though they too rotted very badly. The Epargne bore well, and, from one or two fruit picked at the right time, I should call it a good, juicy, and sweet fruit; but I allowed most of the fruit to remain on the tree until overripe, when they were mcaly and flavorless. The Epine d'Eté, or summer thorn, bore well also, and the fruit was larger than the year before, and probably better, but I thought it only fully second quality. The Grey Butter, St. Germain, Winter Bon Chrétien, Crassane, and Verte Longue Panaché bore well, and their fruits were about equal, though very different,

and I consider them of the first quality. The Echasserie, I should also pronounce first quality, though it bore only a few imperfect fruit. The true Virgouleuse bore a quantity of fruit, but they all were cracked, knotty and utterly uneatable, which is, I believe, the great objection to it, as the fruit is fine when in perfection. The White Butter was knotty as usual with me, and consequently just eatable. The best pear I ate during the season was one of the size and shape of the summer Thorn, but without any color on the cheek, and ripening about one month later, the name of which I do not know, though I am under the impression, from no good reason, that I received it as the Doyenné de la Motte, but I hope to be able to test this point the next summer, as I hope that the tree I have under that name will bear fruit if I can get rid of the bark lice that infest it. Even my orange trees, which bore about 10,000 or 12,000 a year ago, have this season borne only about 200 oranges. My oranges, by the by, were pronounced the last year, by all who tasted them, as the best they had ever tasted, except by one gentleman, who thought that those he had eaten from the tree in Cuba were superior.

The cultivation of fruit, especially of peaches and pears, is extending rapidly hereabouts. Of the apples, plums, and cherries, we are doubtful of success, though some of us are trying them.—I mean to graft and bud my apples mainly upon our native crab, which I find on the plantation, and the others upon native or acclimated stocks. I think that when we are fairly under way, the north will get its best peaches and late pears from the south, and the south its best apples, plums, and early pears from the north, at least so says my theory on the subject; Q. E. D. as you will probably say-I am sowing the seed of pears to try.

My small olive trees were loaded with fruit this year for the first time; but, just before the fruit was ripe, it was all blown down by the gale of the 10th and 11th of October. I have several hundred trees just coming into bearing.

If you raise figs in your houses, why do you not try the Celestial, one of the smallest, but a good bearer, and the best fig known here and to the south, and also the Alicante, a very large, very productive, ever-bearing, and fine blue fig? These are our two best figs. Wishing you many