The White Doyenne, in Pennsylvania, became utterly worthless long before we heard of its injury nearer the sea, in New York City and neighborhood. Some fruit of our own was as hard as a ripe walnut, cracked, shrivelled, and unworthy the patronage even of a pig; "renovating the outcast" produced no more good than confining an old rogue in the penitentiary. Not discouraged, we planted young, vigorous standards, and the result, with the best cultivation, was the same as Mr. Eaton has described. Has the salt air anything to do with this? Will salt at the root, in suitable quantities, do anything for this as it has for some other fruits. We advise a trial, and know no better experimenter than our correspondent. There is no proof that fungi exist in solutions of sulphur; seeds will vegetate in crude sulphur, but this is insoluble in water; in an impalpable powder, it is a deadly poison to tbose parasitic moulds which grow on the vine, the hop, the peach, and the rose, etc. Pereira says that a few grains of sulphate of soda, put into a bottle with a fermentable juice, are equally efficacious,' the acid decomposing the salt, which evolves sulphurous acid. Bisulpbate of soda destroys the curious vegetable production which attacks the stomach.

Caustic soda is efficacious in the case of fungi, which attack cereals; the combination of carbonate of lime with sulphate of soda, by which caustic soda is set free on the combination of the sulphuric acid with the time, should be experimented with. Here is a field which might be profitably investigated till we obtain control over this scourge. - Ed.

Plain, Practicable Directions For Draining, Subsoiling, And Preparing An Acre Of Ground

Plain, Practicable Directions For Draining, Subsoiling, And Preparing An Acre Of Ground Suitable For A Garden Or A Fruit-Tree Orchard.

By William Eesd, Elizabethtown, N. J.

It may be considered presumptuous in me to say anything about draining, when we have so many treatises by scientific men, who hare given us a history of all the newest improvements and various methods in practice at the present day,' To enter into a discussion on the various systems is not the object that I have in view, but simply to give directions for performing the work effectually , We will suppose the ground to be drained, nearly level, or with a fall of two .to three feet to the 100, more or less; the first thing to be done is to secure an outlet, or main trunk drain, to carry the water out of the parallel drains, which ought to be, if possible, not less than three feet, although two feet to thirty inches, if no greater depth can be got, will answer when the ground is ascending, as the depth will be gained after digging the parallel drains a short distance. It is sometimes necessary, to get an outlet to the trunk drains, to dig some distance to get a fall to carry the water off, but, without this, the whole labor would be lost, An open ditch will answer for this purpose, or a tile drain, where there' is much water to carry off; the tile ought not to be less than four inches diameter; the ∩, or tube tile O; either will answer, but, for a soft, sandy bottom, the lube tile is preferable, on account of settling.

After the trunk drain has been made, then measure off the parallel drains to lead into the trunk drain, twenty-five to thirty feet distant from each drain. These ought not to be less than thirty-three inches, but three feet will be better where there is only surface water to be carried off; three feet deep at this width will answer the purpose perfectly well, but, on hilly ground, where there are springs flowing out on the surface, it will be necessary, sometimes, to sink them deeper, to tap the vein of sand that the water flows from, and carry it off below the surface.

The usual way, and the quickest, is to stretch a line in the direction that the drain is to be dug, and mark it with the spade, as a guide to dig by, on both sides; twenty inches or two feet wide, on the top, will answer for drains of this depth, and let them draw in gradually, so that, when finished, they are wide enough to let a spade or narrow shovel run in the bottom; narrow spades are sometimes used for the last spit, made expressly, for this purpose, with a small scraper to take up the bottom. A narrow No. 1 spade, with a long handle, I think is equally as good, and leaves a smoother bottom for the tile. Where grounds are limited, draining is always done with spades; the two first spits being good, soil is put on one side which will take out twenty inches to two feet; if the shoveling has. been taken clean out after each spit, then the bottom, the poorest of the soil is laid on the opposite side, to be first filled in on the tiles, leaving the best soil for the top. The cost of digging will depend on the kind of soil; if the bottom spit is hard, so that the pick has to be used, it will make a material difference in the expense; fifty feet a day for a man,-including laying tile and filling in the earth, will be as much as he will be able to do, if the bottom proves hard; but, where the digging is easy, and the ground soft, he will accomplish seventy-five to one hundred feet, when the depth does not exceed thirty-three inches to three feet; it requires about 1,400 feet to drain an acre thoroughly, and the same number two-inch drawn tile; the ∩, or tube tile, may be need, should the bottom be soft; tube tile is the best.

The ∩ tiles, where the bottom is hard, require nothing under them, but, in spongy, soft-spots, to keep them from sinking, a piece of board is sometimes used; the usual price of two-inch tile is ten dollars per 1,000; the larger size, three to four inches, twelve to fifteen dollars; each tile lays a foot good measure; when the ground is fiat, and nearly level, the person digging must be careful to carry the bottom the proper depth, which can easily be done by those that are accustomed to the work by the eye; it ought never to be dug so that the water will stand, but have a gentle fall, enough to carry it all off; the tiles, also, require to be laid as close as the joints will permit, to prevent the earth from falling through, which would impede the run of the water on the tile; care must also be used when connecting the parallel drains with the trunk or main drain; which can be done by breaking out a small piece of the tile with a hammer or pick, covering it up carefully with pieces of broken tiles, so that oa obstruction may be made to the water running freely out of the parallel drains. Some people put a few shavings or straw over the tiles before fining in the earth; if they are to be had conveniently, they will do no harm, but it is not very essential.