In view of the drought which prevails in many parts of the country and its unusual severity over extensive districts, the _Rural New Yorker_ suggests to those who have planted trees or shrubs the past spring that there is one method, and so far as we know, says the writer, only one, by which they may be protected against injury or death from that cause. Surface watering has been shown to do more harm than good. The ground is made hard and compact, thus becoming a better conductor of heat while it becomes less pervious to air and moisture. A portion of the surface soil should be removed, and then pailful after pailful of water thrown in until the ground, to a depth of two feet and to a width about the stem of not less than three feet in diameter, has become saturated. Then, as soon as the water has disappeared from the surface, the removed soil should be well pulverized and returned. A covering of boards, straw, or hay, or even of sand or gravel, may then be applied, and the tree or shrub, thus treated, will pass through ten days of additional drought in safety. As soon as rain comes to wet the earth thoroughly, we think it is better to remove the mulch. Nothing is then gained by permitting it to remain. Mellowing the surface soil about the trees, thus keeping it free from grass and weeds, is then the most that is needed. We would repeat that the present is the season when the female borer deposits her eggs on the stems of fruit trees, and the wash of lime, potash, sulphur, etc. (darkened with lampblack), should now be applied and reapplied during June and July, as soon as washed off by rain. * * * * * THE FORCE OF TREE GROWTH. [Illustration: THE FORCE OF TREE GROWTH.] The disruptive power of tree roots, growing in the crevices of rocks, is well known. Masses of stone weighing many tons are often dislodged in this way from the faces of cliffs, and no one gives them more than a passing glance. When, however, the sanctity of the tomb is invaded, despite the graven warning of the occupant, the case is very different, and superstitious people are apt to think there must be something in it more than accident and the unconscious expression of the resistless force of growing vegetation. The engraving herewith is copied from a photograph sent to us by a European correspondent, of a grave in the Garten churchyard, in Hanover, Germany, the invasion of which by a birch tree has been the occasion of much wonderment by country people, who come from great distances to examine it.