variety on the Paradise or Doucin stocks, which are simply small-growing varieties of Apples. Dwarfs are much used in the Old World. There is no reason why they should not be used for home gardens in this country. They may be planted 8 to 10 ft. apart, and trained in various ways. The body or trunk should not be more than 1 or 2 ft. long. The top should be headed-in each year a third or a half of the annual growth. Dwarfs bear sooner than standards. A dwarf in full bearing should produce from a peck to a bushel of apples. Usually only the finer or dessert variety of Apples should be grown on dwarf trees.

Many of the local varieties of Apples are excellent for home use. From the following list of dessert varieties, one can select a good assortment for the home garden:

Summer.—Early Joe, Primate, Garden Royal, Summer Pearmain, Early Harvest, Summer Rose, Sweet Bough, Summer Queen, Early Strawberry, Williams Favorite.

Fall.—Chenango, Dyer, Jefferis, Jersey Sweet, Maiden Blush, Gravenstein, Fall Pippin, Mother (late fall to winter), Twenty Ounce.

Winter.—Newtown Pippin, Golden Russet, Bellflower, Belmont, King (late fall S. of N. Y.), Grimes Golden, Melon, Hubbardston (Nonesuch), Northern Spy, Jonathan, Fameuse or Snow, Lady, Rambo, Canada Red, York Imperial, Pomme Gris, Esopus Spitzenburg, Swaar, Peck Pleasant, Rhode Island Greening, Tallman Sweet, Sutton Beauty, Wagener, Seek-no-further.

Apricot. This fruit, usually thought to be too tender for the winters in the latitude of New York, has proved as hardy as the peach. Given the right conditions as to soil and exposure, it will yield abundant crops, ripening its fruits about three weeks in advance of early peaches. It would seem that more attention should be given to its cultivation. In western New York commercial orchards are now producing crops of as fine fruit as that brought from California. The introduction of the Russian varieties, a few years ago, added to the list several desirable kinds that have proved hardier and a little later in blooming than the old kinds. The fruits of the Russian varieties, while not as large as the other varieties, fully equal many of them in flavor, and they are very productive. The soil for Apricots should be rather dry; especially should the subsoil be such that no water may stand around the roots. The exposure should be to the north or west to retard the blooming period, as the one great drawback to their successful fruiting is the early blooming and subsequent freezing of the flowers or small fruits.

The two serious difficulties in the growing of Apricots are the ravages of the curculio (see Plum) and the danger to the flowers from the spring frosts. It is usually almost impossible to secure fruits from one or two isolated Apricot trees, because the curculios will take them all. It is possible, also, that some of the varieties need cross-pollination. The Apricot usually thrives best on strong soil; but otherwise the treatment which is given the peach suits the Apricot very well. The Russian varieties bear more profusely and with less care than the old-fashioned and larger kinds. Amongst the best kinds of Apricots are Montgamet, Jackson, Royal, St. Ambroise, Early Golden, Harris, Roman and Moorepark. In the east, Apricots are commonly worked on plums, but they also thrive on the peach.

Aquarium. A pleasant adjunct to a living room or conservatory is a large glass globe or glass box containing water, in which plants and animals are living and growing. A solid glass tank or globe is better than a box with glass sides, because it does not leak, but the box must be used if one wants a large Aquarium. For most persons it is better to buy the Aquarium box than to attempt to make it. Four things are important in making and keeping an Aquarium (according to Miss Rogers, in Cornell Nature-Study Leaflet No. 11):

“(1) The equilibrium between plant and animal life must be secured and maintained. Animals do not thrive in water where no plants are growing. Nature keeps plants and animals in the same pond, and we must follow her lead. The plants have three valuable functions in the Aquarium. First, they supply food for the herbivorous creatures. Second, they give off a quantity of oxygen which is necessary to the life of the animals. Third, they take up from the water the poisonous carbonic acid gas which passes from the bodies of the animals. Just how the plants do this is another story. (2) The Aquarium must be ventilated. Every little fish, snail and insect wants air. A certain quantity of air is mixed with the water, and the creatures must breathe that or come to the surface for their supply. How does Mother Nature manage the ventilation of her aquaria, the ponds and streams? The plants furnish part of the air, as we have seen. The open pond, whose surface is ruffled by every passing breeze, is constantly being provided with fresh air. A tadpole or a fish can no more live in a long-necked bottle than a boy can live in a chimney. (3) The temperature should be kept between 40° and 50° Fahr. Both nature and experience teach us this. A shady corner is a better place for the Aquarium than a sunny window on a warm day. (4) It is well to choose such animals for the Aquarium as are adapted to life in still water. Unless one has an arrangement of water pipes to supply a constant flow of water through the Aquarium, it is best not to try to keep creatures that we find in swift streams. Practical experience shows that there are certain dangers to guard against. Perhaps the most serious results come from overstocking. It is better to have too few plants or animals than too many of either. A great deal of light, especially bright sunlight, is not good for the Aquarium. A pond that is not shaded soon becomes green with a thick growth of slime, or algæ. This does not look well in an Aquarium, and is apt to take up so much of the plant-food that the other plants are starved out. The plants in the school-room window will shade the Aquarium nicely, just as the trees and shrubs on its banks shade the pond. If we find this slime forming on the light side of our miniature pond we put it in a darker place, shade it heavily so that the light comes in from the top only, and put in a few more snails. These will make quick work of the green slime, for they are fond of it, if we are not.”

The aquatic plants of the neighborhood may be kept in the Aquarium,—such things as myriophyllums, charas, eel-grass, duckmeats or lemnas, cabomba or fish grass, arrowleafs or sagittaria, and the like; also the parrot’s feather, to be bought of florists (a species of myriophyllum). Of animals, there are fishes (particularly minnows), water insects, tadpoles, clams, snails. If the proper balance is maintained between plant and animal life, it will not be necessary to change the water so frequently.

Aquatics and Bog Plants. Many water plants are easily grown, and make a fine addition to the home garden. The sedges and other bog plants, the cyperus or umbrella plant, the common wild water lily, and in large grounds the nelumbium or Egyptian lotus, all may be grown with ease. For restricted grounds any of these, with the exception of the nelumbium, may be grown in tubs made by sawing an oaken barrel in two, filling each half from one-third to one-half with soil composed of good loam, sand and leaf-mold, setting the plants well into the soil and filling the tubs with water. These tubs should be sunk to the rim in the borders or lawn, both for a good appearance and to prevent too great evaporation. By a little care in filling with water, these plants may be well grown through the hottest weather. Most of the