(A. C. Ivy.) 3y a little management you may have your ivy to cling perfectly. Whenever a branch grows without attaching itself to the wall, cut off the loose part close to a leaf, beneath which the attachment is perfect. Continue this process till the wall is covered, and ever afterwards cut away all hanging branches, or by the force of the wind they will detach others besides themselves. When the ends of growing ivy once lose their bold, they are never still sufficiently long to be able to reattach themselves; but) by cutting away to the point of contact, they are enabled to proceed in the new growth, and thus to hold fast. Cut off the hanging branches as soon as seen; for, by swinging about in the wind, the injury is constantly increasing.

(P. W.) Mignonette, in its native country, Barbary, is a shrub, and not an annual as with us. It should be sown in a light sandy soil, as when it is grown in a stiff soil it loses its fragranoe. When it is wished to obtain the tree mignonette, a vigorous plant of the common kind should be chosen from the seedlings sown in April, and put into a pot by itself; all the summer the blossom-buds should be taken off as fast as they appear; and, in the autumn, the lower side-shoots should be taken off, so as to form the plant into a miniature tree. It should afterwards be transplanted into a larger pot, with fresh soil formed of turf broken into small pieces, and sand. The plant should be kept in a greenhouse or warm room all the winter, and regularly watered every day, and in the spring the stem will begin to appear woody. The second summer the same treatment should be observed, and the following spring it will have bark on its trunk, and be completely a shrub. It may now be suffered to flower, and Its blossoms, which will be delightfully fragrant, will continue to be produced every summer for many years.

(T. A.) Many gardeners are very particular in- planting a tree with the same side exposed to the sun as it had in its former position. Some of them say, if this is not attended to, the plant loses a portion of its strength in trying to get its branches into the same position with regard to the sun as it was before. Whether this is so or not, as no injury can result from thus planting, we can see no reason why it should not be practised. A slight mark on the north side before removal would be all the trouble.

(A. A. Hull, Mount Pleasant, 0.) 1. The sweet and sour apple - sweet in one part and sour in another - was noticed so long ago as in Cox on Fruit-Trees; also in Thomas's Fruit Culturist, and in Elliott's American Fruit Growers' Guide. But the notion that it is produced by the junction of sections of a bud, as you suggest, from a sweet and sour variety, is entirely a fiction. The "sweet and sour" apple is a monstrosity raised from seed, and is propagated by grafting or budding in the usual way.

2. Different kinds of raspberries, when planted in close proximity, will fertilize each other. No evidence, however, of this cross fertilisation will be manifested by the size, form, color, or flavor of the berries thus produced. But when the seeds of such berries are planted, then the resulting plants may be expected to show the effects of the hybridization.

3. American arborvitns, to produce a "windbrake," may be planted two and a half feet apart. To raise them from seed, practise the same method as recommended for the hemlock in the last volume, page 617. Where you can procure the small plants at one cent each (say from Maine), this will be a more rapid mode.

"What is a really good plant?" (A. M.) We should say that there are four points or properties to constitute a really good plant: first, fine evergreen foliage; second, handsome sweet-scented flowers; third, abundance of bloom produced in succession for a long season; and fourth, easy of culture and propagation. And, for an example, we would instance the Stephanotis floribunda as possessing all these.

Question. I have a large dog-rose, on which a skilful gardener has budded many kinds of fine roses the past July. The buds have all taken. Should it be strawed up, covered with cedar boughs, or left to the hands of nature? S.

If the buds are of very scarce and valuable kinds, which it would be a great loss to lose, wrap some cotton around each bud, as occasionally they will get killed in winter. As a rule, buds of this kind are left to themselves, and generally survive to give a good account of themselves the next season.

"Parsley." Nothing agrees better with parsley in old worn out garden soils, than half burnt weeds and rubbish intermixed with the deeper subsoil.

(A Subscriber, Newark, N. J.) That enormous pear shall be figured as soon as possible, If, indeed, it will not overrun one of our pages!

Dr. Ward will accept our thanks for a large basket of winter pears in fine condition. The "Vicar" we found delicious.

(W. A. G., New Orleans.) The barrel of oranges and pecan nuts came to hand in the best condition, and were as fully appreciated as you could desire.