I am quite ready to confess that I am no pomologist; neither do I wish to write for the " sake of Buncombe," as it is called here in our State. Nor should I have pretended to write at all, but for the appearance of an article in the June No. of the Horticulturist, over the signature of Hugh McLean.

If I can not write anything that can be made useful to some portion of the human family, I prefer not to write at all, as spurious literature, or the circulation of such, I have as much contempt for as I have for the circulation of spurious coin. In the language of my friend, G. W. Johnson, (of Milton, N. C.,) though it may be less immoral, it is equally mischievous.

The only object of the writer seems to have been to dispute the utility of the mode of pruning Grapes as promulgated by me in the Horticulturist for March, 1860. He admits that a second crop was produced, and one that did not mildew, although he says the first crop did mildew. This admission will do away with the objection of the editor of the Horticulturist in the March No., as appended to my article, that more than one crop would not reach maturation. But says he, " the grapes were sour." 1 do not pretend to say that the second crop will be equal to the first; though I do say, if properly managed, they will be good grapes - no more acid, perhaps, but less sugar, which makes them not equal to the first crop.

It is well known to you that grapes grow upon the young shoots of the present year; and you also know that when the Isabella grape and many others are highly manured and pruning neglected, that mildew is almost certain after the vine has passed the third year of its age. The usual custom of training grapes horizontally, or permitting them to run on trees, as generally practiced in this country, precludes all idea of proper pruning. In such cases here the first crop mildews, and a second crop is not unfrequently produced very late in the season; such grapes are generally insipid, if ripened very late. From what Mr. McLean says of his, (ripened in November, of course,) they must have been identical with such grapes as I have above described, and about equal to a third crop produced in the manner I have described in a former number of your work.

Could a man that knows no more of botany, vegetable physiology, and the kindred sciences, than to graft a peach upon a persimmon with the expectation of succeeding, know much about grapes or any other fruit? Amygdalus and Persicus are words unknown to such men, and you, Mr. Editor, could not help smiling at the very idea, I know from your remarks below his article. Could such things occur in the history of the world, that one family of plants and trees would succeed equally well upon any other, our forests might all be converted into one grand orchard.

I saw with pleasure that Mr. John Egan had applied this method of pruning to grapes under glass for years with perfect success. May No. Horticulturist, page 247.

I regret to see that the peach crop is likely to fail in most parts of our country; we have here a fair crop. Apples are not so abundant. Pears are doing well. I notice among my own what I have not seen in two or three years - blight on both apple and pear-trees in this vicinity. My dwarf pears have seldom blighted much, except some particular varieties. I have had the misfortune to lose every Beurr6 d'Aremberg I have ever raised, about the fourth or fifth year of their growth, by blight. My Seckels do well and bear finely this year; Bartlett the same. The Washington pear deserves more attention than it has received, as Mr. Landreth has well remarked in his Gardener's Dictionary. It never has blighted with me, is a beautiful grower, succeeds well on quince, bears abundant crops, and the fruit is equal to the best, and has even more of the musky flavor than the Bartlett. The Marie Louise, White Doyenn6, Belle Lucrative, Duchesse de Berri, and Beurre Diel are all bearing well for me this year.

The Bloodgood, Dearborn's Seedling, and Duchess d'Angouleme are not so full; in fact, the latter never has sustained its high reputation in this latitude; we work it only on quince.

Although this article has now reached a greater length than I at first in-^tended, still I wish to communicate one other thing that may be, as you say! of the grapes, "more curious than useful." I saw an article which was written by some very able gentleman a few years ago, in which the declaration was made that the Chinese had far outstripped the balance of the world in many of the useful arts, and among other things that were mentioned was their success in dwarfing the apple and pear, as well as other fruits. It was asserted by the writer that he had seen perfect trees, with fruit on them, not more than two feet high. Now I can show a perfect apple-tree, bearing a full crop, (growing side by side with dwarf pears, which are at six years old from ten to twelve feet high,) that is not more than two feet high on land as rich as I can make it. This is accomplished by grafting the apple into the small shrub which we call here "choke-berry." It is a miniature apple, the botanical name of which I do not know, but a specimen of which I send you for information. If you can not tell from this, I will send you the blooms next spring. It is, however, of the apple family, and I have no doubt but that the pear will succeed upon it.

It does much bet-ter when the ground is moist, or too wet for apples, than when it is dry. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen is a yellow Siberian Crab Apple worked into one of these, not more than 2 1/2 feet high, just as full of fruit as it can be.

[Mr. Bizzell may continue to write such articles as the above, with the full consciousness that he is writing " something useful to the human family," and we hope the spirit will move him to do so often. We admitted, in our April number, that we had failed to understand Mr. B.'s method fully, but were of opinion that only the first bunches would ripen at the North, and that the advantages of the new system of pruning would, therefore, be confined to the South; we suggested, however, that it might have its advantages for grapes grown under glass, and this view was confirmed decidedly by Mr. Egan in our May number. Mr. B. seems to have overlooked the correction we made. Next came Mr. McLean's testimony, which impelled us to call for more light in regard to its application to the vineyard. Mr. B. responds, and we have additional light. We shall apply the new system to a number of vines, and others here will do the same, so that we shall know how far it can be made available at the North. Its advantages, however, will be more manifest in the genial clime of the South. Mr. B.'s account of his dwarf apple is exceedingly interesting, and very opportune. The little slip sent we take to be Pyrus or Aronia arbubifolia.

We suggest it, and Mr. B.'s remarks, to the consideration of all lovers of fruit-trees in pots. - Ed].