Editor of the Horticulturist: - In each number of your instructive journal I observe you are much troubled by novices for information as to the culture of fruits, and seem to take it all patiently; so much so that I am encouraged to be "E pluribus unum".

Having, in the last two years, planted out a few hundred each of apple, pear, and peach, in mode "according to the books/' which was to me as the Greek grammar is to the urchin, I find myself, as him, compelled occasionally to "go up" to the school-master to " ask a question".

Ain't it stupid to sidle up and say, "Mr. Ichabod! what's the definition of 'heading back,' ' cutting back,' ' shortening in,' 'training low,' and - and - a - and 'pruning?' "

Now to the last query, may-be, I might venture to say, it means cutting off sprouts, defective limbs and branches, and cutting out some when there are too many. Go up head, sir! or stay foot! which is it? As to the others, I give it up - if I never get playtime.

Heading back, cutting back, shortening in, training low. Jingo! what stumpers, when lumped; one at a time, never hearing of the other terms, a green might understand. Do, Mr. Horticulturist, in the name of all, say precisely, succinctly, distinctly, and seriatim, what is the plain English of each of these, to me, vexed terms.

One person - vide 88th page of February number of Horticulturist - says,"Prune so as to leave no lower limbs, no branches." What! leave no lower branches, and yet leave any? Indade, indade, sir, ould Ireland is among you.

Seriously, Mr. Editor, please give me your rendering of all these terms, and when and how you do each. Because, as some of my trees are three years old, some only one, and wanting the knife, (being as yet innocent thereof,) I must hurry about it, I suppose.

Figs grow very well in this latitude as standards, with a light covering of straw in winter; can you recommend a variety 7 and say how long before they will bear after planting. We have a fine climate and soil for fruits, and yet have precious little, though the subject is more in our minds than heretofore. The sentiment - and a false one it is - prevails with us. that it is a small business; and besides, though beloved of many of you North men, the darkie conscientiously reasons that anything like fruit is as much bis ss his master's, just as he does his mistress's eggs, if the hens are foolish-enough to lay outside of the hen-house. A truce to my effusions, and believe me, Mr. Editor, Respectfully yours, Kelson Co., Va. J. J. M.

[We owe J. J. M. an apology for not having promptly answered his quaeries; but bis letter, with several others, disappeared from our "Table," and we have only just now recovered it. The terms he alludes to are generally used with great looseness. We will try to explain them briefly. "Heading in " and "heading back" are synonymous terms; so, also, "cutting back " and "shortening in " generally mean one and the same thing, though not always. Properly, " heading in" is a generic term, relating to the whole tree or plant; as, to "head in" a tree is to cut off a portion of all the branches; "heading in " is most usually done when trees are , transplanted. "Shortening" is a specific term, relating to one or more branches; as, to "shorten "a branch or limb is to cut off more or less of it: this is done in spring and fall. The term "Spinning" will cover all these operations. In pruning we have several objects in view, some of which you have mentioned, and may "go up head;" but primarily we "prune " to give shape or form to a tree or plant, or to induce and promote fruitfulness: and to accomplish these two general purposes, we often prune at different seasons of the year.

For the first, pruning may be done in the fall or early in spring; for the latter, we prefer, generally, the month of June; but where trees have been well cared for, "pinching"' alone is sufficient. "Pinching " or "pinching in "is another term in common use not alluded to by J. J. M. This operation consists in taking off the end of a shoot with the thumb nail and forefinger, and is always performed during the growing season, while the branches are young and tender. Its object is to .check the growth of the branch, and promote the formation of fruit buds. To make all these operations perfectly plain would require a number of engravings, which we may by-and-by get up. To "prune so as to leave no lower branches " is an operation analogous to cutting off a dog's tail close behind the ears. We now hope we have succeeded in giving our correspondent a general idea of the proper meaning of the terms above mentioned, and he may therefore "go out to play;" we wish we could have a good time with him. In regard to Figs, we would recommend the Brown Turkey and Black Ischia; you ought to get some fruit the second year.

It is a false sentiment to consider fruit-growing a "small business" anywhere where fruit will grow, and we are getting "bravely over it" here. - Ed].

Mr. Editor: - In your .February number I find the American Persimmon called the "American Medlar." I have always regarded the medlar as a species of malus, and( like other trees of that genus, as hermaphrodite. How any one can regard the persimmon as even distinctly related to any of the apple family is difficult to conceive. The persimmon is certainly dioecious, and the.arrangement of the seeds is different from any fruit I have seen, except the date. Will not you .or some of your correspondents give us information respecting the botanical character and relations of both of the above-named fruits? Having received from a nurseryman of your State several peaches, named in the bill and on the label," Excelsior," I was surprised, when they put forth leaves, to find a part of them exhibit globose glands, and apart of them serrate leaves. Having written to him on the subject, he informs me that they are identically the same kind of peach, "one being a seedling of the other." Now I wish to be informed, through your able periodical, whether such a case was ever known as that serrated peach-trees were exactly like others with glands.