Heretofore, planting evergreens among orchards of fruit has been deemed incongruous, and undeserving the attention of planters, or as presenting a careless waste of land without system or order in arrangement. From some observations we have made this season, however, and from records of several of our correspondents, we predict that but a few years will find many orchards interspersed irregularly with evergreen trees. Closer planting than heretofore recommended we have no doubt will prevail, as our fruit-growers study the devastating effects of too great exposure of the young trees to wind and sun. In most sections this year, while fruit bloomed and set abundantly, gradually, little by little, it has dropped, until many a grower who in early summer counted on bushels can now count fruit only by the dozens. We have watched this falling of the fruit pretty carefully, and while we have no doubt that too great an amount of bloom impaired the vitality and was the first cause of failure, yet observation has taught us that trees partially shaded and screened by evergreens, or by close planting with other trees, have retained their fruit, as a rule, better than those more exposed to the full rays of the sun at all points, and the withering blasts of wind, no matter from what quarter.

Horticulturists at the West have for some time advocated hedge screens as a protection to their orchards, and we have no desire to undervalue them, but would increase and extend them, while at the same time we would, in planting an orchard of five hundred trees, make one fifth the number evergreens. Again : believing in closer planting, we a few years since set one dwarf pear orchard, four by eight feet, and an apple orchard of Standards, twelve feet apart. The pears are, it is true, growing one way pretty closely together, yet they are all healthy, and this season have retained their fruit better than others which are more widely separated.

Hammonton, July 5, 1867.

Messrs. Editors - I see in the July Horticulturist you would be pleased to hear from any subscriber who has tried bagasse, or the offal from the sorghum mill. In reply, I would say that, three years ago this past spring, I tried it, and paid very dear for the mulch. I lost over eighty pear-trees out of one hundred that I tried it on. I planted an orchard of pears and apples for a neighbor of mine, and as I did the planting I warranted the trees. He said to me, as I was planting, "There is plenty of bagasse - use it as a mulch around the trees." Consequently I lost most all the pears. They leafed out and looked fine at first, but early in July they blackened up, and the leaf looked as if scorched. As soon as I found it out, we removed the bagasse from the trees. With the exception of three or four, the apples all lived it through, but did not recover until the next year. The pears most all died right away. Some twelve lingered through, but to-day are not as good as trees set the following spring; and these were one year younger when set than the former, making two years difference in age. The man came to my nursery and selected his trees to fill up, stating he would take younger trees and try them. He did not think it was the bagasse, but some other cause.

But I planted pear-trees the day before, on the afternoon of the same day, and several days following, on similar land, trees dug from the same nursery rows, but without mulching, and did not lose more than the general average from transplanting. It could not possibly be anything else than bagasse that killed the trees. I have since seen it tried on Lawton blackberries, with the same consequences. If this is of any service to the Horticulturist readers, you are at liberty to use it. Yours, very truly,

John H. Holding.

[As our correspondent says, we asked for information relative to the use of bagasse as mulch for trees, and we thank him for this record. To our mind, however, it proves nothing against the use of bagasse, as no test was made of other material for mulching at the same time. Our own impression is, that no mulch should be applied around a newly planted tree until near the close of the growing season, say last of June or first of July, but the ground should be frequently stirred and kept loose, open to action of sun, air, and light, until the period of great heat and drought, and then as soon as the terminal buds commence forming, put on the mulch to aid in a larger and better action of the roots, and more even and better development of bud and wood.]