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THE

HOKTICULTUKIST,

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

DEVOTED TO

HORTICULTURE, LAIS^DSCAPE GARDENING, RURAL ARCHITECTURE, BOTANY,
POMOLOGY, ENTOMOLOGY, RURAL ECONOMY, &c.

Edited by A. J. DOWNING,

AUTHOR OF "landscape GAKDENIXG," "DESIGNS FOR COTTAGE RESIDENCES," "FRUITS AN!' FRUIT TREES
OF AMERICA," "COUNTRY HOUSES," ETC. ETC.

Vol. VII. — January to December, 1852.

ALBANY:
PUBLISHED BY LUTHER TUCKER.

BOSTON JOSEPH BRECK AND CO., NO. 51 NORTH- MARKET STREET.

NEW-TORK — NEWMAN AND IVISON, 199 BROADWAY.
PHILADELPHIA W. B. ZIEBER.

1852.

■ OZ']

^^5^

GIRL'S SCHOOL

ROOM

20:0X26:0

n ECITATION
ROOM

BOY'S SCHOOL
ROOM

20:0x25 0

Design for a District School-House.

Hon . J Mil

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

f'ljf Inmt ihmilm of tjit liiral lOistrirts.

\T5||HILE tlie great question of Agricultural Schools is continually urged upon our
■^ legislatures, and, as yet, continually put off with fair words, let us see if there is
not room for great improvement in another way — for the accomplishment of which the
farming community need ask no assistance.

Our thoughts are turned to the subject of home education. It is, perhaps, the
peculiar misfortune of the United States, that the idea of education is always affixed
to something away from home. The boarding-school, the academy, the college — it
is there alone we suppose it possible to educate the young man or the young woman.
Home is only a place to eat, drink, and sleep. The parents, for the inost part, gladly
shuffle off the whole duties and responsibilities of training the heart, and the social
nature of their children — believing that if the intellect is properly developed in the
schools, the whole man is educated. Hence the miserably one-sided and incomplete
character of so many even of our most able and talented men — their heads have been
educated, but their social nature almost utterly neglected. Awkward manners and a
rude address, are not the only evidences that many a clever lawyer, professional man, or
merchant, offers to us continually, that his education has been wholly picked up away
from home, or that home was never raised to a level calculated to give instruction. A
want of taste for all the more genial and kindly topics of conversation, and a want of
relish for refined and innocent social pleasures, mark such a man as an ill-balanced or
one-sided man in his inner growth and culture. Such a man is often successful at the
bar or in trade, but he is uneasy and out of his element in the social circle, because
he misunderstands it and despises it. His only idea of society is display, and he loses
more than three-fourths of the delights of life by never having been educated to use
his best social qualities — the qualities which teach a man how to love his neighbor as
self, and to throw the sunshine of a cultivated understanding and heart upon
trifling events and enjoyments of every day life.

Jan. 1, 1852.

EDUCATION IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS.

If this is true of what may be called the wealthier classes of the community, it is, we
are sorry to say, still more true of the agricultural class. The agricultural class is
continually complimented by the press and public debaters, — nay, it even compliments
itself, with being the " bone and sinew of the country" — the " substantial yeomanry"
— the followers of the most natural and " noblest occupation," &c. &c. But the truth
is, that in a country like this, knowledge is not only power ; it is also influence and
position ; and the farmers, as a class, are the least educated, and therefore the least
powerful, the least influential, the least respected class in the community.

This state of things is all wrong, and we deplore it — but the way to mend it is not
by feeding farmers with compliments, but with plain truths. As a natural consequence
of belonging to the least powerful and least influential class, the sons and daughters
of farmers — we mean the smartest sons and daughters — those who might raise up
and elevate the condition of the whole class, if they would recognize the dignity and
value of their calling, and put their talents into it — are no sooner able to look around
and choose for themselves, than they bid good bye to farming. It is too slow for the
boys, and not geiiteel enough for the girls.

All the education of the scTiools they go to, has nothing to do with making a far-
mer of a talented boy, or a farmer's wife of a bright and clever girl — but a great deal
to do with unmaking them, by pointing out the superior advantages of merchan-
dise, and the " honorable" professions. At home, it is the same thing. The far-
mer's son and daughter find less of the agreeable and attractive, and more of the
hard and sordid at their fire-side, than in the houses of any other class of equal means.
This helps to decide them to leave " dull care" to dull spirits, and choose some field
of life which has more attractions, as well as more risks, than their own.

We have stated all this frankly, because we believe it to be a false and bad state of
things which cannot last. The farming class of America is not a rich class — but
neither is it a poor one — while it is an independent class. It may and should wield the
largest influence in the state, and it might and should enjoy the most happiness — the
happiness belonging to intelligent minds, peaceful homes, a natural and independent po-
sition, and high social and moral virtues. We have said much, already, of the special
schools which the farmer should have to teach him agriculture as a practical art,
so that he might make it compare in profit, and in the daily application of know-
ledge which it demands, with any other pursuit. But we have said little or nothing
of the farmer's home edvcation and social influences — though these perhaps lie at the
very root of the whole matter.

We are not ignorant of the powerful influence of woman, in any question touching
the improvement of our social and home education. In fact it is she who holds all
the power in this sphere ; it is she, who really but silently, directs, controls, leads and
governs the whole social machine — whether among farmers or others, in this country.
To the women of the rural districts — the more intelligent and sensible of the farmer's
wives and daughters, we appeal then, for a better understanding and a more correct ap
preciation of their true position. If they will but study to raise the character of the
farmer's social life, the whole matter is accomplished. But this must be done truthfully

EDUCATION IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS.

and earnestly, and with a profound fiiitli in the true nohility and dignity of the farmer's
calling. It must not be done by taking for social growth the finery and gloss of mere
city customs and observance''. It is an iuiproveuient that can never come from the
atmosphere of boarding schools and colleges as they are now constituted, for board-
ing schools and colleges pity the farmer's, ignorance, and despise him for it. It must,
on the contrary, come from an intelligent conviction of the honesty and dignity of
rural life ; a conviction that as agriculture embraces the sphere of God's most natu-
ral and beautiful operations, it is the best calculated, when rightly understood, to ele-
vate and engage man's faculties ; that, as it feeds and sustains the nation, it is the
basis of all material wealth ; and as it supports all other professions and callings, it is
intrinsically the parent and superior of them all. Let the American farmer's wife
never cease to teach her sons, that though other callings may be more lucrative, yet
there is none so true and so safe as that of the farmer, — let her teach her daughters
that, fascinating and bi-illiant as many other positions appear outwardly, there is none
with so much intrinsic satisfaction as the life of a really intelligent proprietor of the
soil, and above all, let her show by the spirit of intelligence, order, neatness, taste,
and that beauty of proprietij, which is the highest beauty in her home, that she really
knows, understands, and enjoys, her position as a wife and mother of a farmer's fami-
ly— let us have but a few earnest apostles of this kind, and the condition and prosper-
ity of the agricultural class, intellectually and socially, will brighten, as the day bright-
ens after the first few bars of golden light tinge the eastern horizon.

We are glad to see and record such signs of daybreak — in the shape of a recog-
nition of the low social state which we deplore, and a cry for reform — which now and
then make themselves heard, here and there, in the country. Major Patrick —
a gentleman whom we have not the pleasure of knowing, though we most cordially
shake hands with him mentally, has delivered an address before the Jefferson coun-
ty Agricultural Society, in the state of New- York, in which he has touched with no
ordinary skill, upon this very topic. The two pictures which follow are as faithful as
those of a Dutch master, and we hang them up here, conspicuously, in our columns,
as being more worthy of study by our farmer's families, than any pictures that the Art
Union will distribute this year, among all those that will be scattered from Maine to
Missouri

"An industrious pair, some twenty or thirty years ago, commenced the world with strong
hands, stout hearts, robust health, and steady habits. By the blessing of Heaven their in-
dustry has been rewarded with plenty, and their labors have been crowned with success.
The dense forest has given place to stately orchards of fruits, and fertile fields, and waving
meadows, and verdant pastures, covered with evidences of worldly prosperity. The log
cabin is gone, and in its stead a ftiir white house, two stories, and a wing with kitchen in
the rear, flanked by barns, and cribs, and granaries, and dairy houses.

But take a nearer view. Ila! what means this mighty crop of unmown thistles border-
ing the road. For what market is that still mightier crop of pigweed, dock and nettles
destined, that fills up the space they call the "garden?" And look at those wide, un-
thickets of elm, and sumac, and briers, and choke-cherr}^, that mark the lines of
evcrv fence!

EDUCATION IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS.

Approach the house, built in the road to be convenient, and save land! Two stories and
a wing, and every blind shut close as a miser's fist, without a tree, or shrub, or flower to
break the air of barrenness and desolation around it. There it stands, white, glaring and
ghastly as a pyramid of bones in the desert. Mount the unfrequented door stone, grown
over with vile weeds, and knock till your knuckles are sore. It is a beautiful moonlight
October evening; and as you stand upon that stone, a ringing laugh comes from the rear,
and satisfies you that somebody lives there. Pass now around to the rear : but hold your
nose when you come within range of the piggery, and have a care that you don't get
swamped in the neighborhood of the sink spout. Enter the kitchen. Ha! here they are
all alive, and here they live all together. The kitchen is the kitchen, the dining-room, the
sitting-room, the room of all work. Here father sits with his hat on and in his shirt
sleeves. Around him are his boys and hired men, some with hats and some with coats,
and some with neither. The boys are busy shelling corn for samp; the hired men are
scraping whip stocks and whittling bow pins, throwing every now and then a sheep's eye
and a jest at the girls, who, with their mother, are doing-up the house-work. The young-
er fry are building cob-houses, parching corn, and burning their fingers. Not a book is
to be seen, though the winter school has commenced, and the master is going to board
there. Privacy is a word of unknown meaning in that family; and if a son or daughter
should borrow a book, it would be almost impossible to read it in that room; and on no
occasion is the front house opened, except when "company come to spend the afternoon,"
or when things are brushed and dusted, and " set to rights."

Yet these are as honest, as worthy and kind-hearted people as you will find anywhere,
and are studying out some way of getting their younger children into a better position
than they themselves occupy. They are in easy circumstances, owe nothing, and have
money loaned on bond and mortgage. After much consultation, a son is placed at school
that he may be fitted to go into a store, or possibly an office, to study a profession; and
a daughter is sent away to learn books, and manners, and gentility. On this son or
daughter, or both, the hard earnings of years are lavished; and they are reared up in the
belief that whatever smacks of the country, is vulgar — that the farmer is necessarily ill
bred, and his calling ignoble.

Now, will any one say that this picture is overdrawn? I think not. But let us see if
there is not a ready way to change the whole expression and character of the picture, al-
most without cost or trouble. I would point out an easier, happier, and more economical
way of educating those children, far more thoroughly, while at the same time the minds
of the parents are expanded, and they are prepared to enjoy, in the society of their edu-
cated children, the fruits of their own early industry.

And first: let the front part of that house be thrown open, and the most convenient,
agreeable, and pleasant room in it, be selected as the family room. Let its doors be ever
open, and when the work of the kitchen is completed, let mothers and daughters be found
there, with their appropriate work. Let it be the room where the family altar is erected,
on which the father offers the morning and the evening sacrifice. Let it be consecrated to
Neatness, and Purity, and Truth. Let no hat ever be seen in that room on the head of
its owner, [unless he be a Quaker friend;] let no coatless individual be permitted to enter
it. If father's head is bald, (and some there are in that predicament,) his daughter will
be proud to see his temples covered by the neat and graceful silken cap that her own hands
have fashioned for him. If the coat he wears by day is too heavy for the evening, calicoes
are cheap, and so is cotton wadding. A few shillings placed in that daughter's hand
sures him the most comfortable wrapper in the world; and if his boots are bard, and

nails cut mother's carpet, a bushel of Avheat once in three years, will keep him in slippers of
the easiest kind. Let the table which has always stood under the looking glass, against the
wall, be wheeled into the room, and plenty of useful (not ornamental) books and peri-
odicals be laid upon it. When evening comes, bring on the lights — and plenty of them —
for sons and daughters — all who can — will be most willing students. They will read, they
will learn, they will discuss the subjects o<" their studies with each other; and parents will
often be quite as much instructed as their children. The well conducted agricultural jour-
nals of our day throw a flood of light upon the science and practice of agriculture; while
such a work as Downing's Landscape Gardening, [or the Horticulturist,'] laid one year
upon that centre table, will show its effects to every passer-by, for with books and studies
like these, a purer taste is born, and grows most vigorously.

Pass along that road after five years working of this system in the family, and what a
change! The thistles by the roadside enriched the manure heap for a year or two, and
then they died. The.se beautiful maples and those graceful elms, that beautify the grounds
around that renovated home, were grubbed from the wide hedge-rows of five years ago;
and so were those prolific rows of blackberries and raspberries, and bush cranberries that
show so richly in that neat garden, yielding abundance of small fruit in their season.
The unsightly out-houses are screened from observation by dense masses of foliage; and
the many climbing plants that now hang in graceful festoons from tree, and porch, and
column, once clambered along that same hedge row. From the meadow, from the wood,
and from the gurgling stream, many a native wild flower has been transplanted to a genial
soil, beneath the homestead's sheltering wing, and j'ields a daily offering to the household
gods, by the hands of those fair priestesses who have now become their ministers. By
the planting of a few trees, and shrubs, and flowers, and climbing plants, around that once
bare and uninviting house, it has become a tasteful residence, and its money value is more
than doubled. A cultivated taste displays itself in a thousand forms, and at every touch
of its hand gives beauty and value to property. A judicious taste, so far from plunging
its possessor into expense, makes money for him. The land on which that hedge row grew
five j^ears ago, for instance, has produced enough since to doubly pay the expense of grub-
bing it, and of transferring its fruit briers to the garden, where they have not only sup-
plied the family with berries in tlieir season, but have j'ielded many a surplus quart, to
purchase that long row of red and yellow Antwerps, and English gooseberries; to say
nothing of the scions bought with their monej', to/orm new heads for the trees in the old
orchard.

These sons and daughters sigh no more for city life, but love with intense affection every
foot of ground they tread upon, every tree, and every vine, and every shrub their hands
have planted, or their taste has trained. But stronger still do their affections cling to that
family room, where their minds first began to be developed, and to that center-table around
which they still gather with the shades of evening, to drink in knowledge, and wisdom,
and understanding.

The stout farmer, who once looked upon his acres onl}' as a laboratory for transmitting
labor into gold, now takes a widely different view of his possessions. His eyes are opened
to the biautifiil in nature, and he looks with reverence upon every giant remnant of the
forest, that by good luck escaped his murderous axe in former days. No leafy monarch is
now laid low without a stern necessity demands it; but many a vigorous tree is planted
in the hope that the children of his cliildren may gather beneath the spreading branches,
alk with pious gratitude of him who planted them. No longer feeling the need of
his phj^sical powers to the utmost, his eye takes the place of his hand, when the

THE TRUE SOLDAT LABOURER.

latter grows weary, and mind directs the operations of labor. See him stand and look
with delighted admiration at his sons, his educated sons, as they take hold of every kind
of work, and roll it off with easy motion, but with the power of mind in every stroke.

But it is the proud mother who takes the solid comfort, and wonders that it is so easy
after all, when one knows how, to live at ease, enjoy the society of happy daughters and
contented sons, to whom the city folks make most respectful bows, and treat with special
deference as truly wdl-hred ladies and gentlemen.

Now, this is no more a fancy picture than the other. It is a process that I have watched
in many families, and in different states. The results are everywhere alike, because they
are natural. The same causes will always produce the same effects, varying circumstan-
ces only modifying the intensity."

A NOTE ON THE TRUE SOLDAT LABOUREUR PEAR.

BY F. L. OLMSTED, SOUTHSIDE, STATEN ISLAND, N. Y.

Mt Dear Sir: Two and three years since, I planted one thousand pear trees, embrac-
ing most of the varieties that are much esteemed on quince stock. Most of them fruited
last year, but a few varieties not
till this. Among the latter is one
which I have never seen described
in any American publication, and
which has given me more satisfac-
tion than any other.

I received a dozen trees from
Messrs. Parsons & Co., which
they had received from France
with the label Soldat Laboureur,
but believed to be identical with the
Beurre d' j^remburgh ; the fruit,
however, proves to be quite diffe-
rent from that well known sort, as
well as from Glout Morceau, or
anything else that I know. The
trees have made a strong, healthy,
upright, and naturally regular and
pyramidal growth, out-stripping
everything else that I have, except
possibly, Beurre d'^malis; the
shoots of this season, on all parts
of the tree, being in every case, on
an average, three feet in length.
The fruit answers to the following

description, which I have to-day True SoUlat Lafioureur

received from your French correspondent, M. Desportes, as that of the true Soldat La-
boureur, which is by no means, he says, to be confounded with the Orpheline d'Eu
(^Beurre d'jlremburgh as known here,) though it long has been.

COLOR OF BUILDINGS IN RURAL SCENERY.

True Soldat Laboureur. — Color, yellow, but covered with grey and russet spots and
dots, a little greener about the stem. Texture — skin fine; flesh coarse, white, melting;
water abundant; sweet, vinous and perfumed; ripens end of October. It is a very good,
first (class) pear. The fruit is generally larger than the above outline. The branches are
upright, and it is a vigorous grower.

I have only to express my great regret that the specimens I had intended to send you
have been accidentally injured, so much so that they would be of no service in enabling
you to judge of its value. I allowed one of my trees to bear a dozen fine fruit, with which
burthen its growth was quite as strong as any of the others, so I have no doubt it will
prove an early and productive bearer.

The Bartlett is doing remarkably well on quince stocks with me — very productive, and
the fruit of fine flavor. Soil, deep clayey loam. Yours respectfully,

Fred. Law Olmsted.

South Side, Staten Island, Nov. 24, 1851.

We should be glad to be informed if any other of our fruit-growing readers have proved
this fine variety. Ed.

THE COLOR OF BUILDINGS IN RURAL SCENERY.

BY JAS. FENNIMORE COOPER.

[All our readers know our doctrine regarding the fancy of our countrj^men for white
paint. We are glad to find the subject so well touched upon in the right spirit, by the
late Mr. Cooper, in the following extract from an article bj^him on our Scenery contrast-
ed with that of Europe, in Putnam's Home Book of the Picturesque. Ed.]

It has been a question among the admirers of natural scenery, whether the presence or
absence of detached farm-houses, of trees, of hedges, walls and fences, most contribute to
the effect of any inland view. As these are the great points of distinction between the
continent of Europe and our own country, we shall pause a moment to examine the sub-
ject a little more in detail. When the towns and villages are sufficiently numerous to
catch the attention of the eye, and there are occasional fragments of forest in sight, one
does not so much miss the absence of that appearance of comfort and animated beauty
that the other style of embellishment so eminently possesses. A great deal, however, de-
pends, as respects these particulars, on the nature of the architecture, and the color of the
buildings and fences. It is only in very particular places, and under verj' dull lights, that
the contrast between white and green is agreeable. j1 fence that looks as if it were cover-
ed with clothes hung up to dry, does very little towards aiding the picturesque. And he
who endeavors to improve his taste in these particulars, will not fiiil to discern in time
that a range of country which gives up its objects, chiselled and distinct, but sober and
sometimes sombre, will eventually take stronger hold of his fancy, than one that is glit-
tering with the fruits of the paint and white-wash brushes. We are never dissatisfied
with the natural tints of stone, for the mind readily submits to the ordering of nature;
and, though one color may be preferred to another, each and all are acceptable in their
pro2)er places. Thus, a marble structure is expected to be white, and as such, if the
buildings be of suitable dimensions and proportions, escapes our criticism on account of its
richness and uses. The same maybe said of other hues, when not artificial; but we
that, most admirers of nature, as thej'come to cultivate their tastes, settle down into

COLOR OF BUILDINGS IN RURAL SCENERY.

ference for the gray and subdued, over all the bright tints that art can produce. In this
particular, then, we give the preference to the effects of European scenery, over that of
this country, where wood is so much used for the purposes of building, and where the
fashion has long been to color it with white. A better taste, however, or what we es-
teem as such, is beginning to prevail, and houses in towns and villages, are now, not un-
frequently, even painted in subdued colors. We regard the effect as an improvement,
though to our taste, no hue, in its artificial objects, so embellishes a landscape as the so-
lemn color of the more sober and less meretricious looking stones. We believe that a
structure of white, with green blinds, is almost peculiar to this country. In the most pro-
pitious situations, and under the happiest circumstances, the colors are unquestionably un-
suited to architecture, which, like statuary, should have but one tint. If, however, it be
deemed essential to the flaunting tastes of the mistress of some mansion, to cause the hues
of the edifice in which she resides to be as gay as her toilette, we earnestly protest against
the bright green that is occasionally introduced for such purposes. There is a graver tint
of the same color, that entirely changes the expression of a dwelling. Place two of these
houses in close proximity, and scarcely an intellectual being would pass them, without
saying that the owner of the one was much superior to the owner of the other, in all that
marks the civilized man. Put a third structure in the immediate vicinity of these two,
that should have but one color on its surface, including its binds, and we think that nine
persons in ten, except the very vulgar and uninstructed, would at once jump to the con-
clusion that the owner of this habitation was in tastes and refinement superior to both his
neighbors. A great improvement, however, in rural, as well as town architecture, is now
in the course of introduction throughout all the northern states. More attention is paid
to the picturesque, than was formerl}^ the case, and the effects are becoming as numerous
as thej' are pleasing. We should particularise New-Haven, as one of those towns that
has been thus embellished of late years, and there are other places, of nearl}' equal size,
that might be mentioned as having the same claims to an improved taste. But to return
to the great distinctive features between an ordinary American landscape, and a similar
scene in Europe. Of the artificial accessories it is scarcely necessary to say any more.
One does not expect to meet with a ruined castle or abbey, or even fortress, in America; nor,
on the other hand, does the traveller look for the forests of America, or that abundance
of wood which gives to nearly ever}"- farm a sufficiency for all the common wants of life,
ou the plains and heights of the old Avorld. Wood there certainly is, and possibly enough
to meet the ordinary wants of the different countries, but it is generally in the hands of
the governments or the great proprietors, and takes the aspect of forests of greater or less
size, that are well cared for, cleared and trimmed like the grounds of a park. Germany
has, we think, in some respects, a strong resemblance to the views of America. It is not
so much wanting in detached copses and smaller plantations of trees, as the countries far-
ther south and east of it, while it has less of the naked aspect, in general, that is so re-
markable in France. Detached buildings occur more frequently in Germany than in
France especially, and we might add, also, in Spain. The reader will remember that it is
a prevalent usage throushout Europe, with the exception of the British Islands, Holland,
and here and there a province in other countries, for the rural population to dwell in vil-
lages. This practice gives to the German landscape, in particular, a species of resemblance
to what is ordinarily termed park scenery, though it is necessarily wanting in much of that
expression which characterises the embellishments that properly belong to the latter
With us, this resemblance is often even stronger, in consequence of the careless graces of
nature, and the great affluence of detached woods; the distinguishing feature existing in

in the farm-house, fences, ami out-buildings. Of a cloudy da}^, a distant view in America
often bears this likeness to a park, in a very marked degree, for then the graces of the
scene are visible to the eye, while the defects of the details are too remote to be detected.

THE CALIFORNIA GRAPE.

BY T. A. S., SYRACUSE, N. Y.

Dear Sir:— I notice in the Horticulturist for the current month, a communication from
R. G. Paruee, Esq., on the California Grape, in which it is stated on the authoiity of

Capt. H , of the U. S. army, and lady, "as far as their observation extended, and

certainly in the vicinity of San Diego, there is no such thing as a native or wild growing
grape to be found." Possibly in the vicinity of San Diego there may not be; but to my
certain knowledge — native or wild growing grapes abound on the forks of the American
river, the fruit of which I have seen and eaten. I have also been informed by Mr. Eg-
bert JUDSOX, of this city, who has spent a year or more in the mining districts, and
others, that the wild grape is abundant On the Upper Sacramento and its tributaries —
Feather river and its branches, the Yuba, Bear creek, &c.

The native grape resembles somewhat our native, the Fox, having berries, however, a
little larger, of a shade darker color, and being less astringent, or foxy, and to us vegeta-
ble starved diggers, they were quite palatable.

But in correcting the error of Capt. H -, as to the native grape, T am able to confirm

his statement as to the high excellence and superiority of the cultivated variety — except
perhaps, as to the size of cluster and berry, which in both respects, in the specimens I
saw, were rather below than above the Catawba. This was owing, perhaps, to difference
of locality and culture, (mine having been grown at San Jose,) while doubtless, too, his
were the better, while mine were the more indifferent specimen.s — which had undergone
a land carriage of eighty or one hundred miles, but which were retailed readily to the mi-
ners at a dollar a pound.

I think "the California Grape" would be an acquisition with u.s — or rather, perhaps,
farther south ; but doubt whether it would maintain its high excellence in our compara-
tively wet and variable climate this side of the Rocky jNIountains. I agree fully with those
who regard the soil and climate of California highly fiivorable to the culture of the grape;
and attribute much of the superiority of this grape to these circumstances. Yours.

T. A. S.

Syracuse, Nov. 20, 1851.

P. S. While visiting California, in the spring of 1849, T took a box of the seed of the
Black Hamburgh and Early AVhite Muscat, which were planted by the side of my log
cabin, and around stumps in the vicinit)'. Possibly California will become celebrated at
some future day, for the superiority of a neio natiac grape.

Remarks. — As corroborative of the information in the former number, regarding the
grapes at San Jose, we quote the following extract from a private letter lately received by
us from an intelligent lady in San Francisco: "The neighborhood of San Jose, sixty
miles south of this, must have a better climate than ours, for they are already, (Septem-
ber,) sending us their grapes in most picturesque clusters a foot long. These grapes are
arranged differently upon the bunches from any I ever saw, being placed, large and small,
so as to form a long, tapering, regular cluster. I ought to add that there is in their taste

a dash of wild flavor, like thnt of our Frost Grapes. But I am told they are sweet aud
rich, when fully ripe."

It is clearly worth some pains to get these California grapes into our gardens. Ed.

NOTES ON NEW OR SCARCE PLANTS,

IlABROTnAMNUS C0IITMB03US. — The Corymb-floivered Habrothamnus. This plant is
an erect, much-branched shrub, with somewhat herbaceous stems, and alternate, large,
ovate-lanceolate leaves, attached to the stems by a shoot-stalk. Towards the ends of the
main branches smaller ones are produced, each of
which is terminated by a corymb of flowers.
The flowers are funnel-shaped, gradually widen-
ing upwards, then contracting, having a pitcher-
shaped appearance; the limb is divided into five
long narrow segments, which become reflexed.
These flowers which are produced in profusion,
are of a deep rose color, and very ornamental.

This species is a native of Mexico; and has ''^^^il^HiOiiy /* '^ \Mi^>*

flowered in the Koyal Botanic Garden of Kew, /^^^m^^fzzl. VaL) irC^Ly'

to which it was sent by Mr. Low, of the Clapton
nursery. It is a plant of very rapid growth, re-
quiring only the protection of the green-house in
the winter season, and in summer thriving fieely
in the open air. Plants of this nature require to
be well attended when young, to cause them to
produce a sufficient number of shoots to form a

handsome plant; and they ought not to be plant- ^'Ae Corymb-Jlowered Habrothamnus.

ed in a soil and situation too much conducive to vigorous growth; for rapid growing plants
of this half-fleshy character are found to thrive better when the development of them is
not too freely induced by stimulants of this kind. A large plant of this kind would doubt-
less make a good display in the flower garden, as a single plant; and when so required, it
must be planted out as early in the season as possible, to be safe from frost.

It belongs to the natural order of Solanacese; and in the Linnasan arrangement to Pen-
tandria monogynia. — Hort. Mag.

Anemone Japonica. — The Japanise Wind-Flowcr. This is a very vigorous growing
herbaceous perennial, of great beauty. It has the kind of compound, ternate lobed leaves,
possessed by many of the Anemones, but in this case they are large, and coarse, and un-
equally serrated on the margin. It grows two feet high, or more, and has purplish-red
flowers, scarcely inferior to those of the Chrj-^santhemum, or the Poppy Anemone of the
East : they are, indeed, not unlike a small semi-double Dahlia bloom, and are fully as
large as a small Dahlia. Its degree of hardiness is not yet ascertained, but it is expected
to bear the severity of our winters, — and if so, will prove a most valuable addition to har-
dy border flowers. It flowers in September and October; and was introduced by the Hor-
ticultural Society, who received it from their collector, Mr. Fortune, in 1844. Mr. For
tune met with it at Shanghae, the Japanese port of China.

According to Dr. Siebold, it inhabits damp woods on the edges of rivulets, on a moun

r-

The Japanese Wind Flotoer.

NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS

tain called Kissunc, near the city of Miako, in Japan. It grows also at considerable ele-
vations on the mountains in the centre of Japan, whence
Siebold concludes that it will bear the rigior of a con-
tinental winter. It is much cultivated by the Japanese
for its beautiful flowers.

In the garden of the Horticultural Society, it has
hitherto been kept in a pot, in a cool green-house : this
was, however, on account of its scarcity, and for fear
of losing it; and such treatment is by no means expect-
ed to be required. It will grow freely in any rich,
light, loamy soil; and requires a considerable, rather
abundant supply of water.

In the natural arrangement it ranks under Ranuncu-
laceas; and in the Linngean, under Polyandria poly-
gynia. — Jour. Hort. Soc.

Abelia eupestris. — A small spreading bush, with
deciduous, bright green foliage. The branches are very
slender, covered with fine down, and deep reddish
brown, when fully exposed to the sun. The leaves are
opposite, ovate, distanth'' serrated, on very short stalks,
quite smooth except at the midrib on the underside,
where they are closely covered with short hairs. The
flowers are pure white, something like those from the
honeysuckle, and come in pairs from the axils of leaves belonging to the short lateral
branches. At the base of the ovary stand three very small bracts. The ovary itself is
slender and downy; surmounted by a calyx of five obovate ciliated sepals, which are
slightly stained rose color, and rather membraneous. The corolla when expanded is half
an inch long, funnel-shaped, downy, with a spreading border of five convex ovate blunt
equal lobes, beyond whose tube extend four smooth filaments.

The plant is distinguishable from Abelia chinensis of Brown, by its want of involucre,
smooth leaves, and not trichotomous flowers; and from the Abelia serrata of Zuccarini
and Siebold, by its five leaved calyx. It has hitherto been treated as a greenhouse plant,
but will probabi}' prove hardy enough to stand out of doors in mild winters. The soil
which appears most suitable is rough sandy loam, mixed with a little peat. Being of free
growth, an ample supply of water is necessary during the summer season. In winter
nothing different from the general treatment of greenhouse plants is required. It is pro-
pagated from cuttings of young wood, in the usual way. From its being sweet-scented,
and the length of time it remains in flower, this will be of considerable importance as a
greenhouse plant; and, should it prove hardy, it will doubtless be a good addition to the
shrubbery in consequence of its flowering in autumn. Received from Mr, Fortune, June
20th, 1844, as a fine dwarf shrub, found amongst recks on the Chamoo Hills, China. —
Jour. Hort. Society.

Indigofera decora. — A dark green handsome bush, with somewhat glaucous branches.
The leaves are pinnate in from two to five pairs and an odd one, quite smooth on the up-
per side, but slightly covered on the under side with very fine hairs, attached by their
middle; the leaflets are exactly ovate, with a short bristle at their end, between 1^ and 2
long, of a very dark green color; and to each pair there arc two short bristle

pules. The flowers grow from the axils of the leaves in horizontal racemes much

NOTES ON EVERGREEN TREES.

ter than the leaves themselves; they are of a light rose color and very handsome. The
cal3'x is a flat membranous five-toothed cup, with the two upper teeth very far apart. The
standard of the corolla is oblong, nearly flat, very slightly keeled behind, nearly white,
but pencilled with delicate crimson lines near the base; in length it is equal to the wings
and keel, and forms with them an angle of about 45° when expanded; the wings are nar-
rowly lanceolate and ciliated, of a pale bright rose color; the keel is rather paler, and
bordered with a woolly or very downy upper edge. It is a greenhouse plant which will
grow freely in almost any sort of soil, especially sandy peat. In summer an ample sup-
ply of water is required, and air at all times when the weather is favorable. To prevent
the leaves from being scorched by the sun, it will be necessary to use shading. In win-
ter, water should only be given when the soil becomes dry. It strikes freely from cut-
tings under ordinary treatment.

[This is one of the prettiest plants brought from China by Mr. Fortune. "We saw it
in the garden of the London Hort. Society, last year, blooming very freely, and thought
it one of the loveliest of the new hardy plants. It had stood the winter on a piece of dry
rock work, and there can scarcely be a doubt of its hadiness here. Ed.]

NOTES ON EVERGREEN TREES.

The Deodar Cedar is the most popular of all the new evergreens yet proved in this coun-
try. It deserves its popularity. It is at once the most hardy, the most beautiful, and
the most rapid growing of them all.

The largest trees of the Deodara that we have in any of our nurseries, are in Mr. Han-
cock's grounds, near Burlington, N. J. This cultivator has perhaps 400 trees from four to
five feet high. The soil in which they stand is a sandy loam. They were imported from
France two j^ears ago, and are now growing in the open nursery rows. The vigor and
beauty of these trees is surprising. Some of them have made shoots nearly three feet
long the present season. They all begin to assume that drooping, elegant habit, which
makes this the most graceful of evergreen trees. And, as they grow older, the silvery
tone of the foliage is also more conspicuous. Everybody is planting Deodars, and all the
nurserymen are busy, importing and propagating- them. Messrs. Parsons have, we un-
derstand, a stock for about four thousand young plants, one year established. Every
large nursery in the country now advertise it, and the Deodar or Sacred Cedar of India,
will in a few years we hope, be found in every ornamental plantation in the country.

We are glad to notice the Hemlock attracting more attention. It is the finest evergreen
tree indigenous to North America — for ornamental purposes. A great many persons,
who only know the Hemlock in the woods, afiect a contempt for it as an ornamental tree.
They think it " scraggy, ugly, and wild-looking." They only show their ignorance. Have
they ever seen a Hemlock planted in the midst of a piece of smooth lawn — the soil a deep
loam and the site favorable? No. Then they have yet to discover how full of symmetr}^,
how finely proportioned, how graceful, how rich and dark a green in winter, how pure
and soft a green in sjiring is the Hemlock. In fact it is as handsome as the Deodar— and
is very much like it. The latter droops more and is silvery in its foliage, instead of bronzy,
-but they are much alike otherwise, and are the best possible companions in the pleasure
grounds.

A third tree that is worthy of high praise is one that comes to us from the mountains

A NEW STRAWBERRY.

near ]Monterey — the evergreen C3press. (^Taxodiitm scmpervirens.) But it is only fit for
ornamental grounds south of Philadelphia. At Baltimore, Washington, and all south and
west of that, it will be a great acquisition. North of Philadelphia — except in very fa-
vored spots, it is injured by the winters. In the south of France, at Angers — the cli-
mate of which is about as mild as that of Norfolk, it succeeds admirably. From a paper
on this tree by our correspondent there, M. Desportes, we translate the following ac-
count of the habits of the tree.

The evergreen Cypie.ss is undoubtedly one of the most gigantic of coniferous trees, at-
taining the height of 300 feet. The wood of this Taxodium is invaluable for timber — and
is called by the settlers in that part of California where it grows — Red-wood — or bastard
Cedar. Even in the midst of these thick forests, it attains a height of 180 feet. The
trunk has a circumference of from 15 feet to 21 feet; it grows in the forests as straight as
an arrow, and is naked of branches to the height of 60 or 70 feet. One of these trees
has been measured, which was 51 feet in circumference at six feet above the ground! The
bark is very thick, the wood is of a beautiful red color, (like that used in making lead
pencils;) the grain is fine, the texture light, but breaks easily. It has the property even
if used unseasoned, of not warping and not being attacked by insects. All its qualities
render it extremely proper for both exterior and interior work. It is, consequently, an
important article of exportation, and a great quantity of the wood is annually sent to
Santa Cruz for that purpose.

Besides this account of its indigenous character, M. Desportes adds that is not only
perfectly hardy at Angers, but that it is much the most rapid growing hardy evergreen
(coniferous) tree yet known. A specimen planted in M. Leroy's nursery, in 1845, in
five years has attained a height of 21 feet. The diameter of the trunk near the ground
is 20 inches. Another tree is 25 feet high, in a lighter soil. The branches covered with
rich dark green foliage fall in rich festoons to the earth, and produce the most picturesque
efiect. Besides being one of the most ornamental of evergreens, the evergreen Cypress,
continues M. Desportes, is one of the easiest of reproduction. Although but lately in-
troduced into France, the nurseries are already well stocked with them. Some specimens
that have been planted in the park show that it is destined to be a tree in great demand.

This tree is so hardy at Angers that M. Desportes commends it seriously to those who
plant timber for profit. We can only urge our readers south of Philadelphia to lose no
time in planting it in their garden scenery.

A NEW STRAWBERRY FROM THE SOUTH.

BY R. G. PARDEE, PALMTRA, N. Y.

I received per steamer Georgia, last month, from New-Orleans, a box of strawberry
plants, of a new and remarkable variety.

My attention was first called to them about six months ago, by the editorial comments
of the New-Orleans papers, representing them as of very large size, luscious flavor, com-
bined with an extraordinary habit of profuse, constant bearing, during a period of six to
seven months in each year.

Supposing there might be some mistake about it, yet I considered it worthy of investi
and accordingly! sought a correspondence with the originator of the seedling
way, I am assured, is a gentleman of character, intelligence, and fortune.

PRIZES AT OUR HORTICULTURAL SHOWS.

During an extended correspondence of some months, he politely favored me with the
following facts.

After trj-ing various experiments with the strawberry, during a term of years, he at
last succeeded in obtaining some, four or five years ago, a cross between Myatt's British
Queen and Keen's Seedling, which proves to be all he desired, and he has named it the
" Crescent Seedling." He assures me that the plant keeps in constant bearing each year,
from Christmas to the 15th July, in the vicinity of New-Orleans, without exhausting the
plant; and he adds, " I neither cut off the blossoms, nor any part of them, to increase
their bearing — it is one continued crop from the "first jump.'' So remarkably prolific are
they with me, that for six months the same plant is in blossom, unripe and ripe fruit to-
gether— so that at the expiration of the fruiting season, the plants are completely worn
out, but not until thdy make three or four runners, each with which I plant anew each
succeeding year — all the old stools die out. They are now, (9th Nov.) coming into blos-
som, and will so continue until July or August. The fruit is very large, often measuring
five and. a half inches in circumference, conical, the color a dark red, and highly flavored'.
I cultivate them in hills 30 inches apart each way, and have half an acre under cultivation
at this time."

lie further adds — " I freely admit that I consider their extraordinary bearing qualities
purely accidental, and you will at once remark how different the leaf and its thickness is
to every plant of its species you have heretofore seen."

The last remark is strikingly true of the plant, which has the thinnest and most delicate
leaf imaginable, and yet the color and habit of the plant is very luxuriant. After one or
two failures, I have at last succeeded in getting on a dozen plants in fine growing order,
and I shall with much care and interest watch their development, if not with full confi-
dence.

If their fruiting season as far north as this, can be extended through the hot months of
June, July and August, it will certainly prove a great acquisition to the north.

R. G. Pardee.

Palmyra, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1851.

ON THE PKIZES AT OUR HORTICULTURAL SHOWS.

BY A WORKING GARDENER, PHILADELPHIA.

Dear Sir — I believe if gardeners would interest themselves more in diffusing a know-
ledge of the culture of plants in general, it would promote not only a hig:her state of cul-
ture, but induce many to put a hand to the plough, who, for fear of failing through incom-
petency, would glean a knowledge of what they really love, and shortly become true devo-
tees to Flora. The gardeners of England, whose ambition it is to excel each other in a
higher state of culture, are a class of men who accustom themselves to read, write, inves-
tigate and question, through their communicating channel, the Gardener's Chronicle,
drawn on by their great leader, Lindley. Hence they arrive at true principles, and prac-
tical information. Seeing in your pages the spirit of improvement, I am convinced of your
willingness to assist, and your ability to lead gardeners in this country, to a higher state
of things. Under that impression I have been induced to write the following remarks on
horticultural exhibitions, believing them to be the effectual means of working out a more
ited state in horticulture. As gardeners have no direct influence with the gentlemen

' those societies, it is only through such channels as your valuable Journal, that they can

PRIZES AT OUR HORTICULTURAL SHOWS.

get their suggestions brought before the respectful notice of those who have the power of
carrying into effect that which they consider essential.

The Pennsylvania Society, I believe, stands first in the annals of American Horticul-
ture. I was present at the annual meeting, and beheld two noble saloons filled with
fruits, vegetables, and plants. Plants! did I say, — yes plants, (but what had become of
their flowers I can't pretend to say.) Whoever has witnessed a Chiswick exhibition in
the great metropolis of England, or a Regent's Park show, will contrast the difference
between the two. He will contrast the difference between a plant five or six feet high, and
as much in the diameter of its branches, regularly trained from the rim of the pot, without
a stick, into a symmetrical bush, densely covered with flowers, and such as filled the sa-
loons of the show in Philadelphia.

The latter plants had unshapely heads set upon branchless stems three or four feet high,
denoting a system of being grovm by the yard ; contrast the difference between what we
call exhibition plants on the two sides of the Atlantic, and then let us ask if a step in ad-
vance is not required here? But there was a time when the metropolitan exhibitions of
England had their commencement. There was a time when the gardeners of England ex-
hibited plants resembling hop poles ; there was a time when i/ieir plants appeared to be
grown by the yard ; there was a time when their pots were full of sticks, instead of flow-
ers, and there was a time when all this was thought to be gardening in perfection. But
the glory and ignorance of that day have all passed, and are only remembered as a dream.
Now, the hop poles are reduced to symmetrical plants, the shower of sticks is annihilated
by a short, stiff, self-supporting truss, and the plant itself defies you to detect any irregu-
larity, or any want of inherent strength and beauty. And what has worked this great
change? Nothing but a liberal spirit of competition. Not competition for money, nor
medals, but for ability; and this is the kind of competition we want here; some
of our competitors may ask, is there no ability displayed in our fruit department?
I answer none; that which you exhibit by the peck and the bushel, certainly has not oc-
cupied much of your attention. It is art combined with nature, that shows man's abili-
ties. Nature produces the bunch of Haraburghs, but it is by man's assisting ingenuity
that the full amount of coloring matter is produced there. We certainly can produce fine
peaches, pears, apples, and good native grapes; and what tailor, I ask, in the United
States, can't do the same?

He v/ho makes Horticulture his profession, surely should excel the non-professional
man. But alas ! still the Hamburghs are red* huddled together like marrow-fat peas, and
polished as though they were intended for mirrors. Can't this be altered — can't the gar-
deners of America produce as high a colored bunch of grapes as those of England? Cer-
tainly if they like. Nature has laid a bounteous soil, a bright sun and a clear sky, and
these are superior advantages to those of England. Then try what can be done. I think
I hear the gardening voice of this mighty country crying, " A new beginning with the
new year," — let us see by our culture that the finger and thumb have superceded the
knife. Let us question the utility in allowing a branch to grow to be cut back by the
knife and thrown away; let us see plants grown in pots without long unsightly stems,
and grown into compact globular bushes by finger and thumb pruning. Show the nur-
serymen how to produce flowering plants, instead of bits tied up to sticks three times
larger than the so called plant itself. But, say the gardeners, the inducements are not
held out to us by our Societies — the arrangement of our Horticultural Society is too limi-

lough ihere is some truth in our correspondent's criticism of the Philadelphia shows — we are bound to
in Europe are fuier foreign grapes to be seen than at the Boston exhibitions. Ed.

PRIZES AT OUR HORTICULTURAL SHOWS.

ted in each class, and the Society allows the nurseryman to compete with the amateur and
gardener, therefore a gardener who grows fifty plants has no chance with a nurseryman,
who grows a thousand. Again, there is no distinction as to what are required — the " best
colhction," leaves you at liberty to furnish what kind of plants you like. I am growing
a few greenhouse plants and they may be good — my neighbor, who has a little more con-
venience than nie, when competing, may add an exotic or two, or an Orchidse, and if so
my plants are thrown in the shade and unnoticed, and then I go away determined not
to exhibit any more. Now were our society to establish a classified arrangement, and were
each class to have three or four prizes, stating the number of plants required to each
class thus: Pelargoniums, for the best 12 in 8 inch pots, 3 prizes; for the best 8 in 8 inch
pots, 3 prizes; for the best G in 6 inch pots, 3 prizes; for the best single specimen in 10
inch pot, 3 prizes ; and in like manner with fruit and vegetables, as well as plants, every man
would stand an equal chance, and we should have better plant growing, more plant selling —
more competition, altogether more satisfaction. The saloons would also be better filled
with flowering plants. If my memory serves me correctly, our society intend to offer a
premium, in 1852, for the best forty Dahlias. Now what chance will an amateur or gar-
dener have for that prize? It is not very probable that the best cultivator will get it, but he
who grows the greatest quantity — and I think to large growers, they would have found
24 sufficient, and there would be double the competition. We ought to have a chance at 12
and 6, with the best single specimen of any color, and to run out in classes as before
mentioned. This would increase the sale, the quantity to be exhibited, a love to culti-
vate and improve. In like manner does the whole schedule require a proper classifica-
tion, in order that each subscribing gardener may have a chance to display his ability.

I feel perfectly convinced that if gardeners had any means of bringing their ideas be-
fore the committee, those gentlemen would gladly accede to anything that would tend to
improvement, and I think there is great room. " Floral Designs" seem to be the principal
feature at the annual meeting; $2,0 and $40 are given for the first and second best de-
sign, a thing in my opinion not at all connected with Horticulture, but which any weaver
may devise. [We quite agree with our correspondent about the tastefulness of these
designs, and the folly of paying for them. Ed.] I was told that the Secretary actually
paid ^'30 for a design in the September meeting, that I think was a most excellent repre-
sentation of a toad stool, by the side of which perhaps stood a specimen plant that had taken
months to grow it, and all the vigilance and care it is possible for man to bestow on it, in
keeping in perfection for the specified time, and all for one dollar; or perhaps "a collec-
tion," for a little more. Is there no alteration required in this respect?

The above remarks are not written from any party feeling, but purely for the benefit of
all, believing such an arrangement would best suit the necessities of exhibitors.

Yours very respectfully,

A WoKKiNG Gardener.

Near Philadelphia, Dec. 2., 1851.

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

BY AN ENGLISH REVIEWER.

[We condense from a capital English review of M. Blaze's work on Dogs, the follow-
ing chapter — which we are certain will be read with great pleasure by all our readei's in
the country.]

The dog alone, of all the brute creation, shows a perfect attachment — alone understands
our wishes, adapts himself to our habits, waits upon our commands, associates with us as
a friend. The service of man, while a single link of the connexion remains, is a necessity
of his existence. The Siberian dogs, set free in summer to shift for themselves, though
overtasked, treated with brutality, and nearly starved, return to their masters at the ap-
proach of winter, to be harnessed to the sledge. The Pariah dog of India, when homeless
and unowned, will fasten on a stranger, and exhaust every art to induce him to adopt it.
Colonel Hamilton Smith tells of one that tixed his regards on a gentleman traveling rapid-
ly in a palanquin, and continued to follow him with wistful eyes, till he dropped with fa-
tigue. No one can question that this disposition of the dog is a peculiar gift of Providence
for the benefit of our race. Other animals surpass him in beauty and strength, yet in
every quarter of the globe, the dog alone is in alliance with man, because he is alone en-
dowed with that impulse that renders him accessible to our advances, and submissive to
our will. His domestication, in the opinion of Cuvier, is the most complete, the most use-
ful, the most singular conquest we have achieved, and perhaps, he adds, essential to the
establishment of society.

The vast power and courage of certain races of the dog are truly extraordinary. The
story told by Pliny of an Albanian dog of Alexander the Great, who conquered, one after
another, a lion and an elephant, is probably a fable, like the addition of ^lian, that his
tail, his legs, and his head, were severally amputated without loosening his hold, or pro-
ducing even an appearance of pain. As little do we credit the feats of a mastiflf in the
reign of Elizabeth, who was reported to have fought and beaten in succession, a bear, a
leopard and a lion. But there are better grounds for believing that one of this species
really engaged the king of beasts in the reign of Henry VII., who absurdly ordered him
to be hanged for his presumption : and it has been frequently proved that three or four
can carry oiF the victory. Colonel Hamilton Smith was witness of a scene between a
bull-dog and a bison, in which the former seized the latter by the nose, and kept his hold
till the infuriated animal crushed him to death. The terrier grapples with beasts of twen-
ty times his size, and, however cruelly mangled, dies without a groan. It is thus that the
dog, who provides the savage with food by his swiftness, protects him by his bravery.
Such prowess and endurance belong to few of our domestic breeds. But nature develops
the fiiculties which the occasion demands. The dogs that live amidst wilds and dangers
are all conspicuous for hardihood, daring, and insensibility to pain. Their cunning and sa-
gacity are in like manner proportioned to their needs. The dogs by the Nile drink while
running to escape the crocodiles. When those of New-Orleans wish to cross the Missis-
sippi, they bark at the river's edge to attract the alligators, who are no sooner drawn from
their scattered haunts, and concentrated on the spot, than the dogs set off at full speed and
plunge into the water higher up the stream. An Esquimaux dog, that was brought to
tliis countrj', was given to artifices which are rarely seen in the native Europeans, whose
tence does not depend on their own resources — strewing his food round him, and
sleep, in order to allure fowls and rats, which he never failed to add to his store.

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

But even with us, the dogs who hunt on their own account, display an ingenuity which is
seidom attained by those who hunt for a master. The wily lurcher, who, more than any
other dog, is addicted to poaching, when he puts up a rabbit, makes for her burrow, and
there awaits her arrival. M. Blaze had two dogs that hunted by stealth, of whom one
started the hare, and the other, concealed behind a fence, pounced on her as she passed
through her accustomed run. A story is told of a pointer and a greyhound who combin-
ed together — the greyhound availing himself of the scent of the pointer to find the game,
the pointer of the speed of his associate to catch it. The pointer becoming suspected was
furnished with a chain to impede his movements; and still continuing his roving life, it
was at length discovered that the greyhound, in order to enable him to hunt us usual, car-
ried the chain in his mouth, till he himself was called upon to take up the chase. The
skill of the common hound, though less striking, is still proportioned to the exigencies of
the service, and is something more than a mere instinct; for when a young dog is entirely
at fault, one experienced in the craft, will detect the doublings of the fox or the stag, the
devices to break the scent, or the attempts to divert it, by starting another animal. It is
practice which has taught him to unravel the intricacies of the chase, to distinguish be-
tween conflicting scents, to divine the rwse of a fugitive that is fertile in resources. In one
thing, however, old dogs and young, tame dogs and wild, are all alike, and that is in the
interest they take in sport. The symptoms of preparation never fail to produce in them
the most lively transports. The dog whose master is accidentallj^ prevented from taking
the field, will often seek out a neighboring sportsman, and enlist in his service for the day,
though it would be a vain effort to entice him for any other object, and equally vain to at-
tempt to retain him when the sport was at an end. Even in the company of his master,
true as he is to his allegiance, he will attach himself for the occasion to a total stranger,
who chances to be a better shot; and j-et, far from deriving any advantage from the re-
sult, he entertains a dislike for the bones of game, which he eats, when he eats them at
all, with the reluctant air that shows them to be distasteful.

As a carrier of merchandize, the most delicate task which a dog has to perform is in the
inland smuggling trade of the Continent. In this arduous service, which is constantly fa-
tal to him, he shows a wonderful sagacity. Loaded with goods he sets out in the night,
scents the custom-house officer, attacks him if he can take him at a disadvantage, and
conceals himself, if escape is difficult, behind a bush or tree. On his arrival at his desti-
nation he will not show himself till he has first ascertained that the coast is clear, and
while he remains gives warning of the approach of the common enemy. It is manifest
that a whole army of custom-house officers can do little towards exterminating smugglers,
of whom the supply is unlimited, who cross the frontiers in silence and darkness, whose
road is the pathless wood and plain, who snuff" danger in the wind, and who either evade
it by their swiftness, or find a lurking place in every hedge row.

We turn with pleasure from the illicit functions in which the monopoly of guilt and pro-
fit is to the man, and that of peril and suff'ering to his faithful animal. The shepherd's
dog in his own department, is a perfect miracle of intelligence. lie understands the sign,
the voice, the look of his master. He collects the scattered sheep at the slightest signal,
separates any one that is indicated from the rest of the flock, drives them wherever he is
told, and keeps them all the while under perfect control, less by his active exertions than
by the modulations of his voice, which expresses every tone, from gentle instruction to
angry menace. These are his ordinary performances, visible every day in a thousand pas
tures. But he can do greater wonders. It chanced one night that seven hundred lambs,
committed to the keeping of the Ettrick Shepherd, broke loose from his control and scam-

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

percd away in three divisions over hill and plain. ' Sirrah, my man,' said Hogg mourn-
fully to his cully, meaning it for an expression of grief, and not for a direction, they're
awa.' Silent!}-, and without his master's knowledge, for it was too dark to see, the dog
left his side, while the shepherd passed the hours till morning in a weary and fruitless
search after his wandering charge. At the dawn of day he was about to return to his em-
ployer with a heart full of despair, when he caught a sight of Sirrah guarding at the bot-
tom of a deep ravine, not, as he at first suppo.sed, one division of the lambs, but the whole
of the vast flock, Avithout a solitary exception. 'It was,' says James Hogg, ' the most
extraordinary circumstance that had ever occurred in my pastoral life. How he had got
all the divisions collected in the dark, is beyond my comprehension. The charge was left
entirely to himself, from midnight until the rising of the sun, and if all the shepherds in
the Forest had been there to have assisted him, they could not have effected it with greater
propriety.' On another occasion the same famous shepherd saw a dog, when it was utter-
ly dark, put upon the path of a ewe that had been lost by her owner near a neighbor's
farm, and which was supposed to have mingled with her fellows that were feeding in the
surrounding pastures. ' Chieftain,' said the master of the dog, pointing to the spot from
which the sheep had gone off, ' fetch that, I say, sir — bring that back; away!' And
away he went, and back he brought in half an hour the identical sheep A sheep-stealer
who was at last discovered and hanged, u.sed to carry on his trade by secretly signifying the
particular sheep that he wanted out of a large flock, as he viewed them under the pretence
of purchasing, to his dog, who returning by himself, a distance of several miles, at night
drove the selected sheep, which were undoubtedly the fattest, to his fastidious owner.
Both Scott and Hogg relate this picturesque story most circumstantially from the annals
of the Justiciary Court in Scotland. Sir Thomas Wilde knew an instance in which three
oxen out of some score had mingled with another herd. ' Go fetch them,' was all the in-
struction the drover gave his dog, and he instantly brought along with him those very
three. A cattle dealer, accustomed to drive his beasts for nine miles, to Alston in Cum-
berland, once for a wager, sent them alone with his dog. Theanimal perfectly understood
his commission. He kept the straight road, ran when he came to a strange drove, to the
head of his own, to stop their progress, put the beasts that blocked the path upon one
side, then was back again to the rear, to hie on his charge, and thus adroitly steering his
way and keeping his herd together, he carried them safelj'^ to the destined 3"ard, and sig-
nified their arrival by barking at the door of the dwelling. More than this, the dog will
on emergencies, volunteer services which occur to none but himself. One has been known
of his own accord, to overtake a runaway horse, sieze his bridle, and hold him fast till he
was secured. Lately, in France, a stable took fire that was full of cattle, and, as usual,
the animals, stricken with terror, refused to stir. It caught the eye of the farmer's dog,
who rushed in, and by barks and bites, forced out at two several charges, the greater part
of the beasts, and went back a third time for a few remaining sheep, when the flames had
made such progress that they were already dead.

It may be questioned after all, whether the sagacity of the dog in keeping sheep is equal
to his sagacity when he has taken to kill them, a vice that is incorrigible when once contract-
ed, admitting no other remedy than the death of the culprit. The dexterity by which he
endeavors, as if aware of the consequences, to escape detection, is not surpassed, and hard-
ly equalled, b}' human felons. Sir Thomas Wilde was cognisant of a case in which the
dog had learnt to slip off his collar and put it on again when he returned from his noctur-
deprcdations. In a similar instance, the animal took the additional precaution of
g his bloody jaws in a stream, unless indeed, the supposed act of cunning was sim-

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

ply the result of thirst. Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds, mentions a dog that for
three months committed havoc on every side, in defiance of the most strenuous exertions
to effect his destruction. His habit was to sit on a hill from whence he could command a
view of the surrounding roads, and have time to escape at the approach of danger. On
this watch-tower in which he placed his security, he was at last .shot.

The true house-dog is more amiable, and equally efficient. It has been absurdly affirm-
ed that his value is proportioned to his timidity, because he is thereby rendered doubly
clamorous, from his anxiety to obtain protection for himself. But such a dog is of as lit-
tle service in indicating danger, as an alarm-bell would be that was rung unceasingly.
He barks at every thing — the wind and the moon, as well as the thief, and either keeps
you in perpetual terror, or teaches you to neglect his warnings altogether. Neither is
there no alternative between silence and cowardice. Every one that has had to do with
dogs, must be well aware that many breeds which give a loud alarm, are models of
bravery. In general, however, the quiet dog, like the quiet soldier, is the most deter-
mined. The house-dog is capable of being brought by education, to any degree of per-
fection. From his kennel in the court-yard, he distinguishes the habitual inmate from the
occasional visitor, the visitor from the stranger, the stranger from the thief, as is easily
gathered from his monitory bark. His hearing is probably the principal sense by Avhich
he conducts this delicate analysis, recognising the step of those who frequent the house,
and with others discerning the firm and honest tread of innocence from the doubtful, he-
sitating, stealthy pace of timid guilt. His temper is too often soured by his being con-
stantly chained, and then he becomes indiscriminate in his attacks, and is liable to fly upon
any body he can reach. But when judiciously treated, he is a rare combination of fidelity
to his master and humanity to others. It is no uncommon thing for him to attend the
thief through the premises, without on the one hand permitting him to touch a single ar-
ticle, or on the other, attempting to molest or detain him. Still, where the intention is
clearly criminal, the courtesy of the dog is by no means to be reckoned on; for if he for-
bears to bite, he is apt to drive the depredator into a corner, and keep him shivering with
fear and cold, till assistance is procured. When his master is in question, his courage
rises to a pitch of heroism. Petrarch had a dog that snatched a naked sword from the
hand of a villain who attacked him. Some thieves in France, laid one night a leg of mat-
ton on the road, to detain the dog of a traveller, whom, when he had got some distance
from his protector, they robbed and murdered. The dog arrived from his repast before
the thieves had escaped, and engaged them in battle. It was in vain they fired at him. He
continued to fight till he strangled one, and drove the other into a tree, at the foot of which
he steadfastly remained till the officers of justice relieved him of his prisoner on the fol-
lowing day.

A long train of anecdotes attest the retentive memory of the dog for the assassin of his
master, and the vengeance he takes on him. The first is that related by Plutarch, in
which king Pyrrhus made his army defile before a dog, who for three days guarded a
murdered corpse, without eating or drinking, and who seized the culprit as he passed
along. The most notorious is the story of the dog of Montargis, who dragged his mas-
ter's friend to the spot where he was buried, flew on the assassin wherever he met him,
and finally overcame him in a single combat which took place by the orders of Louis VIII.
Benvenuto Cellini, who, notwithstanding that his vanity and superstition have often se-
duced him into the belief of absurdities, appears, nevertheless, not to have exaggerated
pressions, has given a graphic narrative of an incident which happened to h

thief one night broke into his shop. The dog contended with the culprit, thou

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

was armed with a sword, and next running into the journeymen's chamber, awoke them
b}' drawing off the bed clothes, and pulling them alternately by the arm. The men, not
comprehending the cause of his importunity, drove him from the room and locked the
door. Nothing daunted he returned to the charge, and overtaking the thief who had re-
treated into the street, he held him by the cloak. The fellow had the wit to cry out mad
dog, which brought the loiterers to his assistance, and for this time he escaped. After a
considerable interval, as Cellini was walking in one of the squares of Rome, his dog flew
on a young man, and endeavorad to tear him to pieces, in spite of the sticks and swords that
were brought to his defence. The dog was got off with great difficulty, and the man was
retiring, when some bundles fell from under his cloak, in one of which Cellini espied a
little ring of his own. ' This is the villain,' he exclaimed, ' that broke open my shop,
and my dog knows him again;' and he once more let loose the animal — but the thief lost
no time in imploring mercy, and confessing his crime.

The most mysterious faculty of the dog, one that approaches to divination, is yet to be
told. A dog of Henry III. of France, was perfectly furious toward the regicide Clement,
as he advanced to the audience in which he slew his sovereign, and could with difficulty be
retained in an adjoining room. The merenastiness of the monk may have excited the bile
of the dog. But there is an equally celebrated case, in which an English mastiff, who had
never attracted the regards of his master, followed him one night to bed, and though re-
peatedly repulsed, could not be quieted till he got permission to remain. That same night
an Italian valetentered his master's room with a design to murder him, and was only pre-
vented by the faithful sentinel pinning him to the ground. The solution must be looked
for either in the minute observation of the dog, which leads him to notice circumstances
tliat escape our eyes, or else in a conjecture adopted by M. Blaze, that the emotion of a
man who medidates a crime produces a peculiar odor from his bod3^

The dog who prevents your pi'operty from being stolen, will sometimes recover it when
lost. A lady in Bath found her road blockaded by a strange mastiff, who compelled her
to retrace her steps, and brought her to the spot where she had dropped a shawl, which
he no sooner saw in her possession, than he galloped away. A bo^'^who let fall some cakes
from a basket, found, on his arrival at home that the greater part had been gathered up by
his dog, who deposited them untasted, and then set off to fetch the remainder. Mr. Bell, in
his ' Historj" of British Quadrupeds,' mentions that a friend of his own dropped a louis-
d'or one morning, as he was on the point of going out. On returning late at night he was
told hy his servant that the dog had fallen sick, and refused to eat; 'and what,' says Mr.
Bell, ' appeared very strange, she would not suffer him to take her food away from before
her, but had been lying with her nose close to the ves.sel, without attempting to touch it.
On my friend's entering the room, she instantly jumped upon him, laid the money at his
feet, and began to devour her victuals with great voracity. An affecting story has fre-
quently been told of a dog who persevered in leaping upon the horse of a traveller, to call
his attention to his money, which he had left on a bank where he halted to rest. His
master, imagining he was mad, shot the poor animal, who retired to die upon the purse.
Some dogs possess a singular knack of hunting out anything that has recentl}' been in the
possession of their masters. There is one ludicrous anecdote of this facult}', which we
fear is too good to be true. A gentleman made a bet that his dog would identify a franc
that he threw down upon the Boulevards at Paris. Before the dog had discovered the
money, a passenger picked it up. Presently the dog caught the scent, followed him to his
Iiotel, remained with him all day, and attended him to bed, to the great delight of his new-
ly constituted master, who was extremely flattered by his sudden attachment. But the

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

moment the gentleman pulled off his small-clothes, in the pocket of which he had placed
the franc, the dog barked at the door as if desirous to go out. The door was open-
ed, the dog caught the breeches, and rushed away to his rightful master. Shortly after-
wards arrived, all deshabilh, the owner of the breeches, trembling for a purse of gold that
lay in the same pocket with the important franc. The dog is not always upon the side
of the aggressed. There is no weapon of defence which cannot be converted into a weapon
of attack, and so it is with an animal that can be formed to any thing at the pleasure of
his master. Highwaymen have accordingly taught him to aid them in their violence, and
pickpockets to filch from counters, and seize reticules in the streets.

Edwin Landseer happily called the Newfoundland dog ' a Distinguished Member of the
Humane Society;' and he has richly earned the tribute that has been paid to him by that
happy genius. His element is water, and his business to rescue those who are not at home
in it as himself. This propensity of his nature is sometimes carried to a laughable excess.
There was a Newfoundlander at Paris that would not even suffer that an}^ one should
bathe. He promenaded along the banks of the Seine, plunged in after the swimmers, and
encumbered them with his help. While he M'as allowed to go at large no one could enjoy
the luxury of a bath without being forcibly hurried back to land. Hence his ofBcious
zeal requires no stimulus when the danger is real. Nor is it a mechanical impulse. There
have been instances in which he has summoned assistance when he has been insuflBcient by
himself, or when no one was at hand to recover the object of his care. He counts his own
life nothing in his generous efforts. He will make an attempt to carry a rope from a sink-
ing vessel to the shore, though the sea rages to a degree that rendei's it impossible for him
to stem the tide.

There is no sacrifice of which a dog is not capable on behalf of his master. The dread
of fire is overwhelming with animals, and yet, (as we have already seen,) he has been
found occasionally to brave the flames. It Libourne, in France, in 1835, one of the towns-
men gave an old suit of clothes to dress up an effigy. His dog hajipened to be by when it
was burnt, and taking it for his master, he jumped upon the fire again and again to tear
it away, biting those who attempted to retain him, and would have been burnt to death
unless his master had appeared.

Devoted to his master in life, the dog mourns him in death. There are few fields of
battle which do not present him watching and moaning by the side of a master that has
fallen in the fight. Wordsworth has consecrated a poem to the fidelity of the animal who
was found whining over the skeleton of a traveller who had periyhed in the mountains of
Cumberland three months before: —

' How nourished there through such long lime
He knows, who gave that love, sublime ;
And gave that strength of feeling great
Above all human estimate.'

Still more affecting is the fate of a dog related by Daniel in his ' Rural Sports.' He be-
longed to a magistrate who was thrown into prison during the French Revolution. De-
nied admittance to the dungeon, he waited day after day at the prison gate, till he won
upon the affections of the jailer. Put out every night, he returned every morning. He
attended his master through the scenes of his trial and death, and accompanied him to his
burial-place. At the end of three months he refused to eat, and began to dig up the earth
which separated him from the being he loved. His strength declined as he approached the
body> he shrieked in his exertions to complete his task, and expired in the midst of his
convulsive efforts.

Much has been written to demonstrate that the dog can even attain to the compr

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

sion of the ordinary conversation between man and man. Gall declares that he had often
spoken purposely of objects which might interest his dog, taking care not to mention his
name, or make any intonation or gesture which might awaken his attention, and that he
showed by his behavior that he understood what was said. Lord Brougham says that a
most accurate and literal person gave him an account of which the substance was that his
shooting-dogs discovered by what they heard that he intended to go into Nottinghamshire
on the following day. A mother asked her boy to fetch his sisters clothes, and on his
refusing peevishly, she said, to reproach him, ' Oh, Mungo will fetch them;' and the dog
immediately executed the commission. We agree with Lord Brougham that these instan-
ces of presumed interpretation of our language are probably due to the microscopic eye of the
dog for what passes around him, though, as he justly remarks, this only illustrates the more
how well animals can profit by experience, and draw correct inferences from things observ-
ed by them. Where the words are addressed immediately to himself, it is not difficult to
determine that he collects their purport either from the introduction of some well-learnt
phrases, or from the tone and action which accompanies them. To take an example which
at first sight appears to support the higher view of the understanding of the dog. M. Blaze
having one day lost his road, a peasant offered him his dog to escort him to a certain house.
' Take the gentleman,' he said, turning to the animal, ' to such a place, but don't go in,
mind you, and come back directly,' — then to M. Blaze, ' I tell him not to go in, because
he would fight with the other dogs.' The dog did as he was bid, conducted M. Blaze to
the house and returned to his master. Here it is clear that the house to which he was sent
was a familiar word like his own name, and equally clear that he had been often scolded
for venturing within its precincts, and embroiling himself with his kindred, so that he
would readily comprehend the scope of the prohibition from the monitory voice with which
it was uttered. It was certainly a beautiful display of docility; but as regards the capa-
city of a dog to catch the meaning of words, it proves nothing more than that he attaches
ideas to a few customary, well-defined, and expressive sounds. He would seem, however,
to have an accurate sense of the lapse of time. That he distingushes Sunday is nothino-.
Everything wears such a diiferent aspect that he might identify it at a glance. But he is
also conscious of the recurrence of any other day of the week. A dog that belongs to the
brother of Sir Thomas Wilde, runs away on the Saturday night, and remains from home
till the Monday morning, in order to escape being chained on Sunday. Southey says, in
his ' Omniana,' that he knew of a dog which grew up with a Catholic, and was sold to a
Protestant, that would never eat on a Friday. His grandfather had one which every Sa-
turday, (the killing day of the week,) went a couple of miles to pick up offal at the butch-
er's shop. A bull-dog mentioned by M. Blaze, who was accustomed to go on the same
errand, kept to the propitious hour, as well as the day. This dog was always present at
family prayers, and when the last Pater was commenced, he got up and stood at the door,
that he might be ready to go out at the instant it was opened. We suspect that he was
instructed here by a slight movement in the circle, or by a variation in the pitch of read-
ing; and not, as M. Blaze infers, by his ability to count the number of Paters. The dog
also recognizes colors. Prisoners have written letters, according to M. Blaze, on yellow
red, or blue paper, and sent them by their dogs, who knew by the tint to whom they were
addressed. It is certain that the dog with a little training makes an excellent messenger.
Mr. Kirby mentions in his Bridgewater Treatise that one that was accustomed to carry
packets to a house went to the kitchen to be fed when he had deposited his charo-e, and
as soon as he had done, appeared barking at the parlor window, to give notice that
ready to return. Some have gone so far as to knock at the door, or rino- the bell

A CHAPTER ON DOGS.

Spanish writer quoted by Lord Brougham, saji-s that a friend was wont when he called to
leave his mastiff at the door of the house, and the animal, in imitation of his master, pull-
ed the bell in order to get in. The dog of a shop-keeper, who ran in and out of the street-
door during the week, had always recourse to the knocker on Sunday when it was shut.
Priscilla Wakefield, who tells this anecdote, adds two or three more of the same nature.
M. Blaze knew a dog whose habit was, not to ring the bell, but to answer it. He regular-
ly followed the servant from the kitchen to the door, and the visitor from the door to the
parlor. In his old age, becoming too deaf to hear the sound, he took up his quaters where
he could see the bell, that by watching its motion he might continue to know when any-
body called.

The dog possesses the to us incomprehensible instinct — in common, however, with other
animals, — of finding his way by a road that he has never traversed. Mr. Blain tells of a
dog that was sent by sea from London to Scotland, and escaped back to the metropolis by
land. Boisrot de Lacour, a French writer on the chase, took a terrier from Rochefort to
Paris, and though the dog made the journey in a carriage, and slept all the way, he re-
turned when he was liberated, to his former master. Once again he borrowed a hound of
a brother sportsman, who resided at a considerable distance; the next day, when he was
let out to hunt, he slipped away and ran off home, not, as was discovered, by the road he
had been brought, but in a straight line across flood and field. M. Blaze calls this in-
stinct a sixth sense, of which we can frame no sort of idea. 'Experience, however,' he
continues, 'demonstrates that it exists. The camel conducts his master three hundred
leagues through the sands of the desert, where there is no track to guide him. The pigeon
carries letters through the patliless air. The birds of pa.'ssage born in Europe emigrate to
India; and, what is remarkable, travel ordinarily without their parents, who have made
the voyage before. The horse finds his road across the snow; and probably all animals
have the same faculty.' On the other hand, an extraordinar}'- circumstance, related by
Dupont de Nemours, in a memoir read before the French Institute, can only be attributed
to the effects of intelligence. The dog in question was the property of a shoe-black at
Paris, whose trade he sustained by dipping his paws into the mud and soiling the shoes
of the first person that passed along. If the pedestrian continued his progress, he dirti-
ed the next; if he stopped to have the mischief repaired, he remained quiet till his master
was at leisure for a fresh customer, and then the game recommenced. He was purchased
by an Englishman, enchanted by his cleverness, and taken to London. He contrived to
escape, went to the inn where the coach that brought him put up, folloAved it back to Dover,
and, after cro.ssing in a packet-boat to Calais, again placed himself in the wake of a car-
riage, which pioneered him to Paris. One habit of dogs, that of deserting a town an hour
or two before an earthquake, which is frequently ascribed to some strange and unaccoun-
table instinct, depends simply on their every-day perceptions. The rumbling sound strikes
their quick ears before it is heard by any one else, and scares them away. In our obser-
vation of the dog, we seldom attach sufficient importance to the fineness of his senses.
They are so acute that a sleeping dog knows whether he is touched by his master or a
stranger, remaining quiet in the first case, and growling in the last.

Whatever opinion may be formed of the sagacity of the dog on particular points, it is
impossible to deny that he possesses faculties in addition to those which we ordinarily call
instinct. We have no intention at present to plunge into the thorny discussion of the pre-
cise extent of his intellectual powers; but we feel assured that no one can follow the dog
:h the several phases of history, and not acknowledge in the words of Gaston Phce-
hich M. Blaze has taken for his motto, ' That he is the most noble, most reasonable,

LANDSCAPE GARDENING IN NEW-ENGLAND.

and most knowing beast that God ever made.' And, as all his rare endowments have been
dedicated to man, there is no animal in creation that has a stronger claim upon our grati-
tude and Jove. M. Blaze, whose affectionate earnestness for the welfare of the dog, is
the great charm of his book, would extend his care beyond their lives, and erect monu-
ments to their memory. A great poet, whose feelings are always warm and true, has sup-
plied the answer in a tribute to a dog whose death he lamented, and whose ' name' he
' honored;' —

Lie here, without a record of ihy worth,
Beneath a covering of the connnon earth I
It is not from unwillingness to praise,
Or want of love, that here no stone we raise j
More ihou deserv'st ; but this man gives to man,
Brother to brotlier — this is all we can.'

But, if we raise no stone, the epitaph of the dog has been written in many splendid eu-
logies. M. Blaze has added one more to the number, which we think is not unworthy to
stand beside the best :—

' The dog,' he saj'S, ' possesses, incontestibly, all the qualities of a sensible man; and,
I grieve to say it, man has not in general the noble qualities of the dog. We make a vir-
tue of gratitude, which is nothing but a duty; this virtue, this duty, are inherent in the
dog. We brand ingratitude, and yet all men are ungrateful. It is a vice which commen-
ces in the cradle, and grows with our growth; and, together with selfishness, becomes al-
most always the grand mover of human actions. The dog knows not the word virtue;
that which we dignify b}' this title, and admire as a rare thing — and very rare it is in
truth — constitutes his normal state. Where will 3'ou find a man always grateful, never
ungrateful — always affectionate, never selfish — pushing the abnegation of self to the ut-
most limits of possibility; without gain, devoted to death, without ambition, rendering
every service — in short, forgetful of injuries, and only mindful of benefits received? Seek
him not— it would be a useless task: but take the first dog you meet, and from the mo-
ment he adopts you for his master, you will find in him all these qualities. He will love
you without calculation entering into his affections. Ilis greatest happiness will be to be
near you; and should you be reduced to beg j'our bread, not only will he aid you in this
difficult trade, but he would not xibandon you to follow even a king into his palace. Your
friends will quit you in misfortune — your wife, perhaps, will forget her plighted troth; your
dog will remain always near you — he will come and die at your feet; or, if you depart
before him for the great voyage, he will accompany you to your last abode.'

LANDSCAPE GARDENING IN NEW-ENGLAND.

BY GEO JAQUES, WORCESTER, MASS.

I venture to oifer for publication in the Horticulturist a few hints, having a somewhat
local bearing upon the subject of landscape gardening.

It is not my purpose to dazzle your eyes with any light of mine, hitherto hidden under
a bushel, but rather to provoke your criticism.

The art of embellishing the grounds of a country residence, holds a very high rank.
Compared, indeed, with its productions, there is no work of man approaching so nearly a
semblance to the creative power of his Maker. Of all earthly pleasures, this claims to be

LANDSCAPE GARDENING IN NEW-ENGLAND.

the most fascinating, while it acknowledges itself capable of becoming the most ruinously
expensive.

Although modern writers recognise two grand divisions or styles of this art, the geo-
metrical (or ancient) style, and the natural (or modern) sttjle; yet here, as in other fine
arts, we find many variations and modifications, or schools of style; as, for instance,
where the laws of taste are made to conform to the more stringent code of convenience,
econom}' or utility.

Probably more of this prevails in New-England than elsewhere; for here, more than in
other lands, utilit}^ has become one of the secular deities of popular worship. In this sec-
tion of the country, whenever a contest takes place between economical advantage and
good taste, the latter is sure to find some apology for making a hasty retreat.

It does not concern us at present to inquire what may be done with a ducal revenue of
half a million pounds sterling, as at Chatsworth, in England, or with an almost princely
fortune upon the shores of the Hudoon. With scarcely an exception, here, in New-Eng-
land, operations in landscape gardening are, and are likely to be, hemmed in by limits so
narrow as almost to exclude the applicability of the term. From a half acre to some seven
or eight acres, is the utmost extent of territory' that a genuine Yankee, though a million-
aire, will consent to appropriate to merely ornamental purposes. Even after having forc-
ed himself to acquiesce in suchlike "wasteful" embellishments, he does all the work
grudgingly, counting, (and if a profane man, cursing) the cost, at every step that his labor
progresses.

Again, the taste of New-England people generally, for the beautiful and picturesque in
rural scenery, is either vitiated, or totally unailtivated. Hence, the great mass of the
people prefer symmetry, stiff formalit}^ straight lines, and the geometrical forms of the
ancient or artificial style of laying out grounds. Nearly all our first class places in Yan-
keedom, are so arranged. Another evil arises from a vulgar proneness to an ostentatious
display of riches. And as costl}' architecture strikes the careless eye more forcibly than
scenery, the man ennobled by quickly acquired wealth, plants his gorgeous palace upon a
bleak and bald site, of which the ' surroundings' would be admirably in keeping for a
hovel. The whole strength of the proprietor is spent upon house and furniture. Mean-
while the brassjr glare of things provokes criticism, and men find themselves incapable of
concealing their disgust at three striking incongruities, — the house itself, the flaunting ig-
norance of the animate nature within it, and the meagre nakedness of the inanimate nature
around it.

Some of these places afford a ridiculous exhibiton of the proprietor's insane passion for
sj'mmetry. Agate or a tree here, another there; the second obviously designed for no
other purpose than to match, or geometrically balance the first. And so of every walk,
and of every shrub or flower, throughout the place. Every angle is a stiff right angle;
every row is formal and straight; every plant of a row equi-distant, of equal form and
equal size. A certain starchy smartness seems to preside over the whole place. Every-
thing is so prim, so square, so sharp, we almost expect to see the house leap from its
foundations and fly away. All seems to have for its object a display of the power of art,
or rather the superiority of quick-made wealth, to the wisdom which guides the opera-
tions of nature. Such, or similar, have ever been the effeorts of the infanc}^ of taste.

Many of our country seats have been planned by the wives and daughtei-s of the pro-
prietors. These estimable ladies, full of that confidence which ignorance inspires, piquing
selves on tlieir exquisite taste in matters of interior decoration, imagine that they
Uy competent, (perhaps they are!) to guide and direct the embellishment of out

scenery. To tliis source we may trace trees paired off like vases upon a mantel -piece;
walks laid out like the entries and passage-ways of a dwelling-house; garden plots with
little circles in the middle, suggestive of the idea of a center-table in a drawing room, &c.,
&c. — all evincing an uncultivated, childish taste, which ever delights in the lowest forms
of beauty, preferring whimsical conceits, unmeaning and ridiculous combinations, rather
than the infinitely varied, but always graceful manifestations of nature.

In regard to that class of country residences of which the ornamental grounds consist
of less than an acre, it is difficult to say much upon paper. Such small places require to be
managed with great skill. Into their narrow limits, regular forms will almost force them-
selves. Lines of walks and trees seem almost to claim to be straight; and it is only by
the exercise of patience and skill, that the appearance of art can be concealed. Yet even
here, the necessity is not entirely' absolute. A refined taste can do much to give an air of
natural beauty to a ver}^ small residence, particularly where the genius of the place is fa-
vorable.

A gracefully curved drive or walk, (from the public street to the buildings,) entering
through an irregular group of trees, and forced into its curvature by another little group,
will of itself impart to a rural home charms far more pleasing than ten times their cost
could infuse into the stiff, old straight-lined primness of the ancient style.

So where a fine cluster of half a dozen elms, oaks, chestnuts, or other beautiful indige-
nous trees, grow near the sight of the house, the buildings may be located as it were, be-
neath the protection of these forest guardians, so that the whole place shall at once pro-
duce an effect which would otherwise cost the labor of years. Yet few New-England men
understand this, and consequently all the beauty of the location falls beneath the axe, and
JoxATHAN "puts up" his shingle palace in their stead, while Mrs. Jonathan fixes her
admiring gaze upon its bleak and gawky proportions, and exclaims "il/y gracious me .'"

Even so small a spot as half an acre, may be made one little snug home scene of rural
beauty. Abandoning all ideas of a kitchen-garden, to men occupying such places, gene-
rally a thing of no pecuniary value, let the entire grounds be filled with groups of orna-
mental trees, and shrubs, and flowers, upon a ground-work of smooth grass. Let Avood-
bine, honej'^-suckle and climbing roses, here entwine themselves around a column, and
Avreath themselves there over a window. Here place a rustic seat, half hid among the
shrubbery; there lead a short walk, carelessly curving towards a little vine-clad arbor.
How trifling the expense! The cost of a single article of extravagant furniture will defray
it. How permanent and beautiful the result! How gratifying, not only to the occupant,
but to the passing traveller! And more than that; for whatever tends to cultivate a re-
fined taste, improves the heart, and elevates the better nature of man.

It is for lack of taste, and not on account of a want of room, or deficiency of resour-
ces, that we have so little of this in New-England.

Suppose a lot no larger than sixty by a hundred feet. Is it not capable of being made
at a most trifling expense, to express features of natural beauty.' Certainly; for a bit of
green lawn, and one bold group of ornamental trees, will produce this. An eagle's nest
on a rocky cliff may be highly picturesque, and yet, together with its surroundings, it
costs less, and occupies more limited space, than the smallest habitation of man. A gigan-
tic weeping elm, standing in front of a New-England farm-house, is but a single and not
expensive object, while it gives a charm of graceful beauty to the whole place. It is not
then, an inexorable law of nature that scenery must be extensive in order that it may be
beautiful or picturesque. Taste in designing, skill in executing, are the requisites, and
Itogether extent of territory or large pecuniary resources. And yet it is said, " every

LANDSCAPE GARDENING IN NEW-ENGLAND.

man can best lay out his own grounds I" Equally well can every man be his own land-
scape painter, architect, or even tailor! Surely there can be no better evidence of inconi.
petency than the honest utterance of this assertion !

But if so much can be done within such narrow limits, a great deal more may be ex-
pected from those residences where from one to live or six acres are appropriated for that
kind of embellishment, to which we not altogether appropriately apply the term land-
scape gardening.

A man of refinement would in these days, scarcely tolerate a geometrical arrange-
ment of grounds of this extent. Such places admit of a winding carriage-way, leading
through a fine lawn studded with groups of trees, irregularly circuitous walks, bordered
with various shrubbery; here and there a massive forest tree, standing in ita full develop-
ment singly upon the lawn; a summer-house embowered in the midst of a little retired
grove; arabesque forms of flower beds occasionally inserted in the midst of the smooth
green of a grass-plot; a vase, pretty even when empty, but better over-flowing with water,
which it costs not much to bring in a leaden pipe from some neighboring hill; — such are
among the charms which almost seem to make a little paradise of home.

We have far too little of this in New-England, nor can we hope for more until the popu-
lar taste shall be educated for it. It may, indeed, be said that such labors are extrava-
gant and useless appropriations of money. Vastly more extravagant is it for a twent}'-
thousand-dollar man to build a ten thousand dollar house; and yet this thing has become
common among us. Suppose such men to build five thousand dollar houses, and to ex-
pend three thousand in the surrounding scenery — how immensely different the result! and
besides, two thousand dollars would then be left to silence the complaints of extravagance!
Neither is landscape gardening a useless art. Its productions feast the eye of every pass-
ing traveller; they refine the popular tase, and thereby exert a silent and hitherto unap-
preciated influence upon the morals of societ}'. They constitute a no mean portion of a
nation's pride at home, and of her renown abroad.

We have arrived at the end of our sheet, and have just room left to express our earnest
hope to hear more from youself or others, upon this prolific and very interesting subject.

Geo. Jaques.

Worcester. Mass., Nov. 1851.

Remarks. — Our correspondent is severe upon New-England taste, and he is partly just
and partly unjust. Partly just, because no where does one see so many snug houses be-
longing to persons of moderate means, the proportions of which are so faulty, and the ac-
cessories so rigidly wanting in grace, as in many parts of that portion of the Union; part-
ly unjust, because the country villages of New-England, with their beautiful avenues of
elms, and their republican air of rural order and adornment, afford evidences of taste far
above that of the rural tiwns of the rest of the country.

We suspect the truth is, that the majority of the New-Englanders have given the sub-
ject less thought than in any part of the country. Whatever the New-Englandcr bestows
thought upon, grows into new life under his hand. But there are much fewer examples
of good taste in gardening and architecture, set by men of large wealth in New-England,
(if we except the environs of Boston,) than in New-York or Pennsylvania, while there are
more houses built, and places laid out by working-men of small means there, than in any
other part of the country. If we could establish a school in every considerable town in
New-England, next year, where drawing should be taught to artisans and mechanics — we
Avould undertake to promise that the whole taste of the country should be revolution
in ten years. The building of all the cottages of New-England is, at the present time

WOOD-PRODUCIiNG FORCE, &c., IN VEGETABLE LIFE.

most solely in the hands of carpenters, nine-tenths of whom can neither draw, nor under-
stand a drawing. When, therefore, a person presents a country carpenter in New-England
with a design for a cheap cottage, of a form superior to, or different from, the stereotyped
bastard pediment style, so common all over New-England, the latter immediately says, —
"Oh! that is a very dear style of cottage. But I will build you one like deacon C.'s,
Avhich is ten feet larger each way, for $200 less." This, of course, decides the proprietor
of moderate means, who is ignorant of the true state of the case, to build in the bastard
pediment style. The truth is, the carpenter has the latter by heart, and knows to a dol-
lar what he can do the job for. The other he has only a vague idea of — and would lose
money on, from experimental blunders of all kinds — though not a farthing dearer in itself.
Knowing this fact by heart, (by constant contact with it,) and knowing also, how supe-
rior to any other mechanic a Yankee carpenter is, whose thinking and working faculties
have been educated — we long for the time when the common schools of New-England shall
do something more than common. If they would only teach drawing, taste would just
as sure follow, as spelling follows the alphabet. It is impossible for man or woman, how-
ever well he may think, to express his ideas on paper, (or in houses and grounds,) in any-
thing better than hard lines and "pothooks," till he has learned how to make the men-
tal and the material correspond.

ON THE WOOD-PPtODUCIXG FORCE AND THE SEED-BEARINa
FORCE, IN VEaETABLE LIFE.

BY L. YOUNG, SPRINGDALE, KY

According to the received doctrines in Botany, in the case of exogens, a wood or leaf
bud in development, forms an axis or branch with its appropriate leaves, arranged in an
order peculiar to each genus; each leaf, in its foot stalk, being furnished with an inner and
an outer set of ducts and vessels, which vessels, in the course of a growing season descend
by extension to the roots; the inner set upon the smooth, cylindrical surface of the al-
burnum; the outer, (if Lindley's notions of the proper office of cambium be true,) upon
the inner surface of the bark; the annual deposit of wood and bark lying between these
inner and outer ducts and vessels. In time, during the season's growth, anastomosis
takes place in the axilla of every such leaf; a new wood bud is formed and installed upon
the apex of the bundle of vessels, woody fibre and bark, which, originating in the foot stalk
as before stated, has already descended by extension to the roots.

In this waj', every wood bud is in a state of direct communication with the roots, ready
by vitality and capillarity, to pump up supplies of food for the formation of still other
leaves and branches — destined in their turn, still farther to increase the vigor and size of
the trunk and roots. A fruit bud is a metamorphosis of one of these wood buds; " it is a
wood bud excited into growth; but which, in growing, elongates neither upward nor
downward." It is obvious then, that being seated in connection with vessels extending
to their roots, the fruit bud pumps for itself food from the general circulation, but not ex-
tending downwards in growth, it has no chance by which to send succor and strength to
the stem and roots. The fruit bud is, therefore, a sort of parasitical plant, living at the
expense of the wood system, and as it is generally expressed, in a state of " antagonism
with it." To the practical cultivator, it is a matter of secondary interest whethefthis
metamorphosis result from some innate power peculiar to the life of plants, as the learned

WOOD-PRODUCING FORCE, &c., IN VEGETABLE LIFE.

Dr. LiNDLET supposes — or is brought about b}'' some outward circean agency everywhere
present, and ready to act, under proper conditions, as the luminous raj^ of the compound
sunbeam, which is the theory of a certain French philosopher.

But the propositions themselves, being admitted to be true, there are certain hints which
may be drawn from them as corollaries, and which will prove instructive in a high de
gree, to the farmer, pomologist and gardener. Two of them I propose to consider briefly
in the present article.

1st. That in exogens, which include most fruit trees, the normal place of the fruit bud
is within the circuit of circulation, and that generally, its appearance at the extremities of
leading branches, is an evidence of over-fruitful ness and disability, if not disease.

2d. That as from organization, the fruit spur system is supported out of the general cir-
culation, upon the jjrinciple of parasites, and maintains what is termed " the balance of
power," by absorbing just so much of the general circulation as prevents over-luxuriant
growth in the wood system — no more and no less: too great a diminution of the wood
spurs has a tendency to over-stimulate the wood growth.

If we attempt to look around for evidences of the injury which trees and plants sustain,
where fruit buds are allowed to take possession of the extremities of the main wood
branches, and to cover the whole outer surface, we can hardly go astray, Avhether in the
orchard or garden, especially when the plantations have been of long standing. Do we
see the bearing branches of the gooseberry or currant bristling with thick and pointed
clusters of fruit buds to their very ends? If so, it may be set down as a truth, that such
branches are destined to perish at a day not remote. If again, we examine the pear and
the apple, and find the whole exterior surface of the trees covered with fruit buds and
fruit spurs, such a state of things is evidence of present debility, or a most pregnant sign
of its speedy approach; indeed whole families of fruit trees (heavj^ bearers generally,) are
sometimes seen to blight in this way — the wood system being stifled and supplanted by
these parasitic spurs, and only re-appearing amid the dying throes of the tree, under the
shape of "water-sprouts," in the body and large branches of the tree, where they break
out in clusters, not unlike those present in the peach tree when affected with " yellows."

If one were skeptical of the doctrine of botanists, that fruit buds add nothing to the
wood system, it Avould be quite easy to remove such doubting by a little personal exami-
nation of trees upon which the fruit bud system is developed in great excess. Number-
less examples might be found of branches Jiot larger than rye-straws, terminated by fruit
buds, showing unerringly an age of three or more years, while such branches themselves
show no increment of Avood over and above the annual ring of the first season's growth;
in fact, in such cases, the order of nature seems inverted, and instead of that taper growth
from the trunk upward and outward, which marks and makes beautiful a tree in health,
those fruit spurs go on enlarging and multiplying, until the thickening and bloated masses
of debility darken and almost obstruct the view.

In illustration of the second point proposed, I shall draw largely upon individual experi-
ence, and hope that I may state,without being thought presumptuous, that my fruit crops, for
some years, have presented a uniformity of appearance which has led some persons, and
especially the less experienced, to suppose the result ascribable to the possession on my
part, of some secret in the art of cultivation. I hardly need say that such is not the fact,
and that I have never based a hope upon any other foundation than good culture, aided by
a practice in pruning and training, conducted in accordance with the natural habit of each
genus. But in efforts to acquire a knowledge of these natural habits, (which know
constitutes in part the science of pomology,) I have, after having endeavored to avail

WOOD-PRODUCING FORCE, &c., IN VEGETABLE LIFE.

self of all the light shed upon this subject by others, sometimes perpetrated egregious er-
rors, and perhaps I never committed an error more egregious in character, or more expen-
sive in its consequences, than one in relation to the nature of this very fruit bud system,
or spermoganous force. I term this error expensive, because in adopting a practice of
pruning the peach and pear in conformity thereto, I lost a large part of the general crop
in several bearing years, Jor the v;ant of bloom.

Anterior to about the period 1847, I was, when growing fine fruits, in the habit of thin-
ning the crop by removing a large portion of the fruit spurs with the fruit attached, leav-
ing only those bearing the sjjecimens intended to be ripened, and with the peach particu-
larly, by way of monstcrizing individual fruits, I reduced the whole count to a very
small number upon certain young trees, nor was this practice abandoned till I saw branch-
es of bearing trees, tluis treated, running up into a nurserj'^ growth, the " tout ensemble"
of which branches resembled more a thicket of young trees than a well proportioned indi-
vidual tree. Indeed I have been more than once mortified to see fruits treated thus, and
from which so much was expected, come to a perfect stand still; the whole crop of cer-
tain individual trees, ultimately writhing, growing yellow and dropping without maturity,
whilst the buds of the current season would swell and burst into active wood growth.

These fruit spurs being in the nature of parasites, possessing and enjoying supplies
of food obtained at the expense of the wood system, exist in a state of antagonism there-
with, and holding forcible possession of the power to feed upon the general circulation,
they must exist in such numbers, collectively, as will enable them, as a system, to keep
in check the wood-growing force, the constant tendency of which is to a monopoly of the
whole circulation, and to a growth of over luxuriance. Although it is a maxim generally
received as a truth, that in sharing out p.ny given stock of supplies, the fewer the distribu-
tees the greater the distributive share. The functions performed by the fruit-buds col-
lectively as a system in this case, qualified the applicability of this maxim. When I thin-
ned the crop by removing the spurs up to a given point, the operation might be salutary;
further diminution disturbed the balance of power, and diminution carried to extremes
stimulated the wood growth to a luxuriance which for a time suspended the development
of fruit buds of a healthy character.

Although my remarks concerning the nature of these two forces have been confined to
exogens, it by no means follows that a knowledge of them in other families of plants is
either unattainable or useless. Such knowledge is not unattainable, since among cereals
any experienced farmer will in early spring, long before the wheat plant has shot into
culm, and as far off as the eye can discern colors, pronounce upon the promise of any
wheatfield for a crop abounding more or less in straw or grain, as the dark green of luxu-
riance or the more subdued tints of moderate vigor happen to prevail; nor is it useless,
since thereby a definite object is set before us and we have only to seek for means suitable
to accomplish it — and it is somewhat remarkable as well as gratifying to the advocates of
book-farming to notice the harmony in principle which prevails in the prescription of
LouDOX, the highest English Agricultural authority, for converting an over-luxuriant
wheatfield into productiveness, and that of Monsieur Cappe, French Pomological authority
quite as high, for changing an over luxuriant wood branch into fruitfulness — the one
would rob the plants of their blades in April by " cutting them off tcith sheep or even
horses;" the other would " pinch early the soft extremities of the shoots on vigorous
parts."

have thought too that Mr. Downing's strawberry problem would admit of solution on
inciple. Many varieties tending, in a rich light soil, to that obesity of luxuriance

HEAT AND VENTILATION.

which is imbecility, are kept in moderate vigor by compelling the roots to labor for a livin
amid pounded soil, which is to them the being pastured on " short commons."

L. Young.

Springdale, Ky., ]85i.

4-»->

Heat and Ventilation; general observations on the atmosphere and its Abuses, as
connected with the common or popular mode of heating public and private buildings,
together with practical suggestions for the best mode of warming and veniilati7ig.
Rochester, D. M. Dewey, Arcade Hall.
Believing, as we do, that the intemperance of breathing bad air, is a national curse in
America, which is, at the present moment, hurrying a thousand-fold more victims annual-
ly to the grave, than any other species of intemperance, we hail with pleasure Sixiy symp-
toms of awakening attention to the condition in which so many millions of our country-
men voluntarily pass so large a part of their lives.

The work whose title we have just named, is an unpretending pamphlet of 59 pages,
published by D. M. Dewey, at Rochester. It is mainly occupied with a very simple and
clear statement of the necessity to the health of the human system, of pure air, and some
system of ventilation in our dwelling houses. The wholesale system of poisoning men,
M^omen and children, daily going on all over the country, by tight coal stoves, and where-
ever one travels in cars and steamboats, by little "salamanders" of red-hot iron, and
wherever one goes to a crowded lecture room or place of public amusement, by the con-
tinual heating over of the poisonous carbonic acid gas expired from the lungs — these are
the topics which the author of this pamphlet, like ourselves, and others who have hand-
led this subject, dwells upon, with wonder that intelligent beings can overlook their im-
portance. If there is any "infernal machine" in America, it is a close stove that becomes
red hot. We have preached from this text — (and we believe not without some effect, since
we notice a stove-maker in Ohio advertises a ventilating stove, expressly intended to obvi-
ate the objections we have urged,) and we hope the press everywhere will take up the cru-
sade, until this cursed invention to poison the pure air of heaven is utterly banished from
the land. We shall quote for the benefit of our readers, what the author of this pamph-
let has to say about the matter :

' But when we reflect upon the fact, that throughout the whole country, as soon as
fuel becomes a little scarce, the open fire place in any and every form, is pretty geneially
closed to give place to the stove; we meet an evil which has been growing upon us for the
last quarter of a centur}^ to an alarming extent. It is, hoAvever, true that in large towns,
particularly where coal is ensily obtained, the open grate in the best class of houses is
quite generally used. The business of stove-making in most of the large towns in this
State and tliroughout the country, has become quite the leading branch of manufacturing.
Any one who will take the trouble to visit such establishments in xMbany, Troy, Utica,
Syracuse, Seneca Falls, Rochester, Lockport, and Buffalo, will, if unacquainted with the
business, be astonished bj^ the nuuibei- which are annually turned out from these various
establishments. The infinile varietj-, the taste and skill displayed not only in their ex-
ternal appearance, but in their fuel-saving qualities, demonstrate that the demand must
be almost unlimited. The venerable Dr. Nott, of Union College, andProf. Olmstead, of
Haven, and many other intelligent gentlemen, have devoted a great deal of time, la-
and practical philosophy to the invention of stoves which would give off the greatest

HEAT AND VENTILATION.

amount of radiant heat with the least quantity of fuel. In this they have been very sue
cessful, and, if warming a room in this form, were all that its inmates required, mankind
would be under lasting obligations for the philanthropic efforts of these distinguished
scholars. From the tenacity with which they have adhered to their several models, one
would suppose they were entirely unconscious of the consequences of introducing such a
fuel-saving apparatus into a close room without any means of ventilation. Although the
Germans, Russians, and French formerly excelled us in their construction of stoves, we
are probably quite equal to them at the present day. The poorer classes in Germany and
Russia, probably make their houses much closer than ours, and exceed our people in saving
all the heat generated. In Russia, the great mass of the population exclude the external
air in cold weather as for as possible, and they much prefer to respire the vitiated air to
any admission of cold air, for the simple purpose of improving the atmosphere of their
rooms.

"Among the poorer classes, fainting or asphyxia is, by no means, uncommon, and all
their rooms have that close, unhealthy smell which is so common among those who live
in underground cellars in our own large towns and cities. "With such an atmosphere as
this and common as it is among the Russians, we need not wonder that Cholera remains
among them during during winter, while in cold weather in other countries it ceases. Al-
though many of the most scientific men of the present day — several of whom are of the
medical profession — have depicted in the strongest language, the injurious and oftentimes
fotal consequences of this mode of heating buildings; still very little attention is given to
their warnings. Within the last two or three years, many of the most distinguished
writers of the age have written volume after volume, upon the necessity and feasibility of
ventilating our dwellings. The great mass even of intelligent and educated persons seem
to be unaware of the disease, pestilence, and death, so often resulting from the use of
what is called the " tight air-stove;" and the manufocturers of the article are making as
many preparations for the continuance of the demand as though their wholesome quali-
ties were as well established as the elegance of their various designs and patterns. It is
a very common thing for persons who are abundantly able to secure all the comforts of
life even in profusion, and construct a dwelling-house in strict accordance with all the
modern improvements in domestic architecture, to leave out entirely the fire-place, and in
its stead have a small circular opening, six inches in diameter, to be closed perfectly tight
during summer, and opened only in winter; to receive the smoke-pipe of a fuel-saving
salamander, which shall admit no more air than is barely sufficient to support the com-
bustion of the fuel. He will avail himself of the skill of the architect, to make all his
windows and doors perfectly tight, and as the cold weather approaches, he will oftentimes
invite his neighbors in to spend the evening sociall}', and at the same time demonstrate
by the small amount of fuel which he uses, that he has the best stove and the warmest
dwelling in town. Indeed, the whole company will soon testify to the fact that the room is
realljf warm — so warm that they are inclined to leave early in the evening, and if the same
persons should frequently visit similar establishments, they would soon come to the conclu-
sion, that going out on evening visits is very unwholesome — a species of dissipation which
ought to be abandoned. The owner of such an establishment, as the one alluded to, is ge-
nerally far from being parsimonious, and very likely fond of giving sumptuous entertain-
ments, and in all his intercourse with his family and society may manifest the most generous
feelings, and show his liberality in a thousand acts of kindness and benevolence; but did he

the consequences upon himself, famil}^ , and friends of his heating apparatus, i
aving qualities would have very little influence upon him. We are fully aware that to

HEAT AND VENTILATION.

who are very poor, and find it liard in cold cimates to secure fuel enough to keep them
selves warm — the tight air-stove is perhaps the best thing for them under such circum-
stances, which can be introduced into their humble abode. But in such rooms as they
are generally obliged to occup}', they suffer much less for the want of ventilation than
those who live in houses where all the windows and doors are so nicely fitted, that the
external air is entirely excluded. In many of the coal-stoves which have lately been in-
troduced, the coal burns so slowly, that the carbonic acid gas, which is generated (being
half as heavy again as the atmospheric air,) cannot ascend through the smoke-pipe and
chimney-flue with the temperature which is generally maintained a few feet from the point
of combustion. Dr. Ure, one of the most scientific writers of the day, says that "carbonic
acid gas cannot ascend at the temperature of 250 deg. F." but regurgitates into the apart-
ment through every pore of the stove, and poisons the atmosphere. " I have," says he,
" recently performed some careful experiments upon this subject," and find that when
the fuel is burning so slowly in the stove as not to heat the iron-surface above the 250th
or 300th degree of Fahr., there is a constant deflux of carbonic acid gas from the ash-pit
into the room. " I shall, (he says,) " be happy to afford occular demonstration of this
fact to any incredulous votary of the pseudo-economical, anti-ventilating stoves now so
much in vogue. There is no mode in which the health and life of a person can be placed
in more insidious jeopardy than by sitting in a room with its chimney closed up with such
a choke-damp — vomiting stove." '

"AVe could quote language and facts of a similar character from a great variety of the
most reliable authors, but if we can induce any of our readers to observe the consequence
in their own dwelling of these modern machines, we shall have gained more than by sim-
ply inducing them to peru.se these opinions, however reliable they may be. In most of
our churches, public halls, school-houses, court-rooms, places of public amusement, of-
fices, stores, work-shops, &c., we meet in this section of the country, the same unwhole-
some atmosphere; and almost the only variety to be observed in the mode of heating the
room is in the form of the stove. If you enter a public hotel, the first thing you meet in
the office or bar-room (if in winter,) is a large box-stove. If you go to the dining-room,
you meet the same thing again, with perhaps a hundred feet of smoke-pipe crossing the
room at different points; and the offensive character of the atmosphere gives you a
sense of fullness in the head, while perhaps a disposition to vertigo compels you- to leave
the public rooms and retire to the one allotted to you. Then you will probably find a
neat little elegant gothic pattern red-hot by way of showing you a little variety, and if
you are compelled to lower a window for your relief, and wake up at midnight with a
severe cold, you may console yourself with the fact, that your beautiful little stove is of
the latest and most approved fashion, and consumes less fuel than any one ever before in-
vented. If you stop long in the place, and stay over the Sabbath, and have been properly
educated, you will of course go to church, and it is your own fault if you do not find one
of beautiful proportions, handsomely finished, and elegantly decorated. The stove will
be larger than the one at your hotel, and one will be placed in each corner of this splendid
edifice. The sexton will fire up as often as is necessary, and keep you perfectly warm.
It is true the air may soon become very disagreeable, and the eloquent voice of the speaker
sound dr}' and husky; if he cannot relieve it by moistening his vocal organs quite fre-
quently with cold water, you may not be at all pleased with its tones, silvery and agreea-
ble as they were at first. But do not blame him. He is suifering for the purpose of keep-
the audience p:>rfectl>j warm, and if you see a considerable proportion of the con
asleep, particularly if the house is fall, do not wonder at it, for the atmos

has been so thoroughly dried and respired that there is not 0X3'gen enough remaining to
give them the ability of keeping awake. Tf now and then a delicate lady near you faints
away, help her out as quick as possible into the ficsh air. You need not send for a pitcher
of fresh water to throw in her face. The pure unadulterated atmosphere is abundantly
suflicient to restore the circulation, though she may suffer some time afterwards. This
kind act being performed, you can return again to the church much invigorated. If after
this experience you come to the conclusion that all these difliculties are caused b}' the use
of a close stove, you need not mention it to others, for they have heard of it before. If
your own house is warmed and ventilated according to modern notions, you may perhaps
congratulate 3fourself in leaving the town. In the railroad cars, you expect to get into a
different atmosphere, but as soon as you enter, you will only find a different pattern of
sto'y'emSidG exsrcsslij for railroads. The passengers may insist that every window shall
be kept closed, and you have no alternative but to remain a victim to the foul pent up air
which is so common under such circumstances, until 3'ou reach the end of your journey.

" We have spoken thus freely of the use of the common box and tight-air stove, and did
we not know fi-om experience and observation, and were we not supported by the highest
medical authority, and most unequivocal chemical tests, that the evils resulting from their
general use far exceed any and all of our allusions, we should hesitate as to the propriety
of attacking a system which is so universally adopted. We know that many persons have
their houses so constructed, that it is difficult for them to make any change in this depart-
ment of their domestic arrangements. But if we shall be successful in inducing those who
have seen and felt the evil efFects of heating their houses, without any reference to venti-
lation or the quality of the atmosphere they inhale at every breath, they will be the bet-
ter prepared to appreciate the improvements which have lately been introduced. In some
parts of the country, several attempts have been made to introduce a kind of stove which
will warm a current of fresh air directly introduced from the outside. It is impossible
to ventilate a room by drawing oif the foul air without introducing a corresponding amount
into the room from some source. If cold air be introduced for the purpose of ventilation,
all the warmed air will pass oflf through the ventiduct, and the cold air remain. We need
hardly say that, under such circumstances, it is impossible to make a room comfortable.
To overcome this difficulty, a ventilating stove has lately been introduced in different
parts of Europe and in some of the eastern towns of this country."

The pamphlet is filled with suggestions and explanations relating to the best mode of
ventilating and warming, much of which we have published in the " Country Houses" —
but which we trust will meet a wider circulation in this form. If a million of copies could
be circulated in the United States, it would be an immense and incredible saving of health
to the people at large.

Bad air is a " .slow poison." That is the trouble. People go on taking it into their
lungs day after day, and night after night- They grow pale, their lungs suffer, the circu-
lation is languid, they take colds readily; the chest, the stomach, the skin, become disor-
dered, and a host of chronic diseases attack them. A little carbonic acid taken ever}' day
don't kill a man. It is almost a pity it did not! If a red-hot stove destroyed, instantly,
one man in everj' town daily, for a week, there might be some salvation for the nation. If
instead of fainting away in crowded and badly ventilated public assemblies, people occa-
sionally died outright in convulsions, the authorities would take the matter in hand, and
make it penal for the owners of such buildings to open them for public use without attend-
ing to the proper conditions for the preservation of health. When a thing is only a
poison," the age is too much in a hurry to attend to it.

FOREIGN AJVD MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

In such cases we must wake up the public lethargy by focts. And here is one of them
We have before us the History of the Dublin Lying-in Hospital. Some years ago, this
building, erected in the common way, without the slightest regard to ventilation, was
found to exhibit a great amount of mortality among the young children born there. In
four successive years — healthy seasons too — out of 7,050 infants brought forth in the hos-
pital, 2,244 died within the first fortnight after birth, of convulsions, or what the nurses
call nine-days fits. These children foamed at the mouth; the jaws became firmly closed;
the face swelled and assumed a purplish hue, as though the}^ were choking. " This last
circumstance suggested to the physician that a deficiency of wholesome air was connected
with the great mortality." Air pipes were immediately contrived; the various rooms were
well ventilated. What was the result? That in the three following years, out of 4,243
children born in that hospital, only 165 died. In the very same rooms, too, where, ac-
cording to the old ratio, before the ventilation took place, the number of deaths to that
number of children, would have been 1,632. To save the lives of more than 1,400 human
beings in three years, by merely putting in a few pipes! Can any one say there is noth-
ing in ventilation, after such facts as these?

/nrrigE anli 3Hkpllnnfnii5 JMltm.

Foreign Garden Gleanings. — (St. Pe-
TERSBURGH. — Florists. — Among the different
florists of St. Petersburgh, M. Alwarch, a Ger-
man, stands first. He cultivates nothing but
those plants wliicli are univer.sally sought after
in Russia, viz: good evergreen shrubs and
bushes. These plants, which are brought into
Russia in pots, are sold in large quantities to
the nobility, who, in winter, and the commence-
ment of the fine season, use them for the inter-
nal decoration of their houses. We may men-
tion more especially Gardenia florida; Ixora
coccinea and others ; Lantana ; Musa ; .^Eschy-
nanthus ; Asclepias curassiviea and Hoya car-
nosa ; Echinum ; Gesnera ; all of which are
cheaper in St. Petersburgh than in Paris. Such
is not the case with the hundred-leaved, crested,
four-seasons, and Belladonna Roses, which,
when in flower, fetch 2s. 6d. and 5s. The Myr-
tle-leaved and Chinese Orange trees are also
very dear, as are also Pelargoniums and Fuch-
sias. Franciscea odorata, and Hopeana, are
great favorites; Begonias and Gloxinias cost
half as much again as they do in France. Ca-
mellias and North American Azaleas fetch most
extravagant prices. The same gentleman has a
large collection of Rhododerdron ponticum
maximum , and other species ; but we look in
vain for out-door Azaleas, Calceolarias, from
Chili, or Cacti from Tropical America. As for
Myrtles, Pomegranates, Laurels, Jasmines,
climbing Roses, Dahlias, Pinks, and Spanish
Jasmines, they are rare and costly.

Besides evergreen shrubs, M. Alwarch culti-
ates, though upon a smaller scale, out-door
shrubs. We jirincipally noticed some bushy
capable of resisting the severe frosts of

the country, such as Cornus mascula, alba and
sanguinea; Elders; Spiraea Iseavigata. rosea,
and ulmifolia; common Lilacs; Chamaj cera-
sus. Snowdrops, Snowberries, Service trees,
Sweet Chestnuts, Pteleas, Poplars, especially
the true sweet-scented suaveolens; Caragana,
\vith which beautiful undulating hedges are
made; the charming red-fruited Acer tatari-
cum; Buckthorns, and particularly the one
from Tartary, which constitutes a large part of
the live hetlges in the country ; lastly, Cratae-
gus purpurea, with its handsome foliage, fiir
surpassing in color that of Cr. alba. The lat-
ter plant attracted my especial attention ; its
beauty, the rapidity of its growth, 'and other
excellent qualities, enable the Russians to make
live hedges, which we should very much like to
see introduced into our own country.

Flower Markets. — One of the first things
which strikes a stranger entering St. Peters-
burgh, is the evident pas.sion which all the inha-
bitants, rich and poor, old and young, have for
flowei-s.

The eye admires, with surpri.se and de-
light, the halls and rooms of all classes,
which, for eight or nine months in the year, are
more like conservatories than the interior of
common dwelling-houses ; being gay with plants
of every clime, whilst out of doors the country
is desolated by the severity of the cold. In-doors
we find Palms and Figs, Musas, Dracfienas, Ma-
rantas, the larg-e leaved Arums, Camellias, Rho-
dodendrons and Azaleas; also some beautiful
Leguminosfc, Mimosas, Cytisus in pots, Myrtles
of all sorts, Olea fragrans, the large Cleth
different sorts of Laurel; and lastly, but
conspicuous, are the hundred-leaved and

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

season Roses, Hyacinths, and other flowering
plants.

Tlic working classes, who cannot command a
wide range of temperature, prefer such plants
as Crinum, Maranta, Hoya carnosa, Asclepias
curassavica, and Lantana; Oranges, Jasmines,
Plumbago capensis, Ixora, Laurel, Cytisus and
Olea fragrans>

The poor, wlio are compelled to live contin-
ually in the town, grow Pelargoniums, Roses,
Verbenas, Fuchsias, Wallflowers; and, in spring,
Lilies of the Valley.

Flower Trade tn St. Petersbukgh. —
A fair, which is held as soon as the frosts are
over, and which lasts a whole month, viz: from
the 25th of May, to the 2r)tli of June, is almost
exclusively a flower fair ; it is at this fair that
the nobility and country gentlemen make their
purchases for decorating their country houses,
to which they are alwut to retreat. The flowers
are supplied almost entirely from Germany. We
remarked the hundred-leaved and four-seasons
Rose, planted in a sort of hamper; Cherry,
Apple, Plum, Service, and Sweet Chestnut
trees, a few Pear trees, all shrubs, and selling
for double what they do in Paris; the Lilies of
the Valley, especially, seemed to bear a most
exorbitant price. We saw, too, P.-eonies, and
all sorts of perennial and shrub-like plants.

Flowers are sold, too, by travellers, who go
from house to house, carrying upon their heads
boards uiion which the flowers in])ots are close-
ly packed. But these pedlars oti'er their pur-
chasers neither variety nor beauty, a few Wall-
flowers, Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Lilies, Eehi-
um. Gcsneras, Roses, Mignonette, Cinerarias,
Verbenas, Phlox, and Justicia, form the whole
of their collections

Although there are many more florists in St.
Petersburgh than in Paris, the collections of the
former are much more meagre than those of the
latter. Their trade in bou(]uets. and flowers in
pots, is prodigious, far surpassing what we had
imagined. — il/a.sso«'.s Rupoit.

Ql'ERCUS AGRIFOLIA, A H.A.RDY EVERGREEN

Oak fR'OM Calitornia. — A few miserable
living plants of this sfjceies were sent home by
Hartweg from California, and are now begin-
ning to grow in the Society's Garden. It will
probably be a hardy evergreen tree, concern-
ing v,-hieh Nattall, who knew it in its native
cbuntrj% has the following remarks-. — '• Tliis
species, almost the only one which attains the
magnitude of a tree in Upper California, is
aViundantly dispersed over the plain on which
St. B.irbara is situated, and, being evergreen,
forms a conspicuous and jireilominnnt feature
in the vegetation of this remote ami singular
])art of the western world. It apin-ars more
sparingly around M(^nterey. and scarcely ex-
tends on the north as far as the line of the Ore-
gon territory. It attains the height of about
40 or 50 feet, with a diameter rarely exceeding
"les; the baric is neiirly as rough as intli(!
k. The wood, hard and brittle and red-

dish, is used only for purposes of fuel, or the
coarse construction of log-cabins. As an orna-
mental tree for the south of Europe or the
warmer States of the Union, we may recom-
mend this si)ecies. It forms a roundish sum-
mit, and spreads but little till it attains a con-
siderable age. As a hedge it would forma very
close shelter, and the leaves, evergreen and
nearly as prickly as a Holly, would render it
almost impervious to most animals. The leaves
vary from roundish ovate to elliptic, and are of
a thick rigid consistence; the serratures are
quite sharp; the young shoots are covered more
or less with stellate hairs, and for some time
tufts of this kind of down remain on the under
side of the midrib of the leaves, which are,
however, at length perfectly smooth, and of a
dark-green above, often tinged with brownish
yellow beneath. The staminiferous flowers are
very abundant, and rather conspicuous; the
racemes the length of three or four inches ; the
flowers with a conspicuous calyx and eight or
ten stamens; the female or fruit-bearing flowers
are usually in pairs in the axils, or juncture of
the leaf with the stem, and se.ssile, or without
stalks. The cup of the acorn is hemispherical,
and furnished with loose brownish scales; the
acorn, much longer than the cup, is ovate and
pointed. We do not recollect to have seen this
tree properly associated with any other, except
occasionally the Platanusracemosa; their sliade
is hostile to almost every kind of undcr-growth.
By Persoon tliis species is said to have been
found on the eastern coast of North America,
while Pursh attributes it to the north-west coast,
about Nootka Sound. It does not, however,
extend even to the territory of Oregon, as far
as my observation goes." Nee says, ''I have
only seen branches collected at Monterey and
IS'ootka. The kiaves of the young plants are
perfectly smooth when first developed, of a
thin consistence, witli numerous sharp denttires
beneath ; they are of a brownish yellow color,
and appear smooth and shining." The long
narrow acorns, almost conical, are a remarka-
ble feature in the species. Journal of the Hor-
ticultural Society, vol. vi.. p. 157.

Artifical BREEniNO OF Fish. — As the
amusement of fly-fi.shing is one which holds a
first place in the opinion of every one who un-
derstands it ; and as the trout and the salmon
are the c)rilj' fish \vhicli afford genuine s])ort to
the angler; and ns I b(>lieve that the latter, in
the southern counties of England, is nearly ex-
tinct, whilst the former is there far from being
abundant; I wish to call the attention of such
of y(uir readers as are possessed by the true
piscatorial furor, to the facility with which
these fish can be bred artificially; and as many
experiments have been made by my directions,
and r have witnessed the results, I beg to .say
that there is no fear of success, if due care is
taken. The experiments of Sharr, Agassis,
i &c., have proved that fish can bebrcdartificial-
I ly (the experiments of Boccius I have not j'ct

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

tried, altliongh he professes to arrive at the
same results in another manner) ; and acting
on the plan recommended by them, I liave
known both trout and salmon bred by thousands
for the last 10 years; and as now is the time
for the experiments to be made, I hope that
those who intend to try the plan will lose no
time in looking after their supply of breeding
fish.

To begin with trout : catch as many as you
can conveniently obtain upon the spawing beds*
and examine them carefully one by one, to see
tliat the spawn and milt are in a fit state for
exclusion, and also to enable you to sei^arate
the males from the females. If they are in a
fit state to be operated upon, which may be
known by the fiicility with which the milt and
the roe run from them, on a slight pressure,
squeeze the milt of the males into a little water.
When you have obtained all the milt you can
get, add so much water that the mixture re-
mains slightly opalescent; say about equal in
color to a table-spoonful of milk mixed in a
quart of water. Pour this into a deep dish or
bowl, large enough to hold the largest of your
female trouts. 'J'akc one of these, put it into
the water so prepared, and gently squeeze the
roe from it, whilst overhead in the water. f Do
this as quickly as possible and return the fish
into fresh watcn'. and then pour off the water
containing the impregnated roe. through a
strainer, carefully preserving it for the remain-
ing fish, and immediately return the roe into
fresh spring or brook water. Repeat the ojiera-
tion for every female trout, and you will then
have a quantity of impregnated roe, which, if
properly managed, will hatch with great cer-
tainty. Have ready as many boxes as you are
able to stock with si)awn, made 3 feet long, 2
feet broad, and 6 inches deep; fill them two
inches deep with river sand,se) well washed that
there is not a particle of mud left in it, and
upon that put two inches of gravel, also ex-
ceedingly well washed, and varying in size from
a hazel nut to a i)igeon"s or pullet's egg. These
boxes must be so placed tliat the water from a
spring will run into the first, and from the sur-
face of that into the second, &c.; and below
the whole nest of boxes, there ought to be a
small reservoir made, say three yards by two
ditto, and 18 inches deep, and well gravelled
at the bottom ; all these things liaving been pre-
viously arranged, and the water flowing nicely
over the gravel, sprinkle the imjircgnated roe
equally over the surface of the gravel, say a

* I have fiequeiilly foniul, wlieii cnlcliiiig: Iroiit for Iliio
pnr|in.?e. llial llie mill niid roe were not rcndy foreinisision.
AVIieii Ihis was llie case, I eiiclos-ed llie fisli iii a wii e cage,
which 1 immersetl in water, exairiiiiiiis tlieni every week,
until I fonnd ihey were ready for the px|)eriment.

t I fmcy that if the ovacoine in contact with the air on
emis-ion. Iliat lliey are not so readily impregnaied as if
they are kept covered with the water until the impregn.a-
tion has taken phiee, and therefore I wii^h to lay some
the (lesirahieness of tints keepinsf the air exc'ud-
; mill remains in an active stale long afier emis-
T have great reason to suppose thal'lhis is by no
cans the case with the roe.

quarter of a pint to each box, and it will roll
down the interstices of the gravel, and find a
bed in which it will remain snugly until the
spring, then, about March, if all has been pro-
perly managed, you will find, on a careful ex-
amination, that the young trouts are coming
to life by hundreds.

I am very particular in recommending a
spring, rather than a brook, for several reasons;
in the first place, brooks are liable to be flooded,
and are sometimes so overcharged with sand,
mud, &c., that the gravel in the spawning boxes
is completely choked with it, and the spawn
is lost, as I know to my great and frequent
disappointment ; at other times all is washed
away together. In the second place, (he gravel
of brooks swarms with water-lice, and tlie lar-
va? of aquatic flies, as well as bullheads and
loaches, all of which prey upon the spawn of
both the trout and the salmon ; and in the third
place, if you place your .spawning-boxes in a
brook, it is difficult to prevent the escape of the
fry when hatched, and you are left in doubt as
to the success of your experiment ; with a spring
all these inconveniences are obviated, but if
your water-course should contain water-lice or
aquatic larvae, it is a very easy matter to destroy
them before jjutting in your boxes, with a little
quicklime. It is also desirable to cover your
spawning boxes with a wire grating, and also to
protect them in severe weather from the chance
of being frozen. IVheii they begin to hatch, open
a communication between the boxes and the little
reservoir below, and if this communicates with
a water course, in which aquatic p'.ants are grow-
ing, so much the better; the fry as soon as they
are strong enough, will make their way into this
ditch, and will find an abundance of feed among
the water plants; from thence they ought to
be able to make their way into the brook, river
or lake, wliich. it is intended to store with them ;
but all ducks, wild and tame, should be driven
from this ditch, or th.erc will be few trouts al-
lowed to find their final place of destination.

The above rules, with some modifications, ai'c
api)lieable to the breeding of salmon as well as
trout, the only ditferencc being in the mode of
placing the female fish. The salmon is too large
a fish to put into the A-essel in which the diluted
milt is ])]aced ; but I think it desiiable that slie
should be held by an assistant in such a man-
ner that the tail and loM-er part of the body,
up to the vent, are immersed in the Avater con-
taining the milt; it is also very necessary to
hold her firmly, otherwise a large fish, in the
struggles it makes to get free, is apt to upset
tlic vessel containing the milt, and then the ex-
periment is at an end; at least fora time; being
held fiiinly by tlie assistant as above, the belly
of the fish must be gently pressed by the hands,
to]n'omote tlie emission of the spawn, which
on emission mu.st be gently stirred in the water,
to bring every grain of it into contact with the
milt; but do not allow it to remain Ion
that liquor than a mimite, as I have fou
if the diluted milt is too strong, or if the

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

remain too long in contact with it, they become
opaque and never hatch at all, apparently be-
cause they are over impregnated. In the or-
dinary Avay in which salmon and trout are bred,
the milt must be largely diluted with water,
and the contact between the milt and the ova
can only be momentary; for the streams in
wliich tliese fish spawn (particularly salmon)
are so rapid that the milt on exclusion must be
carried away immediately.

I am. quite aware that there is another theory
which assumes that impregnation takes place 12
months before emission; but a very careful ex-
amination of the spawnings of minnows and
lampreys (I have never been able closely to
examine the spawning of the salmon,) convin-
ces me that it is not a correct one; besides, did
any one ever succeed in hatching the ova of fish
which had not been allowed to come into con-
tact with milt after exclusion ; if tliey have,
when — where — and how was it accomplislied,
and where is it recorded?* I know that I could
never succeed, although I have often tried the
experiment; on tlie other hand, it is the easiest
thing imaginable, with due care and a suitable
situation, to hatch those that have been proper-
ly impregnated after emission. But if I admit,
to avoid argument, that this theory is correct,
it will not interfere at all with the artificial
breeding of trout and salmon; on the contrary
it would materially facilitate it. It would only
be necessary to catch a female fish, with the
ova ready for emission, and place these ova in
clean gravel, in a box, as before described; but
there would be no occasion for males. T. G.
Gard. Chron.

Blanching Celery. — This year I adopted
the following plan with my Celery, which has
answered extremely well. I planted it in a
trench and left it to grow to its proper height;
I then drew each plant through a circular drain
tile, and stopped the top of the tiles with moss,
and leveled the ground ; in less than three weeks

* There is, however, one I'act which would almost lend
one 10 ouppose that the ova are iinpreg.iated 12 moiillis
before emission. It is this, — the male par (salmon fry,)
are at this season full of milt, and almost ready for emis-
sion; whilst in the fem.tles, the ova are so small, that thoyre-
quire a microscope to sec them individually, and the whole
ovary is merely like a thread: either the milt of the male
is not required to impregnate the roe of the fem.nle, or ihc
roe is impregnated long before emission, for the roe of the
female par evidently requires many months to hriug it to
maturity; but my opinion is, if a female salmon were to
ascend a river without being accompanied by, or meeling
^•^ i'lr a male, that the roe would be impregnated by the
male par, which always swarms aliout the salmon spawn-
ing heds; and the experiments of llie Dukeof Bueclcuch's
game-keeper (.Shaw.) lend to prove that this is the fact —
the same excess of males may be desirable that exists in
a liee-hive. where there are, at least, a thousand males
for one female.

afterwards they were beautifully bleached, quite
clean, and came in earlier than in the old way.
The drain tiles are very inexpensive, and they
do not harbor slugs, &c. — H. M. — lb.

HORTICULCRAL EXHIBITION AT PaRIS. — I

went to the show of the Societic Nationale d'
Horticulture de la Seine, on Saturdy, the 27th
of September. It was held in a very large
tent, pitched over one of the fountains in the
Champs Ely sees. I observed several, (what I
thought) improvements in the way of conduct-
ing this fete. It lasted four days; my visit was
on the second day, when certainly everything
was fresh, and by the crowds I saw entering on
the third day, it appeared not to have lost any
of its attractions. Not only were fruit and
flowers exhibited, but also vegetables, artificial
flowers and fruits, ornatuental flower pots, gar-
dening instruments, miniature drawing-room and
boudoir fountains, for keeping bouquets fresh,
and even some singing birds and gold fish. The
show of green and hot-house plants was very
inferior to ours, but there was great beauty and
variety among the common flowers, such as As-
ters, Dahlias, &c. Among yellow Picotees, we
have nothing equal to show in England. The
grounds of several were brighter and deeper
colored than ours, with much more variety in
the color and uiarkingof the edgings. Indeed,
if a little more regularity of shape could be ob-
tained, some of them would be very striking
flowers. Why cannot we have in England, as
they have now (Oct. 2) at Paris, abundance of
Strawberries and Artichokes in all the markets?
AVhat struck me most was the great profusion
of fine ripe Pears exhibited. While we can
only obtain two or three good kinds at this sea-
son, there are at least eight or ten at Paris. L.
H. Ipswich. — lb.

Expeditious Grape Growing. — Seeing, by
the report of the last meeting of the Horticnl-
tural Society, that my brother has succeeded
in fruiting and ripening wood and fruit of the
Black Hamburgh Grape from eyes struck in
February last, I beg to state that I have got
good bunches and well-swelled berries of Mus-
cat of Alexandria, on vines struck from eyes in
March last. The vines were not stopped at 15
inches high, as his were, but at eight feet, con-
sequently the fruit is produced on the laterals.
I would particularly recommend those about
planting vineries, if they have the convenience,
to strike their own plants in February or March,
and plant them out in May or June. Some
which I have treated in this way here in our
new vineries, surpass two-year old plants planted
in April. R. Elphinstone. lb.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Dnmrstir JMim,

Design for a District School-House. —
~\Ve present our readers, in the Frontispiece
for this month, a design for a District School-
house. It has at least the merit of simplicity
in the plan, and as it is a paralellogram, of eco-
nomy in construction. An entrance hall, or
lobby, opens into a large school room for boys,
upon one side, and one for girls on the other.
Between these two rooms is a recitation room,
which may contain a book case for the school
library.

The exterior is bold and picturesque — the
style a modification of the Swiss — and well adap-
ted to many sites in our varied rural scenery.
The widely over-hanging eaves afford a species
of veranda shelter round the whole building.

This style is exceedingly well adapted for a
wooden building, and its details are so simple
that any country carpenter of intelligence could
construct such a school-house without any fur-
ther working drawings.

As we look upon the rural-church and the
district school-house, as contributing more es-
sentially to the architectural education of the
country at large, than any private buildings, we
hope, by presenting from lime to time, various
good models, to assist in banishing the present
deformities, which pass by these names, from
the face of the rural districts.

University of Albany. — We have great
pleasure in calling the attention of our readers
to the prospectus of the course of lectures on
Scientific and Practical Agriculture, by Pro-
fessor Norton, which is to commence under the
care of the University of Albany, on the second
Tuesday in January. The lectures for the
course are fixed at the low price of $10, and
there are few farmer's sons, belonging to the
thinking class, who would not reap great bene-
fit from attending these lectures. In the ab-
sence of any state institution for Agricultural
Education, the new University wisely takes the
initiatory steps, by inviting Prof. Norton— one
of our soundest men of science in this depart-
to commence with a practical course of
es in which the application of chemistry

to the culture of the soil, will be especially con-
sidered.

Green-houses in Winter — Dear Sir: Very
few persons appear to know the value of the
sponge in a green-house. I mean for the pur-
pose of washing the leaves of all those plants
with leaves broad enough to admit of it. I took
the hint some five years ago from a neighbor,
the most successful plant gi-ower I ever had the
good fortune to know. His plants were always
so especially fresh and healthy, that I was for
a long time puzzled to understand his secret,
and he always declared he had no secret. But
early one morning I caught him with a pail of
clean water, slightly warm, by his side, spong-
ing off the leaves of all his choice plants. I
said to myself, " I have it." I did more; I
went home and practiced it. My plants soon
showed by their new aspect, that I was not
wrong in believing it the real secret of my
neighbor's success. They began to look bright-
er, healthier, and grow and bloom better than
my utmost care had ever been able to make
them do before. And now, strangers always
ask the same question when they see my plants,
that I used to ask my neighbor. My answer is,
" use the sponge." The pores of the leaf get
filled with fine dust — and the plant chokes.
Syringing does not wholly remove it ; the sponge
does. Yours, An Amateur. New-York,
Dec. IG, 1851.

Notes on Pears, &c. — Dear Sir: I send you
for publication a few notes on Pears, Plums,
Horsechestnuts, &c. Having fruited a large
number of pears theprcsent season we naturally
had a desire to test their merits, and in order to
do so rightly, we took the Seckel, and Yirgalicu,
which are said to be the standards f >r quality,
as the criterion by which tliey should stand or
fall. Those of merit which were in season with
the Seckel and Virgalieu [White Doyenne,] are
as follows:

Beurre Moiret, St. Michael, Archangel,
Bonne des Zees, Ananas and Doyenne Gau-
bault.

We grew a number of Seckelsand Virgalieus
on our own grounds on standard trees, and the

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

new pears above on dwarfs. I will not enter
into a description of each, but will merely say,
that my partners, Messrs. Tuorp. Smith, Han-
CHETT, and others present, united with me, in
the one opinion — namely; That they were all
superior in flavor, &c., to either the Seckel or
Virgalicu. Their size is fair and they are hand>
some pears. AYe have recommended these to
all amateurs and friends, and have disseminated
them largely. Our dwarf pear trees are very
fine and vigorous, four years old and generally
covered with blossom buds ; their height from
five to seven feet. Another pear ripening be-
fore any of the preceding, (about 1st of Sept.,)
is the Beurre Gaubault. This proved to be
this season, (with us,) a sweet, juicy and lus-
cious pear, and well worthy a place in any col-
lection, no matter how small. The Ananas will
please those who are fond of the peculiar musky
flavor of the Seckel.

In the June number of your Journal ,1 spoke of
the Montgomery plum, and said that Mr. Car-
penter from whom I received it, called it the
Montgomery Prune. He also called the other
plum the Groundacre, and I gave each as Iiis
terms. lie has sent out these two fruits over a
large portion of Ohio, and particularly in Fair-
field Co., — imder the above names. Thus you
will perceive that I have not dubbed it " Prune"
but gave Mr. C. as the author. In relation to
the " Gundaker," I believe I have the credit
of first noticing it in your journal, and if that
notice has been productive of no other good, it
has at least brought out its true name, which
I am very happy to learn, as I hold in no little
esteem the faculty some people possess of dub-
bing fruits with new names, as much as your cor-
respondent from Cincinnati or any other person.

In the October and ^foveraber numbers I dis-
cover that you have an article on the Scarlet
and Double flowering Horseche.snuts. I am
happy to inform you that we have each, and
have sold considerable of them. The scarlet,
flowered with us the present season. Our trees
are from six to eight feet high and stocky.
Yours, Stc, A. Faunestook. Syracuse, N.
Y.,Nov. 7, 1851.

Protecting Grapevines. — A. J. Downing,
Esq. — Last fall I laid down my grapes in mj'
inery on the ground, pinning them down and
g them with loose straw. During the

winter the field mice got in and injured them,
eating the bark from some of them for several
feet, and otherwise injuring some of the finest
of them.

Will you inform me what measures to take
this winter, to itrevcnt a similar occurrence, and
how shall I lay them down and protect them.
Yours very truly, S.K.Williams. Newark,
Wayne Co., N. Y., Nov. 11, 18-51 .

If you fear the attacks of mice,lay your vines on
the ground, and cover them with tan-bark. Ed.

Botanical Names. — Mr. Downing — Dear
Sir : Will you be kind enough to answer through
the Horticulturist, how such words as the fol-
lowing are pronounced. Smithii, Fortunii,Dill-
wynii, Scottii, &c. ; and what is the difierencc
between the above names, and those that end
with one i, in pronunciation. H. II. Williams.
Cincinnati, Oct. 27, 1851.

Ans. — A singile i, final, is pronounced as
Stricta venti, (pronounced vent-eye;) but when
it ends a syllable not final, it has the sound of
e, — 'as Mimulus Smitliii, (pronounced Smith'
e-eye;) Daphne Forlunii, (pronounced Fortun-
e-eye,) &c.

Agricultural Edccation. — Dear Sir: The
literary character of (he principal editor of the
Evening Post, gives importance to whatever he
may write upon education, its means and ends.
I enclose an article from his paper of to day, in
reply to some other article recommending tlie
establishment by the state, of agricultural
schools, (only thes^) in imitation of Prussia,
This reply, unnecessarily dragging-in the meth-
od of teaching, and political lessons taught, is
just as applicable to all our schools. As well
say have no common schools, no free acade-
mies, no colleges, because Prussia in her schools,
academies, and colleges, teaches her children to
be quiet subjects of an absolute government. It
is a feint to conceal the true issue — to cover it
with a prc^judice — as if our farmers must be de-
nied suitable means of instruction, because for-
sooth, Prussia teaches her farmers political sub-
mission with agriculture. To keep freedom's
end equal then, we should provide equal means
of instruction, and with the agricultural science,
teach the doctrines of self and free governments.
If I have read correctly of the course of in-
struction in the hidier agricultural schools of

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Prussia, it teaches nothing tliat a luvcr of the
kxrgest liberty need fear — no more dangerous
absoluteism tlian that of absolute obedience to
tlic laws of pliysical science. (If I am in error
you will know it.)

But it is to the latter part of his article I would
ask your attention and rebuke: '^ If agricul-
tural schools are wanicd in this state,'' &c.
This is either a compliment to the existing state
of agricultural knowledge, or an insult to the
former. Eeally, it says to tlie farmer, that his
occupation is so low that it needs not education,
as provided to elevate and improve other pro-
fessions. We know the editor values education
highly; it is only the farmer — the clown in the
country — that needs none, or if he discovers
that he could work his farm to better advan-
tage, with some other than mere intuitive know-
ledge, he must provide it for himself. Oh, I
wish the farmers of New- York Avould make
themselves heard this winter, not in the begging
terms of a few, " pestering the next legislature,"
but in their strength, demanding to be placed
in a position of equal privileges in the means of
instruction, with the schools of Law, Physic and
Divinity. It was to ask your rebuke to the tone
and spirit of tliis article — the same that has
damped every effort hitherto — that I enclose it.
Your good efforts in behalf of agricultural edu-
cation, are telling surely, though slowly, and
gathering strength.

I am about leavin"); this city for Apalachico-
la, wliere I shall be pleased to obtain and send
for you or your foreign friends, or others, any
indigenous plants, seeds, he, that you may
wish, and that may be obtainable. Very re-
spectfully, B. F. N. New-York, 8ih Nov. '51.

We thank onr intelligent correspondent for
his timely notice of the leader in the Evening
Post — which we reprint for the benefit of our
readers.

The Example of Prussia. — In one of the
morning journals, we perceive that the example
of Prussia is adduced as one which we ought to
follow in providing public instruction in agri-
culture. Prussia has, it is said , five agricultural
colleges, besides ten schools of a more elemcn-
tai'y character. She has seven schools to teach
the cultivation of flax, two for showing how
nieadow-lands should be managed, one lor in-
structing boys in the care of .sheep, and forty-
idel farms. AVe are asked to make Prus-
pattern in this matter, and the next
ure of the State of Kew-York is to be

pestered with plans for raising money to endow
agricultural colleges.

Jn Prussia everything is done by the govern-
ment. The government founds and regulates
the universities as well as the common .schools;
the government provides for religious instruc-
tion, for the building of churches and the ap-
pointment and sustenance of the clergy. It docs
all this without asking the leave of the people;
not for the reason that the people would not
provide as well by voluntary arrangements for
their own spiritual and liteiary instruction, hut
partly because it dcsius to have all the institu-
tions of education, o( every sort, in its own
hands, in order that the pupils may be trained
up in such a manner as to make quiet subjects
of an absolute government; and, in the next
place its policy is to keep the people from en-
gaging in public enterprises of any kind. I'or
all undertakings which bear the least resem-
blance to political transactions, for every insti-
tution, of any kind, which has any influence on
public ojiinion, the jjcople are taught to look to
the government. The government teaches; the
l)eo{)le learn and obey — public business is made
to tlie mass a mysteiy, Avilh the transaction of
which they arc not to intermeddle, nor presume
to discuss.

This is the sort of government whose acts arc
held up to the State of New- York as an ex-
ample. We are to go on, if this cla.'^s of poli-
ticians are allowed to manage our afi'airs, ac-
cumulating all manner of cares upon the govern-
ment till llie government agency has everywhere
sujiplanted individual enterprise and activity, as
it has in Prussia.

If agricultural .schools are wanted in this
state, if there is any better institution for teach-
ing how to take care of sheep, and manage
meadow lands, than the farm of one of our in-
telligent yeomen, there is none, the establish-
ment of which by voluntary cnterpri.se, is so
easy. Any man who under.stands practical
agriculture, with such a knowledge of the aux-
iliary sciences as are necessary for the present
improved modes of cultivation, might establish
a school, in which the jmpils would jiay for their
instruction by certain stated service, which of
themselves would advance their progress in the
arts of tillage and husbandry. Agricultural
schools would, in this way, be the most econom-
ical of all. and the scholar would be tiained up.
without expense, to the highest degru; of jirac-
tical exijertness, accom])anied with a competent
degree of theoretical knowledge.

In this manner model farms might bn estab-
lished in every county. If there is a real de-
mand for agricultural instruction in a formal
shape, how docs it hap])cn that we have no in-
stitutions of this kind already established? If
the demand for them Avas urgent and the jjcojiIc
impatient, institutions on the frugal basis we
have mentioned, would be founded all over the
country.

Tlie only conclusion to which we can
is, that there is as yet no call among 11

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

cultural population for the schools which the
politicians wlio hold that the government is to
do everything, wish to give them. 'When such
a call is made, there will be Imndreds of enter-
prising individuals jn-epared to otfer agricultu-
ral schools on the voluntary system.

A7e are somewhat surprised to see the com-
nion-plac? view of agricultural education taken
by the editors of the Post. We commend to
their attention the R(!port of the Massachus(!tts
Agricultural School Commissioners of last Janu-
ary.

A perusal of Professor Hitchcock's very
able report on the various Agricultural Schools
of Europe, inspected by him personally, will,
we think, change their views. Prof. H. states,
that the history of the Agricultural Schools of
Europe teaches conclusively, that Agricultural
Schools usually fiiil, if they do not receive ef-
ficient aid from the government. Also, that
when the government takes exclusive control of
the schools, (as in Prussia,) the people usually
take little interest in them. And lastly, he tells
us that " those agricultaral institutions suc-
ceed best which are started and sustained by
the mutual efforts and contributions of individ-
uals, or societies, and of the government."

The plain reason why some government assis-
tance is needed is, that one of the principal ob-
jects is to try experiments — in order to ascer-
tain the ntility or worthlcssness of supposed
discoveries and improvements. Now a private
school may be able to carry on a good system
of farming — but a private school will always do
what is most for the private interest of its prin-
cipal to do — which is to raise only the most pro-
fitable crops — and not waste money in experi-
ments. There are many branches of knowledge
that would be highly useful for a young farmer
living in a wheat district, to learn, that a private
farm-school in a grazing district would not find
it to its interest to teach; and there would be
many branches of knowledge that the young
former should acquire, which the limited means
(as to teachers, apparaturs, lectures, &c.) of
the private school, could not compass — ^and in
all these points tlie government would properly
come in to the aid of the school. On the
other hand; the young agricultural pupil should
not be wholly supported and educated by the
state — but should be obliged to pay something,
either in money or labor, or both — in order that

he may feel that he has a direct interest in the
maintenance of the institution.

It is, undoubtedly, but too true, that the
mass of the farmers feel but little interest in
agricultural education. But so it is with the
masses in every calling at first. The few more
intelligent, feel and see the evils of ignorance
and the value and power of knowledge, and it
is the few who always organize any such insti-
tutions. The common school system, which
everybody recognizes as the great institution of
this country, was not called for by the mass of
the people — it was urged upon them with diffi-
culty by a few of the more enlightened minds
of the country. Its value once demonstrated,
the people look with horror upon the mental
darkness of an uneducated nation. So, if the
value of agricultural, mechanical, and scientific
schools could be once fiiirly demonstrated to
the masses, they would at once be adopted,
univer.sally, as right sources of power and in-
fluence and wealth — in the same way as the
printing press and the post oflSce are so adoj)ted.
There can be no more real question about the
value of special education to the farmer or the
mechanic, in a republic, than there is of the
value to these men, of the thinking ficulty it-
self. If there is anything in agriculture or me-
chanics that makes any demand upon the think-
ing faculties of man, then those thinking facul-
ties should be recognised and educated in the
best manner for their special function. If there
is not, why then let the brutes take the sole
charge of the farms and workshoi)S — it is idle
for intelligent human beings to waste their time
and talents there. The truth lies in a nutshell.
Either fiu-ming is an intelligent occupation and
demands education, or it is not, and demands
only brute force. Take which ever form of the
dilemma you choose — farmers, editors, legisla-
tors!

Ashes vs. Curculio. — Dear Sir: Having
read much in your valuable and ever welcome
journal relative to the curculio,! thought I would
give you a statement which I heard made by a
person who has grown the plum with success se-
veral years, relative to his treatment of the tree
to prevent the ravages of the "turk." It was
this: when the tree is full in the blossom, and
early in the morning when the dew is
throw common wood ashes all throus:

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

branches and over the tree. One application to
each tree was sufficient, and had entirely freed
his trees from the Curculio, I give this to you
for what it is wortli, and you can make such use
of it as you choose. Yours, J. Hackett.

The "Wild Orange or Carolina Laurel. —
Dear Sir: I send you a parcel of seed of a
beautiful evergreen, known among us as the
wild or mock Orange. I infer that it is a
stranger to you, from having never seen it no-
ticed in your journal. Perhaps, however, you
may know it by some other name — if so, you
will identify it by the sprig of leaves, and by
the fruit, a small glossy black drupe, whicli I
enclose.

At the south we have many noble evergreens,
but not one which will surpass it either for ele-
gance or form, or for denseness or beauty of
foliage. It is a universal favorite, and, though
from the abundance of prussic acid which is
found in all parts of the tree, it is supposed to
be poisonous, it is found in every garden. I
have never heard of a serious accident from it.

It has tliis peculiarity that it bears the shears
well. I have seen it trained from the ground
in the proportions of the pyramidal cypress:
and again kept as a border-edging, though when
left to itself, it will attain a height of forty or
fifty feet, with a trunk of from nine to eighteen
inches in thickness. As a screen, too, it is at
once handsome and impervious to tlie sight. I
believe it would vvithstand your vigorous winter
climate well, for here it timws through a thick
coating of ice, with as little apparent damage,
as any deciduous tree of them all,

You will observe that they are enclosed in an
oil-silk bag, which will suggest to you the pro-
priety of planting them immediately. First.
lidwever, soak them for about twenty four
hoursin water, as this is always done by those
who succeed with it best. I have stripped off
the pincaps, a precaution which makes them
generally a sure crop.

Hoping that you will excuse the liberty I
have taken, and that the seed may reach you
safely, I am, very truly, &c. 0. Simth
Carolina, Dec. 5, 1851.

Our correspondent will receive our thanks
for the acceptable present. The evergreen is
the Cerasvn CaroIiniensis—nccLv\\- related to
those beautiful evergreens, the English laurel

and the Portugal laurel — which are the orna-
ment of almost every European garden. It
should be called the Carolina laurel — as it has
no affinity with the orange. We regret to say
that it will not stand the winters here, as we
have proved by trial . We think it will be hardy
at Baltimore, and we have sent the seeds to
Washington to be planted there, wliere this tree
will be very ornamental. Ed.

The Victoria kegia in the U. States. —
We copy the following interesting account of
this superb water lily, and Mr. Cope's successful
culture of it, from Dr. Emerson's admirable ad-
dress before the Delaware Horticultural So-
ciety.

The horticultural triumph, of which I have
attempted to give you a short description, as it
has been recently achieved in Europe, with the
aid of the science, slvill, and wealth there so
abundant, lias been promptly repeated on this
side of the Atlantic by Mr. Caleb Cope, Presi-
dent of the Philadelphia UorticnUural Society,
with whose company we arc favored on the pre-
sent occasion. When it is considered that in
Europe, the aid of princely munificence has
been called into re(piisition in obtaining the first
successful developments of the Victoiia Regia
at Chatsworth, Kew, and Zion House, the hor-
ticultural feat accompli.shed by our tasteful and
spirited fellow-citizen, must be tlic more highly
appreciated. The eclat of Mr. Cope's achieve-
ment is only equalled by the kindness he has
displayed, not only towards Iiis personal friends,
but tlie public at large, to all of whom his su-
perb conservatory has been freely opened. More
than this, many Horticultural Exliibitiuns have,
like the present, been supplied by him during
tlie blooming period, with flowers and leaves of
the Victoria Regia, which has greatly extended
the gratification furnished by a sight so perfect-
ly unique.

On the 21st of last March, Mr. Cope planted
in seed-pans four seeds obtained from England,
through the kindness of Sir Wm. J. Hooker.
Three of these grew, and one of the plants was,
on the 21st of May, transferred lo a circular
basin about twenty-five feet in diameter, en-
closed in a glazed house erected expressly for
tlie purpose. There it has been kept in water
maintained at the tepid tem])erature of 70° to
85° Fahrenheit. Tlic depth of water in the
tank or basin is about two and a half feet, and
the oozy soil at the bottom, into wjiich the roots
of tiic plant expands, is about tlie same depth.
It is worthy of notice that the first leaves pro-
duced did not exhibit the turned-up edge, or
salver-shajie, which contributes such an uncom-
mon appearance to to the i)lant, until about
twenty-four had grown. Ever since that
the leaves have been salvered as quickly .'
expanded. The development of a leaf.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

raising to the surface of the water, presents a
most curious siglit,not easily described. Rolled
into a body of a brownish color, and covered
with thorny spines, it might readily be taken
fur some large species of sea-urchin. The un-
der side of the leaves, as well as the long stems,
by which the flowers and leaves seem anchored
in the water, are thickly covered with thorns
about three-quarters of an inch long. On the
21st of August, just five months from planting
the seed, a flower was developed, and the suc-
cess of the interesting enterprise thus fully
crowned.

As yet Mr. Cope has brought forward only
one of the three plants produced from the four
seeds. But this has continued not only to keep
his tank, large as it is, always covered by its
immense leaves, some measuring six and a half
feet in diameter — many of which have from
time to time been removed and replaced by
fresh ones — but also furnished two flowers a
week since the first blooming. Some of tliese
flowers have measured seventeen inches in di-
ameter. The petals always open early in the
evening, and partially close about midnight.
During the daytime, therefore, the Victoria
Regia is seldom seen in fullest splendor, unless
when removed from the parent stem.

If the development of the leaves of the Vic-
toria Regia present such a singular appearance,
the successive movements or changes in the
flower are not less extraordinary and far more
beautiful.

The crimson bud, which for several days has
been seen rising, at last reaches the surface and
throws oft" its external investment in the eve-
ning, soon after which the flower petals sudden-
ly unfold, the expanded blossom, like a mam-
moth magnolia, floating upon the surface of the
water, decked in virgin white, and exhaling a
powerful and peculiar fragrance which hasheen
compared to the mingled odors ofthe pineapple
and melon. On the morning of the second day
another change is observed and the outer petals
of the flower are found turned backward or re-
flexed, leaving a central portion of a conical
shape surrounded by a range of petals, white
on the outside but red within. A slight tint
of pink is discernible through the interstices of
of these petals, which increases as the day ad-
vances. In the evening, about five o'clock, the
flower is seen to be again in active motion pre-
paratory to another production. The white
petals, which were reflexed in the early part
of the day, now resume their original upright
position, as if to escort their gay colored com-
panions surrounding the central cone to the
limpid surface below. After this the immacu-
late white of first bloom changes to gay and
brilliant pink and rose colors. Finally, a third
change ensues, marked by the spreading of the
petals further backwards, so as to afford the
enclosed fructifying organs liberty to expand,
are soon seen to rise, giving to the disk
flower a peach-blossom hue, the stamens
pistils at the some time assuming a figure

not unlike that of the old regal crown of Eng-
land. On the third day the flower is nearly
closed. All the petals seem suffused with a
purpli.sh i)ink ; the coloring matter, which was
originally only seen in the centre, having ap-
parently penetrated the delicate tissues of the
entire flower.

The leaves exhibited here do not belong to
the plant which produced the magnificent flow-
er before you, but were taken from a garden
tank in which Mr. Cope has brought forward
the lily under glass, without the assistance of
stove-heat. It is true this lily has not yet
bloomed, but the fine development of leaves
gives reason to believe that, with the aid of a
warmer sun than they have in England, the
Victoria Regia may be brought to perfection in
this country, even without artificial heat. In
order to give it every advantage, it will still be
necessary to start the plants in seed-pans plac-
ed in hot-beds, or heated conservatories.

In concluding thisbrief account of the Victo-
ria Regia, I may observe that to German and
French scientific explorers of primeval forCvSts,
is due the honor of first discovery and descrip-
tion, whilst to British activity and perseverance
we are indebted for the introduction of this
great floral prize into England, from whence it
has been brought to our own country. Mr.
Cope has succeeded in his first experiment, in
producing the Victoria Regia with larger leaves
and flowers, than any yet reported as having
been raised in Europe. In his conservatory
floats the Queen of Flowers in all her beauty,
attended by her natural but strange-looking
subjects, the orchids, suspended around in
groups, and mingling their f.agrance with her
own. In fact, the whole scene presented in the
lily-house is unique and highly impressive, well
calculated to awaken poetical conceptions,
among which it is easy to imagine a shrine con-
secrated to an oriental goddess, or grotto dedi-
cated to water-nymphs, and presided over by
^gle, the fairest of the Naiades.

Random Notes on Pears. — A few observa-
tions made during a short visit to some of the
eastern gardens, may prove interesting to the
fruit-growing readers of this journal.

Blight. — A remarkable fact, and throwing
some light (negatively,) on the pear blight, is
the entire absence from this disease among the
trees in the neighborhood of Boston. It seem-
ed indeed strange to hear such men as the pre-
sident and ex-president of the world-renowned
Horticultural Society there, inquiring for the
appearance and symptoms of the bliglit as of a
disaster personally unknown to them, but so
universally known and dreaded in AVestern
New- York and in Ohio. Boston and Rochester
are not dissimilar in temperature of climate,
hence wc cannot trace it satisfactorily or wholly
to the weather. Nor is rapid growth a neces-
sary cause, for more freely gi-owing tree
the thousands on the grounds of M. P. "\A'
S. AValkee, or C. M. Hovey, are nowlie

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

be found. A part of Col. Wilder's grounds
consist of reclaiiiied bog. with an ample addi-
tion of improving and fertilising materials; and
the finest jjear grounds belonging to President
Walker he stated had been very heavily dress-
ed with yard manure, with additions of ashes
and guano, and the whole repeatedly plowed,
and repeatedly subsoiled, till mellow and rich
in a high degree to a depth of about two feet.
The growth of the trees fully corroborated his
account. Limited observations at Philadelphia
indicated a somewhat similar condition of the
trees at that place.

Pyramidal Pears. — The finest collection,
perhaps, in this country, are the 1500 pj'ramids
of HovEY & Co., at Cambridge, some of them
10 foet high. The pear crop proving this year
mostly a failure, but few of them were loaded
with iVuit; but the beauty of their training,
as presented in the long avenues of these trees,
could .scarcely be surpas.sed by Cappe's cele-
brated trees of Paris. These were mostly, like
Cappe's, on pear roots. Equally handsome
specimens were observed on some parts of Col.
Wilder's grounds.

New Pears. — Of the newer varieties which
have been considerably proved, none appear to
be more generally admired than the Doyenne
Boussouck. for size, growth, productivenessand
quality. \Yc Jiave never heard a word against
its higli clianicter. The Beiirre Langelicr is
regarded by IIovey as the best early winter
I)ear, and is highly esteemed by Manning,
Walker, and others; wiiiie on the other
liand, Manning thinks the Lawrence is deci-
dedly the best, so far as a partial trial will in-
dicate. Col. Wilder finds the Doyenne gris
d'Hiver Nouveau of good quality, and ripening
later tlian Easter Beurre; the //owe// large and
fine; the Triowphede Jodigne. '' good ;" iVo!/-
rcawPoi'/cft?/, handsome and fine; and Soldat
Laboreur a beautiful grower and a fine pear.
Van Man's Leon le Clerc. as elsewhere, cracks
badly witli him, and the Dix very badly.
Some of the woi-st looking specimens of crack-
ed pears observed anywhere, were on a tree of
the Dix. Has this new and hardy American
tree already reached old age? Or will it die
of old age at Dorchester, at the same time it is
flourishing in youth and vigor near Rochester?
A puzzling fact in relation to cracking, occurred
on the grounds of the writer, — a young Do.y-
enne pear on new ground, while bearing its
first crop, became dotted with black specks,
precisely like those of leaf blight, on both
leaves and fruit at the same time, and the fruit
cracked and was worthless. Tliis was some
years ago, and has not been repeated. Not far
distant, on very similar soil, stood another old
Doyenne tree, bearing yearly six to twelve
bu.<;hels of uniformly fair fru'it. This fact is
very adverse to the i\^(-'OYy oi exhaustion of soil
by trees of long standing.

Robert Manning has found only two of
Knight's penrs of much value, the £)/ejfooc/ and
Moccas. The 3Ionarch. after a vast amount

of pains to get it correct, proves after all, of no
great value. Manning's Elizabeth, he regards
as one of tlie finest early pears. The Duchesse
d' Orleans ])romises to become very valuable.
Of Gov, Eewards' new sorts, the Calhoun
proves the best, and the Dallas a good fruit;
the others not so worthy of notice.

Standards on Quince. — Those sorts which
grow freely and endure well on the Ciuince, as
Louise Bonne of Jersey, Angoulemc, Glout
Morceau, &c., may be set out in orchards and
trained standard height. Specimens thus treat-
ed, more than twenty years old, bearing usual-
ly several bushels a year, were observed in a
fine condition in the gardens of S. Walker
and M. P. Wilder. The Langelier and Bous-
sock promise to be good for this purpose. — J.
J. T. in Cult.

Agricultural Jokes. — Punch, in the follow-
ing, wants to put the new reaping machine to a
novel use :

Mr. Punch presents his compliments to Mr.
Hu.ssey, and hearing that his reaping machin"^ is
the best for corn-cutting, will feel obliged by one
being sent immediately, as he wishes to cut his
own corns. Mr. Punch would not have troubled
the celebrated American Hussey, but his own
wife, Judy, is such a lazy hussey that she Avill
not perform the operation required.

An enlightened agriculturist out West, thinks
the best way to make farmers grow Madder, is

TO POKE 'em with SHARP STiCKs!

Pennsylvania IIort. Society' — Nov. 18,
1851. — The President in the chair. A collec-
tion of plants in pots, by John Lambert's gar-
dener, was interesting. This being the show
night for Chrysanthemums, there were eight
collections presented, in which were many of
the choicest kinds; and were from Robert Bu-
ist's, James Dundas', George North's, John Lam-
bert's, A. Parker's, and Caleb Cope's grounds;
the collection from the latter consisted of those
new and beautiful varieties called Lilliputian,
which have been recently iniported, and for the
first time shown; they are decidedly the pretti-
est of this tribe of plants. From the same
source was seen another of those exquisit<3ly
beautiful baskets of cut flowers, which for seve-
ral meetings past have graced the tables. contain-
ing the choicest flowers of the green-house, of
which many were from air plants, but as at the
last occasion, the crowning flower was the Victo-
ria Regia, the 24th production of the plant ;
although of smaller proportions than those
borne by the plant when in full vigor, still it
was a perfect gem, and much admired,
the fruits were seen beautiful specimens of pea

-w

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

i^

some luscious in taste — they came from II. W.
Cleveland, Bui'lington, Isaac P. Baxter, M. W.
Roe, of Woodbury, A. M. Eastwick, J. P.
Gushing, Mass. — the Dix, and a specimen of the
pound variety weighing twenty-two ounces,
from the slate foir at llarrisburgh. Three
tempting bunches of Black Hamburgh Grapes
were displayed by H. W. S. Cleveland. Seve-
ral dishes of Apples were exhibited, and were
from David Miller, Jr., Lancaster co. The
Fuller, Walder, Pittsburgh Pippin, Better than
Good, and Herman's Favorite. James II.
Watts of Rochester — the Northern Si)y — C.
Lee, Penn-Yan, the Wagoner; Mathew McKie,
the Clyde Beauty. Of vegetables, Anthony
Fuller, Jr., exhibited an extensive display ; and
Maurice Finn, gardener to Mr. Lambert, John
Gallagher, gardener to Miss Gratz, and Thos.
Mcehan, gardener to A. M. Eastwick, very cre-
ditable displays.

The President in a few remarks, in acknow-
ledgment to the society for the honor conferred
upon him at the last meeting, by the award of
the gold medal for his success in the cultivation
of the Victoria Regia, announced that he had
just received a very interesting letter from Sir
Wm. J. Hooker, which was read, expressing
his gratification at his success in cultivating the
Victoria, stating the fact of his having sent seeds
to Calcutta and the West Indies, where flour-
ishing plants had beeen grown and seeded abun-
dantly in the open waters. Mr. Cope remark-
ed, that the plant which he had growing in his
garden tank, had two flower buds when 't was
taken up recently.

A communication from A. II. Ernst, presi-
dent of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society,
was read, desiring that the great exhibitions of
the prominent horticultural societies should he
held at such times as would give the members
of each society an opportunity of visiting each
other's display, and thus derive information mu-
tually beneficial. The subject was referred to
the appropriate committee.

December 1(3, 1851. — The extreme seve-
rity of the weather precluded an extensive dis-
play, yet a number of objects of interest were
shown; of which were a collection of plants,
new, and recently introduced, and presented by
Robert R. Scott, consisting of D rimy s Winterii.
opogon fastuosum, Illicium religiosum,

Franciscea eximia, Veronica Andersonii and
Hibiscus, sp. The President's gardener exhi-
bited a beautiful and neat table design, and a
large and very handsome basket of the choicest
flowers; in the latter were specimens oi Phala-
nopsis amabilis, rare, and other new and valua-
ble OrchidacecE. Mr. Dundas' gardener brought
in a very large and fine pyramidal bouquet of
fruit. H. W. S. Cleveland exhibited three large
bunches of Black Hamburgh Grapes. Isaac P.
Baxter, dishes of Pears of the Passe Colmar
and Vicar of Winkflcld varieties. Of vegeta-
bles, there were seen very large specimens of
potatoes and onions, grown in California, and
shown by Wm. H. Evans. Very extensive ta-
bles of esculents in great variety, were present-
ed by Anthony Felten, Jr., and Miss Gratz's
gardener.

The committee for establishing premiums re-
ported a schedule for the coming year, which
was adopted by the Society. Tho. P. James,
Recording Secretary.

C(

iimm in dJ^nrrfspniikntH.

Half Hardy Plants. — W. P., (AuburU;
N. Y.) Chinese Azaleas arc almost hardy.
Messrs. Hogg, of N. Y., keep them in com-
mon frames — a box of boards covered with
glass — and the latter sheltered by a few mats
in very severe weather. Most of the Fuchsias
may be wintered in a pit without heat — espe-
cially if the pit is dry and sunk a couple effect
below the level of the ground. We doubt if
the Araucaria or Chili Pine will prove hardy
with you. If. it does, it will only he on very
dry, sandy soil. Plumbago Larpentce is found
hardy about Is'ew-York, in a dry soil and a
shaded situation. It bloomed abundantly and
was very showy from August to November.

Green Houses. — J Lady, (Norwich.) From
the account you give, we have no doubt your
plants suffer from the dry hot-air caused by the
flues being heated to a high temperature to
keep out frost. Yon should keep a large tin
vessel filled with water on the hottest part of
the flue and if you can contrive to introduce a
stream of fresh air from outside and let it pass
over a portion of the flues, so as to come into
the house warm, you will find the health of the
plants amazingly Improved by it. A
brick chamber formed around the furnace

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

nected with the open air by a pipe, and with
the air of the green house by another pipe,
would answer the purpose; — or a tin drum
might be formed over the hottest part of the
flue into which the outer air may be admitted
and passed into the house, when warm. Many
plants refuse to expand the flowers properly in
a green house when there is plenty of light and
heat, solely from the want of fresh air.

GoosEBEKKiEs. — A Constant reader, (Tren-
ton, N. J.) This fruit does not succeed here
so well as in England, because our climate is too
hot and dry for it. In Maine and Canada they
bear very finely. To succeed in your garden,
you must choose a border on the north side of
a paling fence — trench it two feet deep, laying in
the bottom spit of the trench a heavy dressing
of fresh stable manure. In this plant the best
English gooseberries, of such sorts as Crown
Bob, Gascoigne, AVhite-Smith,Royal Sovereign,
&c. The bushes should be about three feet
apart. When planted keep the bushes trimmed
to a single stem, and thin out the shoots, in
March, pretty freely. The next, and most im-
portant point, is to keep the whole border
mulched, 6 inches deep, to jjreserve the cool-
ness and moisture of the earth — in order to
prevent mildew. The best substance for mulch-
ing gooseberries is salt hay ; the next best tan-
bark. It is better to have a dozen plants grown
in this way, with large clear fruit than a hun-
dred, as we usually see them, covered with
mildew.

Growing Mushrooms in Winter. — /. B.
(Philadelphia.) Nothing is easier than to pro-
duce a crop of mushrooms under the stage or
under the walk of a green-house, if the walk
is one made partly open of wooden slats. All
you want is mushroom spawn, [seed] which
may be bought at any of the large seed stores,
manure and warmth. The following direc-
tions by Glenny, are so much to the point on
mushroom culture, that we cannot do better
than reprint them. The theory of growing

mushrooms may be reduced to a rule that is
unerring in numerous ways. First; horse
droppings, or short dung, with body enough to
generate heat, will alwaj's produce a crop of
mushrooms if spawn is inserted. Consequent-
ly, a mushroom bed may be made like a hot-
bed, anywhere, so that it be kept dry. Sec-
ond; horse droppings or short dung, in too
small a quantity to generate heat of itself, will
nevertheless, produce mushrooms when spawn-
ed, if the temperature of the house is kept up.
Consequently, a large pot filled all but two
inches with horse droppings, a lump of spawn
put in, and two inches of mould at the top,
will yield mushrooms in great plenty, if put in
a stove, (or hot-house of high temperature).
Shelves two feet wide, with a two-inch ledge in
front, may be filled as full as possible, on a
slope, with droppings or short dung hy which
means the wall of a shed or out-building capa-
ble of keeping the frost out, may be made to
hold several tiers, one above the other, two
feet distance being enough from one shelf to
the other, the moulding and spawning being
similar to all other beds; but the temperature
ought to be steady, and no draught admitted.
This mode of culture in a cellar is very desira-
ble, light being not at all requisite to the pro-
duction of the mushroom. The principal at-
lention required is to have the dung of a good
genial warmth at the time the spawn is insert-
ed. After it has begun to work well, all that
is necessary is to keep off frosty cold winds and
draught. A covering of clean straw is of great
service, and it must not be forgotten that mois-
ture is necessary, though too much of it is
mischievous. Mushroom houses have been
erected on various plans; but as almost every
kind of structure, from a cellar to an attic,
from a stove to a shed, can be made available,
we should never think of constructing a house
on purpose. There is not a corner that may
not be appropriated to the culture of this valu-
able esculent.

JOURNAL OF RUPiAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

cPitiipns llrtiring tn tljt (Tnuntni.

3N a former volume we offered a few words to our readers on the subject of choosing
^ a country seat. As the subject was only slightly touched upon, we propose to say
something more regarding it now.

There are few or no magnijicait country seats in America, if we take as a standard
such residences as Chatsworth, Woburn, Blenheim, and other well known English
places — with parks a dozen miles round, and palaces in their midst larger than our
largest public buildings. But any one who notices in the suburbs of our towns and
cities, and on the borders of our great rivers and railroads, in the older parts of the
Union, the rapidity with which cottages and villa residences are increasing, each one
of which costs from three, to thirty or forty thousand dollars, will find that the ag-
gregate amount of money expended in American rural homes, for the last ten years, is
perhaps, larger than has been spent in any part of the world. Our Anglo-Saxon na-
ture leads our successful business men always to look forward to a home out of the
city ; and the ease with which freehold property may be obtained here, offers every
encouragement to the growth of the natural instinct for landed proprietorship.

This large class of citizens turning country-folk, which every season's revolution is
increasing, which every successful business year greatly augments, and every fortune
made in California helps to swell in number, is one which, perhaps, spends its means
more freely, and with more of the feeling of getting its full value, than any other
class.

But do they get its full value ? Are there not many who are disgusted with the
country after a few years' trial, mainly because they find country places, and country
life, as they have tried them, more expensive than a residence in town? And is there
not something that may be done to warn the new beginners of the dangers of the voy-
pleasure on which they are about to embark, with the fullest faith that

smooth water?

Feb. 1, 1852.

No. II.

CITIZENS RETIRING TO THE COUNTRY.

We tliink so : and as we are daily brought into contact with precisely this class
of citizens, seeking for and building country places, we should be glad to be able to
offer some useful hints to those who are not too wise to find them of value.

Perhaps the foundation of all the miscalculations that arise, as to expenditure in
forming a country residence, is, that citizens are in the habit of thinking everything
in the country cheap. Land in the town is sold by the foot, in the country by the
acre. The price of a good house in town is, perhaps, three times the cost of one of
the best farms in the country. The town buys everything : the country raises every-
thing. To live on your own estate, be it one acre or a thousand, to have your own
milk, butter and eggs, to raise your own chickens and gather your own strawberries,
with nature to keep the account instead of your grocer and market woman, that is
something like a rational life ; and more than rational, it must be cheap. So argues
the citizen about retiring, not only to enjoy his otivm cum dignitate, but to make a
thousand dollars of his income, produce him more of the comforts of life than two
thousand did before.

Well ; he goes into the country. He buys a farm, (run down with poor tenants
and bad tillage.) He builds a new house, with his own ignorance instead of architect
and master builder, and is cheated roundly by those who take advantage of this mas-
terly ignorance in the matter of bricks and mortar ; or he repairs an old house at the
full cost of a new one, and has an unsatisfactory dwelling forever afterwards. He under-
takes high farming, and knowing nothing of the practical economy of husbandry,
every bushel of corn that he raises costs him the price of a bushel and a half in the
market. Used in town to a neat and orderly condition of his premises, he is disgusted
with old tottering fences, half drained fields and worn-out pastures, and employs all the
laboring force of the neighborhood to put his grounds in good order.

Now there is no objection to all this for its own sake. On the contrary good
buildings, good fences, and rich pasture fields are what especially delight us in the
country. What then is the reason that, as the country place gets to wear a smil-
ing aspect, its citizen owner begins to look serious and unhappy ! Why is it that
country life does not satisfy and content him ? Ts the country, which all poets and
philosophers have celebrated as the Arcadia of this world, — is the country treacherous ?
Is nature a cheat, and do seed-time and harvest conspire against the peace of mind
of the retired citizen?

Alas ! It is a matter of money. Everything seems to be a matter of money now-
a-days. The country life of the old world, of the poets and romancers, is cheap. The
country life of our republic is dear. It is for the good of the many that labor should
be high, and it is high labor that makes country life heavy and oppressive to such
men — only because it shows a balance, increasing year after year, on the wrong side
of the ledger. Here is the source of all the trouble and dissatisfaction in what may
be called the country life of gentlemen amateurs, or citizens, in this country — " it
don't pay.'' Land is cheap, nature is beautiful, the country is healthy, and all these
conspire to draw our well-to-do citizen into the country. But labor is dear, experience
is dearer, and a series of experiments in unprofitable crops the dearest of all ; and our

CITIZENS RETIRING TO THE COUNTRY.

citizen friend, himself, as we have said, is in the situation of a man who has set out on
a delightful voyage, on a !?mooth sea, and with a cheerful ship's company ; but who
discovers, also, that the ship has sprung a leak — not large enough to make it necessary
to call all hands to the pump — not large enough perhaps to attract anybody's atten-
tion but his own, but quite large enough to make it certain that he must leave her or
be swamped — and quite large enough to make his voyage a serious piece of business.

Everything which a citizen does in the country, costs him an incredible sum. In
Europe, (heaven save the masses,) you may have the best of laboring men for twenty
or thirty cents a day. Here you must pay them a dollar, at least our amateur must,
though the farmers contrive to get their labor for eight or ten dollars a month and
board. The citizen's home once built, he looks upon all heavy expenditures as over ;
but how many hundreds — perhaps thousands, has he not paid for out-buildings,
for fences, for roads, &c. Cutting down yonder hill, which made an ugly blotch in the
view, — it looked like a trifling task ; yet there were $500 swept clean out of his
bank account, and there seems almost nothing to show for it. You would not believe now
that any hill ever stood there — or at least that nature had not arranged it all, (as you
feel she ought to have done,) just as you see it. Your favorite cattle and horses have
died, and the flock of sheep have been sadly diminished by the dogs, all to be replaced
— and a careful account of the men's time, labor and manure on the grain fields, shows
that for some reason that you cannot understand, the crop — which is a fair one, has
actually cost you a trifle more than it is worth in a good market.

To cut a long story short, the larger part of our citizens who retire upon a farm to
make it a country residence, are not aware of the fact, that capital cannot be profita-
bly employed on land in the Atlantic states, loithout a thoroughly practical hrwioledge
of farming. A close and systeiuatic economy, upon a good soil, may enable, and
does enable some gentlemen farmers that we could name, to make a good profit out of
their land — but citizens who launch boldly into farming, hiring farm laborers at high
prices, and trusting operations to others that should only be managed under the mas-
ter's eye — are very likely to find their farms a sinking fund that will drive them back
into business again.

To be happy in any business or occupation, (and country life on a farm is a matter
of business,) we must have some kind of success in it ; and there is no success with-
out profit, and no profit without practical knowledge of farming.

The lesson that we would deduce from these reflections is this ; that no mere ama-
teur should buy a large farm for a country residence, Avith the expectation of finding
pleasure and profit in it for the rest of his life, unless, like some citizens that we have
known — rare exceptions — they have a genius for all manner of business, and can mas-
ter the whole of farming, as they would learn a running hand, in six easy lessons.
Farming, in the older states, where the natural wealth of the soil has been exhausted,
is not a profitable business for amateurs — but quite the reverse. And a citizen who
has a sufiicient income without farming, had better not damage it by engaging in so
ensive an amusement.
But we must have something to do ; we have been busy near all our lives, and

CITIZENS RETIRING TO THE COUNTRY.

cannot retire into the country to fold our hands and sit in the sunshine to be idle.
Precisely so. But you need not therefore ruin yourselves on a large farm. Do not
be ambitious of being great landed proprietors. Assume that you need occupation and
interest, and buy a small piece of ground — a few acres only — as feio as you please — but
without any regard for profit. Leave that to those who have learned farming in a
more practical school. You think, perhaps, that you can find nothing to do on a few
acres of ground. But that is the greatest of mistakes. A half a dozen acres, the
capacities of which are fully developed, will give you more pleasure than five hundred
poorly cultivated. And the advantage for you is, that you can, upon your few acres,
spend just as little or just as much as you please. If you wish to be prudent, lay out
your little estate in a simple way, with grass and trees, and a few walks, and a single
man may then take care of it. If you wish to indulge your taste, you may fill it with
shrubberies, and arboretums, and conservatories, and flower gardens, till every tree
and plant and fruit in the whole vegetable kingdom, of really superior beauty and in-
terest, is in your collection. Or, if you wish to turn a penny, you will find it easier
to take up certain fruits or plants and grow them to high perfection, so as to command
a profit in the market, than you will to manage the various operations of a large farm.
We could point to ten acres of ground from which a larger income has been produced
than from any farm of five hundred acres in the country. Gardening, too, offers
more variety of interest to a citizen than farming ; its operations are less rude and
toilsome, and its pleasures more immediate and refined. Citizens, ignorant of farm-
ing, should, therefore, buy small places, rather than large ones, if they wish to con-
sult their own true interest and happiness.

But some of our readers, who have tried the thing, may say that it is a very expen-
sive thing to settle oneself and get well established, even on a small place in the coun-
try. And so it is, if we proceed upon the fallacy, as we have said, that everything in
the coiaitrij is cheap. Labor is dear ; it costs you dearly to day, and it will cost you
dearly to-morrow, and the next year. Therefore, in selecting a site for a home in the
country, always remember to choose a site where nature has done as much possible for
you. Don't say to yourself as many have done before you — "Oh' I want occupa-
tion, and I rather like the new place — raw and naked though it may be. / will cre-
ate a 'paradise for viyself. I will cut down yonder hill that intercepts the view, I will
level and slope more gracefully yonder rude bank, I will terrace this rapid descent, I
will make a lake in yonder hollow." Yes, all this you may do for occupation, and find
it very delightful occupation too, if you have the income of Mr. Astor. Otherwise,
after you have spent thousands in creating your paradise, and chance to go to some friend
who has bought all the graceful undulations, and sloping lawns, and sheets of water,
natural, ready made — as they may be bought in thousands of purely natural places in
America, for a few hundred dollars, it will give you a species of pleasure-ground-dys-
pepsia to see how foolishly you have wasted your money. And this, more especially,
when you find, as the possessor of the most finished place in America finds, that he has
want of occupation, and that far from being fi.nished, he has only begun to elicit
best beauty, keeping and completeness of which his place is capable

TO GUARD TREES AGAINST HARES AND RABBITS.

It would be easy to say a great deal more in illustration of the mistakes continually
made by citizens going into the country; of their false ideas of the cost of doing every-
thing ; of the profits of fiinning ; of their own talent for making an income from the
land, and their disappointment, growing out of a failure of all their theories and ex-
pectations. But we have perhaps said enough to cause some of our readers about to
take the step, to consider whether they mean to look upon country life as a luxury
they are willing to pay so much a year for, or as a means of adding something to their
incomes. Even in the former case, they are likely to underrate the cost of the luxury,
and in the latter they must set about it with the frugal and industrious habits of the
real farmer, or they will fail. The safest way is to attempt but a modest residence at
first, and let the more elaborate details be developed, if at all, only when we have
learned how much country life costs, and how far the expenditure is a wise one. For-
tunately, it is art, and not nature, which costs money in the country, and therefore the
beauty of lovely scenery and fine landscapes, (the right to enjoy miles of which may
often be had for a trifle,) in connection with a very modest and simple place, will give
more lasting satisfaction than gardens and pleasure grounds innumerable. Persons of
moderate means should, for this reason, always secure, in their fee simple, as much as
possible of natural beauty, and undertake the elaborate improvement of only small
places, which will not become a burden to them. Millionaires, of course, we leave out
of the question. They may do what they like. But most Americans, buying a coun-
try place, may take it for their creed, that

Mail wants but little land below,
Nor wauls that Utile dear.

TO GUARD TREES AGAINST HARES AND RABBITS.

BY J. GIRARDIN, FRANCE.*

All gardening amateurs know, by e.vperience, that rabbits and hares are very fond of
the bark of young apple trees of a year's growth, and especially of dwarf apple trees, of
which the most vigorous and healthy, are always attacked the first, because the bark is
more tender and savoury.

As soon as the ground is covered with snow, these animals, finding nothing to nibble in
the fields, begin their devastations in the gardens; if they are numerous, and the snow is
abundant, a few nights will suffice to ruin completely the most beautiful plantation, and
destroy the result of several years' labor and care. Only a short time since, three hun-
dred fruit trees in the gardens and orchards of a land owner in the village of Othel in the
province of Hanover, in Belgium, were entirely stripped of their bark.

Fortunately, nothing is easier than to shelter one's trees from the attacks of these ma-
rauders, that are protected by the law; the following method is employed by M.le Baeon
Vander Straeten de Waillet, for six or seven years, with entire success :

He infuses about two pounds of quick lime, in nearly three gallons of water; he throws
several handsful of soot into this liquid, and stirs it until these two substances are
ghly mixed. He then makes a paste of a handful of fine rye flour and binds it in

* Translated for the Horticulturist, from the Circle pratique d'horliculture de la Seine Inferieure.

HINTS FOR COUNTRY HOUSES.

the form of a brush, upon a stick, and with this mixture he covers the branches and the
trunk of his trees, from the ground to the height of at least a yard ; as, if the snow should
be heaped up at the foot of the trees, by the wind, the hares could by its help, attain a
greater height on the bark of the tree.

This mixture applied quite warm, possesses the additional advantage of keeping the
bark in a state of preservation and health, and preventing the growth of moss, of which
the effect is often injurious, and which is always disagreeable to the sight.

It is best to use this means of protection early in November, during a dry season, which
will allow the mixture to adhere to the bark while drying. If there should be rain during
the operation, or immediately after, the trees would be washed and it would have to be
repeated.

If it should be done during a frost, there would be but little chance of success. The
plaster with which the bark had been covered might be thrown off in a thaw. If, how-
ever, by want of prudence, the operation is overtaken by the frost, and it is necessary to
act quickly, it may be done with success, by selecting that time of the day when the trees
are most exposed to the direct rays of the sun.

Twelve pints of this mixture will be sufficient to protect 3 or 400 dwarf trees against
the hares or rabbits, and may be obtained for a few cents worth of lime and one day's
labor of an active man. This method is equally infallible for preserving the grafts of all
nursery trees. J. Girardijst.

HINTS FOK COUNTRY HOUSES.

SEE FRONTISPIECE.

We have engraved for our frontispiece this month, a view of a very interesting old Eng-
lish building — known as Hayes Farm, in Devonshire. It is doubly interesting to us.
First, as having been the birth place of the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh — whose name
is always associated with the early history of America; in the second place, as a good ex-
ample of a style of respectable country house still very common in England. Simple in
character, built of solid materials, of ample size, and full of substantial comfort; it seems
to us a better type to study, and a better hint for a model, than most of the over-decorat-
ed cottages and villas at present so much the fashion. Of course, it is only a hint, for some
of the details are faulty, but the expression is genuinely that of a substantial country
house that has no pretension which it cannot fulfill, and which aims at being nothing
which it is not in reality. We like the simplicity of the solid walls of stone roughcast,
the plain gables and windows, and the ample porch. Diminish the size of this house to
suit our wants, and add a veranda, and a more appropriate style for a country house in
the northern states, is not easily attained.

CURLED LEAF ON THE PEACH TREE.

THE CURLED LEAF ON THE PEACH TREE.

BY C. E. GOODRICH, UTICA, N. Y.

In the culture of peaches here, an evil has been encountered for the last two years,
which, so far as I have experience, is new. You are doubtless aware that the elevation of
this part of the state, and its distance from large bodies of water, make its climate at best,
much cooler than at Buffalo, Albany, and Boston, which lie nearly on the same parallel.
Hence the culture of peaches here, at best, is difficult. The evil to which I refer is the
"curled leaf." There is a " curled leaf" noticed by Downing, which is described as
a trivial evil, and is, by him, ascribed to an insect. But the evil which I am now about
to describe is very formidable, and has resulted in my own case, in the almost entire de-
struction of the peach crop. I do not know its extent. I have heard of its existence in
various oarts of this state and in Ohio. A native of England told me recently that he had
seen it there.

In the spring, of 1845, I planted peach-stones, derived from a source now forgotten, if
it was ever ascertained. It would have been wise to assure myself that they were from
the north or west, since, both theoretically and practically, such stones are preferable to
those brought from the south. Some of these trees were budded with choice varieties,
named in the books; others were permitted to produce natural fruit. From the time they
began to flower, (in their third and fourth years,) until two years since, the great obsta-
cle encountered was the severity of the winter's cold, it being found that the depression
of the thermometer to from lO"^ to 15° below zero, for a few days, was pretty sure to de-
stroy the vitality of nearly all the fruits buds. For the last two years I have encounter-
ed a new evil — the " cuiled leaf."

The immediate facts in the case are these. Within one week, (sometimes a little less or
more,) after the trees are in full bloom, a red color, (at first verj' pale,) is seen upon the
young rosettes of leaves. This indication advances rapidly, sometimes over a single branch,
but usually over the whole tree, involving from a few leaves to nearly the vvhole of them,
according to the severity of the attack. The circulation seems paralyzed, so that the
3'oung shoots do not extend themselves; the leaves rapidly thicken, curl up, turn whitish,
pale, green, yellow, or almost any color, and acquire three or four times their proper
weight, become covered with insects in some cases, and soon drop off, carrying with
them whatever fruit had set. After this, in severe cases, the whole or a part of the tree
dies; but more commonly new leaves put out, especially from the extremity of the branch-
es, and from dormant buds, and soon clothe the whole tree with verdure. In a few cases,
more severe still, the tree dies in its first efforts to develop its leaves, which never expand
enough to show much curl of the leaf or the red tinge.

The Cause of the Curled Leaf. — It has been charged to insects, but my microscope,
(which is the kind called a " cloth prover,") and is of one inch focal distance, detects
none There arc insects seen in the later stages of the evil, among the convolutions of the
leaves, but they evidently came there as the}^ seek out other decaying vegetable or animal
matter, to find food and a home; and were no how the cause of the curl.

One thing is obvious to slight observation, that is, that the evil arises from within the
bud or tree itself, since the moment the leaves begin to expand, they are seen in many
cases to be taking on a sickly state. It should not be forgotten, too, that all this takes
at an earlier period than in.sects show themselves to any extent,
disease, for such I certainly consider it, is obviously the result of severe and

CURLED LEAF ON THE PEACH TREE.

timely weather, and admits of a ready and satisfactory explanation. Its history, in con-
nection with the state of the weather, during the last spring, will, I think, set this matter
in a clear light, and will show, moreover, that the peach suffers this liability to disease in
common with most tropical and semi-tropical trees and plants, and is closely allied to one,
(the most common) form of the potato disease.

From March 22d to April 1st, inclusive, the weather was very unusually warm, the
thermometer standing on the 30th at 75'^. The gooseberry was rapidly coming into leaf,
and the cherry and the peach were almost bursting into flower. I said to my family at
this time, " these trees must suffer. They cannot flower safely now, nor yet be safely
retained in their swollen state until the ordinary time of flowering," which is here usual-
ly between the 10th and 15th of May.

On the 2d of April commenced a season of cold and damp weather, (occasionally ex-
hibiting both frost and snow,) which continued exactly thirty-six days, i. e., until 8th of
May. On that day began a season of warm, impulsive weather, which brought the peach
into full bloom upon the 13th, i. e., in five days. Those buds that had been most excited
late in March, never opened. On examination they exhibited the elementary parts of the
flower in a dry and friable condition. The flowers which opened, exhibited various de-
grees of health. A few of them set fruit, but the most of them blasted. The same gene-
ral course was run by the leaf bads. A few whole trees, and many single branches on
others, never full}' expanded the leaf buds, but died in the effort. A few trees were scarce-
ly affected at all. Between these two extremes was every degree of suffering by the curled
leaf, the first exhibition of which began to appear on the 15th, three days after the trees
were in full flower. In one week after the first appearance of the curl, it was fully deve-
loped, as the season advanced with great rapidity.* What farther relates to this subject,
I will detail under the following particulars:

1. The glandless varieties, as a class, weie far less affected than the glandcd. Indeed,
the most of those were affected either in a small degree, or not at all. Now this is just
what might have been expected. Theglandless varieties always suffer from mildew on the
extremity of the branches late in the summer, the effect of which is to dwarf the tiee
slightly, and so render the growth more firm, and insure the earlier maturity of the bud.
There will thus be less soft and sappy wood, and fewer feeble buds on such trees. My
glimdcd trees were nearly all affected, the most of them badly.

2. Some glandcd trees that were very strong growers, whose fruit buds have stood the
severe cold oj lointer better than any others, suffered very severely. This may seem.strange
and contradictory, but admits, I think, of a ready explanation. These trees had well
matured their buds, and so stood the winter well while dormant; but the vigorous cha-
racter of the tree caused a proportionate early and vigorous start of the circulation in the
spring. This prepared them to feel a check in the circulation more fatally than trees of
less constitutional vigor, which started somewhat later, and less vigoiously.

As an illustration of this second fact, I observe that I have five seedling glanded trees,
all very rank growers, one an early fruit, one somewhat late, and three veiy late, which,

* Very similar was the we.ilher in J850. The winter had been unsteady and very mild. From April 24lh to STlh,
there were four very warm days, the thermometer rising to 76. Then it became cold and windy. By the first of May
the buds which l.ad been prematurely excited and then chilled, began to fall off. The flowers opened about the ]2lh,
and the leaf buds developing immediately after, showed signs of curled leaf From the 17th to the 21st, inclusive, the
weather was severe, exhibiting both frost and snow. Frost was subsequently reported as having occurred during
these severe days, in Canada, Boston, New-Haven and New-Jersey. Since IS 12 we have suffered no untimely

in the spring, equal to 1850 and 1851. Tlie weather from the ^llh to the Sth of April, inclusive, in ISW, came
nearest to it. We have not, therefore, had the same causes o[ curled leaf, at loast for many years, as in 1850

CUnLED LEAF ON THE PEACH TREE,

3'ear by year, both before and since the advent of the curled leaf, have stood the winter
well, and have been uniformly covered with flowers; and yet they have suffered peculiar-
ly from the ravages of the curled leaf for two j^ears past. The '" Teton de Venus" also,
though its fruit buds have not stood the winter well, is a very strong grower, and drops
its leaves in good suason in autumn, yet it has been almost ruined by the curled leaf.

3. In all cases where the center leaves of the bud when it lirst opened, exhibited the
cu)l, the shoot beneath never elongated at all, or not more than an inch or two, and then
the whole withered and died under the curl,

4. In those cases where thi center of the bud did not exhibit the curl, the shoot elon-
gated regularly, although as it grew there might be curled leaves at the base, and along
the sides of it. Such branches flourished, being a little dwarfed until they cast ofl" the
diseased leaves.

5. In a kwf cases the points of the shoots, and at other times the side and base leaves,
were found diseased with the curl in mid-summer. In all such cases there was a clear
connection between these diseased manifestations and the state of the weather.

6. Each one of my tnes, (I have five or six hundred,) so far as I have observed, haa a
definite proportional liability to thi curled leaf; that is, the tree that suffered severely,
slightly, or not at all last year, suffered similarly this year.

7. I think also, (althougli my attention has not been so definitely directed to that point
as to some others,) that those trees that are most liable to be heated in a calm warm day,
and subsequently to be severely chilled b3-cold wind, are also most liable to be affected by
curl. All this is consistent with another fact, that half hardy trees, of which the
peach is one, do undoubtedly succeed best when their position, on the whole, is a cool one,
and as little exposed as possible to clianges of weather.

8. So also, sickly trees are found in succeeding years, to be particularly exposed to the
curl. This results obviously from the foct that its whole vigor is reduced.

9. When first beginning to curl, the whole leaf, but particularly the foot stalks, ribs,
and glands, exhibit a high degree of transparency, and usually a redness. This, on ex-
amination with the microscope, exhibits no insect, egg, puncture, or other irregularity,
often not even the curl, in the very young state of the leaf. Its growth, also, for a few
days, seems nominally rapid. What strikes the observer is the transparency which seems
to reveal almost the whole interior circulation of the leaf; the wax-like smoothness of the
surface of the young leaves; the reddish tinge; the early disposition to cuil. This last
disposition is sometimes seen in the tendency of the two opposite halves of the leaf to ad-
here to each other, and at others, in the edges of the leaf to corrugate, just as in that form
of the potato disease that is caused by chills at a later period in the summer. The pro-
gressive enlargement of the leaf, its endless contortions, its changes to various colors, but
especially the studding of its surface loith delicate velvety blotches, of a most beautiful
texture and coloring, are all very noticeable facts. These velvety blotches are undoubted-
ly a fungus formation, not however, I think, of a parasitic character. Soon these pro-
gressive manifestations are finished, as the leaf blackens, dies and falls.

May we not derive some illustration of the mode of atmospheric influence in this case,
from the condition of leaves generally, in autumn. Then, when the light and heat are no
longer such as to satisfy the normal requirements of vegetation, when especially the down-
ward progress of vegetation has been hastened by severe and sudden frost, we see the same
discoloration and death. In the autumn, however, the deposition of woody matter in
ivf is complete. Hence, when those atmospheric changes come that paralyze the cir
ulation, and give to chemical law the mastery over vital energies, and the sap becomes

CURLED LEAF ON THE PEACH TREE.

acid, the leaf is not transparent, as in the spring, when the tissues were thin and imper-
fect, and the whole leaf was little more than an aggregation of thin vessels filled with
watery juices.

So of the curled leaf in the spring. The sap was excited at an untimely period, and
then, instead of being permitted to perform its proper office, that of expanding the flow-
ers, leaves, and shoots, it was held in check thirty-six dsxys this year, (though less than
that period in 1850,) and followed in the case of last year, by severe frost and snow. The
condition of the sap became necessarily morbid, as naturally and truly as in the parallel
case of an animal overheated and subsequently chilled. In the latter case feebleness, and
it may be fever or sores, follow as the natural proof of diminished vital energy, or morbid
condition. In the case of the peach this year, when the circulation revived, or at least
was greatly accelerated, on the 8th of May, the depraved state of the sap was seen in the
feeble flower and the sickl}' leaf, to say nothing of the buds which fell off, and the branch-
es that died without developing flowers and leaves at all, — buds, flowers, and branches,
which, before the untimely excitement of the circulation in March, were as promising as
any other.

Remedy. — It is quite too early to recommend a remedy with confidence. A longer and
more accurate acquaintance with the progress and modifications of disease, may be need-
ful. Yet I would with some assurance suggest

1. jIn immediate and temporary remedy. — This would be to permit the earth around the
tree to freeze deeply, and then cover it deeply with waste rubbish, so as to retain the tree
in a dormant state as long as possible, at least until the circulation may be permitted to
advance without fear of a check. I am aware that a large amount of fluid is stored up in
the tree in autumn, and that many of the roots penetrate below the ordinary reach of the
frosts. Hence it may be impossible perfectly to check the circulation. But I tliink the
mode suggested would in ordinary cases prove sufficient. Potato vines, buckwheat straw,
but especially evergreen boughs, would all be found useful. These might be placed near
the trees after the ground had begun to freeze, (before that it would invite mice.) The ap-
plication should be made when the frost and snow have most accumulated. They should
be renewed in this climate, (central New-York,) about the first of May. When the sum-
mer heat has well set in, and the earth is thoroughly warmed, it might be restored as a
means of defence against excestive heat and sudden changes.

2. The remote remedy. — This would be to jilant only the hardiest stones, such as come
from northern fruit. These would make hardier stocks than southern stones. In case of
cultivating seedlings, it would be w^ell to plant largely, and then, about the fourth and
fifth years, to reject all such as show themselves liable to the curled leaf. Had I proceed-
ed in this manner in the selection of my stocks, I should now be much better able than I
now am, to judge of this whole subject.

Results. — Wiih such stocks as I have, the following results have been arrived at:

1. The Teton de Venus, George the Fourth, and Late Yellow Rareripe, (all glanded va-
rieties,) are nearly a failure, usually, and almost entirel}'', from the winter's cold, and
equally from the effects of the curled leaf.

2. The Early Tillotson, True Early York, Red Rareripe, and Morris' Red Rareripe,
(all glandlcss except the last,) are a little better in regard to the winter's cold, and very
much better in respect to the curled leaf.

My other budded sorts are yet too young to be judged of with certainty. I hope,
er, the White Imperial will resist the curled leaf, especially where planted in moist
s has been recommended for this sort.

THEORY OF PRUNING FRUIT TREES, &c.

4. I have four seedlings that bid fair perfectly to resist the curled leaf, as well as the
winter's cold. Two of them are glanded and very late; the one a fair fruit for the table,
the other fit only for cooking. The other two are glandless; the one early and fine, the
other ver}' late, fit only for cooking.

With the foregoing precautions, I think the evils of the curled leaf will be remedied in
part, and in part avoided ; and that bj^ the latter remedy peach trees may be produced
whose buds will retain their vitality through the cold of all ordinary winters.

Such trees as set their fruit safely in May, and ripen in good season in the autumn, are
almost sure to find summer heat enough to mature rich and luscious fruit. By these
means I hope to see fair and tolerably constant crops of good peaches yet produced, in
seasons ordinarily favorable, even in Oneida county. C. E. G.

Utica, Dec. 23, 1851.

ON THE THEORY OF PRUNING FRUIT TREES, &c.

BY L. YOT'NG, SPRLNGDALE, KY.

Trees and plants cultivated for profit, yield their returns for the most part in secretions
of the leaf, or wood-bud system, as timbers, sugars, gums, &c., or in products of the flow-
ering system, in the form of blossoms, as hops; seeds, as nuts and cereals; or in coverings
of the seed, as fruits, cotton, and the like. Pruning, (except to effect or to promote sym-
metry of form, which is not here considered,) in the broad acceptation now given to that
term, means any lopping off from the roots or branches of trees or plants in cultivation,
with design to stimulate either the leaf-bud system, or its contrar}^, the fruit bearing.
To this diversity of motive in the action of the operator, the fact may be added, that the
nature of the part amputated, and even the time of amputation, has something to do with
the effect of pruning. It need not, therefore, excite surprise when we see it happen, as
happen it certainly does, that the most experienced practical cultivators lay down rules for
the guidance of others, discordant in themselves. A desire to aid in rescuing these rules
from their present apparent confusion, has induced the author of these numbers to submit
his views to the consideration of cultivators; and the elementary remarks contained in the
preceding numbers, were deemed indispensable to a classification of said rules, upon the
plan designed.

In treating of the antagonistic nature of the wood-bud force, and that of the fruit-bud,
I have already said, that according to the books, all the means pointed out as efficient pre-
ventives or remedies, in cases where trees or plants were disposed to feebleness of wood
growth, from over-bearing, or had already become weak, were in the nature of stimulants
or high feeding, either tending to increase the supplies of food thrown into the circulation,
or to rid the circulation from the effects of some exhausting influences; while all the
means recommended for inducing fruitfulness, in trees so vigorous as to produce wood
growth alone, to the exclusion of fruit-buds, are in the nature of debilitants. If, then,
fruitfulness be considered as a sort of mean proportion, a state of equilibrium between the
wood-bud force in preponderance, which is indicated on the part of the tree or plant by a
disposition to produce leaf-buds only; and the fruit-bud force in preponderance indicated
by that condition in over-bearing trees or plants in which few or no wood branches are
duced, then do these propositions become two elementary truths, touchstones
by which to try every rule of practice before its adoption as part and parcel

knowledge which constitutes the science of managing and pruning the orchard and fruit
garden, in their most essential particulars, the inducement and maintainance of fruitful-
ness; and it is in accordance with these propositions my classification will be attemped,
dividing the several processes of pruning into two classes, according to their repective na-
ture, and adding to each class such other processes as are adopted by cultivators in aid of
pruning.

Class I. — Stimulants to the wood-bud force — to be applied as preventives to trees and
plants in bearing, when disposed to feebleness, or as remedies, where feebleness from over
bearing is present:

1. Cutting out or removing at any time, in M'hole or in part, as the case may require,
from a tree or plant, the fruit-bud system.

2. Shortening-in the wood branches at any time after the close of one growing season,
and before the commencement of another.

3. Cultivation of the ground.

4. Manuring.

5. Any device for destroying hurtful insects or mosses, and for securing the health of
the roots or leaves.

Class II. — Debilitants to be applied as preventives against over-luxuriance in bearing
trees or plants disposed to excessive wood growth, or as remedies where the trees or
plants are unfruitful by reason of the non-development of fruit-buds.

1. Stinting supplies of food — by confining the tree or plant to a pasturage of limited
space, through means of root-pruning, or of stocks having a small system of roots.

2. Neglected cultivation.

3. Ketarding the circulation, by bending the branches and destroying capillarity.

4. Breaking the circuit of circulation during the growing season, and before the roots
have received an equivalent in vigor and enlargement, for the supplies sent upward in the
circulation.

It Avill be seen from the list of stimulants, that I enumerate two distinct processes of
shortening-in; one, proper only between the growing seasons; the other at all times stim-
ulating, in consequence, as I have supposed, of the parasitical nature of the parts remov-
ed. The bearing apple tree often exhibits striking proof of the parasitical action of the
fruit-bearing force upon the vigor of the tree, as also of the efficiency of shortening-in as
a counteracting stimulant; for it often happens that during the growth and maturation of
an excessive crop, not a particle of wood seems to be formed; indeed even the fruit-buds
for the succeeding )'ear, which generally lie at the point of the spur sustaining the fruit
which is being matured, are often starved out, or rendered so feeble as to perish in the fol-
lowing winter. Whenever the terminal fruit-bud is destroyed in this way, wood growth,
more frequently than otherwise, takes place from the first bud below or within the termi-
nal bud thus destroyed. This is shortening-in, performed by removing a portion of the
fruit-bud system, before the commencement of the growing season; one of the most unmis-
table instances of this process, and of its efficiency as performed by accidental means, oc-
curred under my observation in 1851, with two White Doj'enne Pears upon quince stock,
subjected on the first of May, when in full leaf and fruit, to a temperature of twenty de-
grees; every fruit, every leaf, and every bud was killed, and many fruit spurs sloughed off;
but now those trees are covered Avith a vigorous wood growth, many branches exceeding
a foot in length, although at the time of the frost, and for some years before, there was
present that scantiness of wood growth common to the pear dwarfed on the quince when
in bearing.

THEORY OF PRUNING PRUIT TREES, &c

I have in a former number adverted to the effects of removing portions of tliis fruit sys-
tem during the growing season, as M'itnesscd in a course of experiments with the peach;
but there is a plant in common cultivation whose history illustrates so forcibl}^ the debili-
tating tendency of the seed producing system, and the manifest relief to the general vigor
of the plant, consequent upon a removal of that system, whether sooner or later, in the
stages of its growth, that I am tempted to advert it, although perhaps at the expense of
that brevity projier for these numbers. I mean the tobacco plant, which, as every body
knows, is cultivated for its leaves; but these leaves are grown large or small, thick or thin,
at the will of the cultivator, who uses this same fruit or seed producing force as his chief
engine of control. Thus, if a heavy and thick article is desired, the upright leading shoot,
is pinched out before the slighest development of the seed system appears; in that case the
top leaves, although very small at the time of pinching out, expand, and in well cultivated
crops become the laigest of the plant, and the whole system of leaves keeps up an active
circulation with the roots till the approach of frost, constantly increasing in weight. If,
however, in the same field, other plants of equal thrift be allowed to grow until the em-
bryo umbels which would ultimately crown them if permitted to flower, are fairly deve-
loped, or in planter's parlance, until the " button" is formed, before the leading shoot is
cut off, no after care can make these leaves so large or so heavy as those upon the early
topped plant; and what is more, the longer the process of heading down is dela3'ed, the
lighter will be the leaves. In the first case we see striking evidence of the continued ac-
tion and reaction between the roots and leaves of the wood-bud system, during the grow-
ing season; in the latter, strong proof that the fruit or seed bearing system never ceases
to be a burden to the circulation, until it ceases to act. Cutting out, therefore, in whole
or in part, the fruit bearing system, is, whenever performed, a species of exorcism; a
freeing of the general circulation, in whole or in part, from the paralizing influences of
that magical power, which during the mysterious metamorphosis termed a develop-
ment of the fruit-bud system, as well as during its existence, seems to weigh like an in-
cubus upon the general vigor of a tree or plant; and if Forsyth had based his claims
to distinction and to national bounty, upon the fact of his having been the first who
wrought miracles by the potency of this charm in rejuvenating old trees, by heading them
back, and dressing the wounds with his peculiar composition — giving credit where it was
due, instead of bepraising a compound of inert ingredients, and thereby perpetrating the
egregious error of mistaking a trifling coincident for a most powerful cause, he would to-
day hold rank among practical philosophers, instead of being consigned, as he is, to the
companionship of humbugers.

As for the other processes listed in class No. 1, they all rest upon well known maxims,
and need not be enlarged upon; Cutting back the wood branches after the close of one
growing season, and before another begins, is lessening the number of individuals to be fed,
Avithout lessening the years' supply. Cultivation destroys rival feeders, and facilitates the
passage of the roots in rambling for food, whilst manuring enables them to glean more
food from a given extent of pasturage. All insects, fungi, or mosses, interrupt in some
way the circulation, so that their destruction is at all times invigorating.

I regret to see by an editorial remark in the November number of the Horticulturist,
that I failed to make myself understood in some comments upon Mr. Downing's method
of shortening-in. I have not intended to say that shortening-in, as ameans of preventing
the tree from enfeebling itself, was either inefficient or improper. So far from it, I consi
s process the means — nature's own means. The point I thought untenable
ctice, was prescribing this remedy somewhat as a panacea, and not as a specific. Some

OUR IMPROVING AGRICULTURE.

times a peach tree, three years old, and even much older, has only wood-buds, or wood
buds and branches, in very great excess; to shorten-in these in Februar}' or March, to
prevent their enfeebling themselves, would be defeating ourselves of what we most desired
— if, as is the hypothesis, such trees would remain unfruitful until reduced in vigor.

L. Young.

SpringdaU, Ky., Dec. 1851.

OUR IMPROVING AGRICULTURE.

BY HENRY F. FRENCH, EXETER, N. H.

The present Governor of Massachusetts, in his proclamation for thanksgiving, suggests as
an occasion for public gratitude, "the increased attention given to agriculture;" and per-
haps there is no change in public sentiment of recent date, more worthy of notice than the
fact to which he rcfeis. That it is a fact, will not be doubted by any careful observer.
Agriculture in England, and on the continent of Europe, has long been regarded as of the
very first importance. It is a leading, if not tlie leading subject of conversation there,
among gentlemen in the higher circles of society. And well it may be so, as the wealth
of the nobility, the prosperity of the middle classes, and the salvation from starvation of
the laborers, are plainly seen to depend upon the crop. In Ireland, if one potato crop
fails, thousands of the population, perhaps, die of starvation. In America, if our pota-
toes fail, we merely change our diet for the time, and live just as well upon corn.

But although the fear of actual starvation does not affect us, the fact is, that agricul-
ture, as his Excellency the Governor suggests, is getting to be quits the fashion through-
out the country. Farmers' clubs are taking the place of caucuses, and cattle shows of
military musters. Everj'- man who has land, is endeavoring to raise a premium crop, and
they who are landless, are trying to keep up with the times, and serve their country with
pen and ink, and such other agricultural implements as they may have at hand. Not long
ago, I metan itinerant lecturer who was traversing the country, "astonishing theuatives"
with his learned talk about silex, alumina, and divers other

" Latin names for horns and sloves,"

and discoursing most eruditely before the public on agricultural chemistry. He said he
sometimes lectured on animal magnetism — that he was familiar with "all those subjects,"
but that nothing -paid quite so well just now as agriculture! He had fortified himself
with a full set of Professor Mapes' Working Farmer, and other " good Avorks," and
with abundance of assurance instead of " faith," to match, was warmly advocating the
expediency of working the land at least three feet deep, in a neighborhood where it would
be a fair forenoon's work, to get a churn-drill to that depth!

However, he judged wisely what topic would most interest the people, and how he could
best get their money. And now, while there is an interest so deep and universal on this
subject, while not only men of true science are diffusing valuable knowledge through the
land, but Avhile quacks and charletans are endangering the safety of the cause by the care-
less use of other men's thunder, it may be interesting to inqure what is reasonably to be
expected of science applied to the culture of the earth, of which so much is said and writ-
ten.

From the remarks of some writers, it might be inferred that agricultural science, and
Uy agricultural chemistry, is to make plain all the hidden things of creation
light we shall discern all the peculiar properties and components of every

OUR IMPROVING AGRICULTURE.

from the " hyssop on the wall" to the " Cedar of Lebanon;" that we shall so perfectly
comprehend its structure, that we shall, by-and-by, be able to collect the materials and
build a plant, as we do a plow or cart.

It is true, science may do much for agriculture. She may lead to improvements, as she
is constantly doing, unattainable without her aid. She may analyze the crop growing up-
on our field, tell us accurately ever}'^ element of which the plant, at each stage of progress
from blade to flower, from flower to fruit, is constituted. She may analyze the soil, and
a.scertain with precision its elements, and so inform us how far it may supply the requi
site food for the desired product. She may catch the falling rains and dews of heaven,
and in her crucibles, resolving them to their primary principles, make them disclose how
far they may be expected to contribute to the growth of leaf and stem, and flower and seed.
She may even take captive the winds, and learning of what their balmy breath is made,
estimate with tolerable accuracy their influence upon vegetation. She may make analj^ses
of the various substances used by the farmer as manures, and see in which of them may
be detected those constituents of vegetable growth which are most abundantly supplied by
the earth, the water and the air, and so direct him to the most economical expenditure of
his treasures.

Science may explain to us the effects, both chemical and mechanical, of draining and
deep plowing — how by these operations the elements of fertility are drawn from " the hea-
vens above and the earth beneath" — how the roots of the plant are thus enabled to tra-
verse far and wide, selecting such aliments as its peculiar structure may require. She tells
us how, by judicious amendment of the soil, as by adding sand to clay, we may render
it more open to the action of the sun, more permeable by the dews and rains — or how, as
by adding clay to sand, it may be made more compact, and more retentive of water and
manures.

Science may teach us the history oj domestic animals, their varieties and qualities. She
may give us the results of careful observations for centuries, upon the effects of crossijig
upon the different breeds, and so inform us how far we may reasonably expect the trans-
mission of peculiar traits, moral or physical, from one generation to another. She may
teach us the history of 6ircJ!s — how industriously they co-operate with the husbandman in the
destruction of myriads of insects, which, but for their aid, would over run his fields, and
devour his harvests, thus teaching him to regard their song with pleasure, their presence
as a blessing, instead of waging against them, as he did in less enlightened days, a cruel
war of extermination. She tells us how the wood-pecker, formerly regarded as a deadly
enemy of the orchard, guided by an instinct alike unerring and wonderful, strikes her
sharp beak through the bark, and drags with her barbed tongue, from his concealment,
some worm which is slowly working his destructive way beneath. She tells us how the
beautiful Oriole, so often regarded and destroyed by the market gardener, as an enemy
of his peas, is only devouring the larvte of the pea-bug, which is already full grown in
the green pea fit for the table, and would otherwise make part of some favorite customer's
dinner, who, as likely as not, might fancy himself to be living on a strictly vegetable diet!

Science collects and arranges the statistics of agriculture, collects and compares the va-
rious results of occasional or systematic experiments, so essential to right conclusions.
She warns us how the resources of the earth are exhausted by the constant conveyance
of its fruits to great cities, without adequate provision for the return of their fertilizing
products to the soil; how, in the language of a reliable writer, " there has been enough
of the elements of bread and meet, and wool and cotton, drawn from the surface
earth, sent to London, and buried in the ground or washed in the Thames, to feed

OUR IMPROVING AGRICULTURE.

clothe the entire population of the world for acentury, under a wise system of agriculture
and horticulture."

She shows us how the virgin soil of the New World has been already rifled of its trea-
sures; how the American idea of developijig the resources of the country has led to the
construction of railroads and canals, on which, in the form of wheat and corn, the ele-
ments of fertility — the very life blood of the earth, have been freighted away and sold for
money, and no return has been made to the land, till the fertile soil of some counties in
New- York, which once produced an average crop of thirty bushels of wheat to the acre, now
produce but seven or eight; how the continued cropping of lands in parts of Virginia and
other more southern states, with tobacco, has literally laid the land desolate, and com-
pelled its inhabitants to seek new homes, on a soil fresh from the hands of the Creator.

And so we are made to perceive, that a system leading to results so disastrous, can be
but temporary, and false, and ruinous; that in the New World we have heretofore but
gathered the almost spontaneous fruits of the soil, and now must gird up our loins for se-
vere and intelligent labor.

In these, and in a thousand other modes, does science aid and direct, and warn, and in-
struct us. In every form, in every department, is she destined, even more and more, to
render us assistance. They who sneer at her name as connected with agricultural pro-
gress, do but show their own ignorance.

But, while we would gratefully avail ourselves of every branch of science, it is impor-
tant that we remember that Ave labor in a boundless field, and that, although we maj^ con-
stantl}^ advance in the study of the operations of nature, we are at all times liable to er-
ror, and often groping blindly in the dark, in our endeavors to solve her mysteries.

The agricultural chemist is subject to peculiar embarrassments in his investigations.
Although the operations of chemical affinity, and the results of chemical combinations, are
doubtless governed by laws as uniform as those of gravitation, and the revolutions of the
heavenly bodies, so that the chemist in his laboratory, maj' pursue his experiments with
almost the certaint)' and clearness with which a mathematician pursues his premises to a
demonstration; yet it is quite otherwise when he attempts to apply his principles to the
growth of plants. In the one case, he deals with two or three elements of known and cer-
tain qualities; in the other, his expected results may be influenced bj' the unsuspected pre-
sence or action of various substances or agencies. The elements, which in his vessels of
glass, will combine but in uniform proportions, and form but one single compound, in the
earth may be afTected by other agents, in such a manner as to prevent the combination ex-
pected, and produce results entirely different.

And this is b}^ no means all. In every question affecting the growth of plants or ani-
mals, we are involved in a mystery far more perplexing than even the abstruse doctrines
of chemical science. I refer to the life principle.

We know that the seed has power, under certain circumstances, to germinate, to strive
upwards for light, to put forth leaves, and flowers, and fruits, and that it finally dies. We
know, that on the same soil, watered by the same rain and dew, breathed upon by the
same air, gladdened by the same sunshine, spring up the rose and the lily, the crocus and
the violet, plants of various leaf, and flower, and seed — spring up and flourish side by side
together, each retaining its peculiar nature, each selecting from the air, the earth, the
water, its appropriate nourishment. We know that plants seem endowed with certain
instincts ; that flowers turn towards the light; thatcertain of our trailing vines will turn
their direct course in a single night, to seek a vessel of water placed near them

found next morning with a leaf floating on its surface.

SHOULD A REPUBLIC ENCOURAGE THE ARTS.

We learn that climbers will seek a prop or pole placed near them in any direction, and
that having reached it, some of them, as the hop, will invariably twine about it, only in
one direction — from east to west, rvith the sun, and as if to confound all human reason-
ing, and silence inquiry even as to the cause; other species, as the bean, twine around the
support in the contrary direction, and this with sucli uniformitj', that among a million of
such plants, no single exception can be found!

The mysteries attendant on animal life, sire still more startling and complex than those
connected with vegetable growth. The influence of the mental and physical qualities of
the parent upon the offspring, the circulation of the blood, assimilation of the food for the
formation of the various bodily organs, are all mj'steries passing our present knowledge.

Bodies, under the incomprehensible laws of this life principle, seem released from chem-
ical rules, and are converted into other bodies, having properties, apparently, entirely dis-
tinct and new. The egg, by the application of heat merely, is converted into the flesh,
and blood, and bones, and feathers of a young bird, and milk, the sole food of many young
animals, is changed into the diverse constituents of their breathing bodies.

The chemist and philosopher can offer no explanation of these and a thousand other fa-
miliar facts, and this consideration should teach us, while we ardently pursue to their ut-
most limits, the investigations of true science, not to expect from her aid a sudden and
transforming change in our whole system of agriculture, and not to give heed to the crude
speculations of every plausible theorizer. Science may do much, but she cannot do every-
thing, and some men are disposed to refuse her aid altogether, because she will not pretend
to solve all mysteries.

The story of the good woman who went to a place where she had heard chickens were
hatched by steam, illustrates the temper of such persons. She was shown the eggs depo-
sited upon cotton in drawers, subjected to the proper degree of heat. "What," she ex-
claimed indignantly, " hatch chickens out of eg§s, and that's all — who couldn't hatch
chickens out of eggs?"

Our farmers must bear in mind, that the progress of scientific investigations must be
slow and cautious. They must not expect, though theorists suggest it, to manure their
fields by electricity alone, or to raise fine crops upon flowing sands, by merely steeping
their seed in some fertilizing compound. The old clergyman's answer to his servant, who
asked him to pray for a good crop on a very barren field, was judicious — " No, Sam, I
think praying alone will hardly do for that piece; we had better give it a little more ma-
nure first."

Theorizing and talking about science, are not farming, nor, on the other hand, are a dog-
ged perseverance in old modes of husbandry, and contempt for the aid of the thinking
men of our day, very sure indications of wisdom. Henry F. French.

Exeter, N. H., Jan. 5, 1S52.

SHOULD A REPUBLIC ENCOURAGE THE ARTS?

BY CALVERT VAUX, NEWBURGH, N. Y.

[Tt has been honestly urged by some of our severest democratic presses, that a govern-
ment like ours should necessarily confine its duties to making and executing the laws, and
no powers being delegated to it for any other purposes, it has no right to assume
even for public education by common schools, &c., much less for that species of

SHOULD A REPUBLIC ENCOURAGE THE ARTS.

higher education which grows out of a direct encouragement of the arts, as having a spe
cial influence in enlightening and refining the people at large, by the erection of fine build-
ing, galleries of pictures, statuary, &c. The following remarks, from one of our corres-
pondents, have been written in answer to this doctrine, and are worthy of attention.
Ed.]

It is argued that the members of a republican government, like that of the United
States, being appointed solely for the purpose of carrying out in practice the political will
of the people, are not justified, in their official capacity, in devoting either their own time
or attention, or the funds of the nation, to any other purpose whatever, and consequent-
ly, that the fostering or advancement of the national taste, in matters of art, having noth-
ing to do with politics, is a subject over which the members of the government have no
control, and one with which they have no manner of business. This position, according
to the strict limitation of the official powers, members are at present delegated to exercise,
appears incontestible, and it seems evident that without being anew specially authorized
by the people, the government has no right to sanction the expenditure of public time or
public money, for any such purpose. It is, however, not uncommon to hear it asserted
on this ground, that no outlay of thought or money on national public buildings, is justi-
fiable, beyond what is necessary to procure, in the most commodious, substantial, and eco-
nomical manner, the accommodation required. Moreover, that architecture demands
something beyond skillful planning, sound materials, and good workmanship, and that
this " something beyond," not being absolutely requisite for the convenience or stability
of the structure proposed to be erected, and having nothing to do with politics, is beyond
the province of the government. As this deduction, though plausible, does not seem in-
contestible, it may be worth while to investigate its merits.

In the first place, then, it seems clear that the providing suitable national buildings, as
public exigence requires, is a necessary part of the business of government — there is no
other authority by which such works can consistently be set on foot; and it will hardly be
denied by any one, that it is a duty of every government to take care that the public is
not injured for want of proper attention being bestowed on such matters. Now, the art
of building is every way in itself, as far removed from politics as the art of architecture;
yet it appears that it may, (or rather must,) become the true policy of every government
to have something to do with the art of building — consequently, it is evident that the sim-
ple non-connection of any subject with political questions or politics, according to the po-
pular definition of the word, is not of itself, a sufficient reason for its being considered
beyond the scope of the government, for the rule that fails in the one case, can scarcely be
held binding in the other. Before the consideration of any subject can be rightly ignored
on this ground, it must be fairly proved to have no legitimate bearing on any act that the
government, in its trul}-- political character, is bound to perform. The representatives of
the nation, therefore, being forced, from the nature of the case, to undertake the responsi-
bility of erecting suitable buildings for all the national exigencies of public business — are
apparently bound to decide on the claim of architecture to a place in their calculations —
not on the ground of its connection or disconnection with political questions, not in any
way with reference to the encouragement its admission to consideration may give to art,
nor to the effect it may have on the tastes of the people — but simply on the ground of its
suitability or unsuitability per se, to the particular national buildings they are called on to
construct. This view of the matter, if correct, will at once materially narrow the question

issue, if we allow the word suitable to be only properly applied, when used to embody
dea of that perfect special fitness which it is the duty, as well of individuals as of pub-

SHOULD A REPUBLIC ENCOURAGE THE ARTS.

lie bodies, to aim at expressing in every act, great or small, public or private, which they
may essay to perform.

Is architecture then suitable to public buildings? Is it necessary for the purpose of mak-
ing them " perfect" and " specially fit?" — that is the question, and the only question that
properly belongs to the case under consideration. To arrive at any right conclusion on
this point, it is clear that the meaning of the word architecture must be fairly understood
and allowed beforehand. The most simple and true definition of it, that seems to be at-
tainable, is that it is " the art of the beautiful in building." There seems no ground on
which an argument could rest, capable of proving this to be a false definition, and as it is
sufficiently intelligible, it seems needless to seek for any other. Taking then this definition
as granted to be correct, architecture is the whole art of giving to a building all the beau-
ties or perfections of which it is capable; perfection of plan and perfection of execution
(of which buildings are undoubtedly capable) being of course parts of this whole, the re-
mainder, whatever it is, being something beyond these. The first deduction that neces-
sarily follows, is that there is no such thing in existence, or capable of existing, as good
building exclusive of architecture; for every quality in a professedly unarchitectural build-
ing, that gives it a title to the name of good, is necessarily a perfection or beauty either
of convenience or construction; and "all" perfections and beauties in building, being
claimed to be the peculiar province of architecture; such a building would not be unarchi-
tectural, but partially architectural, and only good to the extent that it was architectural;
this seems to be the true state of the case, and therefore the line drawn just now, for the
convenience of argument, between the art of building and the art of architecture, appears
to have no real existence, and consequent!}'' government, in erecting commodious public
buildings, cannot ignore architecture entirely, and its claim to consideration becomes solely
a question of degree — a question of how many or how few architectural beauties or per-
fections are suitable to the building under its control.

The thing then to determine, is, supposing perfection of plan and execution to be pro-
vided for in any public building, what is the next perfection of which it is capable? To
decide this intelligibly, it may be useful to prove the analogy, if there is any analogy,
between the art of the beautiful in building, and another art which may be more easily
agreed on, viz: the art of the beautiful in speaking, if there is in fact any practical
analogy between architecture and eloquence. In the first place then, they have each one
quality in common, that of being effete without being called into existence for a purpose;
a building without an object, or a speech without a motive, is simply impertinent. The
one, to be sure, has all the primitive quarries, mines, and forests of nature, for its materi-
al; the other has but one alphabet of a few letters, for its primary resource.

The next process in the one, is to convert its material into shapes, proved by experience
to have single positive qualities suited for single specific purposes, and stones, nails, and
timbers are the result; a similar process takes place in the other, and we have words.
Combination then takes place in each, for the embodiment of more knowledge. Walls,
floors and roofs on the one hand; sentences, clauses, sections, on the other; the result in
one is a building, in the other a speech. The analogy seems perfect up to this point, and
only fails when attempted to be instituted between the object of the one and the motive
of the other. These are different; the object of a building is to embody working facts de-
duced from principles; the object of a speech, is from working facts already in existence,
to hew out principles that shall result in future action. It is in its essence progressive: it
the engineer who takes the level, and the pioneer who removes the obstacles in the
f improvement, while it is the mission of architecture to supply the paving stones

SHOULD A REPUBLIC ENCOURAGE THE ARTS.

that make that way a road fit for convenient use; and in its most extended sense it is the
privilege of architecture to embody what is doing, and that only.

A man may surejy be justified in saying of a people — give me a list of their build-
ings, and I will give you a list of their occupations, and the principles that are at work
there; but such a list would never show what such a people would do, or what its
principles Avould be at a future time. To form a private opinion on that point, it would
be necessary for a man to take up the thread of the argument, where the facts showed
that the art of eloquence had left it, and argue the matter out, silently or otherwise,
according to the requirements of the latter art. This difference in the analogy which
clearly exists, has, however, nothing to do with the machinery or working of either art,
and for the purposes of the present case the analog}' seems perfect. To place then a pub-
lic speech on the same artistic footing on which our public building was left previous to
this digression, it must first be calculated to achieve its end thoroughly, and be clearly
enunciated. Now is there any other perfection that ought, beyond cavil, to find its ex-
pression in a public speech.' Certainly there is atleast one, and that one is courtesy. A
senator, who should defend a rude speech, however forcible, on the ground that he
did not consider that the public paid him for occupying his time on such a subject,
Avould be considered foolishly ignorant. A speech, to be good, according to universal ac-
knowledgment, must be, at any rate, both forcible and elegant or courteous. The presence
of one quality will not compensate for the absence of the other, and this elegance must not
be protruded; it must be inherent, it must be thought of beforehand in every word, clause
and sentence, to give satisfaction. No generally offensive speech, will be mended by tack-
ing stereotyped compliments on to it, which would only make it the more insulting; it
must achieve its end, and in the process of achieving it, whatever other perfection it may
realize, it must at least offend as little as possible; otherwise it is felt to be tyrannical and
insupportably selfish, and is justly disliked by all who hear it spoken. Now this deduc-
tion may, without the slightest alteration, be applied to every public building; what other
perfection it may, beyond convenience and stability, be capable of, it must at least oflPend
as little as possible; otherwise it is felt to be tyrannical and insupportably selfish, and
is justljr disliked by all who see it built. If the truth of this deduction is granted, the
argument may readily be carried forward through all its various stages to this point, that
a great public speech on a great public question, affords one of the limited natural op-
portunities for the highest efforts of the art of eloquence; and if it is right for government
to insist on such opportunities being neglected, it is equivalent to affirming that man has
been gifted by his Creator with capacity for realising a certain perfection, but that they
feel bound in this political position to say they are instructed by the people to consider
this an unnecessary gift, and have accordingly made up their minds to strangle every pal-
pable opportunity that occurs for its exercise; and the argument thus carried forward, ap-
plies as accurately to architecture as to eloquence, for that the Creator created man with
a capacity to develope beaut}^ in buildings, no one will deny; or, according to all rules of
consistency, that the buildings for the most valuable and important purposes, are the only
proper field for the highest possible developments of that capacity, and therefore the sim-
ple case is that the government is placed in the position of asserting that they are instruct-
ed by the people to ignore the existence and deny the opportunity for the use of the noblest
gifts of the Creator.

One other objection has been raised, and that is, that the admission of the right of gov-
ernment to include, in any way, such subjects as architecture, in its idea of public wants,
and to spend public money thereon, has an unavoidable tendency towards corruption in

SHOULD A REPUBLIC ENCOURAGE THE ARTS.

the state; that it is much better that such matters should be left for free development by
the people at large; and that the government should not mix up any irrelevant matters
with its own special department.

To take the last expression of pseudo-policy first, it is surely clear, that however it may
apply to art or architecture, or anything in general, it is manifestly impertinent to the par-
ticular case under consideration — the case of a public building — because the people at large,
whatever their wish, have no opportimity to develope, except through their government,
anything in a matter that is unavoidably under the sole control of that government.
Therefore, this pseudo-policy points simply to utter non-development in national instan-
ces, which alone are being discussed. Next, of the unavoidable tendency to corruption;
that is the positive basis of the objection. It is at once confessed that it is not without the
bounds of possibility that this objection may be a true one; but if true, let us see what is
the position it involves. In the first place, it palpably admits that all the laws are insuf-
ficient, either to prevent, detect, or punish dishonesty. If not, why can it not be prevent-
ed, or detected and punished, in such a flagrant case as the one under discussion, — one
that must of necessity occur under the immediate eye of the very makers and guardians
of those laws. In the second place, it asserts that all the professional and business men
in the country, M'hose abilities or interests are connected with the erection of buildings, are
rogues, for if there is one honest man among them, it is the natural course for faithful
agents to see that he, at least, is fully employed. In the third place, it asserts that all the
members of the government are rogues, (corruption pre-supposing collusion.) For if
there is one honest man among them, it is the clear policy, even of the dishonest whocon-
stitue the remainder, to appoint that one to see that, (in a matter in which they are not
individually, as dishonest persons, interested,) they are not injured by the mis-appropria-
tion of funds, that each, in his capacity of a member of the community, is taxed to real-
ize. In the fourth place, it asserts that all the political majorities of the constituencies are
rogues, for if there is one honest man in any of them, aye, or out of any of them, even in
the minorities, why is he not elected to the government office, when it must be clear to all
the remainder, (rogues though they be,) that healonehas the capacity for acting in a manner
disconnected with unprincipled private interest, — the only man, in fact, whom any one of
them would feel safe to be any gainer by appointing. The objection then, reduced to its
elements, is practically a four-fold accusation against the character of the laws, the pro-
fessional men, the government, and the people of the United States. This insulting accu-
sation will hardly be allowed, and yet it may be said, " the thing don't work, it won't
work, it has been proved not to work, and therefore, in spite of all far-fetched conclusions,
it is better to get rid of it altogether." All that can be said to this is, that if it does not
work ; it is without a particle of doubt because some of those conclusions or accusations,
are actual in some point — and whatever that point maybe, it is respectfully recommended
that it forthwith be discovered, and exhibited to the government as a discredit to the na-
tion, and as an appropriate opportunity for employing anj'- "getting rid" force that may
be at hand; and if this course is asserted by objectors to be impossible, it only
remains, in the beautiful language of iheimniortal bard, to " pity their ignorance, and des-
pise 'em for it." C. V.

Netvbursh, Jan., 1852.

i

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH— HOW TO TRAIN IT.

BY JOHN SAUL, WASHINGTON, D. C.

It may appear out of place in me to submit any remarks on the peach, to cultivators in
this country, where this fruit is cultivated to such an unlimited extent. The best manner
of training this tree, is what I particularly wish to notice, conceiving it may be useful in
several of the northern states; though not required in the middle or southern states, from
the great ease and little care with which this delicious fruit can be grown in its bounteous
soil and fine climate. So freely does it grow, that it can be scarcely called cultivated. I
have been particularly struck with, 1st. The great extent to which they are cultivated.
2d. The little or no attention given in their cultivation. 3d. The immense mass of rub-
bish called peaches, which are poured into the markets. True, I have seen good fruit, but
good was the exception, and by no means the rule; the overwhelming majority, to say the
least, were very poor; and this in a soil and climate capable of producing as fine peaches
as any region on our globe. If we inquire more minutely into their culture, we shall pro-
bably find that the whole routine of culture, from the procuring of the stone to the gather-
ing of the fruit, have been equally bad. The stones probably are procured from any quar-
ter, never caring whether the " Yellows" are prevalent thereor not; spring arrives and in-
stead of being planted out at proper distances, they are sown by handfuls in drills, when
they are drawn up thick and crowded, the plants choking each other for want of air, and
without the proper amount of nourishment for their roots. How can they gain strength
or mature their wood under such treatment? The thing is impossible, and now in the first
start, in the very infancy of the tree, its constitution is tainted and broken. In those
drills they are sometimes budded — without being at any time transplanted, until they are
offered to the public, cheap, by the hundred or thousand, and how many persons are there
that will buy this cheap stuff rather than give a fair price for well cultivated trees. When
they have got them, do all prepare their ground and plant them properly? Alas! I fear
the contrary is more generally the case, as is too well known! Planted and growing, are
they regularly pruned, the fruit thinned, and every other attention given which the fruit
requires? If not, how can we expect the trees will go on, year after j'ear, bearing abun-
dantcrops; must we not rather expect that the trees will soon sink into feebleness, sick-
ness and premature decay. I have said the constitution is impaired, or destroyed, in its
nifancy, and if so, can it ever regain it? Will the child that has been broken down in in-
fancy for want of food and air, form the strongest and most athletic man? I think most
persons will answer in the negative. Precisely is it the same with the tree. The Lai'ch
is planted as a timber tree to the amount of many millions annually in the mountains of
England, Wales, and Scotland. Let us see how these plants are raised. One plan is, sow
the seed in beds where it is allowed to remain two years, when they are lifted and planted
out; this is a cheap method, but a very bad one, as when the plants have stood two years
they become thin and drawn; it has few fibres, but on the contrary a few long tapering
roots, which are generally injured when lifted, and when planted take a long time to re-
cover themselves; indeed many die from the check which they receive, so for one or two
consecutive seasons, the}' I'cquire the vacancies to be filled up.

Another method is, after the plants have stood one or two years in the seed bed, to
plant them out in lines in the nursery, for a year or two, after which they are finally
pl.nited out where they are to remain; this is a better system than the first, thou
equal to the manner I shall now describe. Sow the seed thinl}', in light, well pr

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

ground; if they grow well, they should be, by the end of the first year, three or four in
ches in height* as they are now but one year old, there will be no difficulty in moving
them with all the fibres they possess, and setting them out thinly in a well prepared piece
of ground • hence, by the end of the second year, they average from twevle to fifteen
inches in height. They are now lifted and planted out where they are to remain, and from
the transplanting of the first year, they now move with a mass of fibres which strike im-
mediately into the ground, the plants themselves forming shoots the first summer from
nine to twelve inches long, and go on after as rapidly as if they had never been moved;
when compared to the other two systems, we find they remain stationary, or make very
little nrogress for the first year or two, and never grow so rapidly or fine. I bring the case
of the Larch forward, to illustrate my idea of the necessity of growing this, or indeed any
other tree, from its infancy, freely and thriftily, without impairing its constitution, from
want of food, light, air, or improper checks of any description whatever; once its consti-
tutional strength lost, it can never regain it. Do the breeders of fine animals neglect
them while young, and only tend them with care when they arrive at a given age; noth-
ing of the sort — they know full well to their cost, if they are not careful and kind while
the animal is young and growing, they never will have anything worth figuring at any of
our state fairs.

We will now pass by the youthful days of our trees; but before doing so, I shall make
one more remark, bearing upon this point. The growers of plants for the great London
exhibitions, in what way do they produce those matchless specimens of cultural skill which
surprise every one who sees them? They commence with young, healthy, thrifty plants — any
plant that does not possess health and vigor, they would not waste time and attention up-
on, as it would be wasted, nothing more — these are potted liberally, grown in warm,
well constructed houses, fumigated, syringed, &c., with every possible attention given to
induce a healthy growth for two or three years, during which time they are not allowed
to produce a single bloom — there is no check in any shape given. When the plants are of
good size and shape, and have concentrated within them, health, strength, and vigor, and
are capable of doing what is technically called toork, they are then, and not till then, al-
lowed to bloom. Should any of the plants look in the least delicate, while passing through
this training period, they are immediately destroyed, as it would be considered a waste of
time to keep them longer. Hence the great necessity of growing all plants and trees from
the first stage of growth, well, full of health and thriftiness, &c. We shall suppose they
have been well grown in their early stages, and that the trees are properly and permanent-
ly planted out as standards; they should now be regularly pruned, the fruit thinned, &c.
How this should be performed, has been so well and so frequently described by Mv. Down-
ing, that I shall pass it by. If pruning, tliinning, and the other necessaries which the
trees require, are neglected, they must of necessity soon perish; if people were but to con-
sider the immense draft a heavy crop of peaches must make upon a tree, they would won-
der how it was the tree does not die from sheer exhaustion; and if the tree does not per-
ish, it must of necessity become feeble and sickly. I have seen splendid specimens of plants
perish after a free bloom, and so well is this known to the exhibitors in England, that
many of those magnificent specimens which are shown at Chiswick and Regent's Park,
are the day after the show denuded of every bloom. Now, had all this bloom been allow-
ed to remain and die off naturally, the plants would be so enfeebled, that if they had sur-
vived at all, they would require a years' repose before they could be brought out in the
same trim, or bloom poorly the following season. It is well known the most delicious
frnits are the most delicate, and require the greatest amount of care. The highest bred

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

animals require more care and attention than those of their race of inferior qualities. In
flowers we find it the same. The common Pansy will survive a winter in the northern
states, while their cousins, which have been so much improved in size, shape, substance,
and color, require the highest state of pot culture in cool pits, in England. Geraniums,
as they have been improved by Mr. Beck and others, must have more care than the com-
mon old varieties, and those lovely fancy varieties which have come much into culture of
late, require still more care, as well as cultural skill, to grow them in anything like perfec-
tion. The common clove pink will grow freely in the borders of our flower gardens, but
the delicate flaked carnation, and the beautiful' yellow picotee, if to be grown well, or at
all, must be managed very differently. And so must our delicious peaches, if we wish the
fruit fine, want to have the trees in health and vigor, and prolong their lives, a good rou-
tine of culture must be pursued, or disease will soon manifest itself. It has frequently
been urged by excellent writers, to procure the stones from which stocks are raised, from
healthy districts, and this cannot be too often recommended, as the good or bad qualities
of the parent will be inherited by the offspring. The growers of oak in England, invaria-
bly procure their acorns from the finest trees, and will not use those from small stinted
scrubs, and at the present daj"", many growers procure their Larch seed from Tyrol — the
native home of the Larch — in preference to seed raised in Britain. I could run through
many other instances of the kind, showing the great necessity of having seed from the
healthiest districts. Florists that excel in raising seedling geraniums, pansies, &c., not
only save their seed from varieties of first rate qualities, but the individual blooms from
which the seed is saved must be as near perfection as possible, and whilst in flower no oth-
er bloom of inferior qualities, of that or any other varieties, is allowed to exist, lest the
bees may frustrate the object in view, by taking the pollen into the flower which is inten-
ded for seeding. Of no less importance is it, that buds should be taken from a healthy
source, as they will assuredly perpetuate and transmit the strength and vigor, or disease
of the parent. This holds good through the whole range of the animal and vegetable
kingdoms, and is particularly conspicuous in fruit trees, ornamental trees, flowering plants,
&c. Hunt's large Tawny Nectarine was raised from thrifty, free growing young plants of
the " old Tawny." Most variegated trees, with many of the pendulous, have been pro-
duced by accidental branches on trees of their species, produced by sickness, insects, and
other causes; yet all these, with the greatest certainty, are perpetuated by budding and
grafting. The Mogador (D. P.) Rose is said to be a sport from the Crimson Perpetual,
or Du Roi, yet it re-produces itself with certainty by budding, and is more vigorous
in growth than the parent. The Clifton White Moss Rose was produced by a sucker
from the old Pink Moss; it is the best white moss, but extremely delicate in its habit, and
difficult to grow well. When it does grow well, it is predisposed to sport again, into what
is called the Blush Moss. We have another sport in the same line, Unique White Moss,
which has been produced by the old Unique Rose — parent and ofl"spring being of the same
color, the growth is much about the same, whilst the mossy character of the latter re-
mains constant. In budding or grafting, we perpetuate all the good or bad qualities of the
parents, as much, if not more than by seed raised from the latter; all highly cultivated fruits
will vary to a considerable extent, whereas, by budding or grafting, we perpetuate them
with the greatest accuracy.

It is well known that in England all peaches and nectarines are worked upon plum
stocks; the climate being excessively moist, with cool summers, when upon its own stock
tree grows very thriftily; the wood is never matured properly; the autumn finds them
crude sap, branches, stem and roots, and the following spring the tree will be found

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

in a lamentable state of disease, being one mass of canker , gum and rottenness. To avoid
this, recourse is had to the plum stock. And here much judgment and experience is neces-
sary, as varieties of peaches demand peculiar stocks; what are termed French peaches,
are generally worked on what is called the pear plum stock, a variety of slow growth, but
one upon which these peaches appear to succeed well; the Muscle plum stock is a variety of
much stronger growth, and on it are worked all the other sorts of peaches, with most nec-
tarines; upon it they grow admirably, though the constitution of the French Peach is such
that they will not take upon this stock. Mr. P^ivers uses a stock upon which all peaches
grow finely. Formerly a stock was in cultivation called the Brompton Plum, a variety of
very thrifty growth, but on which the peach was pre-disposed to disease, and on which it
did not live long; this variety is now little used, and no English gardener that knows
anything about peaches, would think of planting a tree if it were on this stock.

Let us now see in what way they are prepared for working. Small stocks are bedded out
in good ground; here they stand two years; at the expiration of the second year, they are
cut down to the ground level; the following season they throw up fine clean shoots, three
to four feet in hight, and bj'' the end of this year, they are taken up and planted out in the
nursery lines for budding; every workman can perceive how much easier and better such
young stuff" can be budded, than stocks that may have taken the same, or even a less
amount of time, to grow, but had not been headed down. Standard peaches and necta-
rines are generally budded at a height of from five to six feet, on the stock. The latter is
grown for the purpose in this way: strong stocks are lined out in the nursery, in the same
way as when they are intended for working dwarfs upon ; here they are allowed to stand
and grow two years; when they are cut even with the surface of the ground, they will
throw up shoots from five to seven feet that summer; many will be fit to bud the same
season, at a height of five or six feet, and the remainder the following summer. I have
been thus particular in describing how this tree is raised in England, contrasted with the
ease with which it may be cultivated here. I saj'- ea.se, for the best culture which we can
give it here, will be easy in comparison with its cultivation there. See what care is there
required in selecting stocks suited to the varieties; next, the preparation which these stocks
undergo to have them healthy and thrifty to receive the buds; and as we proceed we shall
find the after treatment is equally assiduous; care, attention, and labor being as little
spared. Here is the proper place to notice stocks, for this climate, and where this tree
succeeds on its own roots there unquestionably is nothing better , if there is any thing as good ;
but in some of the northern states the plum stock may be useful; here, however, the stock
must be of such a nature, that the peach will take and grow freely upon, and be likely to
last; for the more delicate varieties of peaches, a stock of moderate
growth should be used; time and experience alone can however de-
termine which varieties will answer this purpose best, and which the
varieties of peaches will grow upon.

I have extended these introductory remarks longer than I intended
when I commenced, but I hope if I have made a digression it may be
useful in its way. We shall now turn to the other part, and that
which more immediately concerns us at present — the proper train-
ing of the tree. When the latter are purchased in the nursery, they
should be young, clean and thrifty; one year old from the bud is best;
if older, when headed back they do not break free; they will have

ppearance of No. 1. In the present day T should hope no per- ^r^ i_(/,e tree s re
uld think of planting these or any other valuable trees with ceivedfrom the nurstry.

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH

out trenching, draining, and otherwise preparing the ground for their reception. Were 1
to enter into a description of the manner in which ground is made and prepared for the
reception of these trees in England, it would surprise many. However, I take for granted
our ground is properly prepared, and our trees planted; the latter operation I think is best
performed in autumn; except for a very cold northern latitude, when perhaps early in
spring is preferable; after planting, the heads may be lightened, but not cut fully back
until spring; early in the latter season, say when the sap is about to move, let the plants
be headed back to within three eyes of the place where it had been budded as shown in
No. 2. As soon as these three ej^es break, and the shoots are of sufficient length, they
must be secured carefully to the trellis to which they are to be trained ;
they should be constanly watched when growing, that the shoots may
not be injured by insects or other causes, as the loss of a branch would
now be of vital importance to the future symmetry of the tree; all the
lateral or summer shoots which these produce should be allowed to No.'i— headed down the
grow, and secured in the same way as the principal branches. jirs^sprmgajterp

As during the season of growth there is a reciprocal action carried on between the roots
and branches, the numbers of the former will be regulated by the proportions of the lat-
ter. The amount of healthy foliage which a tree possesses, is also of paramount impor-
tance, leaves being the functions of respiration and digestion; the numerous fibres of a free
growing peach tree collect an immense quantity of crude matter, which is propelled into
the leaves; here it is digested and assimilated, and is prepared to become the
wood of the tree. Now, if we had not an amount of foliage equivalent to the amount of
roots, how would matters stand.' Something in this way; the roots, as in the other case,
would collect food, force it into the stem and branches, but not having a sufficiency of
leaves to elaborate the sap, it remains in the pores of the tree, in a crude, indigested state;
the following autumn arrives, and what shall we find "i A tree with, it may be, strong
Avood, but that so sappy and unripened, that ere spring arrives it will be a mass of gum
and canker. Let us now see what appearance our trees will present that had an abun-
dance of healthy foliage, and which well performed their allotted offices under the bright
light and intense heat of our fine summers. In the autumn we find the branches well ri-
pened, ruddy in color, and as firm as a piece of oak; our young trees will now have con-
centrated within them, health and
strength, and will have the appearance
of No. 3. Perhaps I should have re-
maikcd when the trees had been plan-
ted, they should be well mulched with
long stable litter, which should be left
on through the summer, as it is of '^^s,'^^'
great benefit in keeping the roots moist ;
should the weather prove dry in earl}'-
spring, a few good soakings of liquid
manure will benefit them. Early in
the spring of the second year, our trees
must again be headed down, as shown
in No 4, to two eyes, and as our tree
is by this time pretty well established,

break with considerable vi^or. No.i— As it appears after its first year's growth

previous year T called attention to the great necessity of vigilance and care being

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

to the tree at the time of the shoots breaking, and if anything, it Trill require more yigilauee

now; allow these soft young shoots to be now injured, and the

S3''mmetry of the tree is irreti'ievably lost; on the other hand, lay

in and tie these shoots with care and in good time, and we shall

accomplish much towards the perfect shape of our future tree.

It will be observed in the past year VA'e had but three branches,

which had been headed down in spring to two eyes each; we .. , „ %', '?

» ° •' ' No. 4 — HcTleil dawn in fpnng

have, therefore, now six branches, which must be trained at of second year.

full length with all the laterals, (or summer shoots;) for the reasons assigned last year,
insects must be guarded against, as well as anything that would injure the tree or its foli-
age; mulching the roots, with occasionally a good watering of liquid manure, will very
much assist it; by the end of this (second) summer it will have the appearance of No.

No. 5 — Tlic appea''ance of the tree at the expiration of the second year.

5. Here now we have a tree, healthy, strong, and thrifty, with abundance of roots, a clean
stem, well formed, well ripened branches, and capable of being moulded into a beautiful
tree in the coming year. Some will perhaps say, our tree is now too thrifty. But this
phrase " too thrifty," I do not well comprehend; if by this they mean long, thick, gory,
unripened shoots, they may call it '^ too thrifty" if they please, and thuey may consider
such wood on their trees anything but desirable, but if the system I am describing is pro-
perly carried out, the wood will be of a very different character.

In place of spongy, soft unripened shoots, their tissues will be firm, well matured, and
as ripe as sun and heat can make them, and under conditions such as these, I say there
can be no such thing as " too thrifty." I can well understand in a climate such as Eng-
land, where the digestive and respiratory organs of plants perform their offices slowly,
and but too frequently imperfectly, over luxuriant growth is to be guarded against, and
wood more moderate in size is desirable, in order to meet the quantity of pure air and
elaborated sap. But in the original eastern home of the peach, this will not hold good, nor
in our own warm sunny climate, which so closely resembles the seasons of
and. Here revelling in the heat and bright sunshine, the foliage will digest and

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

similate almost any quantity of sap which is propelled into them, there being nothing to
impede their healthy action. I think this may be illustrated in another way; in cold
northern climates, the Laplanders will eat whale blubber, and drink train oil, which to
our taste is not very palatable; yet we live upon strong and nutritious food, when com-
pared to the effeminate Hindoo, who in the warm atmosphere of India, feeds almost ex-
clusively on rice. This shows that man requires to be fed in accordance with the climate
in which he lives, but this is generall}' acknowledged as regards man and animals, and a
little reflection will show it is as strictly true of the vegetable kingdom. I said a tree
cannot be "too thrifty" if the wood is properly matured, the tree clean and full of health,
with abundance of roots in well prepared ground, near the surface. Do persons object to
fruit being over large, if the flavor is of as good quality as those of smaller size.' I think
not. Again florists have rules by which they judge what are termed " florist flowers;"
after all the various points are stated, the last comes is size, which is generally worded
something in this way, " the larger a flower is, provided it possesses all the other good
qualities, the better." Now in what way is this large fruit grown? Has Mr. Mills pro-
duced his monstrous pine from little plants? The contrary: his plants were large, and
would indeed be called thrifty. Are the finest grapes grown produced by weak canes? I
think not. Those who have read Mr. Cuthill's articles on market gardening round
London, will judge if the growers of monstrous strawberries, know what it is to have
their plants too thrifty. I might now pass through florist flowers, and show how strength
is concentrated in the plants which produce such perfect blooms. But let us glance a little
at the animal kingdom. I have yet to learn if the raisers of that beautiful animal, the
horse, object to size, if the animal possesses every other good point. Will the breeders
of Short-horned and Hereford cattle object to size, combining with it every other good
point? Those who raise the fine Leicester sheep, will, T am sure, be pleased with size,
combining with it the other qualities. In the same way I may pass through many more,
but the above will illustrate my meaning. When, therefore, I hear of " too thrifty," I
understand something like the following: jl rank luxuriant tree, full of sappy plethoric
shoots, unripened and incapable of being matured, toith the roots in an undrained, cold
or wet soil. But planted in a proper soil, with good after cultivation, so as to have our
wood, as it should be, properly matured, we shall know nothing of "too thrifty." At
the close of the second autumn, the trees we said would have the appearance of No. 5, and
by this time it is evident we have an amount of strength concentrated in the tree and its
roots; the latter will be most numerous, strong, healthy, and active. The following spring
our tree will once more be headed down to two eyes, to a shoot, as shown in No. 6. As we
had last year six shoots we shall now have twelve;
as soon as these advance in growth, sufficient to
receive a tie, they should be secured to the trellis
or whatever it is intended they should be trained
to; on starting in the past year, I noticed the

great amount of care necessary for the preserva- _

tion of the shoots, lest the symmetry may be de- — -^-^•^•'/'f'^/iYj V^~~

stroyed, and more imperatively necessary is care No. 6— Headed dotvn in spring of third year.
and vigilance now; the loss of a shoot is now irreparable, and no after skill or judgment
can properly supply its place. When the shoots have attained from 15 to 18 inches in
length, let the extreme points of all be stopped as shown in No. 7, B. B. This and all
subsequent stoppings must be performed on the soft watery points of the shoots; they
will then break as freely as though they had not been stopped at all, whereas if the shoots

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

once become firm, they break with more difficulty, and take a longer time. From the
points B.B. where the shoots had been stopped, several branches will break, but not more
than two should be suffered to grow from each shoot; that number will be sufficient to fill

No. 7 — The perfect tree at the end of the third year, capable of producing a fruit crop thefolloiving season.

up the tree, allowing the wood a proper distance; and in some cases where the wood ap-
pears to be getting too thick or crowded, only one shoot should be allowed to grow; when
these have again reached the length of 15 or 18 inches, another stopping takes place at
O.C., in precisely the same way as the former (at B.B.,) allowing about the same number
of shoots to grow; on these becoming once more 15 to 18 inches in length, a stopping for
the third time will be required at D.D., and the shoots laid in as in the former stoppings.
These stoppings will in general be sufficient for ordinary trees, but in the case of very
strong trees they will require four, and ripen the whole of the wood well. I have said
from 15 to 18 inches between each stopping, but it may in particular cases require a little
more or less in order to properly regulate the wood over the trellis as well as to preserve
the symmetry of the tree. 1 take for granted whilst this stopping has been going on, no
care was wanting to preserve the shoots and leaves, clean, healthy, and free from insects.
At the expiration of our third year the tree has the appearance of No. 7, and will have
covered a great many square feet of trellis; it is now full of bearing wood from the stem
of the tree to the extremities of the branches, all of which will be properly ripened and
matured; the latter is accomplished in England on walls, and there will not be the least
difficulty in the splendid climate we here possess. In the spring of the fourth year, the
tree demands but little pruning, merely shortening the extremities of the shoots from six
to nine or twelve inches, as may be found necessary; our trees are now strong and thrifty;
they are also beautifully symmetrical, and we may now expect an abundant crop; at the
same time T would entreat of every grower, not to be over severe on his trees by allowing
them to bear too- freely ; rather err upon the opposite side, by well thinning the frui
this means the fruit will be more beautiful, and the trees preserved in thrifty gro

THE PEACH IN THE NORTH.

This fourth season young wood must be laid in all over the tree, — say a shoot where each
stopping took place, and one equidistant between these stoppings. The extremities of the
branches must be trained out; in the case of all moderate growing trees they will require
nothing more, but in very thrifty ones they should have one stopping as in the previous
year. The future treatment of those trees will be the same as for all trees on trellises —
namely, laying in young wood through summer; shortening and thinning it out in the
early spring, and the usual routine of culture. A person glancing at the system of train-
ing which I have been endeavoring to elucidate, will, if they are acquainted with the
fan systems of training, soon perceive a marked difference between that and this; under
that system shoots are only partially shortened after the first and second year's growth,
and some branches, as may be expected, grow much stronger, and after much care and
labor, the symmetry of the tree is frequently lost by one or two branches growing much
stronger than the others, when the tree becomes what is called one sided; this can never
be the case under the system I have been describing, with a moderate amount of care.
Under the old system a few fruit may be had on the third year, whilst under this system
none will be had until the fourth.

This to some may appear an advantange, but it really is none, as the crop on the new
system, the fourth, and all subsequent years, will be much greater than on the old, and the
trees more thrifty and beautiful; the few fruit, therefore, obtained the third year, is not
worth considering.

In laying before the readers of the Horticulturist the foregoing system of training, I
must be understood it is not one of my own invention, but is that carried out by one of
the best practical gardeners in England — Mr. T. Hatch, late gardener to P. J. Miles,
Esq., Leigh Court, near Bristol; his fruit has been invariably abundant and fine, and his
trees among the iinest specimens in England, more beautiful and regular on the walls than
any pencil can trace them on paper.

How frequently is a crop of fruit lost by having the flowers destroyed by frost, and bad
weather, when in bloom. Now this may be prevented to a very great extent, and at tri-
fling cost, with the trained fruit trees, or indeed any moderate sized specimens. Let us
examine into the cause of failure, and we shall be better enabled to find a cure; and if the
trees are healthy, it generally takes place in this way. On the disappearance of winter,
say the end of March or beginning of April — it of course varies with season and locality —
very frequently there are some warm sunny days which speedily bring peaches, nectarines
and apricots into bloom, and this is frequently followed by weather cold and unpropitious,
which totally destroys the bloom. If the trees, on the first approach of fine weather, had
been protected by day from the sun, and kept cool, exposing them freely by night, the
trees will be retarded in their blooming until a period much later than they otherewise
would have been, and they will set a crop with much greater certainty. Mats, cheap mus-
lin, or in fact any material to protect them from the sun, will answer this purpose. The
common practice is to have the fruit trees come naturally into bloom, and when in this
state to protect them by night, and also by day, in bad weather.. Now the trees should
be carefully protected from sun by day, and exposed at night — on the first approach of
warm days in early spring — that they may be retarded to as late a period as possible.
When the trees are bursting into bloom, reverse cautiously j'our treatment, and protect by
night your expanded blooms, and cold bad days — through the day expose them to the
genial influence of light and air, and abundant crops will repay the cultivator. Protection,
many may imagine to be verj^ expensive, or in other words, " will not pay," but let them
try it on their best fruits, and their moderate sized trees. There are many things which

^^7^-

THE SAGE GRAPE.

may be had cheaply, that will answer the purpose, and the amount of labor is not great.
I feel confident as to the result. J. S.

Washington, D. C, Jan. 5, 18.5'i.

MORE ABOUT THE SAGE GEAPE.

BY TWO CORRESPONDENTS.

The letter of our correspondent, Mr. Sheldon, calling our attention to specimens of
this native grape, and showing conclusively how it has been over-rated, which was pub-
lished in our December number, has called out the two following letters — which we pub-
lish to settle the matter.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — In the December number of the Horticulturist, one of your cor-
respondents and yourself, unite in denouncing the Sage Grape as a " humbug." It is true,
there are a great many humbugs in horticulture. There is one large class, too formidable
to be killed b}' mere exposure, but which taxes oppressively all the energies and vigilance
of the cultivator to avert their ravages, even when he has discovered their mode and point
of attack. The other, (which may be called the moral class,) is not quite so numerous,
but will fly quite as fast — sometimes hard to detect, but when once discovered, just hold-
ing them up to the light destroys them in a trice. Neither class escapes your notice — and
it should be so, for in some cases it is hard to tell which are the most mischievous and ag-
gravating.

The public have so often been bitten by this im-moral class of humbugs, that they are
afraid of anything which has been dubbed humbug, (which, by the way, are a progeny
of the big-bugs,) and shun it without examination.

But I must object to your calling the Sage Grape by this unenviable cognomen in so much
of a hurry. I have seen the grape from the original vine; have frequently eaten of them
raised here; numerous friends and neighbors have tasted them; specimens have been sent
to the conductors of the most respectable Journals of Agriculture, and to pomological
writers, in our state. All, without exception, have pronounced them "good, excellent,
sweet, possessing valuable qualities," &c., &c. Besides all this, the grape in question is
black as the Isabella, instead of being light colored. A commendatory notice of the press
first brought the grape into notice here.

A knowledge of these facts induces me to think that the "light colored variety" sent
you, was either not the Sage Grape, or unripe specimens. Possibly the editor and his ama-
teur correspondent, have been " sat upon" by some horticultural friends, and had Black
Hamburghs administered to them till they have lost all consciousness of the fitness or
worth of any native grape for the table.

When the Horticulturist containing the Sage Grape humbug was issued, a fi-iend of mine
happened to be in a town some fifty miles distant, where vines of this grape are in suc-
cessful cultivation, and was suddenly accosted with, " well the Sage Grape is blowed up —
it is all an exploded humbug." On being asked on whose authority, was told by the edi-
tor and correspondent of the last Horticulturist — and immediately added, " I don't care
for that — my vine has fruited, and the fruit was good — I am satisfied." This man, like
your correspondent, was induced to procure a vine by the description in Allen's work
It seems in inducements they agree, in tastes they differ.

I earnestly insist upon these facts being placed before your readers in the pages

Horticulturist, that the testimony on both sides maybe " in" before the honest reputation
of the Sage Grape, (which has been steadily extending for five years,) be summarily con-
signed to disgrace.

I very well know the Editor's almost world-wide renown for a just and discriminating
taste in every thing connected with horticulture and rural architecture. But I have heard
it defferentially intimated, that when he penned the article on the Sage Grape, his litera-
ry taste was not quite so exquisite.

Please accept these remarks from a lover of the Horticulturist, and

A SUBSCRIBEK FKOM THE BEGINNING.
Grotoii, Jan. 5, 1S52.

P. S. If you desire, or will venture another examination, I should like to send you spe-
cimens from here next autumn. [Should be very glad to receive them.]

Remarks. — As Mr. Allen's book on the grapevine is the authority on the subject of
the Sage Grape, and as the disappointment in this variety arises from a comparison of the
merits of the grape itself, with the account there given, we shall refer to the work itself,
in order to get at the truth of the matter.

Mr. Allen does not himself, describe the Sage Grape. He never saw it. He merely
says — "it is represented to be of a lilac color." He quotes three letters from Mr. Sage,
himself, describing the variety — a native grape found growing on the margin of a small
stream in Maine. The color of the fruit he does not mention. But he says, " the berries
are very round, average girth three inches." " They are," he continues, "the richest
flavored grapes I hnye e\er tasted. The pulp is very soft, juicy," &c. He concludes by
saying, " I speak in confidence when I say that the Sage Grape, properly cultivated, will
surpass anything of the grape kind in this country."

What are we to understand by this? Clearly, that the Sage Grape ought to surpass
Black Hamburghs, Muscats, and all the most delicious foreign grapes, for the)'^ are in this
country. But we had seriousl}'^ no idea of comparing any native grapes in this way, and
therefore we expected it, from the description, to surpass the Catawba and Isabella, or at
least compare with them. Now two things place the latter most excellent native grapes
far below the best foreign grapes, in the estimation of all good judges; first, the hard pulp
(peculiar to all native grapes, though less to those;) second, the foxy or wild aroma. The
Sage Grape, according to the specimens we received through Mr. Sheldon, from Mr. Sage
himself, is a genuine wild fox grape, common enough in the woods of New-York, very
large, round, very foxy in smell, and intolerably hard in the pulp. To compare such a
grape as this with Black Hamburgh, is simply as absurd as to compare a choke pear with
a Seckel. There may be, and we have indeed seen people, who like choke pears, and we
are not going to quarrel with them for their taste — but that does not prove that the majo-
rity are wrong in preferring Black Hamburghs.

We have no doubt that INIr. Sage wrote his account of the grape that bears his name,
in good faith; but when he said that it would surpass " anything of the grape kind in this
country," he ought to have added the following : — P. S. I have never tasted any good
grapes.

We have had this very same pale fox grape sent to us from various parts of the coun-
try, by persons M'ho extolled it as a native white grape of wonderful size and most deli-
cious flavor.

The merit of this pale red fox grape is solely confined to its excellence for making jellies,
t well known in the middle states. For the table, it is neither more or less
If our correspondent thinks the grape is black, he has evidently not got

SELECTIONS OF BEST FRUITS.

true Sage grape, or else Mr. Sage himself has not, because, as the following letter from
another part of the country will show, he has sent the fruit to others, and with the like
results. Ed.

Dear Sir — Being a constant reader of the Horticulturist, I occasionally meet with an
article, to which I am tempted to reply. Such an one is contained in the December num-
ber of the Horticulturist, (p. 575) in reference to the celebrated Sage grape, so highly
praised by Mr. Allen in his work on the vine, which work fell into my possession soon
after it first came out.

On seeing the Sage grape therein described, (as would be the case with almost any
green one) I immediately ordered a vine, which is now well established, and should bear
handsomely by next summer; but like others, (as T understand,) I could not wait to see
the fruit on my vine, (which by the way cost me just $5, by the time I received it,) I or-
derel a box of the fruit from Mr. H. E. Sage, of Portland, Conn., the originator of it.
With what impatience I awaited them, can well be imagined by any one who has read
Mr. Sage's descriptions of it in Allen's work. They came, in sound order; before open-
ing the box however, T smelt a fox, but here they were, to me to a tune of a dollar and
fifty cents, as freight on the box, which had in it about three quarts of the Sage grapes,
exclusive of the price of the grapes, (a bill for which has never been sent me yet.) On
opening the box, I was really surprised at the enormous size of the fruit, but on tasting
them ! ! — you have tasted and described them, Mr. Downing, that will do. It would have
tickled one who has eaten good grapes, too see the watery eyes and coughing fits, that
about a dozen of the largest of the grapes caused among a party, where T first opened the
box. I had written to N. Longworth, Esq., on the subject of this grape; he stated that
he had seen it about Philadelphia, that it was " a fall blooded F'ox grape, and might
answer as musket balls in time of loar," which was, in my opinion, a pretty appro-
priate remark. If I had mj^ choice to be shot with one of them, or swallow half a dozen,
I of course would prefer the latter punishment however.

An old saying is, give every dog his due. As a table or wine grape the Sage will always
be excluded; but here let me say in its favor (for it will be roughly handled, which indeed
the grape individually can very well bear,) that, for making excellent jeZ/i/, it has in my
estimation no superior, if even an equal; while grapes of a much finer quality for eating,
or wine, make a very thin juice, and must be boiled down to give body, the Sage grape
makes a thick syrup, and retains a peculiar aroma which suits exceedingl3\ I only men-
tion this quality of the Sage grape, as a sort of plea of compassion, as we all know a fall-
ing reputation receives a kick from every one. If the Sage grape is as good a bearer as it
has been represented, I think, honestly, one vine might be well worth cultivation.

Yours respectfully, Samuel Miller.

Union Cottage. N. Leb., Dec. 26, 1851.

SELECTIONS OF BEST FRUITS.

BY P. P., NEW- YORK.

What is the question, Mr. Editor, that more of your correspondents are likely to ask
about this time of year, than any other.' " What are the best Fruits.'" They are busy
head-work, while the ground is frozen up — planting orchards and fruit gardens
ation; just as some people build castles in the air. They sit by the fire-side

SELECTIONS OF BEST FRUITS.

fruit books and nursery catalogues in hand ; they makes notes of sorts that are " delicious
" first rate," "melting," "sugary," " excellent," &c. They stock their future garden
with everything rare and wonderful, and giving full reins to their imagination, they see
that garden full of bearing trees, laden in the spring with blossoms white as snow, and in
the autumn with baskets upon baskets of golden and ruddy pears and pippins. This is
the way amateurs and young planters "count their chickens before they are hatched."

In my humble opinion, the beginners in fruit culture would be immensely the gainers,
if the old veteran horticulturists among your subscribers, would all come out and give
their lists of the best fruits. I mean those who have "seen the elephant," i. e., bought
and imported most of the new French pears, and all other fruits that stand high on the
pages of foreign catalogues. All such know how much chaff there is to a bushel of sound
wheat, and if they would but come out and state what is really good, it might save the
rising generation of planters all the trouble of trying experiments, losing time, and wast-
ing valuable ground, that they mostly fall into. There is little doubt in my mind, that
of the millions of fruit trees planted in this country in the last fifteen years, two-thirds
are of very indiS'erent quality — not worthy of ground room and cultivation. I shall,
therefore, give you a few rough notes of some sorts that I know to be worthy of a place
in every fruit garden of considerable size, at least in the nothern states.

Pears. — T place pears first, because they are my favorite fruit. To begin, I would plant
but three early summer pears, viz: the Dearborn's Seedling — always a sure and most
abundant bearer, and the fruit always fair, sprightly and of excellent flavor; the Rostie-
zer, from its sweet and pleasant flavor, and hardy habit; the Bartlett — the hadsomest of
pears, and most popular from its fine quality, free growth, and sure productiveness.
These are all reliable standard sorts everywhere, and as the first ripens in August, the
second early in September, and the third the last of September, they fill up the sea-
son well till the autumn pears come in.

Of autumn pears I would choose six. First, the Belle Lucrative, (on quince,) because
of its most delicious, honied flavor — so much prized at the dessert. Then the Paradise of
Autumn, for its handsome size and first rate quality; then the Louise Bonne of Jersey,
for its sprightly juicy fruit, and its productiveness; then the Beurre d'Anjou, for size,
flavor and productiveness; then the Duchess of Angouleme, (on quince,) as the finest
show pear; and finally the Seckel, as the unapproachable in flavor, and all other good
points. I have not included the Doyennes — white and gray, because they will not thrive
well, except in neiv soils— but where they will thrive, they should be placed before nearly
all others. Of winter pears, I would recommend four. Beurre d'Aremberg — hardy,
very productive, with a pine apple flavor; the Lawrence, handsome, and very sure, and
good; the Winter Nelis, sweet and excellent, and the New Gray Winter Beurre, with its
rich Brown Beurre flavor. The Beurre d'Aremberg and the Lawrence may be gatliered
and put away to ripen, with no more care than winter apples — and that is more than can
be said of any other sorts.

So much for pears; the list is small, I know, but it is much easier to make a large list
than a small one — for obvious reasons, and those who want more can either double the
number of trees of these sorts, (my advice,) or add others of less merit.

Let us see what we can do with apples. For early apples I choose four sorts. The
Early Harvest— which is the prince of all summer sorts, both for the table and for cook-
ing; the Early Strawberry, for excellence and beauty; the Summer Bellefleur, for its deli-
cate, rich flavor; and the American Summer Pearmain, for its beauty and excellence in
all respects. Of autumn apples, I will only name four, as we have so many other fruits

m^'-

SELECTIONS OF BEST FRUITS.

for the table at that season. The fir.st of these shall be the true Full Pippin — the largest,
handsomest, and finest of all f;ill apples; the Gravenstein, for its beauty, excellence, and
pi'oductiveness; the Porter, for its standard qualities and the great crop it gives, and the
Golden Sweet, for those who like a sweet apple of the first class. ,

Of winter apples we must have more — as they are the fruits to stand by when every-
thing else fails us. Let us begin with the Yellow and Green Xewtown Pippins — the best
apples in the wide world; then the Melon Apple — as being the most sprightly and refresh-
ing of all for the table; then the Mother Apple — rich in flavor; then the Golden Bellflow-
er, a productive and refreshing tart apple; then the Ladies' Sweet — the best of sweet ap-
ples; then the Famcuse, so snowy white within, and so excellent; then the Dutch Mig-
nonne, the highest llavored large apple; the Rhode Island Greening, for the table and all
culinary purposes; the Esopus Spitzenberg, for its rich, crisp texture, and high flavor;
the Swaar, for its fine golden color, and aromatic taste; the Baldwin, for many good qua-
lities; the Roxbury Russet and the Rawles Janet, as the two best very late apples.
Every one at the north will add to this select list, the Northern Spy. and every one at the
west, the Pry or 's Red.

Let us next winnow the Cherries. Of tender cherries, let us say May Duke, Rivers'
Amber, Elton, Black Tartarian, Downer's Late, as among the best. Of the firmer fleshed
cherries, let us say Rockport Bigarreau and Yellow Spanish. To these we ought to add
two cherries of the Mayduke family — very desirable; first, the Reine Hortense, large
bright red, sub-acid, nearly sweet, and excellent; and Belle Magnifique, acid, late, hand-
some for preserving, and very productive.

Nobody M'ants many Apricots or Nectarines. It may be as well to say that the best
sorts for hardy cultui-e, are the Dovvnton and Elruge Nectarines; and the Breda and Large
Early Apricots.

It is not worth while to plant many Plums, unless the soil is stiff and claye}^, or it is
found from experience that the curculio is not at hand to spoil your crop, annually. The
ten varieties I would name as most valuable for general purposes, out of fifty or more that
I have tried, are the following: Green Gage, Purple Favorite, Smith's Orleans, Red Dia-
per, Imperial Gage, Jefferson, Lombard, Washington, Imperial Ottoman, and Reine Claude
d'Bavay.

Neither will any old cultivator mullipl}' names in Peaches. Better to have fine trees
of the two good sorts, than five more indifferent sorts, for variety. The best early free-
stone are Early York, (serrate,) Cooledge's Favorite, George Fourth, Maine's Earl}^; the
late freestones are Old Mixon, Snow, Late Admirable, Druid Ilill. A tree or two of large
White Cling, and if your soil is warm, of Heath Cherry, should find a place in ever}' gar-
den.

I will not go into the smaller fruits at present. Enough has probably been given to
throw a little of the light of practical experience upon the long lists which the beginner
has to select from, to help him from being altogether lost in the Dismal Swamp of hard
names. And he ma}' at least feel sure that every sort that I have named, has been well
proved in the climate of New-York state. Yours respectfully. P. P,

NOTES ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING.

NOTES ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING.

BY THOS. MEEHAN, PHILADELPHIA.

Dear Sir — Landscape gardening is a source of the highest pleasure to those who pa-
tronise it. Those who hold pleasure to be the result of mere accident, do landscape gar-
dening a great injustice. Pleasure is the result of laws as fixed as those which produce
heat and light, rest or motion. So, the more clearly the true principles of landscape gar-
dening are understood, the more perfectly are we enabled to know how they can be appli-
ed to the production of the highest degree of pleasure the art can afford.

Extensive gardens are being formed everywhere. The fund of pleasure their origina-
tors are laying up for themselves, M^ill be great. That fund would be infinitesimaly
greater, if more definite ideas of the sources of pleasure in gardening existed.

It has become very general for those who originate new gardens, to be their own land-
scape gardeners. Were every one born an artist, any one might justly deem himself capa-
ble of laying out his own place in a manner capable of aflbrding ultimately the highest
pleasure; but it is not so. There are innumerable instances of gardens among the newer
places, which afford no pleasure to any one, and which the proprietors themselves, feel to
be a dead weight upon their enjoyments, and their purses, from no other cause than ig-
norance of the vcrj- alphabet of landscape gardening, in those who originally projected
them. For a time the}^ were interesting from their novelty, till, like the novelty of child-
ren's toys, they no longer pleased, and were eventually cast aside for other novelties, and
became an incumbrance. In excuse or toleration of such misfortunes, it is often said that
every man derives most pleasure from " doing what he likes with his own." Any man
might feel some pleasure in deciding to cut with his own hand, a " Greek Slave" in ablock
of marble, — but I guess that a more real, a more lasting, and more substantial pleasure,
■would ensue from the employment of the life-giving chisel of a high artist like Hiram
Powers, on the senseless block.

I am ashamed to make the comparison. It is ridiculous. Applied to landscape garden-
ing it is more so. It is the work of a higher order of genius, to create a pleasing landscape
in its generalities, and in its details, than to form a piece of sculpture of ordinary merit.
Genius does not rule so proudly in poetry or music, drawing or painting, as she does in
the art of landscape gardening. All other arts are content to imitate or represent nature
— but landscape gardening has often to employ in her efforts, the aid of all other arts, and
often to create even the very materials out of which she produces her happiest results.
Could any produce an equal to the beautiful landscape paintings of Claude Lorraine.''
If this be difficult, how much more difficult the aim of the landscape gardener, who has
to produce in nature the superiors of the picture? It is difficult to arrange the scenes in
a landscape painting, so as to give expression, character, and harmony, to each with the
other, — but it is more difficult to arrange these in nature. In a picture, scenes, rarely cor-
responding— yet beautiful in their corrsepondence, can be brought and conjoined together
with a fascinating effect. The imagination often, indeed, supplies the place of realities.
The landscape gardener has a more difficult task. He, too, must bring together, harmoni-
ously and expressively, scenes too beautiful to be often seen in one whole, naturally. His
imagination, too, must play, but far more cautiously, than that of the painter — because he
has a higher and sterner tribunal to decide the value of his work, than the painter has
Nature deputizes to man her right to sit in judgment on the result of the painter's gen
on that of the landscape gardener she sits herself. ^Mankind have sympathies, give

NOTES ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING.

anccs, make extenuations; their knowledge of the constitution of nature is also limited —
thus the painter has less to fear. Nature, herself, whose judgment the landscape garde-
ner dares, judges his works according to the strictest letter of her law. Hence, if it be ab-
surd for any mere amateur to paint his own pictures, under the impression that they would
be perfect specimens of the art, it were decidedly more so in the case of one who deemed
himself capable of laying out extensive grounds in the most peifect style of art, and
consequently of obtaining as much pleasure from his garden as it might be capable of af-
fording.

These gentlemen are at fault. They mar their own enjoyments. But they are not en-
tirely to blame. There are so-called landscape gardeners, with whom everything must be
this, or it is not natural — that, or it is not beautiful. Whatever stands in the way of this
or that, must come down, must be torn away. Jliis tree, that may have stood " a thou-
sand years the battle and the breeze," must at last fall; that " mountain must be remov-
ed, and cast into the sea." Everything must be levelled for the grade of their imagina-
tion, which cannot turn to the right or to the left, fi-om the object before it. Few propri-
etors can stand this ordeal. Few could have the nerve of a Hamilton or a Lton, who
could desire and effect the death of a Qii:rciis potcrophylla — the only known specimen
in the world — for the poor equivalent of one more view of a bend of the beautiful Schuyl-
kill— or of those who prefer tlie one or two year old silver maples, planted with mathe-
matical precision by rule and square, in Penn Square, Philadelphia, to the noble trees that
originally flourished there.

Landscape gardening, to be pleasing, must be accommodating. Nature herself, is so.
In the plains she will give the Oak, the Beech, the Birch, a giant height and strength; on
the hill sides and elevations she checks their luxuriance — while on the mountain summits
she reduces them to the rank of mere bushes. The}^ therefore, who f(>llow the " natural
stj'le," may learn from this, that its results depend on tlieir application of natural laws,
rather than on any abstract formulas of lines or circles. Mankind generally run into ex-
tremes. Landscape gardening confirms this truth. The old system of squaring all walks,
carrying them at right lines and angles, shearing and clipping every tree, and making
everything so exactly correspondent, was so very absurd, that in the revulsion of ideas
that followed its reformation, a line in any way, became an unpardonable offence against
the new creed. And it is so to this day. Let it be the work of our generation to make
extremes meet. Nature is not all lines or all circles. It is a beautiful mixture of both.
The sun, earth, and celestial bodies are round, the dew-drops are round; the rivers and
streams bend, and wind, and curve; the eye, the head, the limb.s — all show forth in many
a modification, cylindrical, bending, and sinuous forms. But yet these are intimately con-
nected with straight lines. The bold, determined looking cui-ves which the branches of an
old Tulip Poplar present, are beautiful; but the effect is considerably heightened by the
tall and arrow-like straightness of the trunk which supports then); and gaze in admira-
tion as we may, on the rounded symmetr}', and curved proportions of some beautiful spe-
cimen of human kind, we cannot f nget the linear lines, or longitudinal dimensions, that
give relief, strength, and body to all the rest. Indeed, there is often beauty in a straight
line, a beauty which nature frequently employs and glories in. It is her symbol of utili-
tij — it is the philosophy which she employs to show why she is beautiful. The idea of
utility is always pleasing — it is diffused throughout all nature; the laiulscape gardener
ought never to lose sight of this. Utility is the basis on whicJi all ornament in nature rests.
Whatever in art cannot be shown to be useful, is therefore nothing but extravagance
perfectly straight line in gardening is useful; though cntiiely unadorned, would be

THE GRAPE IN COLD VINERIES.

pleasing and more beautiful, than the most graceful curve "vrould be Avithout any useful
object, either apparent or real. It is but an one-sided view of nature that denounces the
" Quaker-like straightness" of the streets of Philadelphia; but the3'^are beautiful because
they are in character and in keeping vfith a place of labor and of business. There is no
beauty in the idea of having to go round the circumference of a circle on a matter of busi-
ness, instead of driving straght through its diameter, unless there can be beauty in an in-
convenience. Nor is it in reason that avenues should be denounced in all circumstances, or
all occasions. They are often abominable, but sometimes grand. What could supply the
want of the short wide avenue that leads from Walnut-street, Philadelphia, through the
square, to the venerable old Hall of Independence? or who would object to the magnificent
avenues of live oaks, a hundred years old, that adorn many of the fine plantations in Ca-
rolina.

It follows, then, that a curved line is not pleasing, merely because it is a curved line;
nor is a straight line to be objected to, merely because of its straightness; either case will
depend upon its being in character with its aim and purpose. It is the expression that
governs the beautiful, and whatever is beautiful must be founded in nature. The land-
scape gardener has but to give a meaning, has but to stamp an expression of beauty upon
his works; then, no matter whether his jmnciples of design be circles, curves, or straight-
ness— whether they be squares or triangles — whether his materials be foreign or indigen-
ous, exotic or native, American or English — his works will please.

I again repeat my conviction, that manj' gentlemen do not employ professional talent in
the laying out of their grounds, because they imagine that their own ideas, tastes, and
views cannot be respected — that everything must bend to the exact principles on which
the artist he might employ deemed " nature" to rest. Would it not be better to give up
this pretension of following nature.' Better to follow after nothing, or rather to imitate
nothing, but to create for ourselves? It is folly to pretend that we can make our
work appear to have been done by " nature herself." Let us avoio our art. We value a
picture because we know it is a picture, and not that we believe we are looking at some-
thing real; in like manner let us wish not merely to liave our work valued because we
have tried to " imitate nature," but because we have licightened the beauty of some por-
tion of nature for ourselves. Thomas Mekhan.

Bartram, near Philadelphia Jan. 10, 1862.

DETAILED CULTURE OF THE GRAPE IN VINERIES.

BY WM. CIIORLTOX, STATEN I.SLAND, N. Y.

Dear Sir — I respond with pleasure to your wishes respecting the description and
management of the cold vinery, erected two years ago, at this place, by my emploj'er J.
0. Green, Esq.

The house is 74 feet long, and in other respects, the same as jMr. Van Rensselaer's
at Clinton Point, described in a late number of the Horticulturist, with the exception of
there being only two rows of pillars inside, which gives a pathway six feet through the
middle of the house. There are 24 vines to each roof, and Won each side of the pathvva}^,
being one to each pillar, making a total of 74 vines. Tlie base soil of the be rdcrs is a
tenacious, hazelly loam, resting upon an adhesive gravelly bottom. The borders
feet wide on each side of the house and twenty inside, giving a breadth of GO feet and

THE GRAPE IN COLD VINERIES.

of 74 feet. A drain three feet deep, and filled with rough stones to the level of the lower
base of the border, extends all round the outside, and also another on the lower end to
convey the water off, the whole base being on a slight slope. Underneath the whole bed is
a layer of oyster shells five inches deep, so that the entire borders rest upon drainage with
a fiee outlet for water by the outside drains. The materials made use of in forming the
boi'ders, which are not more than two feet deep, (18 inches below and six inches above
the level,) are the base soil above mentioned, 60 barrels of bone dust and 40 tons of stable
manure well decomposed, being about one bushel of bone to every three, and one ton of
manure to every twelve square yards.

The vines were obtained from Mr. Buist of Philadelphia, and with the exception of
three, were one year old. Tliey were all planted inside of the house in March, 1850, the
roots being carefully spread out and placed on small mounds on the surface, having about
two inches deep of soil covered over them. They were pruned back to the lowest good
eye, and when they commenced growing freely, water was administered plentifully over
the house, and a humid atmosphere kept up, more particularly in dry and hot weather;
excepting on cloudy damp days, the vines were syringed over head every evening, and the
floor damped too or three times during the day. During the hot weather the borders were
lightly covered with the refuse grass from the lawns. The lower ventilators were not
opened till the vines began to show appearance of ripening, and the thermometer kept
through the day from 90" to lOO'' while growing freely. On dull cloudy or rainy days,
with an east or south-east wind, the house was kept closed, and a little sulphur strewed
over the floor to prevent mildew. The laterals were shortened in to an eye as they were
produced. In September appearances of maturity were visible, and water was gradually
withheld ; the lower ventilators were now opened gradually in the day time, increasing the
air as ripening progressed.

After the middle of October, water was entirely withheld, at which time most of the
vines had run up to the top of the house on one side, and as the heads were not stopped,
down to the bottom on the opposite side. The leaves were allowed to remain on till they
fell off, quite 3'ellow and mature, leaving the canes well ripened and short jointed, most
of them being three-fourths of an inch in diameter, with fine plump and well rounded buds
and a uniform growth throughout the house.

They were now pruned in to about an average of si.v feet on the rafter, and each other
eye on each side of the cane disbudded, leaving those intended for next season about twelve
inches apart. A covering of straw was wrapped round them and they were tied down
horizontall}'. The borders outside were covered with salt hay. The house was kept open
except in severe weather or rain.

By the middle of March the buds showed signs of bursting, the vines were uncovered,
and a good syringing given, which was repeated two or three times a day in mild, but
withheld in cold weather. The heads of the vines were kept down in a horizontal position
till all the eyes were well burst, when they were taken by degrees, according to develop-
ment, and tied to the wires, the tops being allowed to hang pendant till all parts were
equally broken. The flower bunches were now approaching towards bloom, and as it was
not intended to allow the vines to bear heavily the first season after planting, most of the
lower bunches were taken out to encourage the bottom side shoots to become as strong as
the top ones, and on each other eye, higher up the cane, a bunch was allowed to remain.
As the blossoms expanded, the atmosphere was allowed to become somewhat drier, and
ing was withheld overhead; the bunches were occasionally shaken to distribute
and assist in fertilizing the stigmas. After blooming, and when fairly set

THE GRAPE IN COLD VINERIES.

bunches not wanted were removed. The berries, when about the size of peas, were thin
ned out carefully, leaving the berries on smaller kinds closer, and on the larger ones more
distant; the shoulders were tied up, and the clusters pegged out. Very little after-thin-
ning was required. The borders were uncovered at the same time as the vines, and slight-
ly forked over, and a dressing of compost laid over, (both inside and out,) about three
inches thick, composed of three-fourths turf sods, one-fourth stable manure, and a
light addition of sugar house refuse. These had been mixed the season before, and were well
incorporated together.

When planted, the crowns of the roots were somewhat elevated, which enabled me to
apply this dressing to advantage, as the small fibres were quite matted underneath the sur-
face. The same treatment was adopted throughout the summer as last season, till the
grapes began to color, when water over head was discontinued, but occasionally applied to
the roots inside the house, to enable the crop to ripen off well. The borders outside were
lightly mulched throughout the summer, with stable manure, and a thorough good soaking
of water was applied three times during the long drouth.

On the second of August were cut, fully ripened, and well swelled, the first bunches,
(Malvesia and Joslin's St. Albans,) being a little under seventeen months from the date
of planting. Other kinds matured in succession; the whole crop being two hundred and
sixty-two bunches, well colored, some of the Hamburghs being over two and a half pounds
weight, and the other kinds being equally fine.

From the present state of the vines, I do not hesitate to say that from six to seven hun-
dred bunches may be taken from them next season, without injury. In pruning this fall,
I have cut the side branches back to a good and plump eye, with the intention of taking
two shoots from one spur, each (farthest from the main stem, for fruiting,) and one close
to the base, (not to be fruited till the season after,) when the spur maybe cut back, there-
by keeping the side shoots "at home," without stubbing in so close, and ensuring finer
bunches. The top growth is cut to about six feet, and dis-budded as last season, leaving
the canes over twelve feet long, and in good condition at the end of two seasons planting,
to bear a full crop.

Hoping the above description may assist in stimulating the lovers of this inestimable
fruit to erect houses for its cultivation, as no fruit-bearing plant is more easily groAvn, or
gives greater return for kind treatment, I am yours most respectfully,

Wm. CnOIlLTON,

Gardener to J. C. Green, Esq., New Brighton, Staten-Island.
[We thank Mr. Chorlton for his very practical and valuable communication. We
would be glad to receive many more just such as this from our practical readers, who know
but will not communicate their knowledge. Ed.]

•^

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

/orfiga mi^ 3ilisrdlanfniis JMim,

IIORTICULTUnAL NOVELTIES AT ExETER. — If

tlie retider would wisli to know what is doing in
this country, in the importation of new plants,
he must visit Exeter. Near that ancient city
lies a gentle valley, forming tlie nursery occu-
pied hy ]\[essrs. Veitcli St .Sou, in which alone
will be found more new and valuable [jlant.s than
in any place in Europe, witli the single excep-
tion of the Rcjyal Botanic Garden at Kew —
plants obtained by private enterprise for com-
mercial purposes, and not gathered together by
the power of a mighty government. By means
of excellent collectors, (two brothers of the
name of Lobb,) and liberal disbursements, Ca-
lifornia, Peru, Chili, Chiloe. Patagonia, in the
West ; and the Khasija hills, the provinces of
Tenasserim, Java, Malacca, and the ghauts of
Malabar, in the East, have been gleaned, and
the result is gathered into hot houses or trans-
ferred to the open air, in the fertile soil and
happy climate of Devonshire. Let us record a
few of the species which caught our eye on a
recent visit to tliis wealthy establishment.

First among the new plants is to be mention-
ed Saxc Gothf)caconspicua,a most beautiful ev-
ergreen from the Andes of Patagonia, with the
aspect of a Yew tree, which H.R.H. Prince
Albert, has pei-mittcd to bear one of his names.
This tree has lived four years in the open air,
and has all the appearance of being as hardy as
an Araucaria. From the same country comes
Fitz-Roya patagonica. another valuable Conifer.
with drooping branches, and also the habit of a
Yew; with the Libocedrus tetragona, an Arbor-
vitte-like tree, having four-cornered shoots; all
exclusively in the possession of Messrs. Veitch.

Among other evergreens, the existence of
which in England is unsuspected, is the great
Oblique Beech tree from Patagonia, (Fungus
obliiiua;) Eucryphia cordata, with hard heart-
shaped leaves, and flowers like a Tea plant;
Castenea chrysopliylla, the Evergi-een Califor-
nian Chesnut; great bushes of Philesia, just be-
ginning to produce their crimson tubular flow-
ers, two inches long, in the midst of hard stifi:'
deep green leaves; Pernettya ciliaris, with its
black-green broad leaves and heaps of dull pur-
ple berries, not to mention the other species mu-
cronata and augustifolia, loaded with pale ber-
ries, gay witli ruddy tints; Larus aromatica, a
Chilian evergreen, whose leaves are much more
fragrant than Sweet Bay; Embothrium cocci-
neuni, with long tufts of crimson blossoms; Eu-
genia apiculata and Myrtus Ugni, Chilian Myr-
tles, the latter with a fruit like a purple Guava;
and finally, the rare and curious Desfontainia
spinosa, with the air of a Ilollybush, and the
flower of a scarlet trumpet Honeysuckle. Of
this, one single flower Las been produced upon a
in a pot.
are the new or little known evergreen

Berberries collected here; B.Darwinii, growing
into a round, glittering, exijuisitely beautiful
bush; B. flexuoso, a handsome shrub, with
straggling branches; B, lutea, a pretty diminu-
tive thing; and several other species at present
undetermined. Eurybia alpina, fron.i ISJew Zea-
land, here vindicates its claim to hardiness,
along with the Escallonia Picppigiana, a Peru-
vian bush, loaded witli white flowers early in
the summer, and a great stiff-leaved Dracaena,
from New Zealand, which may be Dr. indivisa.

Nor are deciduous hardy plants less common
here. An Indian palmated Rubus is loaded
with yellow fruit as lai-ge as an Antwerp Rasp-
berry ; great masses of a north wall are covered
with the scarlet perennial Tropoeolum specio-
sum, which disregards frost but abhors the sun;
the hairy-stemmed Tropoeolum Lobbianum, is
curling round a rough stake, and decorating it
with its Vermillion colored flowers; and Pavia
Californica, the California Horse Chestnut, has
established itself in the open quarters of the
nursery. Quantities of the huge Indian Liliuni
giganteum are hastening to prepare for flower-
ing another year, and heaps of rock-work are
glittering with Oxalis speciosa.

Among plants of home origin, we ought to
point out tlie Iledera Ragncriana, a kind of Ivy,
with monstrous heart-shaped leaves; Cotoneas-
ters and such plants worked half standard high
on the common thorn; a noble looking Holly
called Ilex alta-clerensis, which seems to have
some of the blood of balcarica in it; a hand-
some variety of Arbutus Andrachine, called
photinia2folia, and most beautiful specimens of
that noble Fuchsia corallina, whose origin has
lately been disputed, but which bears unmista-
kable evidence of having been derived in part
from F. radicans or some allied species.

This sketch of the hardy plants that are al-
ready saleable in this establishment, renders an
account of the tender plants less interesting for
the moment. To them we may return hereaf-
ter. For tlie present it is sufficient to name
among the new plants, Lapageria rosea, aclimb-
ber from Chiloe, with very large crimson blos-
soms; a fine Iloya, with long leathery leaves,
some most elegant Indian Sonerilas with varie-
gated foliage, a Peruvian Begonia, whose leaves
are one confused stain of crimson, purple, green,
and silver gray; Cinchona Condaminea, one of
the true peruvian bark trees, aplant with a most
delicious perfume, now flowering for the flrst
time in Europe ; and quantities of Indian Or-
chids, among which the D. albosanguineum
stand pre-eminent. As to the Orchids, no plants
can exceed their health and beauty, unless it be
the choicest of M. Ruckcr's collection. In short,
turn where you will, the eye meets nothing but
what is most fine and rare, in this sur{
collection of the Messrs Veitch. — Gard.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

lOnmrstit IJntinu

The Poetry of Whittling.— The Rev.
John PiEEPONT, in a clever and witty poem,
delivered at the centennial celebration at Litch-
field, Conn., thus admirably sketches the uni-
versal New-England juvenile habit of whittling,
and its significance in more ways than one: —

The Yankee Ijoy. before lie's seiil to school,

Well knows the inysleries of ihal niaa^ic tool,

The pocket kiiile. To that his wislfufeye

Turns, while he hears his mother's lullablyj

His hoarded cents he gladly gives lo gel it,

He leaves no stone uniurned, till he can whet it :

And, in the education ol' the lad,

No little pari that implernenl halli had.

His pocket knife to tlie yonnsr ^vlnl!ler brings

A growing knowledge of material things.

Projecliles, innsic, and llie sculptor's art,

His chestnut vvliislle. and liis shingle dart,

His elder pop-gun with lis hickor\ rod,

Its sharp explosion and relionnding wad,

His cornstalk fiddle, and the deeper lone,

That iTiurniurs from his punipkin-leaf Iioinhoiie,

Conspire to teach the boy. To these succeed

His bow. his arrow of a feathered reed.

His wind-mill; raised the passing breeze to win,

His water-wheel that turns upon a pin;

Or, if his lather li\es upon the sliore,

You'll see his ship. '■ beam-ends"' upon tlie floor.

Full rigged, with raking masts, and limbersstauneli.

And waiting, near the ^\ash luu. lor a launch.

Thus by his genius and Ids jack-kn.fe driven,

E're long, he'll solve you any problem given ; —

Make any gim-criick, musical or mute,

A plough, a coach, an organ or a flute,

Make you a locomotive or a clock,

Cut a cauni or build a Hoat.tig dock,

Or lead forth Heauly I'lcnn a marble block; —

Make anythiug. in short, lor sea or sliore.

From a child's rattle to a seventy-four —

M;d<e !«, said I ? Ay, when he undertakes it

He'll make the thing, and the machine thai makes it.

And. when the thing is made.^whether it be

To move on earth, in air. or on the sea,

AVhelher on water, o'er the waves lo glide,

Or, upon land, to roll, revolve, or slide;

Aviiether to whirl, or jar, to strike or ring,

AVhelher it be a piston or a spring,

"Wheel, pulley, lube sonorous, wood or bra«s,

The thing designed shall surely come to pass; —

For when his liaiid's upon il, you may know,

That there's go in it, and lie'il make it go.

Craneerries on Dry L.\nd. — A great deal
has been "written and .said, the last two j-ears,
about the possi! ility and jivofit of cranberry
plantations, made on dry upland. Knowing the
habits of the wild cranberry to be tixcdand not
variable, we have never had the least failh in
the practicability of cultivating this sub-aquatic
plant in this way. "\Vc notice that several of
the so-called successful experiments, have at
length turiied out failures, and it will be found
that people who wish to grow cranberries for
must have the command of low grounds
abundant supply of water. If ever the

cranberry is made to thrive on dry lands, it will
be by raising it from seed, and so gradually
adapting the constitution to the akscnce of
moisture — and not by talving the wild plant from
the swamp where it grows naturally.

Hussey's Reaping M.\chines. — It would ap-
pear from the Englisli papers, that Hussey's
Reaping Machine, (which we believe has always
had the preference of experienced judges in this
country,) has taken the first rank in England,
after repeated trials in the open field. At the
Great Exhibition trial it failed, from not being
in working order .and from having beer, managed
by a common porter. The Cleveland [English]
Agricultural Society, however, ajipoiiited a
special jury to test McCorjiick's and Hussey's
machines. Over a thousand persons were i)re-
sent . and Hussey's machine was pronounced by
the judges, superior to McCormick's: -'doing
more work, causing less waste, cutting the grain
in a better manner, and being less in cost."
Foul weather in harvest time, is far more com-
mon in England than America, and Hussey's
machine lias proved its superiority on trial, par-
ticularly as regards its capacity for cutting
grain in a wet and fallen harvest. We under-
stand the foreign demand for this Reaping Ma-
chine is large, and that Mr. Hussey is taking
out patents in France, Rus.sia and Prussia. It
is pleasant to find that Brother Jonathan can
take the lead in the harvest field of the old
world .sometimes, though Prof. Johnston, the
profound, has said we were all beggarly farmers.

Hybrai'Lic Ram — Vineries, &.c. — Mr.
Downing — Dear Sir: I wish to trouble you
with a few inquiries about the water ram, and
glass structures, such as cold graperies. The
principle of the water ram hasbeen made plain,
through the Horticulturist and other papers,
but the cost of the apparatus, and the effective
force of the instrument, with the conditions
necessary to its use, are data which I have been
waiting some three years to know. We have
never been able to learn what relative quantity
of water is required to be discharged, to elevate
a certain quantity a given height; nor have I

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

been able to ascertain how great a fall is essen-
tially necessary to the effective operation of a
ram, elevating water say 25 or 30 feet. I have
been induced to troxible you Avith these qnes-
tions. thinking you might be familiar with the
practical operation and economy of this instru-
ment, or could refer my interrogatories to some
manufacturers of your acquaintance, who, I
suppose, are jireparcd to give all necessary in-
formation in regard to it.

I am beginning to feel the want of a vinery,
which, without heating apparatus, I conceive to
be a simple and plain structure, but am unable
to devise means to prevent injury from hail
storms. I don't know whether you are subject
to the fall of hail of sufficient size to endanger
these structures, or whether you use shutters.
It strikes me that shutters, unless entirely re-
moved, would intercept too much light; but I
am quite afraid to risk them, where hail from
half an inch to one and a half inches in diame-
ter, sometimes falls. Another question arises,
which I wish to ask you. My farm is one mile
in extent in its longest measurement, and pre-
sents an undulating surface, witli several good
building sites, which I design to improve for my
tenantry. I would like to improve the different
sites with houses of different style, to give va-
riety, (am I right?) and wish to know if I should
place edifices in the pointed .style on the highest
eminences, or the lowest. You will probably
consider this a very foolish question for any one
to ask, but I assure you that I am content to
ask simple questions in regard to what consti-
tutes good taste in architecture and the land-
scape, and trust you will pardon the same, when
you consider that I have a new farm, directly
from the hand of nature, and am located where
I have not the benefit of erudite example.

I have now in cultivation and in English grass,
near 300 acres of my 420, and when some
twenty-five more have been subdued, I shall
direct my energies to the ornamental improve-
ment of my timbered lands.

I obtained some good Devon cattle from Mi-
chigan this fall, as a beginning of my original
design, formed seven or eight years ago, to
stock my lawns with choice breeds of animals;
and shall be able to have them sufficiently in-
reased, with what additions I hope to be able
ic by the time I get my grounds ready,

to make a respectable show in the way of stock.
"We have had a delightful autumn and early
winter — no cold weather until the 12th of De-
cember. Since which time, the thermometer
has ranged below zero, the greatest portion of
the time, sometimes as low as 20°; so I suppose
we may say good bye again to the fieaches.
Yours, respectfully, J. W. Muscatine, loiva.

Remarks. — As almost every case whei'e the
hydraulic ram is used, differs slightly from ano-
ther, we can only generalize in our answer to
our correspondent's first query. The fall need-
ed in most cases, is from three to four feet ; the
quantity of water forced up by the ram, (say
at 200 or 300 feet distant, with 30 or 40 feet of
elevation.) is about one-tenth; that is nine gal-
lons of a given supply from a spring or stream,
are used in obtaining the power necessary to
force up one gallon. The cost of the ram it-
self, (usual sizes,) varies from 12 to 18 or 20
dollars. Besides this, enough lead pipe is need-
ed to convey the water from the ram to the
place where it is wanted. This is usually half-
inch pipe, worth, at the manufectories, five or
six cents a running foot; also about 20 feet of
one and a half-inch pipe, to drive the ram, worth
25 or 30 cents a foot.

Severe hail storms occur occasionally here —
though not so frequently as at the west. It is
rarely the case, however, that greenhouse glass
is greatly damaged by it. A shower of very
large hail stones — averaging three-fourths of an
inch in diameter, took place last autumn, while
we were at a gentleman's seat upon which was
a range of glass neraly two hundred feet long.
The owner expected to find the glass roofs en-
tirely destroyed after the storm. But only 60
panes were broken among so many hundreds.
The steeper the roof, the less the breakage.
"What is termed " double thick" glass, — made
especially for greenhouses, is much stronger,
and is rarely broken.

In building several tenant houses upon a sin-
gle piece of property, we would much prefer
to construct them all in one general style — or
with only slight variations, growing out of diffe-
rent sizes, positions, and wants. The passion
for variety is the bane of modern art. It is at
variance with simplicity, certainly one of the
noblest and highest beauties of art, and
stroys breadth of repose and expression.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

a man always pursues a certain consistency in
all that he does, he stamps the rank of character
on his actions; when he changes his plans and
motives every day, we say he has no character.
So, in building a city, avillage, or even the cotta-
ges on a farm, let every man's house be diffe-
rent, (as they are in the city of New- York,)
and the effect is only that of a confused jum-
ble. But let certain portions of a city, or the
whole of a village or country place, show dis-
tinctly some one single pervading influence or
feeling in design, and a character of dignity and
importance, is at once conferred. Variety is a
good thing, but it is only a secondary source of
pleasure — based on the weakness, rather than
the strength of man's nature. Ed.

A Few Remarks on Cherries. — Triumph
of Cumberland. — I have a cherry which passes
under the name of the Triumph of Cumberland,
which, as far back as I can trace it, originated
at the Cumberland county almshouse, (a seed-
ling.) The last two years it has been the finest
cherry among about forty varieties of all the
choicest cherries now in use — of the very larg-
est size. It would, this last, and the summer
before, cast into the shade such as the Black
Tartarian, Holland Eigarreau, Bigarreau de
Mczel, Napoleon, and all others that I had, in
point of size, and second to none in point of fla-
vor. Its form is much like that of the Black
Eagle; it is a deep red when ripe, and it ripens
about medium season.

I am satisfied that the variety is not much
known out of this state, and as a nurseryman,
would not attempt to give it such a recommen-
dation, were it not that I have not a dozen trees
of it for sale at present. Jacob Cocklin, of
York county, and D. Miller, of Carlisle, have
had trees of it on sale, I know, as I have got
from them before now, when short of them.*

New Large Black Bigarreau. — In your work
on Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, in des-
cribing the Large New Black Bigarreau, you
attach a note, mentioning that it is the same as
the Black Tartarian, in a former edition. Now
I received grafts from A. Saul, three years ago ;
among other varieties the New Large Black Bi-
garreau, which is by no means a Black Tartari-

* The Triumpli of Ciiiiiberland, aiirl the Cumbcrlnnd
.''cedliii'!: Cherry, have been coiifouiKied. I ha>e tliem
both on tlic same tree, and cannot consider them the same.

an; it is quite as large as the Black Tartarian,
but much firmer fleshed, and about eight or ten
days later — I consider it a first rate cherry. I
mention this so that if Messrs. Saul & Co. have
trees of the kinds sent out as the New Large
Black Bigarreau, in the spring of 1848, they
need not call them Black Tartarian, as they are
not it by any means.

Bigarreau Monstreuse DeMezel. — On seeing
a cut and description of the above cherry, in
the Horticulturist, a few years ago, I think I
was among the first to get hold of it. This
year it fruited finely with me, and as there has
been nothing said about it since its introduction
into the country, and even some reputable cata-
logues omit a description of it, (which I think
a very good plan, so long as a fruit is n6t
known,) I will say a word about it. I have not
at hand the volume of the Horticulturist. Avhere-
in it is described, but at the time of its ripening
I considered the description above named, as
correct as I would undertake to make one, ex-
cept the fruit is not quite so large as the cut
represented; it is quite firm, excellent flavored,
and ripened a little after the Black Tartarian.
I consider it a splendid cherry, and, from expe-
rience, believe it to be an early bearer. as a small
tree but two years from the bud had three cher-
ries on it about four feet from the ground ; they
were however far inferior to those on grafts
on a large tree. S. Miller. Union Cottage,
New Lcb., Pa., Dec. 26, 1851.

The Improvement op Gardeners. — Sir:
Being anxious to promote the profession of gar-
dening, I will suggest the idea of gardeners and
nurserymen, in the vicinity of large towns and
cities, meeting to form libraries, to consist chief-
ly of books on Agriculture, Horticulture, Ar-
chitecture, Mathematics, Botany and Natural
History, and the leading periodicals embracing
the above sciences, as issued from the jiress. It
is for the benefit of both employer and employ-
ed, to combine the strictest economy with the
most profitable results — and to act on that prin-
ciple, a man must understand the laws of na-
ture, and how those laws are assisted by the in-
genuity of man. Whether it is in the proper
tillage of the soil; or in the various crops raised
from it; or in the construction and heating of
buildings for growing fruits or flowers in
tificial atmosphere. The energies of the

Domestic notices.

talented men have been employed to become ac-
quaiuted with these laws, and they have left the
various methods of their practice and their re-
sults, for the benefit of those after them. To
purchase the various volumes necessary for the
acquirement of this knowledge, Avould incur a
greater expense than could be spared by one in-
dividual. This being the case, and feeling the
want of such assistance, I would like to see a
spirit roused among gardeners and nurserymen,
that would, at a trifling expense to each inivid-
ual, eflect the desired object.

In making an appeal to the public, to meet
with the response wished for, it is necessary for
them to be convinced of the utility of the object
of the appeal. The persons appealed to in this
instance are those connected with, or interested
in gardening ; and I am satisfied that those who
are lovers of the art, will, themselves, assist and
use their influence in their own immediate neigh-
borhood, to cause others to lend a helping hand
also. It would seem needless to enumerate the
benefit that gentlemen and nurserymen would
derive by employing active, intelligent men.
To have such men, there must be facilities such
as those suggested here, that would give them
the information necessary to raise them to this
standard. Now who are the employers that
would not like to have such men, and how few
of them there are?

The instances of stupidity and ignorance are
too well known by every employer, and the lit-
tle leisure of the present season could not be
better employed than to form a plan and com-
mence reading societies, before the gardening
season commences. Should j-oufind a place in
your Journal for these few remarks, it may
cau.se abler pens than mine to be employed in
soliciting means for the fulfillment of the pur-
pose, and the desired benefit be derived. Thom-
as Paxton. Staten- Island, N. Y., Jan. 16,
1852.

The Yellows. — Dear Sir: I have seen in the
Horticulturist, many speculations and sugges-
tions as to the cause of the Yellows of the peach
tree, but none of them have been satisfactory
to my mind, and I wish to suggest a new theory,
or at least, one that I have not seen mentioned.

This disease may be constitutional and in-
fectious ; but having observed the commence-
ment and progress of the disease, now prevail-

ing in all the peach orchards, I believe, without
exception, througli the whole length and breadth
of the Connecticut river valley, south of Spring-
fi(fld, I am fully convinced that, in this in-
stance, it is an epidemic.

I first observed the disease in 1840, upon a
few trees, by the premature ripening of the
fruit, and the small wiry branches growing upon
the main stems. This appeared simultaneously
in different parts of the State, upon seedlings
growing on poor soil, as well as upon the choi-
cest varieties receiving the highest culture.
Since that time the disease has prevailed to such
an extent, that a large number of trees have
already died, and a healthy tree can scarcely
be found in this section of the state. I trust
you Avill call out some of your Yankee corres-
pondents, who will give us some light on this
subject. Very resp't yours, C. C. S afford.
Cleveland, O., Jan. 10, 1852.

New Fuchsias — F. Serratifolia. — The
Fuchsia is fairly in the field as one of the fash-
ionable and favorite flowers of the day. Hy-
bridization and botanical discoveries are increas-
ing its attractions with amazing rapidity. There
is probably not another of the popular genera
that has been so much improved within a space
of say ten years. Its real progress may be
dated from the introduction of the ful gens in
1837 or '38. The species and varieties that were
in collections previous to it, were comparatively
uninteresting. The distinct character, large
foliage, and long elegant showy flowers, of that
species, created a sort o^ furor among cultiva-
tors, and was the means of directing such at*,en-
tion to fuchsia culture and improvement, as has
brought about, in so short a period of time, its
present state of perfection. Hundreds of species
and varieties are now in existence, and indeed
hundreds of new ones are annually produced.
They now occupy a place among the most bril-
liant objects of floral fetes, and they have be-
come specialities among foreign growers, like
the Rose and the Dahlia.

Amongst those of more recent introduction,
Serratifolia is worthy of special attention, as
possessing not only beauty but distinctness in its
ajjpearance and character. It is a species or
sub-species introduced from Peru, by Messrs
ViETCH of E.\eter, England, through the
cessful collector, Mr. Lobb.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Its habit is stiff and bushy, leaves of a pecu-
liar dark green with red petioles. They are
verticillate, in fours, and the flowers are pro-
duced from their axils, one from each leaf. The
flowers are one and a half to two inches long,
the calyx or tube of a fine bright rose, the points
of the sepals or division being green; the corol-
la is scarlet, with a shade of orange. Altogeth-
er, when in bloom, it is a beautiful plant. We
propagated it last spring for the first, and had a
nice stock of young plants, but were disappoint-
ed in its not blooming with the hybrid varieties
during the summer. The plants were allowed
to remain on the stage in the greenhouse all
summer, without any shifting or care beyond a
supply of water. In the autumn, when the
t)lants were housed, the Serratifolia was placed
among the others in a cold corner, and much to
our surprise, they soon began to show blossoms.
Tliey were then brought forward, and continued
to bloom finely through the whole of November
and December, although not over 10 or 12 in-
ches high, late spring cuttings.

Thus you see its season of beauty just opens
when most of the others are to be laid on the
shelf to rest; and this ti'ait, I consider, entitles
it to j)articular attention, for a beautiful plant
like this, blooming in the dreary winter months,
is a real acquisition. This late blooming sug-
gests the necessity of a different mode of treat-
ment from the summer flowering sorts. We
would in future either turn out the young plants
into the border about the first of June, and re-
pot them in September, or M'e would plunge
the pots during summer in an open border, and
manage them something like Chrysanthemums.
In either of these ways we will get good strong
plants and bushy, (if kept topped) that will
give a superb bloom in November and Decem-
ber. An English gardener in a late number of
the Chronicle, states that he has been very suc-
cessful with a treatment i>imiku- to this. His
cuttings were struck early in February, and
after being potted off, they were repeatedly
shifted into a mixture of equal parts of loam,
peat and leaf-mould with a little silver sand,
until about the middle of May, keeping them
well topped. By this time they were nice plants.

As soon as the weather permitted, I then

them into the open borders where the

as not over rich, choosing as dry a place

as possible, and no fartlier notice was taken of
them, till the end of September, when they be-
gan to show flower buds.

He then prepared the same soil for them as
before, and carefully lifted them into suitable
pots, according to their size, keeping them in
a close pit for a few days, and .syringing them
every evening, till they had recovered from the
check, giving air by degrees until they could be
fully exposed . He then placed them in a shaded
situation until they were housed with the other
green-house plants. Two year old plants he
cuts back when done flowering, reduces the ball
when they commence growing, and shifts them
like young plants. Under this treatment they
bloom from November till February. The
same treatment exactly will answer here, but
the plants will probably bloom sooner and last
not quite so long.

Among the hybrid varieties I have noted.
Pearl of England. Fair Rosamond. Maiiifi-
cent, Eliza Mielliez, President (Touell) and
President For cher, (Mielliez) are first rate, and
Serratifolia multiflora, Serratifolia alba and
Spectabilis will take the same rank. P. B.
Rochester, N. F., Jan. Ifi, 1851.

Mass. Central Board of Agricclture. —
This Association met at the green-room in the
state house, at 10^ yesterday morning. The
Board was called to order by Hon. JIarsiiall
P. Wilder, the President, and Simon Brown,
editor of the New-England Farmer, was ap-
pointed Secretary pro tern. The attendance
was quite large, and much interest was mani-
fested by the delegates in the objects of the board.

Eeports were submitted as follows: From Mr.
Wilder, delegate to the Hampshire Society;
Hon. Allen W. Dodge, delegate to the Hamp-
shire, Hampden and' Franklin; Hon. John W.
Proctor, delegate to Worcester Society, and
also to the Bristol Society; Mr. Wiiitaker,
delegate to the Plymouth Society; Hon. B. V.
French, delegate to the Bershire Soc. ; Hon.
Dr. Gardner, delegate to the Franklin Socie-
ty; Col. Page, delegate to the Essex Soc, and
Ex-Gov. Everett, who attended the Middlesex
Exhibition. Other reports will be submitted at
a future time.

Lieut. Gov. Cushman, from a committee ap-
pointed for the purpose, reported a constitution
and series of by-laws for the goverrnnent of the
Board. The constitution styles the Board the
" Massachusetts Board of Agricultuie."' It con-
tinues the organization of the Board as before,
with the addition of an Executive Committee
of five. The report was accepted and the con-
stitution adopted.

Rev. Mr. Sewell, from the Committee on

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Manufactures, submitted the report of that com-
mittee. Mr. Wilder, from the Committee on
Agricultural Eilucation, submitted a series of
resolutions, taking high si'ounds upon that sub-
ject. Mr. Dodge, on Milch Cows and Dairy
Droducts. Mr. Goriiam, on Stock.
Afternoon Session.

Professor Fowler, of Amherst, submitted
the following resolution:

Resolved, That the President of the Massa-
chusetts Board of Agriculture be requested to
enter into a correspondence with the Presidents
of the several state societies, and of other agri-
cultural associations, on the subject of the ex-
pediency of calling a national convention for the
purpose of taking into consideration the inte-
rests of agriculture in tlie United States.

It was discussed and unanimously adopted.

Mr. Wilder then nominated for the Execu-
tive Committee of the Board, the following
named gentleman: Hon. Edward Everett,
John W. Proctor, J. H. W. Page, B. V.
French, Professor Fowler. They were unan-
imously elected.

The second reading of Mr. Wilder's report on
Agricultural Education was called for, and
given. The following resolution was then otter-
ed by Lieut. Gov. Cushman:

Resolved, That the report of the Committee on
Agricultural Education be referred to the Ex-
ecutive Committee of this Board, with instruc-
tions to present the same to the Legislatui-e in
behalf of this Board, and urge the passage of
such laws as may be necessary to carry out the
principles and views contained in said report.

[The report asks for the establishment of a
State Department of Agriculture, with officers
commensurate with the importance of the duty
to be performed; suggests the propriety and
expediency of reserving a portion of the pro-
ceeds of the sales of public lands, and devoting
such sum to the promotion of Ag. Science; and
in short claims for Agriculture the same fostering
care which isbsstowed upon other interests.]

After a lengthy discussion upon the general
subject of Agricultural Education, and the best
mode of securing it. the resolution was adopted
unanimously.

PENN.-^YLVANIA IIORT. SOC— The slated meot-
iiig' of tills Society was liekl on Tuesday evening .Ian. 20,
1852. E. W. Keyser, V. P., ni the chair. A few ohjecls
of interest were presented, notwithslandinp- the severily
of the weather, which were — a lie:intiful basket of cut
flowers, of clinice kinds; among them were a raceme of
the Stanhopea macidcita. and specimens of llie CypnpeiJi-
um venustum, and a moss covered urn. henrinq' Kne flow-
ers. Al-o another heantifn! flower of the Vicloria Regia.
the thirty-eighth produced hy Mr. Cope's plant; the huil was
cut and l)runglit in, carefully iiroleclcd from the cold, and
when taken out it expanded liandsomely, and was a per-
fect specimen, of smaller dimensions than those shown
at recent meeling'-i. Dislies of F'ears were shown — the
'•Niles" variety, tVom Win. V. Pettit, the Easter Beurre
from H. W. S.Cleveland — a winler variety, from \.IiOtt,
Reading, Pa., and of Apples, the '• Northern Sny," from
.1. J. Thoma-s. Maeedon, N. Y. ; the "Keim'" from C.
Kessler, Reading. There was a large table of culinary
vegetables (rom Miss Gralz's garden.

The library committee presented their amnial r'^port. by
which it appears that the library contains upwards of nine
hiiudred and fifty volumes, on subjects solely appropriate.

The special committee on nominations, submitted a
ticket to b" voted for at the annual uieetmg, and a report
descanting fully on the subject of the President's determi-
nation to decline a re-election, expressing regret thereat,
.■iiid fully setting forth his services, and the advantages he,
by his liberality, has rendered to the cause of Horticul-
ture ni this communiiy ; likewise alluding to the course
of proceeding of the Society in the encouragement of the
cause, by a liberal expenditure in its awards, and anticipa-
ting a hope that souselul a society may yet be the recipient
of donalions and legacies to enable it toestablish what was
originally contemplated, a Bolaiiic Garden: ending with
a recommendation that a committee be appointed to devise
some suitable testimonial to Mr. Cope, in appreciation of
the good he has eflected.

Tlie Annual Meeting was organized by calling Mr. J.
.1. Vanderkemp, to the Chair, and appointing .1. E. Mitch-
ell Secretary. The election lor oflicers resulted as fol-
lows :

President— Gen. Robert Patterson.

Vice-Presidents — Jas. Dundas, E. AV. Keyser, Joshua
Longstreth, Dr. W. D. Brinckle.

Treasurer — .lohn Thomas.

Corresponding Secretary — Thomas C. Percival.

Recording Secretary — Thomas P. James.

Professor of Entomology — .Samuel S. Haldeman, A.M.

Professor of Botany — William Darlington, i\I. D.

Professor of Horticultural Chemistry — Robert Hare, M.

A committee of five members to devise the suitable tes-
timonial (as recommended) to Mr. Cope, was appointed.
Tho. p. Ja.mes, Recording Secretary.

B.W., (Cayuga.)— The fruit buds of tho
peach are usually destroyed when the thermo-
meter shiks to 12° or 13° below zero of Fahr.
You may ascertain now if the mischief is done,
by slicing a bud across with a sharp knife; if the
center or heart of the bud, is brov.-n or black,
instead of green, (its natural color,) there will
be no fruit from that bud. It will blossom, but
the fruit will not set. It does not always fol-
low, however, that even this temperature will
destroy the embryo fruit — because if the bud
thaws gradually, in cloudy weather, it will es-
cai)e — the sun striking in the branches after so
cold a night, does the harm, and hence trees
(juite in the shade, often escape entirely, though
equally exposed to the frost.

Select Roses. — A Young Florist, (New-
York.) We recommend one dozen hardy ev-
er-blooming roses, as follows: Perpetuals —
Madam Laffay, Giant dcs Batailles, Baron Pre-
vo.st, AViliiam Jesse, La Reine, Duchess of Suth-
erland, Aubernon; Bourbons — !\Iadame Des-
prez, Bouqet de Flore, Souvenir deI\[almaison,
Pierre de St. Cyr, Mrs. Bo.sanquet. A dozen
best Roses for pot culture, are the following:
Saffrano. Princesse Marie, Souvenir de Malmai-
son, Devoniensis, Compte de Paris, Mrs. Bosan
quet, Eugene Beauharnois, Niphelos, Queen
Lombardy, Hermosa ; and for larger pot:

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

branches to be trained, Solfaterre, and Cloth of
Gold. The best hardy Climbing Eoses for "the
most northern states," are Boursalt Elegans,
Blush Boursaltj Queen of the Prairies, Balti-
more Belle, Superba, and Eva Coriune. Wiegela
rosea, is, so far as tried, hardy all over the north .
Select Fruits. — Ibid. The best half-dozen
Strawberries for family use, are Large Early
Scarlet, Burr's New Pine, Hovey's Seedling,
Hudson, Crimson Cone. The best half-dozen
Plums, do.. Green Gage, Imperial Gage, Pur-
ple Favorite, Smith's Orleans, Coe's Golden
Drop, Frost Gage.

Magnolias. — F. T., (Maine.) The only
Magnolia known to be hardy in Maine, is the
Cucumber Tree, 31. accuminata. But as M.
conspicua, and M. -loulangiana, have borne
20° below zero, on the Hudson, without injury
to any nart except the flower buds, you might
make trial of these beautiful Chinese varieties
with confidence. Tulips kept out of the ground
all winter, will be worth very little in the spring.

Tree Seeds. — /. M. M., (Tompkins county,
N. Y.) Seeds of some of tlie ornamental trees
may be had of Thorburn & Co., New-York, and
Buist, Philadelphia ; but a general assortment
is not kept anywhere in this country. Mahaleb
cherry stones, cannot probably be had short of
France.

Black Roses. — ^ Lady, New-Haven.) The
old story of grafting a rose on a black currant,
is a pure absurdity ; first, because the graft
would not take, and second, because the color
would not be changed if it did. The darkest
roses are only a dark reddish purple ; the black
hollyhock is the most decidedly black flower
produced by cultivation.

Lawns. — W. R. S., (New-London.) If you
wish a lawn at once, do7i't commit the folly of
planting oats, or any other crop, with your grass
seed — but plant only the grass seed itself, three
times as thick as usual, and you will have a
close turf by July. The soil must be made
deep by trenching or sub-soil plowing, if j'ou
wish to maintain the verdure through the sea-
son. Either red-top or blue-grass, mixed with
white clover, m.vkes the best lawns; three-
fourths of either of the former, to one-fourth of
the latter. Sow as early in the spring as the
is mellow and dry enough, and roll the
perfectly smooth afterwards.

Monarch Pear. — Jl Pomoligist, (New-Bed-
ford.) Our opinion is, that in spite of the high
reputation made for Mr. Knight's pears abroad,
not one of them is above second rate in the
United States — some of them far below that.

Osage Orange. — W.Brenner. Thisunusu-
ally cold winter will settle the hardiness of this
hedge plant in all parts of the country. But
you must remember that because a j'oung hedge
two years old, is cut down to the ground, it
does not follow that a full grown hedge would
not defy the frost — the wood of the first being
sappy from luxuriant growth — that of the latter
being firm and mature, from constant pruning
and stopping the hedge.

Grafting. — P. Wilson. In grafting over
full grown orchard trees, it is the better mode to
graft the top branches the first year, and the
side branches the second year. This equalizes
the distribution of the sap, and produces a much
better head. Rhode Island Greenings and Bald-
wins, are more regular and heavy bearers than
the others in your list.

Green-house. — 31., (Albany.) We suspect
the want of healthy growth in your greenhouse,
is from the high temperature at which you keep
it during the night. This forces the plants to
grow most in the dark — with very little pure
fresh air to grow in. Keep the temperature al-
ways much lower at night than in the day time,
and continue, if possible, to introduce fresh air
warmed — by passing it over the flues or furnace
in some sort of air chamber.

Keeping Flowers Fresh. — J Young Read-
er, (Charleston.) Flowers fade so soon because
the juices of the leaves evaporate through the
pores — and the dryer and warmer the room, the
more rapidly the flowers fade. If you wish to
keep them fresh for a long time, keep them
under a glass shade ; or shut up a favorite bo-
quet at night, in a covered box, sprinkling the
flowers plentifully before hand. In the morn-
ing you will find them quite fresh — they having
taken up moisture through the pores of both
leaf and flower.

Cherry Stocks. — /. T., (Moundville, Wis.)
The choke cherry, (C.seroiina,) has been used
as a stock, but it is somewhat difficult to make
the cultivated varieties take upon it. The qua
lity of the fruit is also somewhat deterior
the stock.

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

€)^t fouixiM in §xmA

'^HJE have sketched, in a former volume, the elements of the Beautiful in a Tree.
^^ Let us glance for a few moments at the Beautiful in Ground,

We may have readers who think themselves not devoid of some taste for nature,
hut who have never thought of looking for beauty in the mere surface of the earth —
whether in a natural landscape, or in ornamental grounds. Their idea of beauty is,
for the most part, attached to the foliage and verdure, the streams of water, the high
hills and the deep valleys, that make up the landscape. A meadow is to them but a
meadow, and a ploughed field is but the same thing in a rough state. And yet, there
is a great and enduring interest, to a refined and artistic eye, in the mere surface of the
ground. There is a sense of pleasure awakened by the pleasing lines into which yon-
der sloping bank of turf steals away from the eye, and a sense of ugliness and harsh-
ness, by the raw and broken outline of the abandoned quarry on the hill-side, which
hardly any one can be so obtuse as not to see and feel. . Yet, the finer gradations are
nearly overlooked, and the charm of beautiful surfece in a lawn is seldom or ever con-
sidered, in selecting a new site, or improving an old one.

We believe artists and men of taste have agreed that all forms of acknowledged
beauty are composed of curved lines ; and we may add to this, that the more gentle
and gradual the curves, or rather the farther they are removed from those hard and
forcible lines which denote violence, the more beautiful are they. The principle ap-
plies as well to the surface of the earth, as to other objects. The most beautiful shape
in ground is that where one undulation melts gradually and insensibly into another.
Every one who has observed scenery where the foregrounds were remarkable for beau-
ty, must have been struck by this prevalence of curved lines ; and every landscape
gardener well knows, that no grassy surface is so captivating to the eye, as one where
these gentle swells and undulations rise and melt away gradually into one another.
Some poet, happy in his fancy, has called such bits of grassy slopes and swells.

Mahch 1, 1852.

No. III.

THE BEAUTIFUL IN GROUND.

" earth's smiles ;" and when the effect of the beauty and form of outline is heighten-
ed by the pleasing gradation of light and shade, caused by the sun's light variously
reflected by such undulations of lawn, the simile seems strikingly appropriate. With
every change of position the outlines vary, and the lights and shades vary with them,
so that the eye is doubly pleased by the beauty of form and chiarorscuro, in a lawn
with gracefully undulalating surface.

A flat or level surface is considered beautiful by many persons, though it has no
beauty in itself. It is, in fact, chiefly valued because it evinces art. Though there
is no positive beauty in a straight or level line, it is often interesting as expressive of
power, and we feel as much awed by the boundless prairie, or desert, as by the lofty
snow-capped hill. On a smaller scale, a level surface is sometimes agreeable in the midst
of a rude and wild country by way of contrast, as a small, level garden in the Alps
will sometimes attract one astonishingly, that would be passed by, unnoticed, in the
midst of a flat and cultivated country.

Hence, as there are a thousand men who value power, where there is one who can
feel beauty, we see all ignorant persons, who set about embellishing their pleasure-
grounds, or even the site for a home, immediately commence levelling the surface.
Once brought to this level, improvement can go no further, according their views, since
to subjugate or level, is the whole aim of man's ambition. Once levelled, you may
give to grounds, or even to a whole landscape, according to their theory, as much
beauty as you like. It is only a question of expense.

This is a fearful fallacy, however ; fearful oftentimes to both the eye and the purse.
If a dead level were the thing needful to constitute beauty of surface — then all Hol-
land would be the Arcadia of Landscape Painters, and while Claude, condemned to
to tame Italy, would have painted the interior of inns, and groups of boors drinking,
(vide the Dutch School of Art,) Tenters, living in the dead level of his beautiful na-
ture, would have bequeathed to the world pictures of his native land, full of the love-
liness of meadows smooth as a carpet, or enlivened only by pollard willows and stag-
nant canals. It is not the less fearful to see, as we have often seen in this country,
where new places are continually made, a finely varied outline of ground utterly spoil-
ed by being graded for the mansion and its surrounding lawn, at an expense which
would have curved all the walks, and filled the grounds with the finest trees and shrubs,
if their surface had been left nearly or quite as nature formed it. Not much better,
or even far worse, is the foolish fancy many persons have of terracing every piece of
sloping ground — as a mere matter of ornament, where no terrace is needed. It may
be pretty safely said, that a terrace is always ugly, unless it is on a large scale, and is
treated with dignity, so as to become part of the building itself, or more properly be
supposed to belong to it than to the grounds — like the fine, architectural terraces which
surround the old English mansions. But little gardens thrown up into terraces, are
devoid of all beauty whatever — though they may often be rendered more useful or
available in this way

surface of ground is rarely icgly in a state of nature — because all nature leans
beautiful, and the constant action of the elements goes continually to soften and

THE BEAUTIFUL IN GROUND.

wear away the harshness and violence of surface. What cannot be softened, is hidden
and rounded by means of foliage, trees and shrubs, and creeping vines, and so the ten-
dency to the curve is always greater and greater. But man often forms ugly surfaces
of ground, by breaking up all natural curves, without recognizing their expression, by
distributing lumps of earth here and there, by grading levels in the midst of undula-
tions, and raising mounds on perfectly smooth surfaces ; in short, by regarding only
the little he wishes to do in his folly, and not studying the larger part that nature has
already done in her wisdom. As a common, though accidental illustration of this,
we may notice that the mere routine of tillage on a farm, has a tendency to destroy
natural beauty of surface, by ridging up the soil at the outsides of the field, and thus
breaking up that continuous flow of line which delights the eye.

Our object in these remarks, is simply to ask our readers to think in the beginning,
before they even commence any improvements on the surface of ground which they
wish to embellish — to think in what natural beauty really consists, and whether in
grading, they are not wasting money, and losing that which they are seeking. It will
be better still, if they will consider the matter seriously, when they are about buying
a place, since we have said in our last number, no money is expended with so little to
show for it, and so little satisfaction, as that spent in changing the original surface
of the ground.

Practically — the rules we would deduce are the following : To select always, if
possible, a surface varied by gentle curves and undulations. If something of this cha-
racter already exists, it may often be greatly heightened or improved at little cost.
Very often, too, a nearly level surface may, by a very trifling addition — only adding a
few inches in certain points, be raised to a character of positive beanty — by simply
following the hints given by nature.

When a surface is quite level by nature, we must, usually, content ourselves with
trusting to planting, and the arrangement of walks, buildings, &c., to produce beauty
and variety ; and we would always, in such cases, rather expend money in introducing
beautiful vases, statues, or other works of positive artistic merit, than to terrace and
unmake what character nature has stamped on the ground.

Positively ugly and forbidding surfaces of ground, may be rendered highly inte-
resting and beautiful, only by changing their character, entirely, by planting. Such
ground, after this has been done, becomes only the skeleton of the fair outside of beauty
and verdure that covers the forbidding original. Some of the most picturesque ra-
vines and rocky hill-sides, if stripped entirely of their foliage, would appear as ugly
as they were before beautiful, and while this may teach the improver that there is no
situation that may not be rendered attractive, if the soil will yield a growth of trees,
shrubs and vines, it does not the less render it worth our attention in choosing or im-
proving a place, to examine carefully beforehand, in what really consists the Beautiful
in ground, and whether we shall lose or gain it in our proposed improvements.

THE SAGE GRAPE.

THE SAGE GRAPE— AGAIN.

BY J. FISK ALLEN, SALEM, MASS.

Mr. Editoh — The insinuation of your correspondent, Mr. Shelden, "one of the most
experienced amateurs on the Hudson," that the Sage Grape was imposed upon the public
by me, is false. I stated in the Culture of the Grape, upon what authority it was brought
to notice; under these circumstances, if he chose to expend his two dollars, and was not
satisfied with his bargain, it was his own affair.

The Horticulturist has, or should have, for its aim, the benefit of the public, not solely
that of the " experienced cultivator of the Hudson."

Mr. Sage unquestionably considers this grape very good, and he has support in this
opinion from others. You think " that no man who has ever tasted a grape that is a
grape, would cultivate a vine of this sort, after tasting the fruit." AVe differ in opinion.
The Sage Grape is unquestionably a native fox variety, but there are many people who
prefer these to the foreign kinds. The Muscats, in all their varieties, which you and the
majority of people prefer to all others, are very offensive to the minority. Are. they ham-
bugs ? Many experienced persons, not only in this, but in European and vine districts,
could not be induced to swallow one. In Paris, the Chasselas de Fontainbleau is preferred
to all others. In Boston, this autumn, they were almost unsaleable at any price. Black
Hamburghs and Isabellas being preferred. Are, therefore, all the varieties of Chasselas
humbugs?

That any one accustomed to foreign varieties of green-house grapes, should prefer the
Isabella, or any other of our native kinds, is singular and unaccountable to me, with my
tastes, but it is a fact notwithstanding. I grow one Isabella vine under glass, for my fami-
ly use, some members preferring them, and who do not make use of even Black Ham-
burghs. Many prefer the more spirited, or sour kinds, as St. Peters, Zinfandel, &c.

Supposing a reader of your Magazine living north of the state of Connecticut, wishes to
cultivate the Sage Grape for his own use, or for sale, profit being his object. He buys a
vine for fifty cents or one dollar, (and that is enough for him to pay for one;) plants it
near a tree, or on the south side of a building; lets it grow three shoots, one to make his
vine; the other two may be layered in July into boxes, to be planted out in the spring if
wanted; if not, disposed of to his neighbors. The leading shoot may be bent down into
a box the succeeding spring, to make another layer vine, or it can be cut back to three or
four eyes. The second summer, if the soil is good, the vine will make one shoot strong
enough to fruit the third year, and in four or five years the vine will be capable of bearing
bushels of fruit, and this fruit will find purchasers — people who like the peculiar fox flavor.
A farmer who attends our market, sold ninety dollars worth of native fox grapes this last
autumn; the vines were old, and had run up large trees — all the cost to him of this fruit,
was the labor of gathering.

Now, Mr. Editor, if our native grapes will yield this profit to the farmer, notwithstand-
ing you or I may not desire them — they are not humbugs.

That they meet with a ready sale in our market, and at a price of from four to ten cts.
per pound, is a fixed fact — and at a time, too, when Isabella Grapes were abundant; also
pears, peaches, &c., and of green-house grapes a surfeit, selling at twenty to forty cents a
pound, as to quality.

I have had the Sage Grape sent me the past season, and have given them to many indi

CROPPING VINES UNDER GLASS.

viduals, who have expressed their views of its quality — differing in their opinions — some
wishing a vine; one only, saying, common fox, good for nothing.

In your February number you have an error; you state me as saying " this grape was
found in Maine," whereas I say in Connecticut. Yours truly, J. Fisk Allen.

February 5, 1852.

Remarks. — A humbug we suppose to be something that pretends to be what it is not,
and thus imposes on the public. Now, if Mr. Sage, who gave the description of this fruit
in Mr. Allen's book, in his own words, had called the Sage Grape a large and good fox
grape, every body would have understood him, and there would have been no " humbug"
in the case. But he said not a word of its being a fox grape; on the contrary, he des-
cribed it as having a " pulp very soft and juicy," — while it is quite the reverse. He speaks
of it as being the "richest flavored grape he ever tasted," and ends by saying, it " will
surpass anything of the grape kind in this country." Now, as it answers none of these
high encomiums, we think our correspondents are quite right in calling it a humbug.

Notwithstanding exceptional fancies, there is something, we must be allowed to add,
like a general judgment, as to the quality of grapes, as in everything else. It is not suf-
ficient to destroy that judgment, that an individual here and there does not agree. There
are some men who prefer rye whiskey to the finest sherry, or pork and beans to canvass
back ducks, but they would make but a sorry figure if they were to come out and attempt
to palm off these delicacies as surpassing anything eatable or drinkable in the wide world.

Mr. Allen is right in saying that he did not impose the description of the Sage Grape
upon the public. But no doubt many of his readers considered him as endorsing it, by
printing Mr. Sage's highly wrought description, without any word of caution or doubt.
Ed.

CROPPING VINES UNDER GLASS.

BY H. AV. S. CLEVELAND, BURLINGTON, N. J.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: The letter of Mr. Chorlton, in the current number
of the Horticulturist, suggests an inquiry of much interest to grape growers, and to which
a reply can only be obtained by each one contributing the result of his own experience —
viz: how early, and how much fiuit may vines (under glass) be permitted to bear with-
out danger.

I have read many such statements as those of Mr. CnoRLTON, of the wonderful success
of vines in bearing the first or second year after planting, accompanied with sanguine an-
ticipations of future luxuriant crops; but we rarely, if ever, hear anything more about
them. I have had a few opportunities of observing the result in similar cases, and I have
never known such early bearing to fail to injure the vines.

According to Mr. Chorlton 's account, his vines ripened, the second season after plant-
ing, two hundred and sixty-two bunches, which, on seventy-four vines, is an average of
between three and four bunches to a vine, and next season he has no doubt of a crop of
eight or nine bunches from each vine.

Now, I have no doubt of the capacity of any well managed vines, to do what his have
done thus far, but I very much doubt their capacity to realize his future expectations; and

^ earnestly hope, is, that Mr. C. will inform us the next year how he succeeds, and ^
ially if he does not succeed — for experiments which fail, are as valuable to learners m

m

HINTS ON FRUIT-ROOMS.

as those which succeed, though much more rarely heard of. My practice is to keep an
account of the crop of each vine in my house, every year, (the vines being numbered, in
order to distinguish them,) and I leave more or less fruit, in proportion as the last year's
crop has been well or ill ripened. My vines, which are mostly Black Hamburghs, have
been planted eight years, and were not allowed to bear a bunch till the fourth year after
planting, and I have never yet been able to ripen perfectly, more than nine or ten bunches
on any single vine, which is about what Mr. Chorlton proposes for his vines the coming
season. I do not call the Black Hamburgh, or any other black grapes, ripe when they are
red, though they are often sold in such a state — and (which is still worse,) they often re-
ceive a premium at exhibitions.

Now, there are a great many persons who have young vines coming on, to whom this
question possesses a degree of interest, far beyond the mere pecuniary value of the crops;
and if all whose experience enables them to communicate facts, would send you a state-
ment of them for publication, it would go far to establish a true standard of the quantity
of fruit a vine may bear with safety, and the age at which it maj^ begin bearing. A grape
vine, properly managed, will outlive the one who plants it, and perhaps several generations
after him; and a sense of gratitude for such a gift of Providence, should induce us to study
its nature and habits, and beware that we do not abuse it. Yery truly yours,

H. W. S. Cleveland.

HINTS ON FRUIT ROOMS

BY M. P. WILDER, BOSTON.

We extract by permission, from a private letter of January last, from Hon. M. P. Wil-
der, the following notes regarding the construction of a fruit-room, which will interest
many of our fruit growers. Ed.

My fruits are keeping admirably in the new fruit-room. This room happens to have
been situated and constructed so much like Mr. Morrison's, (of which j'ou have seen the
drawings and description in the Gardener's Chronicle,) as to be almost a fac-simile of his.

The walls of mine, however, are fiUed-in with charcoal and sawdust.

The Beurre Diel, Vicar of Winkfield, Excellentissima, and other autumn pears, are now
in as perfect condition as when gathered from the trees, and so they will remain till the
warm weather of spring approaches. I shall then try some of them in the non-conducting
boxes, where I think they may be kept till summer. I have by a similar process, pre-
served some varieties till July. Mr. Morrison has no new principle. All that is neces-
sary, is to obtain a low temperature during the warm weather of autumn, and to preserve
this equilibrium. This being attained, there is no difficulty whatever. When the severe
weather of last month occurred, my fruits were removed from the shelves and packed in
boxes, with a thin layer of clean rye straw between each tier, the tubes of the straw con-
taining air enough to correct mildew and damp. The boxes are now piled on one side of
the room, and covered with hay about three feet in depth.

My experiment was suggested by the bad effects of moisture and warmth in my old fruit
cellars, under my dwelling house, and the same difficulty exists with rooms on the
ground-floor of buildings. I therefore resorted to the other extreme — a cool and dry cham-
ber on the north end of my barn, the location of which you know, (and like Mr. Morri-
son's,) over the carriage room. I am now quite satisfied that we have at last ascertained
proper location for a fruit-room; namely, a cool upper apartment, with lined non
walls. With great regard, yours, M. P

THEORY OF PRUNING FRUIT TREES.

VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY— THEORY OF PRUNING FRUIT TREES.

BY P. BARRY, ROCHESTER, N. Y.

In tracing the history of the arts and sciences, we are not unfrequently surprised at the
particular, and in some cases very remarkable events or circumstances that have given
life and development to certain branches; and in fact this constitutes one of the most in-
teresting, if not instructive, features of such a study. Printing, Navigation, Astronomy,
the application of steam and electricity, all of which are exercising the most unbounded
influence upon the world, have moved forward with various degrees of progress, from in-
distinct and almost unintelligible glimmerings, to their present amazing development.

For long ages they may have been neglected, overlooked, scarcely spoken of; when all
at once, some accidental occurrence, perfectly unimportant in itself— some individual taste
or caprice, or perhaps some general and wide-spread necessity, called forth by the chang-
ing conditions or pursuits of a class, or a community, induces a spirit of research and in-
quiry, forming a new epoch from which to date a real intelligent progress. The progres-
sive history of the study of vegetable physiology, is, to the student of nature, no less than
to the practical cultivator, replete with interest and instruction; and its future history will
be still more so, vastly more so, than the past. The most difficult, and the most impor-
tant points, yet await a satisfactory solution. This study just begins to take root in Ame-
rican minds, and it might strike into a less genial soil. A necessity has called attention to
it — a necessity which every day increases in magnitude, as the interest which has created
it becomes wider and deeper.

Necessity is not only " the mother of invention," as the old adage goes, but it is the
mother of study and research. In America we have all the ordinary inducements to a
study of nature, bestowed upon us with a bountiful and unsparing hand. What other
people on earth have been blessed with such a glorious domain, extending over so many
degrees of latitude; embracing so many climates, from the frozen north to the tropics;
such an almost endless variety of vegetation, from the lofty and powerful oak to the lowly
moss?

We are, moreover, a nation of cultivators. Our great pursuit. Agriculture, M'hich is
fa-r above and beyond all others, in its paramount importance, dooms us to a life among
the vegetable productions of the earth; and it is a truth now undisputed, that our success
in this pursuit depends no less upon our comprehension of the laws that control and regu-
late the life of plants, than on our industry in carrying out the practical teachings of ex-
perience.

Yet and withal, the science of vegetable physiology has remained up to this period, all
but a dead letter amongst us. The ordinary routine of practical agriculture is profitable,
and to a great extent successful, without it; but at length a special necessity for its study
makes its appearance. A certain branch of culture, under certain circumstances, demands
it; cannot be successfully and satisfactorily prosecuted without it; that branch is Fruit
trees. They are not practical farmers and gardeners alone, who, in this country, and in
these days, are engaged and engaging in fruit and fruit tree culture — but learned and high-
ly cultivated men, from the pulpit, the bar, the press, and all other intellectual pursuits.
These men come into the fruit garden and the nursery, not like those who are " to the
manor born," with skillful, practiced hands, and minds overflowing with old fashioned
experience, but strangers to everything, and novices in everything; no obstinate dogmas
to contend with; all to be sought for and learned. They turn at once to books. Her

THEORY OF PRUNING FEUIT TREES.

they are directed, in an ofF-hand, practical way, to plant in this manner, and prune in that;
the reasons, the principles upon which such practices are based, being seldom touched
upon, or if so, in a manner so superficially, or so vaguely, as to be misunderstood by those
who have no practical experience to fall back upon. Books, in some cases, too, are oppos-
ed to one another, and this puzzles the beginner; so he wisely concludes to go back and
examine the fundamental principles upon which all cultural operations depend.

He sees an absolute necessity for this, in order to prosecute the work he has undertaken
in the same intelligent and discriminating manner to which he had been accustomed in his
other pursuits. Hence it is, that the subject of vegetable physiology, principally as re-
gards its bearing upon the pruning and management of fruit trees, is attracting the atten-
tion of the most intelligent fruit culturists in all parts of the country. Those who are in
any way connected with this pursuit, are well aware of this; and the horticultural jour-
nals bear ample testimony to the fact. It cannot, therefore, be considered visionary to
anticipate another great good to our country, from our new progress in fruit gardening, in
addition to the ordinary benefits we are wont to enumerate. A good consisting not only
in a greatly extended study of nature in the abstract, but in the theory of vegetation in
detail; the germination of the seed; the structure and development of the root, the stem,
the branch, the bud, and the leaf; the functions of all these parts; their connection with
one another, and relative importance to the life, and groAvth, and fruitfulness of the tree.
This is to be the study; and what a fresh, delightful, and imposing aspect it will give to
cultivation! How it will raise it up from the condition of a merely toilsome, dull, empi-
rical routine of labor, to be " the inclination of kings, and the choice of philosophers!"
I therefore rejoice to see this subject taken up by inquiring and intelligent minds. No
matter how crude and visionary their first conceptions may appear, nor how much they
may misjudge the teachings of the book, they are valuable and important as indicative
of " the good time coming." Having acquired some experience, not only in the perusal
and examination of theories, as laid down in books, but in putting them to the actual test
of practice, I propose to offer a few suggestions that may not be altogether unserviceable
to tho.se who are but commencing their studies, investigations, and experiments.

The first point is to obtain as clear an idea as possible, in the present state of knowledge,
concerning the organic structure of trees — beginning with the first pair of leaves and radi-
cles, or young roots; to trace the mode in which the roots spread through the soil, and
imbibe food, which is conveyed upwards through the stem into the leaves; how, and by
what influences it is then elaborated and prepared to enter into the formation of new parts;
to trace the successive accumulation or growth of parts ; of layer of wood on the top of
layer; of branch upon branch; the formation of buds, the expansion of leaves, &c.

Having thus studied the general subject, the student will be prepared to understand and
appreciate the operations by which all these parts are controlled, and made subservient to
certain specific ends. He will comprehend why the cutting back of the first seasons'
growth of a young tree increases its diameter at the base, and produces branches there by
simply changing the locality of the most active point of growth. Why pruning during the
inactive season of growth promotes vigor, and in the growing season diminishes it. Why
root pruning affects the vigor and productiveness of trees, and under what circumstances
growth and bearing are respectively promoted or retarded. The effect of moisture and
dryness; heat and cold; light and shade, upon all parts of the tree; and the various ope-
rations recommended to control and regulate these elements.

Then comes the study in detail of the various forms or modifications of the same or
and their comparative forces or functions in the general life of the tree. For iu

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

stance, we have roots of various kinds on the same tree; large woody roots and delicate
fibres. Branches and shoots of various degrees of vigor, and of various purpose in the
economy of the plant. Buds, varying in form, purpose, position and force.

These, all, not only in nomenclature, but in their general and particular influence and
relative connection, must be carefully studied.

Again, we come to the study of the different characters presented by different genera
and species of trees; differences in their general nature, modes of growth and of bearing,
as for instance, between the apple and the peach; the pear and the cherry, &c. This is a
most important branch of the study, for it teaches us an all important sense of this discri-
mination in the treatment of trees. For instance, the peach tree, unlike the apple, the
pear and many others, produces its fruit on yearling shoots — that is, the fruit buds are
formed during their first season's existence, and blossom and bear the next. This at once
suggests the necessity of having always a good supply of healthy annual shoots. In our
climate, and in most others, art must come to the aid of nature, in order to ensure this
succession of good growth, and hence most authors recommend, and cultivators practice,
a sort of pruning which has been termed " shortening-in," which takes away some of the
fruit buds and the points of the shoots, and throws the forces of the tree into the strong
wood buds towards the base, and these give us strong shoots for the next season, that we
could not otherwise obtain.

Unless the mode of growth and bearing of this tree is studied, this operation will not be
understood, and hence a very intelligent gentleman, in a recent article on the " theory of
pruning," calls this "absurd philosophy," because it excites only one of the forces of
the tree.

If he will take the whole subject into calm and careful consideration, he will find it not
so absurd. But even after the general differences that exist between genera and species,
have been studied, there are still a multitude of conditions in varieties of the same species,
that must be observed well in pruning. For instance, all pears do not grow alike; some
varieties are low, stout, much disposed to branch, whilst others are just the opposite;
some are disposed to bear young, whilst others are tardy; and some productive to a fault,
others the reverse; these different forms and habits must be met with appropriate treat-
ment; the mode of pruning that would exactly suit one, might be ruinous to another. It
is the case in all species, but he who has mastered the general principles will not experience
much difiiculty in adapting the treatment to the case. I hope to be able in a short time, if
some one more competent does not take it up, to present a classification of varieties of fruit
trees, with reference to this last point. P. B.

Ronhester, January, 1852.

THE PROGRESSIVE DECLINE OF THE VITAL POWERS OF A PLANT.

BY JOHN TOWNLEY, MOUNDVILLE, WIS.

We commend the following interesting and valuable article, to the notice of our read-
ers. Ed.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: When considering various explanations which had
been advanced to account for the disease of the potato, known as the " curl," I have been
led to inquire whether varieties of plants, as they become old, do not afford other evidence,
that stated in my previous paper, of a progressive diminution of vital power, lead
functional derangement, debility, and death.

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

I am doubtful whether T shall not be trespassing too much on the patience of your read
ers, by recurring again to this subject; but the question I conceive has a great practical
bearing, and if the view I now send you, of the effects of age, should prove on further in-
vestigation, to be well founded, the most sceptical can hardly be otherwise than convinced,
because of the exact and conclusive evidence it will afford of the truth of Mr. Knight's
conclusions, respecting the limited duration of varieties of plants propagated by exten-
sion.

It would seem that the potato, in the earlier 3'ears of its culture in Europe, was either
entirely or comparatively free from disease. The first notice I have met with of the
" curl," (a disease so called from the leaves contracting or curling, instead of expanding,)
is in a paper in the Transactions of the London Society of Arts; wherein it is said, that
the disease was probably first noticed in Lancashire, about 17G4; about that time a man
observed a few plants in his crop which decayed, or seemed to ripen sooner than the rest,
and he straightway concluded that somehow he had luckily obtained a new and early kind;
he accordingly marked the plants with a view to cultivate them, but was much disappoint-
ed and perplexed by the result of his experiment. Baron Hepburn, in a communication
to the Board of Agriculture, said the curl was unknown in Scotland before the years 1778
or 1779. Dr. Anderson, in an essay on the potato, in the Bath Papers, remarked, that
the onl}'- thing which seemed to be positively certain with regard to curl, is, that it was not
known in the northern parts of the country, till a very few 3'ears ago, and at that time it
was much less prevalent in the north than in the south.

Towards the close of the 18th century, the curl prevailed in the potato crops to such an
extent, as to give rise to much discussion, and many experiments, with a view to discover
the cause of the malady, and by what means it could be prevented.

Manj' observations might be cited to prove that this first mild form of disease of the
potato, could not be attributed solely to any peculiarity of soil, season, or mode of cul-
ture, but that it was peculiar to, and therefore inherent in, certain varieties for the time
being. I learn ffom two prize essays in the Transactions of the Society of Arts, for 1790,
that it was known at that time, that certain varieties only were subject to the disease;
that it was hereditary, and that the only effectual mode of getting rid of the evil, was by
discarding the affected varieties. One of the writers, Mr. Pitt, said, " the curl in pota-
toes is doubtless owing to degeneracj' — to the particular varict}^ being worn out. I have
known three to fail by curling in this county, (Staffordshire.) The national remedj^,
therefore, is, the raising and reproducing fresh varieties, a practice which has never been
interrupted by any difficulty." Mr. Holt, who wrote from the neighborhood of Liverpool,
observed, " the cause of the disease, so far as lean learn, appears to be nothing more than
a degeneracy of the plant. This district, for some years, suffered great injury from curled
potatoes, but few crops of late years have failed of being much infected with this disorder,
for whenever the curl has appeared, in ever so small a digree, that stock has been rejected
by the attentive cultivator, and new seed obtained." Hence the conclusion based on these
facts, as we read in Martyn's edition of Miller, " the circurast;mces of the old sorts being
now almost entirel}' cut off by curl, renders it probable that the disease is incident to de-
clining varieties of potatoes, as canker is to declining varieties of fruit."

About the time the curl was so prevalent in England, it seems to have prevailed to a
considerable extent on the continent of Europe, also. A reward of 1,200 francs was of-
fered in 1775, by the Royal Academy of Brussels, for the best treatise on the cause of the
disease. The prize was awarded to a writer who concluded that it was the resu
degeneracy of tlie plant, owing, as he supposed, to its being an exotic. He advised

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

new varieties should be obtained from Virginia, the potato being supposed at that time to
be indigenous to that country. Ilis advice was followed, and the remedy proved efficient.
So the Belgian, like the English cultivators, found that the most effectual, or only certain
means of restoring their crops to health, was by substituting healthy varieties for those
which were subjected to the disease.

Many well-informed men have concluded that curl is caused by the over-ripening of the
seed tubers, and the Aicts are certainly too numerous, and too well authenticated, to ad-
mit of doubt, proving that the state of ripeness, or rather the dry condition of the tuber,
does exercise a considerable influence on, if it is not the immediate cause of the curl.

The authors of several of the earlier papers for instance, observed, that when the curl
was rife among the crops in rich, low-laying, early soils, it had never been experienced in
neighboring hilly districts, having a northern aspect, where vegetation was more backward,
and where the crops had not the same chance of becoming perfectly ripe. It was also fre-
quently observed, that curled plants proceeded from large, hard tubers, which did not de-
cay in the ground, as usually happens. Others had noticed that small potatoes, which had
been thrown aside for pigs, but which were planted for the want of a sufficient number of
sets of larger potatoes, droduced entirely healthy, smooth-leaved plants.

The expedients which at various times have been resorted to with a view to prevent the
disease, such as by obtaining the seed-tubers from late situations, or by raising them be-
fore the haulm had naturally decayed, or by planting late in the season, so that they could
not have time to ripen, all indicate that under-ripe watery tubers afford the most healthy
and vigorous plants, and some security against the disease.

The influence of the dry state of the tuber in producing curl, has also been proved ex-
perimentally. Sets taken from the waxy, or least ripened end of a long kidney potato
subject to curl, were found to produce healthy plants; whereas, sets from the opposite
dry end of the same tubers, did not vegetate at all, or produced curled plants. Mr, Kkight
conceived that curl originated in the preter-naturally inspissated state of the sap, and he,
from a number of tubers, the produce of wholly diseased plants, carefully detached the
shoots when about three or four inches long, and planted them; as they had now little to
subsist upon, except water, not a single curled leaf was produced, though more than nine-
tenths of the plants which the same identical tubers subsequently produced, were much
diseased.

There can hardly be any question, then, that curl is in some wa}' induced by the per-
fectly ripe or dry state of the seed-tubers. But then it seems equally certain that the po-
tato was formerly free from this disease, and that varieties do not become subject to it till
they have been some time in cultivation. Sir John Sinclair, in his work on the potato,
said, "if continued too long, they are liable to disease, as the curl." Sheriff, an emi-
nent Scoth farmer, observed, " time or old age, never fails ultimatelj" to bring on the curl-
ed or shriveled disorder." How are these seeming inconsistencies to be reconciled? Either
the potato formerly, or varieties in the earlier 3'ears of tjieir existence, never ripened their
tubers, or perfect ripening alone is not sufficient to account for this disease. There must
be some other undiscovered agent at work, which has power over those plants onl}^ that are
the produce of ripe tubers of aged varieties; or else, in the progress of time, a change takes
place in the tubers of a given variety; the texture must become more solid, the fluids
thicker and less abundant, and therefore incapable of sujiporting healthy vegetation.

A given species of plant requires a certain range of temperature, and a certain amount

ht, to enable it to grow in a healthy and profitable condition. The Palnis of the tro

ill not grow to any useful purpose in the United States; nor will our apple trees

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

thrive in the tropics. An excess, or a deficiency, of heat and light, are alike injurious;
both lead to functional derangement, ending in general debility. A gardener, on receiving
an exotic plant new to him, would desire to know its native country, and what soils and
situations it preferred in its wild state, in order that he might determine what mode of
culture would be most likely to be suitable to it. But different species differ widely in
their pov^^er of adapting themselves to different climates, and this the gardener can only
learn by experience, aided by his knowledge of the geographical range of the plant in ques-
tion. Does our knowledge, then, of the native country of the potato, and of the various
climates in which it is cultivated, warrant the conclusion that the curl disease is caused
simply by the over-ripening of the seed tubers.'' that is, (if I understand correctly what is
implied,) is the amount of heat and light of European summers, greater than the plant
naturally requires for its healthy growth? At the first glance, it seems hardly probable
that a plant which is a native of the tropical regions of South America, should be over-
ripened in the climate of England. Of all cultivated plants, the potato is most accom-
modating. It is cultivated in every latitude from the torrid to the frigid zone, and if it is
liable to be so over-ripened in England, as to cause it to be diseased, then what should be the
condition of the plant when grown in the West India Islands; in the burning sands of
the Cape, or under the hot and brilliant summers of the United States? The quantity and
quality of the secretions of a given plant, and the solidity of its tissue, depends partly on
the amount of light and heat to which it is exposed, and if the concrete state of the sap,
or the dry condition of the tuber of the potato, which gives rise to curl, was simply or
solely the effect of over-ripening, in England, it should follow that the plant would be use-
less in the United States of America, and the West Indies, or at the Cape.

I am not aware that any satisfactory evidence exists, to show that the ripe state of the
tuber of an aged variety induces a certain condition of the plant, which is favorable to the
attack of some animal or vegetable parasite; but there are facts on record which seem to
justify the conclusion that a change does take place in the tubers of a given variety, when
in the course of time its vigor declines, the tissue becomes more solid and drier, and the
fluid thicker and less plentiful; or in other words, the tubers of a given variety become
more dry and farinaceous.

In animals, it is well known that certain changes do take place as age creeps on. The
bones gradually become more solid and brittle; the muscles more rigid, and the fluids
thicker and less abundant; and various important organs, on the due exercise of which
health depends, become impaired, and incapable of performing efficiently their respective
functions. The opponents of Mr. Knight's theory have dwelt much upon this fact, when
doubting the accuracy of the conclusions at which he had arrived respecting the limited
duration of individual plants. An animal, say they, becomes worn out, or dies, when old,
in consequence of a structural change in many of its most important organs; but in nlants
or trees there is nothing analogous to this. I suspect, however, that there is a closer anal-
ogy between plants and animals in this respect, than has hitherto been supposed to exist.

The life of an animal is marked by three distinct stages, progressive, conservative, and
declining. In youth, the greatest amount of food is assimilated; the body increases ra-
piply in size, and the limbs are supple; in middle age, little more food is appropriated
than is required for the repair, or solidifying of the frame; while in the decline of life, an
animal gradually becomes meagre and diminishes in size — the quantity of food assimilated
is not equal to the waste of the body. " It is certain that the productive powers of a va
of the potato, is in proportion to its youth." (Lindlet.)
certain, that owing to a progressive decline of the vital powers, possibly to the

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

efficient state of the feeding organs, the plant is unequal to the task of absorbing and as-
similating the same amount of food as in its youth; herein there is obviously a great sim-
ilarity between plants and animals. I believe it is equally certain, that a structural change
does gradually occur in plants, as well as in animals, when an individual declines in
vigor, which change cannot be attributed solely to the action of external agents.

I may again quote the observation of the Editor of the Irish Farmers' Magazine, re-
specting the gradual changes induced by age, in the quality and productiveness of a vari-
ety of potato. " In a few years after a variety has been raised from seed, it arrives at its
greatest degree of productiveness; then it continues annually, for a number of years, to
decrease in productiveness, but to become more valuable for food, being more farinaceous,
or as it is termed drier; afterwards it begins to lose this quality, also, and rapidly to de-
cline, until in a few years more, it is utterly useless." Similar observations occur in the
tenth vol. of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. In vigorous growing, productive va-
rieties of the potato, yielding at first coarse grained tubers, so full of fluid sap as only to
be fit for cattle, this progressive change in the quality, and consequently in the composi-
tion or structure of the tuber, has been frequently observed. Holt, in the Transactions
of the Society of Arts, mentions a variety called the " Dabb," large, coarse, and strong
flavored, and therefore unsuited for the table, which became so much improved as to be no
longer rejected. Martin Doyle, in his Cyclopgedia of Agriculture, observes, that " the
Irish Lumper is becoming every year more farinaceous and palatable." Other observa-
tions to the same effect, may be found in papers on the "blight" of the potato, published
by the Highland Society of Scotland. A remarkable change in the character of a valua-
variety, came under my own notice. In my youth, a large red, kidney shaped potato,
known as the Scotch Red, or Flat Red, was most extensively cultivated, and almost uni-
versally esteemed, in consequence of its being very white and farinaceous when cooked.
Having been from home a few years, I found on my return, a potato in use of very inferi-
or quality — soft, watery, and of a yellow color, and was surprised to learn that this was
the Scotch Red, which was formerly so excellent. On going through the grounds of a
market gardener, soon after, a patch of potatoes with peculiar spindling stems, and scanty
foliage, attracted my attention, and on inquiring the name of the variet3', I learned that
it was the Scotch Red; it had been so great a favorite, my friend remarked, that they were
obliged to continue to grow a few, as some people would have them, but they could no
longer rely upon it for a crop; many sets perished without vegetating, and it was now com-
paratively unproductive, and the potato worthless.

The quality or dry condition of the tubers of a given variety, may be influenced to a
certain extent, by the nature of the soil and season; but the gradual alteration in the tu-
bers of varieties, as above stated, is certainly of too general and progressive a character to
be the exclusive result of any external influence; it is manifestly a consequence of the
declining power of the inherent principle of life.

The change from a coarse, watery potato, fit only for cattle, to one so different as to be
suitable for the food of man, is an event of too marked a character to pass unnoticed, even
by the most careless; hence this change has been more particularly noticed in such varie-
ties. But if coarse varieties of the potato are subject to this progressive change, is it not
probable that all are governed by the same law; that the finer varieties must be similarly
affected; may not those which from the first were comparatively dry and farinaceous, be-
come in the course of time, and when growing under ordinary circumstances, still drier,
fluids thicker, and less abundant. If this be so, then it is no longer a mystery why
or old age never fails to bring on the curled or shrivelled disorder;" why a variety

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

in the earlier years of its existence may be healthy, and then become liable to the curl. We
may also understand why some varieties of the potato ma}' be over-ripened in England,
and yet the plant be cultivated in the tropics; Avhy cold, vv'et, and cloudy seasons, adverse
to the growth of the potato, may produce tubers which afford the most healthy plants;
and why a comparatively young variety may be subject to the curl, while another variety
may become infirm and useless without exhibiting any marked symptoms of the disease.
The utility of preventing the perfect ripening of the seed-tubers of dry and farinaceous
varieties, is apparent. Holt observed that " the finer kinds sooner degenerate than the
coarse kinds, which are almost, if not alwaj'S, the most productive, and retain their vigor
the longest." The cause of this, too, must be now obvious. The dry and fixrinaceous tu-
ber, as Mr. Knight observed, " indicates some degree of approximation to disease;" an
observation evidently well founded.

The changes induced in the character of the potato by age, seem calculated to throw
fresh light on the gradual deterioration or wearing out of trees. Trees afford, on conside-
ration, the same evidence as potatoes, of progressive changes, leading to functional derange-
ment and debility. We see in a variety of fruit trees, the vigor of youth, the productive-
ness of maturity, and the decrij)itude of age. These stages in the progress of life, are
distinctly marked. The action of external influences cannot account for them. We may
take three stocks of equal vigor, and graft on one a scion from a healthy tree just sprung
from seed; on another a scion from a tree in the middle of life, and on the third a scion
from an aged, almost worn out variety. Notwithstanding the equality of the stocks, the
trees which spring from them will exhibit unequal degrees of vigor. One will grow with
great luxuriance, and for some years show no disposition to bear fruit; the second will
grow moderately, and soon bear fruit abundantly; whilst the third will shortly manifest
all the symptoms of a decrepid old tree. Now wh}'- is this? Owing to a difference in con-
stitutional vigor, certainly; but do not these plants afford indications of a progressive al-
teration in the abundance and viscidity of the fluids.^

The tuber of the potato is in its structure, analogous to a branch; it is, physiologically
speaking, an under-ground stem. And the tubers of a given variety are just as much the
extension of an individual potato plant, as the cuttings or grafts of a variety of fruit, are
the extension of an individual tree. Now we have seen that the tubers of a variety of po-
tato just obtained from seed, contain a greater amount of disposable fluid sap than they do
at any other period of the existence of the same variety. The plants are then the most
luxuriant, and the produce of tubers, or under-ground stems, the most abundant. So of
fruit and other trees. For many years after an apple tree has sprung from seed, the young
plant or plants raised from cuttings or grafts of it, show no disposition to bear fruit.
Why.' The vigorous growth of strong, sappy, elastic shoots, and the abundant and large
foliage, afford the answer; they indicate an abundant flow of sub-aqueous sap, which is
opposed to fruitfulness. After a time the luxuriant growth of branches gradually abates,
and the tree as gradually becomes more fruitful. So of the variety of potato. When the
luxuriance of youth has subsided, the under-ground stems gradually decrease in qnantit}'',
but increase in quality or dryness. Now what are the conditions required for the produc-
tion of fruit by a tree; are they not a moderate degree of growth, and a store of highly
elaborated, or concrete sap? If, then, the plants of a fruit tree gradually become more pro-
ductive as the parent plant advances towards the prime of its existence, is it not evident that
the sap, under ordinary circumstances, must become more highly elaborated, and stored
tissue in a more dry and concrete state than in youth, exactly as in the case
What an evident similarity subsists between the tree and the vegetable,

DECLINE OF PLANTS.

approach of old age. The tubers of the potato continue to diminish in quantity; they now
also lose their quality, till the plant becomes utterly useless. So the branches of the de-
clining tree become gradually more meagre, and fruit is sparingly, and less frequently
produced; thereby indicating that in the branches of the aged tree, as well as in the tu-
bers of the aged potato plant, there must Vje a progressive diminution in the quantity of
the secretions deposited. How admirably this conclusion is borne out by an observation
by Mr. Knight; "the wood of all the old fruit trees," said he, " has long appeared to
me to possess less elasticity and hardness, and to feel more soft and spongy under the
the knife, than that of new varieties. This defect may, I think, be the immediate cause
of the canker and moss, though it is probably, itself, the effect of old age, and therefore
incurable."

If I may hazard an opinion as to the cause of these progressive changes, I would sug-
gest whether they are not simply owing to a progressive diminution in the activity of the
absorbent vessels. We see that the vigor of the growth of a tree, and of a varietj' of po-
tato, is in proportion to their youth ; may not, therefore, the rapidity of the circulation
of the fluids, as well as their abundance, dimini.sh as the tree or potato becomes aged. If
there is more energetic absorption by the roots in youth, may not the sap be propelled
with greater force, under ordinary circumstances, than in mature, or old age, and thus
circulate with greater rapidity, through the leaves; therefore be less elaborated, retain
more of a fluid character, and be unsuited for the formation of blossom buds, or the sup-
port of fruit, though admirably adapted for the formation of fresh branches and roots.
May not, also, the gradual diminution of the growth of branches and tubers, and the cor-
responding increase of the density of secretions, as the tree or potato approaches the prime
of life, be owing to a more moderate yet more liberal supply, and to a less rapid flow of
the sap; in consequence of which it passes more deliberately through the leaves, becomes
more highly elaborated, and therefore better suited to the production of blossoms and
fruit, than in its youth.

The increase of the roots of a tree is commensurate with the increase of its branches ;
if we head-back the branches of a healthy tree in full bearing, it immediately produces
strong, sappy shoots, because the absorbent power of the roots is equivalent to the wants
of a greater breadth of foliage, and little or no fruit is produced till the balance between
■ branches and roots is nearly restored. Thus a similar effect is produced, as by the small-
er system of roots, but more energetic absorbent power of a tree newly raised from seed.
If, on the other hand, we allow the branches of a vigorous tree to remain, and adopt
means to diminish its roots, as by the practice of root-pruning, we diminish the supply of
sap, diminish the growth of branches, and make the tree more fruitful.

I desire further to suggest, whether it is not probable, that not only must there be a
progressive diminution in the absorbent power of a plant as it becomes aged, but whether
its annual efforts must not be less sustained in age, than in youth. Early in the season
tissue is most rapidly developed; as the season advances it is perfected, or solidified. Ac-
cording to the brightness of the light, or as the season is favorable to the exertions of the
plant, all other circumstances being similar, so is the density of its secretions, or the
amount of matter which it is capable of depositing in previously formed cells. Now, do
not the soft spongy tubers of a nearly expended variety of the potato, and the spongy
branches, and irregularly ripened fruit of an aged tree, indicate that the exertions of the
plant must become so feeble as autumn approaches, that it is not able to absorb and ela
borate a sufficient quantity of sap to perfect the tissue, or feed the whole of the fruit
it formed in spring.

NOTES ON PEARS.

This view of the effects of age on plants, I hope to be able to investigate experimentally;
in the mean time, I am desirous that the thoughts which have occurred to me on the sub-
ject, should find a place in your Journal. Respectfully yours. John Townlet.

Moundville, Marquette County, Wis., Dec. 30.

NOTES ON PEARS.

BY LEWIS F. ALLEN, BLACK-ROCK, N. Y.

There has probably never been a single species of fruit, which, in all its varieties, has
attracted so large a share of attention in the same space of time, and absorbed so large a
monied investment within that time, in the northern half of the United States, as the
Pear; and I must be permitted to say, so far, with doubtful results. Within the last ten
years, thousands of acres, in garden, lawn, and orchard, have been planted, and hundreds
of thousands of trees have been transferred to these plantations. France, Belgium, Ger-
many, and England, have contributed to them. Our own nurseries have been ransacked,
and now and then one rooted out of pears altogether, to supply the demand; and nurse-
rymen themselves, have gone into pear propagation with a furor little short of the multi-
caulis mania of 1838, 9 and '40.

Yet the pear mania — if mania, a new-born zeal in the cultivation of one of the choicest
and best fruits with which a kind Providence has blessed us, may be called — is a sensible
mania; and under ordinary circumstances, would confer much luxury and enjoyment on
our people. Yet there is one difficulty which it m^y be feared is like to dampen much of
the ardor of those who have gone into its cultivation, and in many cases, to even extin-
guish not onl}"- their ardor and their hopes of pleasure and profit, but the very trees them-
selves, which have been the objects of so much expense, labor, and solicitude.

This difficulty is the summer blight, which is scattered all over our pear producing coun-
try; lighting here and there, as caprice, accident or soil; cultivation, locality or variety,
may attract it, and scourging and destroying the trees, without regard to the most patient
and watchful attempts of the cultivator to avoid its presence, or prevent its ravages. It
would be a subject of painful, j'et somewhat satisfactory interest, if, in answer to a gene-
ral circular addressed to every fruit-grower in the country, asking the result of his labors
for the last ten years, each one would give a correct account of his success, and his mode
of treatment of his trees, and of their present condition and prospects. It is to be feared
that the balance of profit and loss would stand altogether on the wrong side of the ledger,
and chiefl}' from the effects of the blight. And the worst of the matter is, that the cause
and origin of the disease is as yet, altogether beyond our comprehension, and its cure past
all our ingenuity. The causes of the cholera and the potato disease, are not more inscru-
table, nor their remed}' any easier of solution. Hundreds of pages have been written upon
the "pear blight," its causes, its prevention, its cure; and it stands just where it has al-
waj-^s stood, a terror to the cultivator, and a certain scourge to his hopes. Although thus
far, in my own small efforts, happily relieved from its ravages, I hope, with fear and tremb-
ling, that my young trees just budding into fruitfulness, are not to be assailed; still, I
shall not be susprised to see half of my trees stricken down by the destroyer, before
another fall of the leaf.

the month of August last, a gentleman residing in the valley of the Mohawk, pai
mainly to look at my pear trees, and to examine the soil and position where they

NOTES ON PEARS.

in reference to the blight. He spent several days in this vicinity and its neighborhood
He had taken a wide survey of the counties of central and western New-York, with an in-
spection of the principal pear orchards, in the intention, if the results of his observations
were ftivorable, of locating himself in our best pear growing district, and commencing an
orchaid on a large scale. After he had returned home, I received a letter from him, say-
ing, that in the finest fruit regions of western New-York, he had found the blight among
the pears more or less fatal, and that hardly a locality of any extent appeared exempt from
it; and he was altogether in doubt of the success of his enterprise, if he should engage
in it.

The pear trees in the immediate vicinity of Buffalo have, until the last two years, been al-
most quite exempt from the blight; and in the occasional branches which it struck, gave no
alarm, from the unfrequency with which it occurred, and the slight extent of its stroke.
Within two miles of the center of the city, on a high, undulating, sandy-loam soil, occasional-
ly mixed with gravel, and the lower parts of it mixed with clayey-loam, but not highly
charged with lime, are several fine fruit gardens. The extensive nurseries of Col. Hodge and
the Messrs. Bryant, are there, who have numerous large standard pear trees, which have
for years produced a great deal of fruit, of several varieties. Close by them reside, also,
Mr. Lewis Eaton and Mr. Charles Taintor, who several years ago planted fine orchards
of pear trees, which had just began to be productive. These gentlemen are all good pomo-
logists, and good cultivators, and were in high hopes that their trees, having so far escap-
ed the blight, would remain free from it. But the last summer has been almost fatal to
them. Their orchard trees, on quince and pear stocks alike, were struck in almost every
possible situation, and of almost every different variety of this fruit, until they now pre-
sent, in their mutilated tops and branches, but a wreck of the luxuriance and beauty which
but a year before they exhibited. Their hopes are dashed at once, and they have serious
doubts whether they shall abandon them to their fate, or attempt to repair damages, and
plant anew. It is, at best, a trying dilemma.

A gentleman who has resided for more than forty years past at Lewiston, on the Niaga-
ra river, told me, some years since, that he would never plant another pear tree. He had
planted scores of them. He had given them the best cultivation, and the closest care — I
know him to be a good pomologist — but the blight had, one after another, taken off nearly
all his trees, and no remedy which he could apply, and he had tried every thing he had
heard of, could prevent it. The whole country between Lewiston and Lake Ontario, was
alike in this particular, although it is, for other northern fruit, equal to any portion of
western New-York. It lies below " the mountain," which constitutes the abrubt termi-
nation on the north of the " Onondaga Salt groupe," of the geologists, over Avhich the Ni-
agara is precipitated in its fall, to the level of Lake Ontario, and is on the " Clinton
groupe" of rocks, a decomposable red stone, mixed with alumina, shale, sand and lime,
and bearing upon it a rich, heavy, wheat producing soil. From the scarp of this " moun-
tain," or table land, on both sides of the Niagara, running south almost on a level, to
within a mile of Buffalo — all within the Onondaga Salt groupe — the soil is chiefly a heavy
clay -loam; and on this soil, as yet, the blight has scarcely been known, till within a year
or two past. A few wilding trees, perhaps a mile above Tonawanda, which had been plan-
ted some thirty years ago, and bore abundantly, of a tolerably decent cooking and dry-
ing pear, have been struck with the blight, and pretty much destroyed. But they had
neither care nor cultivation for many years past, being on a fiirm not cultivated, but under
inning operation of tenants. Yet these were quite as well oared for as others which
w on both sides the river, in flourishing health and growth, bearing bountiful crops

NOTES ON PEARS.

every year. My own trees, both at my residence, and on my farm, still flourish, and have
borne considerable fruit; but I tremble for their fate, equally on the stocks of the pear,
and on the quince.

I would give a trifle to know if the old French Pear trees on the Detroit river, were ever
struck with the blight. But they never seem to know anything in that region about their
pear trees — or if they do, they don't tell of it — and we are not likely to be much enlight-
ened from that quarter. The soil where they stand is much the same as that of the Ni-
agara, I described to you in the Horticulturist a year ago.

This is a momentous question, as the politicians say; for could the pear trees now stand-
ing in plantations in this state alone, grow unmolested by the blight for twenty or thirty
years to come, millions of dollars would be added to our wealth, and the hearts of their
owners made glad with their abundant harvests. Why will not our pear growers relate
their experience in the columns of the Horticulturist? The intelligence thus gathered
would at least be interesting, if not consolatory, to those who feel concerned in it.

Pear Gossip.

Although in the lachrymose vein, on a favorite subject, still I wish to add the mite of
experience I have had in the quality of the difierent varieties of pears which I have culti-
vated. The soil ou which they grew is, as I have before observed, a heavy clay-loam,
highly charged with lime, and resting on lime stone, fifteen or twenty feet below.

Bloodgood. — A capital pear, of the first quality. The tree grows well; bears abundant-
ly; the fruit of small medium size; yellow russet, in color; juicy and high flavored. My
earliest pear, so far.

French Jargonelle. — Nearly as early as the last. The tree a rampart, vigorous grower.
The fruit is beautiful to the eye, but worthless to the taste — not worth growing. It has
borne with me several j'ears.

Bartlett. — Perfect in all the qualities that has ever been attributed to it. It follows
close upon the Bloodgood in ripening, and is perhaps the most profitable pear of the sea-
sun, when one has a near and ready market. The Bartlett is a vigorous grower, and a
great bearer; and may, by proper care, be kept in eating two to three weeks, — but if over
kept, is worthless.

Louise Bonne de Jersey. — A first quality pear in all respects. The tree is a vigorous,
upright grower, and a great bearer. The fruit is beautiful to the eye; large, juicy, rich,
and melting. One can scarcely grow too many of them.

White Doyenne, or flrgalieu. — This world-renowned pear it is not necessary here to
discuss. It grows all over western New-York, where the blight does not kill it, in its
fullest perfection, with an occasional exception of spotting and cracking. It cannot be too
widely cultivated, where its fruit grows perfect.

Marie Louise. — This pear has stood in my grounds a dozen years, and in only two
years of the seven or eight of its bearing — the first year and the last — has the fruit been
really good. Last season it was almost equal to the Virgalieu; large, melting, sweet,
and delicious. It is a careless, slovenly grower; writhing and twisting its branches in all
sorts of ways. Yet it is a good bearer. Were I to plant again, it should not be in my
collection.

Brown Beurrc. — I have before spoken of this fine old fruit. It is somewhat variable,
owing to position, and cultivation; but with a warm, rich, heavy soil, and good care, it is
almost always good; and when good, so very delicious to the taste, in its melting, vinous
flavor, that an occasional delinquency may be excused. Yet the largest and finest
Beurres I have ever seen, grew on trees in my neighborhood, which stand on & very

NOTES ON PEARS.

stiff, clay loam — but rich — with no cultivation at all, except what a careless plowing gives
them, and what trimming they get by the cattle browsing upon them in winter. There
is something queer about that. Possibly it is the best way to treat them; but I cannot
make up ray mind to serve my own trees so.

Stevens' Genesee. — This should have followed the Bartlett in succession of ripening. It
is a capital pear in the growth of its wood, its hardiness and full bearing properties. Of
only second quality in flavor, when compared with the Virgalieu or Louise Bonne de Jer-
sey. It is all, in excellence, that has been claimed for it.

Fan Mon's Leon le Clerc. — From what I have seen, and what I have heard of this pear
from observing men, I fear that those who have built high hopes upon it, from the trium-
phant tones with which it entered the United States, will be disappointed. It bore with
me last year, on a thrifty young tree, from grafts M^hich I obtained of Mr. Charles Down-
ing, and which, I have no doubt, are genuine. The fruit cracked and spotted before it was
half matured, which caused it to grow out of shape; and the flavor, when I gathered and
ripened it, amounted to nothing. I have also seen it at the exhibitions. I shall not pro-
pagate it.

Dwchzsse D' Jngouleme. — Not satisfactory, on the pear stock; but good on the quince.
It is a noble looking, great coarse fruit, of tolerable flavor, fair second quality. It will
do to sell to those who only judge of pears by their size and appearance. For preserving,
they are grand. They sliould be grown only on quince stocks, and then, near to the
ground, that the wind may not dislodge them, which it will be quite apt to do, if sufiered
to grow high.

Seckel. — It is hardly worth while to talk about the Seckel — the highest flavored pear
known. This is probably the most northern latitude in which it will grow; and in fa-
vorable seasons it is as highly flavored, and as well grown in western New-York, as in
the neighborhood of Philadelphia, its native soil. I have nowhere seen it larger and bet-
ter flavored than here.

Winter Nells. — I hardly know what to say about this pear. I have fruited it for the
past three years. It is a mean grower — to use common language — with small, twisting,
and fumWing spray; yet, after a while, the limbs shoot up into respectable shape, and
may make a top, by and bye. The tree bears well; is a thrifty grower; and the fruit of
medium size, juicy, vinous, and good. Better on quince stocks than on pear — sol have
found it. Is not this a queer sport of nature, that some kinds of pear should be better on
the quince — a low, scrubby, acrid fruit bearing thing — than on the pear stock itself?

Nonsuch — or, I know not what to call it. — This is a pear which I got from Judge Buel
thirteen years ago, with other pears, under the name of Beurre D'Aremberg — which it
certainly is not. It is a winter pear. It is a strong and vigorous grower, bears abundant-
ly, and its fruit is of the first quality; sweet, melting, juicy, delicious; a little gritty at
the core; and ripens from the middle of November to the middle of December — keeping,
by hard work, to Christmas. Your figure of the " Glout Morceau," in the " Fruits and
Fruit Trees of America," resembles it very closely, as does that of the " Soldat Laboreur,"
described by Mr. Olmsted, in the January number of the Horticulturist. I supposed it
to be the Glout Morceau, from hearing that the pears earl}'- imported into this country
from France, under the name of Beurre D'Aremberg, were found, on trial, to be of that
variety. I presented it at the American Pomological Convention, at Syracuse, in 1849,
to the inspection of Messrs. Parsons, of Flushing, Charles Downing and Mr. Saul
Newburgh,and John J. Thomas, of Macedon — all good judges, and their opinion was

NOTES ON PEARS.

it was not the Glout Morceau, but more like the Beurre Ranee. As it was not then ripe,
its taste could be no guide to their judgment.

Its growth is somewhat twisting, " spreading and declining in habit, with wavy (ser-
rated) leaves," and the color of the wood " dark olive," as you describe the Glout Mor-
ceau. Yet it is not like the pear trees which I have seen about here, worked on the quince,
and called by that name. The shoots of this last are upright, and the leaf more round,
and dull in color, and somewhat downy underneath. Neither the color of the wood, nor
of the fruit, is as you describe the " Beurre de Ranee," the fruit of which last is "rather
rough, and always remaining green;" whereas my pear is a rich yellow, sometimes a lit-
tle rusetty, with small green specks upon its surface. I never tasted so good a lointer
pear. I have propagated it largely; and, name or not, want no better winter pear than
this.

I fancy that we, in America, have not yet arrived at the end of all wisdom in Pears.
We have a good deal to learn. Another thing; I have great doubts whether our late im-
portations from abroad, in these extensive varieties which our amateurs and nurserymen
are introducing, are to do us much good. Most of these foreign pears are too " high bred."
Compare many of them with the best of American origin, and see how infinitely inferior
they are in hardihood and growth; and in flavor they do not excel, if they even equal our
best. Still, where we are lacking in American pears of the requisite flavor, for their sea-
son, I Avould adopt the foreign ones; but these qualities equal, commend me to the na-
tive.

We are also running after too many kinds. What is the use of bothering one's brains
after fifty or a hundred, or five hundred things, merely for variety's sake, when perhaps
a dozen or twenty will comprise all that can begot in the five hundred? At a rough dash,
I will name a dozen pears which will give you all the excellence you can get out of the
entire pear family, in the circle of their seasons of ripening, for this locality — say western
New-York: Bloodgood, Bartlett, Stevens' Genesee, White Doyenne, Grey Doyenne,
Louise Bonne de Jersey, Brown Beurre, Seckel, Vicar of Winkfield, Beurre D'Aremberg,
my Nonsuch, or Glout Moreeau, Winter Nelis, and for baking and preserving, the Orange
Bergamont.

There is another advantage in growing but a limited number of really good fruits, which
it may be well for those who cultivate for market, to consider. The consumers of fruits
in our towns and cities, know and care little about varieties, other than what indicates
their quality. They know what a good fruit is, and when they learn its name they re-
member it; and that is what, in its season, they inquire for. But if a new variety is in-
troduced, they have got to be taught its excellence by the taste ; and they will still pre-
fer the old variety which they have approved, to any thing simply new, be it ever so good.

Last September, I had a few Bartlett pears, beyond what were wanted in the house,
and as I had never seen any in the Buffalo fruit shops, concluded to take them into town,
and try them. I went to one of the first dealers, and asked him what he would pay for
Bartlett pears. " Bartlett pears!" exclaimed he, "what are they?" "Why, the very
best pears of the season," I replied; "look at them." "Well, they do look good," he
continued, "but they won't measure any more to the bushel than smaller ones? I buy
plenty of good pears from the country for six shillings to a dollar a bushel." " Now, my
fine fellow, I want you to take these pears, and sell them at three cents a-piece, and for
the largest do you get /our, or keep them till T call for them." There had never been a
Bartlett pear in market. " I'll try it," he replied, " but I never could get more than one
cent for a pear, and I guess you'll have to take them away again." This was about 10

NOTES ON PEARS.

o'clock in the morning. The side-walk was full of people, pas.sing along, and I retreated
out of the way, to see the trial of my Bartletts, which stood near the door, the basket
in which they were, partially turned up on its side to show them temptingly. "What
pears are those?" asks one, who stops to look at them. " Mr. Allen calls them Bartletts,
but I never saw any before. He says they &rc first rate." " "Well, I'll try one. What's
the price?" " Three cents a piece, and nothing shorter ! So he told me." " Well, that's
loud! but I'll try one any way." He tasted it. "That is a pear! I'll take half a
dozen. This is the only pear I ever tasted in Buffalo." "What are these?" asked
another. " Bartlett pears." "Ah! well, my wife has told me a dozen times how good
Bartlett pears were. Lend me a basket and I'll take home a dozen. What's the price?"
" Three cents a piece." " Confounded dear! but they'll please my wife and the children."
I saw the customers thicken, and left, thinking the experiment would do. Next day I
called again. " Have you any more Bartlett pears?" inquired the shop-keeper. "No. Are
they all gone?" " Gone! yes: and I could have peddled out twenty bushels, by the half
dozen, if I only had them." I was stopped a dozen times that morning, by the dealers,
to know if I had any more Bartlett pears; and could have sold five hundred bushels while
they were in season, at three to four dollars a bushel, if I only had them.

I am growing a few trees of "Kirtland's Seedling," by way of experiment, which I
grafted in the spring of 1850, from cuttings sent me by Professor Kirtland, of Cleveland.
It has not yet fruited; but he claims that it is as good a pear in flavor as the Seckel. If
so, it will be a treasure; for it is a much more rapid grower; a beautiful yellow wood;
upright, like the Seckel; and every way a handsome top. I hope to fruit it another year.
If it prove what Prof. K. says of it, the " Seedling" may supercede the parent Seckel in
our locality, which is a slow grower every where, and, not always, a certain fruit, in its
flavor.

The Onondaga Pear. — Although spinning a long yarn, which I fear both yourself and
your readers will get tired of — but it is a gusty, snowy, inhospitable day, and my Short
Horns, and Devons, and Southdowns, are all snugly in their stables and shelters, with
enough to eat; and the fruit trees all safe under the snow, provided the pestilent mice
don't nibble them — I may as well make an afternoon of it, and do up my gossip at
once.

Sometime last fall I received a peach basket from the express office, with my address
upon it. I opened it; but found no letter within, nor did I receive any message from any
other source, informing me who it was from; but on examination, finding that it was
stuffed, and packed on the top, with all sorts of newspapers, concluded that the large and
beautiful Onondaga Pears, of which it contained nearly half a bushel, could come from
none other than my excellent pomological friend, Vivus W.Smith, Editor of the Western
State Journal, at Syracuse. If he did send those pears, I here thank him most heartily
for them. If Mr. Smith did not send them, this random thank for the most welcome waij,
may be appropriated by him, her, or they, who did me the kindness. And if I ever can
find out the donor, I will send him one of my choicest Niagara Muscalunge — our best
river fish— in return. The pears were large, perfect, remarkably well grown, and in ex-
cellent preservation. The Onondaga is said to be a great bearer. I know it to be a strong
and rapid grower, as I have it in cultivation. Its fruit is large, fair, and beautiful. Its
season, October. For preserving and cooking it has excellent qualities; but as a dessert
pear, it lacks richness of flavor, although soft, juicy, and melting. The flesh, too, is
coarse — a quality common to all large fruits; and although the Onondaga does not equal
best of our standard pears in flavor, yet its other excellent qualities may warrant its

COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

extensive cultivation as a market pear, and as one to make up a variety in a circle of sub
stantial and valuable house-keeping fruits.

There is yet another pear, which, in naming it, I shall probably be laughed at by some
of my pomological neighbors, who are sometimes wise beyond what is written. It is the
Orange Bcrgamot of Coxe, and described by that author in his Work on Fruits. This
pear was early introduced here as the "Orange Pear," either by the late William Hodge,
or his brother Benjamin, the proprietor of the " Buffalo Nursery," who now occasionally
makes himself merry at its expense; yet I doubt whether he ever did the state better ser-
vice, than when propagating and disseminating this pear for many years, until he Jancied
he knew better. There are many trees of this variety scattered in the neighborhood of
Buffalo. Its qualities are these: The tree is very thrifty in growth, and hardy as a white
oak, with a handsome upright head, bearing large crops every year. I have never known
it to be struck with the blight, although it may not escape that scourge. The fruit is of
medium size, remarkably fair and uniform in appearance, and in shape somewhat like the
Brown Beurre. Its color, when ripe, is that of a rich lemon. Its flesh is too dry for a
choice eating pear, although its flavor is good. Its great excellence is for baking and pre-
serving; and for these it is altogether the best pear I ever have seen. I have two trees,
which I found on my grounds when I purchased them, perhaps nowtwenty-flve years old.
It comes into baking early in September, and will last until late in October, being in bak-
ing five or six weeks. For preserving, I have seen no pear which holds its consistency so
well, absorbs sugar so perfectly, imparts a finer flavor of itself, and so delicate in its color
and appearance. We have tried other pears, and of the best dessert varieties, for this
purpose, by its side, and the Orange has exceeded them all in its preserving qualities.
Repeated juries of ladies have settled this question. For preserving and baking, I shall
propagate it just as long as I can, satisfied that no other which I can grow will equal it for
these purposes. I showed this pear at the Pomological Convention in Buffalo, in 1848. I
explained its good qualities, and tried all my small eloquence to get it adopted for what it
was. But after considerable discussion, the Doctors there assembled — Col. Hodge with
the rest — thrust my unfortunate pear under the table, and •' rejected it without a count."
I picked the bantling up from " the rabble rout" of outcasts among which it was con-
signed, put it carefully in my pocket, and walked out of the convention with feelings akin
to those of the tearful damsel in Moore's Lalla Roohk:

" I never nursed a dear Gazelle
To cheer me with its soft dark eye,
But when it came to know me well,
And love me, it was sure to die 1"

I have since grafted several of my orchard trees with the Orange Pear.

Lem'is F. Allen.

Black Rock, January, 1852.

NOTES ON GARDENS AND COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

BY HORTICOLA, BOSTON

Belmont Place, the residence of J. P. Cushing, Esq., Watertown. This is one of
the most noted places in this neighborhood, remarkable especially for its completeness in
departments, and upon the whole it is a place worthy of something more than a passing
The grounds around the mansion, display not much variety of surface, sloping a

COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

little towards the highway; very imperfectly, and I would say rather unpicturesquely
varied with ornamental trees; but little judgment having been exercised in the original
distribution of the plantation. The walks about the place appeared to us to be arranged
without either utility, simplicity, or effect, more especially the larger carriage drives, which
seem to run in upon and parallel to each other, in a somewhat unceremonious manner —
exhibiting a very apparent deficiency of that grace and dignity which carriage roads should
possess in a demense of the pretensions of Mr. Cushing's. The grounds are laid out in a
half park, half pleasure-ground sort of style, and seem to have been done without any
obvious leading principle, other than that suggested by the idea of filling the ground with
trees, and letting them grow till they destroyed each other.*

The principal feature of this place is the fine range of hot-houses, which are erected
within an enclosure surrounded by a brick wall, and finely trellised for training fruit trees
on its ample surface. There is a fine range of hot-houses on the southern wall, some three
hundred feet long, with inferior ranges on the eastern and western walls for peaches. The
conservatory, in the center, is a noble house, though somewhat badly arranged with
regard to plant growing; yet the effect is good, where the plants are nicely arranged
on the stages, and covered with bloom, as was the case during our visit. There are
many fine plants in this house, especially a noble plant of Rhododendron arhorea,
which we thought altogether out of place, and ought to be standing out of doors, which
it would do with a little protection in winter — [not in such winters as this. Ed.] The
plants have very much improved since we last visited this place, and many noble speci-
mens are now in full blossom, manifesting great skill in their culture. The gardener
pointed out to us a new seedling j^butilon, which we propose naming Shimminii, in honor
of its raiser Mr. Shimmin, the superintendent of the gardens. This Abutilon is a hybrid
between the A. venustum and A. Bedfordiana, and much finer than either. We never saw
the Bletia Tankcrvillce. flowered so splendidl}'' as here, some pots throwing up more than
a dozen large flower spikes. Torcnia asiatica, in large globular masses, the finest we
ever saw. We hope Mr. Shimmin, or his foreman Mr. Everts, will favor us with his man-
ner of culture and management for our gardener.

Oakly Place, the residence of Mrs. Pratt, is near Mr. Cushing's, and presents a fine
specimen of a small country place, combining the picturesque and the natural — the gaj'-
denesque and the wild, in beautiful harmony together. From one point in the garden a
splendid birds-eye view of the surrounding country is obtained, studded with villages,
school houses and church spires — constituting the finest prospect we have seen in the
vicinage of Boston. The mansion house is approached by a noble avenue of trees, and
stands on the brow of an eminence overlooking the whole country around. A beautiful gate
house has just been erected, the prettiest thing of the kind hereabouts, and has a fine effect
on passing along the highway. The hot-houses here are in excellent order, and a summer
plant house was erected last year for arranging the camellias in during the summer months.
This novel structure is perfectly unique, having the plan and elevation of a common span
roofed green-house, but covered roof and sides with slats (narrow strips of boards) two
inches wide, diamond fashion. This is a most useful house, as it shades the plants from
the hot sun, yet admits sufficient air and light to enable them to mature their growth and
buds. Everything about this place exhibits a superior skill in culture and keeping, and
many things worthy of the imitation of the amateur and practical gardener. Mr. McLen-
nan showed us a lot of Rhododendrons which had been planted out on an open border for

* Our correspondent hardly does justice to Belmont Place— which is certainly open to criticism in the way in which
it has been planted— but which, take it as a whole, including pleasure grounds, gardens, stables, stock and farm, is the
most complete gentleman's residence in New-England. Ed.

COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

a number of years, which looked well, and were quite covered with flower buds. This
we consider quite a triumph in this Borealean climate.

The residence of Mr. Bigelow, near Brighton, is a prettily situated spot, nestling snug-
ly on the sunny slope of a hill-side. Here we found a pretty good range of hot-houses,
consisting of two graperies, with a small green-house in the center; the latter rather
small, badly contrived, but containing a nice assortment of green-house plants. We found
here the finest specimens of Ericas that we have yet seen around Boston. The £. trans-
parens and metulcRflora bicolor, were splendid, and some fine large specimens of the soft
wooded kinds. How seldom we see a good Erica, and how seldom any at all, except the
few very common ones grown by florists to produce cut flowers. Such plants as those of
Mr. Bigelow 's, would almost tempt one to build a house for Ericas alone, for surely no
tribe of plants in the whole vegetable kingdom better deserves one. This place was under
the care of Mr. Brims, a good gardener, and one who apparently prides himself in neat-
ness— for what is something rare just now, every pot was as clean as a dinner plate, and
the whole place showed the utmost care and attention on the part of the gardener. This
place is noted for grapes, and from the appearance of the vines, they will satisfy the ex-
pectations which we have formed of them, and maintain the high reputation they have for-
merly possessed.

7%e residence of Jonathan French, Esq., Roxbury, is a charming little place. The
grounds possess no natural advantages, and are almost entirely dependent on art for their
interest and beauty. The surface at one time was full of ledges, so much so that scarcely
a tree could be planted till a hole had been blasted for it with powder. Yet the grounds
are now well laid out, and judiciously planted. A fine green-house has been built lately,
the site of which, we were informed, was cut out of the solid rock. This house is filled
with a fine collection of plants, including some splendid Camellias, Ericas, Epacris, Aza-
leas, Geraniums, Roses, &c., kept in excellent order by the gardener, Mr. Walsh, to whom
much credit is due for the present condition of the place, and the healthiness and vigor of
the plants and shrubs. On a level plateau between the green-house and the highway, Mr.
Walsh has laid out a very pretty flower garden, with gravel walks edged with box, which,
when filled with a great variety of summer flowering plants, forms a beautiful object in
the grounds.

There are few places in this neighborhood where so much has been done in a small space
as here, and fewer still, where everything is kept in such good order. We cannot omit to
mention, that the finest roses which have been grown in this part of the country, have been
produced at this place, by Mr. Walsh, who grows them in a pit heated by hot-water pipes,
by which he can turn on or take off heat, at pleasure; this is a most admirable method,
and one that we hope to see more extensively adopted for the culture of plants in winter,
as well as in forcing cucumbers, and other early crops in spring, by which the expense and
labor, as well as precariousness of dung-beds, are entirely obviated. We left this pretty
little place much pleased with our call, and highly delighted with the science, skill, and
neatness, which characterised everything about it, and will return with pleasure to see its
beauties under more favorable circumstances.

During our ramble we visited a considerable number of other places, which I shall com-
municate at some early opportunity Horticola.

Boston, Feb. 8, 1S.52.

WHAT WILL THE EDIFICE COST.

WHAT WILL THE EDIFICE COST.

BY DAVID COUSIN.*

The que.stion, " What will it cost?" was selected as the title of this paper in order
briefly to indicate the scope of the following remarks, which are entirely of a practical na-
ture.

What will it cost? A weighty question this, which ought to be gravely put, in regard
to every object that can excite the ambition or vanity of the human mind. A wide field
of inquiry is thus opened up doubtless, but I shall follow it onlj' so far as applicable to
architectural design, in regard to which all must admit its importance. Indeed, it is in
accordance with the daily experience of the architect, that when a new work is proposed
to be confided to his care, the first question generally put is, " What will it cost?"

Now, admitting to the fullest extent, the propriety of ascertaining with all possible ac-
curacy', the ultimate cost of any work before commencing operations, it seems deserving
of inquiry, what the effect upon art is, of thus giving to such considerations a place of the
first importance.

In every architectural work — no matter of what extent — whether a cottage or a palace —
the first and all-important question is, What do the circumstances of the case in hand re-
quire? Determine this question, and having done so, then follows, in its natural course,
that as to cost. Even in cases where, of necessity, the question as to cost must be strict-
ly kept in view, mere cheapness ought never, for a permanent building, to be the sole aim.
There are considerations of higher interest, which, in no circumstances, ought to be
overlooked — not even in the erection of the humblest cottage — not to speak of public build-
ings. For it must ever be kept in mind, that the works of the architect differ from those
of all other artists, inasmuch as they bulk largely on the eye of the public, and cannot be
hid. Unlike the productions of the poet or the painter, they cannot belaid aside when their
brief hour of popularity has passed away. On the contrar}', they are prominent and en-
during structures, generally of such magnitude as to add new features to the aspect of the
country. The architectural monuments of .successive ages, therefore, serve as landmarks,
indicating to future historians the progressive stages of advancing refinement. In this view,
architecture becomes the exponent of the civilization and habits of a people: it is read and
known of all men, and ever obtrudes its emphatic testimony on the most transient pas-
senger. Its records have been preserved, when every other record of the people who own-
ed it, has perished in the abyss of remote antiquity. And even where Tradition herself,
had become silent, the works of the architect in the infancy of the world have, by the per-
severance of a Layard, been disclosed to view. The gorgeous halls and stately palaces of
ancient Nineveh proclaim, as with the thrilling voice of one raised from the dead, the vast
resources of that mighty empire, and the pomp and glory of her potentates, who thus
seem restored back again to the world, after ages of oblivion. Such is the high position
which architecture assumes — such are the responsible duties which the architect is called
on to perform. He becomes the historian of his country's civilization, and his works are
written as with an iron pen on tables of stone. He can, therefore, no more perform these
duties lightly, or with a sinister motive, than can the military engineer, to whom are en-
trusted the outworks for the defence of his country : he cannot, in order to please the taste
of his employer, do what he, after mature deliberation, believes to be a violation of good
taste, any more than can the physician alter his prescription to please the palate
patient.

* From the London Builder.

If such be a true representation of the views which ought to guide the architect iu the
performance of his duties, it will not be difficult to determine the position in the conside-
ration of any contemplated work which ought to be assigned to the question — What will
it cost?

Thus to preface all our inquiries, and to make the question of cost paramount to every
other consideration, is to lay an instant arrest on design. The architect, thus fettered, is
precluded from all sj'mpathy with the good and the true — the only source of the beautiful.
The imagination must be schooled down to the views of the utilitarian, who values every-
thing by a money standard; and thus images of nothing but what is cheap present them-
selves— ever meagre and starved in their forms. All aspirations after those forms of beau-
ty which art can supply, are quenched. The imagination thus enthralled, refuses her of-
fice, and the advancement of art becomes impossible: its very existence is altogether peril-
led. The aichitect, thus ti'ammelled, must be content to descend from the high platform
of his profession, and occupy the more humble position of the handicraftsman. The ef-
fect of this system, so injurious to the mind of the designer, is alike fatal to the result of
his labors. A building reared under such circumstances, forever afterwards betrays its
sordid origin in the meanness of its features, and the leanness of its forms, which, in spite
of all future efforts, can rarely be effaced. Nothing short of the direst urgency should
induce the architect to give way to the system — nothing short of physical necessity can
excuse it. Begun with the one object of economy alone before the mind, the meagre star-
ved design, in the course of being developed, seldom comes up to the expectation of its
proprietor; and during its progress, is not unfrequently made to undergo a varietj' of
transmutations, in the vain hope of rendering its ungainly aspect somewhat more attrac-
tive. The result in most such cases is, that the cost in the end is greater than if a proper
system had been at first adopted. The unhapp}' architect loses his credit, and the disap-
pointed proprietor loses his money without attaining his object. It were easy to il-
lustrate these remarks, by reference to examples around us, and these not everyday works,
but such as are of considerable pretension to architectural effect, occupying a prominent
position, and bulking largely on the public eye.

But without referring to recent works, the parish churches of the last century may be
safely quoted as illustrating the miserable result of giving pre-eminence to the question of
cost. What huge monstrosities do we see scattered all over the country. How often do
we find some miserable fabric, stamped in its every feature with sordid parsimony, mar-
ring one of Nature's loveliest landscapes, in which she has scattered her richest stores in
boundless profusion. And how sadly do these contrast with the parish churches of Eng-
land of the fourteenth and tifteenLh centuries, or with those of the same period still exist-
ing in our own country, so beautiful, even though in ruins, and adding fresh charms to
the fairest scenes. These fine fragments of by-gone ages, have done more to revive the
dark superstitions of their times, than the world care to admit. But why should good
taste, or a true and noble architecture, be confined to the unreformed creed of the middle
ages? Let heritors and proprietors abandon the miserable system of starved economy,
and follow the more genei'ous system of by-gone times, already so auspiciously revived in
various quarters.

The banking establishments of our cities, and other public institutions, have shown in
their recent architectural works, a fine example of wise and judicious liberality, which, it
in to be hoped, will not be lost sight of by other public bodies throughout the country, so
that the question, what will it cost? will no longer be allowed to lord it over every
consideration.

WHAT WILL THE EDIFICE COST.

Are considerations of expense, then, to be entirely overlooked or set aside? By no means
No man beginneth to build a tower without first counting the cost. But surely he must
previously, and first of all, endeavor to form a clear idea of what the tower ought to be,
and of what the circumstances require at his hands.

The peculiarities of the site, or of the neighborhood, will all be considered by the judi-
cious architect. He will endeavor to work out his design in accordance with these, having
a truthful regard to the circumstances of the case, and an enlightened view to the ultimate
good of the whole. Having thus endeavored to form a clear idea of the extent and cha-
racter of the proposed work, he will, while attempting to realize it, and give it form, em-
ploy all the artistic skill at his command. In this way, the mind is left unfettered, and
free to choose from amidst all the forms of beauty which fancy can disclose. And it is
only by following such a course, that architecture can be entitled to take ita place, and
rank first among the fine arts. Painting and Sculpture will then become her handmaid-
ens, ever in attendance to adorn and exalt her.

It is at this stage of the proceeding that the question of expense comes up in its natural
order — a question deserving ample inquir}', and an honest answer; and in no department
of his art are the skill and qualifications of the architect more severely put to the test.
The pecuniary interests of his employer are confided to his care: he looks to him, on the
one hand, for protection against the undue demands of the contractor, and on the other,
against an undue increase of additional works arising from his own neglect or oversight.
The architect, then, requires not only a thorough knowledge of the qualities of the various
departments of work, but of their value, and of the modes of measurement, in order to
be able to judge of the rates of charge. Though called on to look to the interests of his
employer, he is equally required to see that justice be done to the contractor. And when
the accounts come to be submitted to his award, he is to act with the uprightness and in-
tegrity of a judge, and is bound to see justice done, at whatever sacrifice of feeling or of
self-interest, — a task, this, at once difficult and delicate, requiring a thorough knowledge
of the value of the varied and multitudinous items connected with the building art, which
can only be acquired by laborious and incessant perseverance.

The want of proper skill in these matters, or perhaps of proper attention to them, is
the cause of that fatal error which so frequently occurs, of estimating the probable expense
of a contemplated work, at a sum far below what it is possible to execute it for. Such a
system is injurious to the best interests of true art. It engenders suspicion and distrust,
and its inevitable result is to make in future, the question of cost a paramount object. And
while in the first instance it may only affect the pockets of the emplo^^er, it is sure in the
end to tell against the architect. Complaints against this system are not new. It is curi-
ous and instructive to find they are greatly more ancient than the days of old Vitruvius
himself, as the following extract from the writings of that most judicious author, amply
testify.

" In the magnificent and spacious city of Epbesus," says that author, " an ancient law
was made by the ancestors of the inhabitants, hard, indeed, in its nature, but nevertheless
equitable. When an architect was entrusted with the execution of a public work, an es-
timate thereof being lodged in the hands of the magistrate, his property was held as se-
cuiity until the work was finished. If, when finished, the expense did not exceed the es-
timate, he wa3 complimented with decrees and honors. So when the excess did not
amount to more than a fourth part of the original estimate, no punishment was inflicted
hen more than one-fourth of the estimate Avas exceeded, he was required to pay the
out of his own pocket. Would to God that such a law existed among the Roman

WHAT WILL THE EDIFICE COST.

people, not only in respect of their public, but also of their private buildings, for then the
unskillful could not commit their depredations with impunity, and those who were the
most skillful in the intricacies of the art, would follow the profession. Proprietors would
not be led into an extravagant expenditure, so as to cause their ruin. Architects, them-
selves, from the dread of punishment, would be more careful in their calculations, and the
proprietor would complete his building for that sum, or a little more, which he could af-
ford to expend. Those who can conveniently afford to expend a given sum on any work,
with the pleasing expectation of seeing it completed, would cheerfully add one-fourth
more; but when they find themselves burdened with the addition of half, or even more
than half the expense originally contemplated, losing their spirits, and sacrificing what
has been already laid out, they incline to desist from its completion."

But on the other hand, it not unfrequently happens that complaints of this kind are
most unjustly preferred against the architect, who is often in this respect more sinned
against than sinning. How often are his designs cut down and denuded of their fair pro-
portions in order to effect some trifling saving in expense.^ and after being contracted for
in their modified form, how frequently does it occur that, during the progress of the work,
one item is ordered after another, by the proprietor, without due regard to tlie effect which
the.se will have upon what has alreadj'^ been done.' and the result is, that the whole be-
comes an incongruous piece of patchwork; and there remains the mortifying reflection that
in consequence of the contracts having been interfered with, the " bills of extra work,"
added to the estimate, greally exceed the sum that would have served to complete the ori-
ginal well-matured design. To the architect imbued with a true feeling for his art, noth-
ing can be more tantalizing than such a result, foi' which he is in no way responsible, and
for which he is often most unjustly blamed. It is always unwise, and seldom very safe,
to interfere with plans after the work has been contracted for and fairly commenced. None
but those in the practice of design, can conceive how entirel}'^ one part hangs on another,
and how dangerous it is to interfere with any architectural work after it is in progress.
While only on paper, it may be modified or reconstructed as often as circumstances re-
quire, as, in this case, the effect of any alteration is at once seen and provided for, b}^ a
re-adjustment of the other portions, until the whole is brought into harmony. But when
once contracted for, the design ought to be inviolable. Alterations in these circumsmstan-
ces are alwaj's costly, and the architect would do well to set his face resolutely against
them. This ma}^ at times, be a delicate task, requiring tact and judgment, but it is a duty
which no architect who values his reputation should shrink from performing.

Where economy requires to be very closely studied, the old Vitruvian rule of avoiding
materials which are not easily procured and prepared on the spot, is still the most effec-
tive, and of most general application. The building materials of the neighborhood,
besides being the cheapest, generall}' harmonise better with the landscape, than those which
are foreign to the soil. England's brick mansions of the olden time, however beautiful
amidst their " tall ancestral trees," would ill accord with the stern clime and rugged sce-
nery of the north. In ordinary cases, therefore, where mere general effect is all that can
be aimed at, the building materials of the district, being not only less costly, but more ar-
tistic and effective, are to be preferred.

All ornamentation, where economy is an object, should be dispensed with; for unless
fully carried out, it but serves to betray the poverty which it is meant to hide. Simplici-
ty of outline, and a due proportion of the several forms, add nothing to the cost; and
these are properly attended to, the result will generally prove satisfactory,
mitting then, to the fullest extent, the importance of the question, in its proper

THE NEW DAISY CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

which forms the subject of this paper, I have endeavored, on the one hand, to point out
the very injurious eflects to architecture, as a branch of the fine arts, which follow from
giving it the precedence of all our other inquiries. Its tendency is to degrade art, and to
cover the country with monuments interesting to archajologistsonly as marking the money-
loving spirit of their epoch, and the low state of the art at the time.

On the other hand, I have endeavored to point out the proper period at which the all-
important question as to cost ought to be determined, and the no less injurious effects
which a wrong solution of the problem has upon art, and the necessity there is of the
architect being thoroughly qualified to form correct estimates of the value of building ma-
terials and of labor, so that he may be able to adjust his design to the money proposed to
be expended.

These remarks, it is true, do not directly bear on the principles of art or architecture,
and they may in consequence appear to some, to be of too humble a nature to form the
subject of a paper. But if I have succeeded in conveying in any degree, a just sense of
the importance, in architectural design, of limiting to its proper place the question " What
will it cost," and of giving it, in its own place, a full and honest answer, I shall feel that
my labors, however humble, have not been altogether in vain. David Cousin.

THE NEW DAISY CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

The old varieties of the Chrysanthemums, (popularly known by many as j^rtemesias,)
have long been inmates of our gardens and green-houses — where the}^ are esteemed for
cheating even November and December, (those two dreariest mouths of the year to the
devotees of Flora,) into something like a gay appearance.

Some new varieties have lately been introduced into this country, so distinct in their ap-
pearance, as, at first sight, to be scarcely recognized as the same flowers. We mean the
Daisy Chrysanthemums — of which the accompanying sketch of a boquet of the different
varieties, aifords a good idea. The flowers, (shown exactly the natural size,) are so small,
and so neatl}' formed, as to look far more like daisies, or quilled China Asters, than Chry-
santhemums. The plants, too, are dwarf and bushy, occupying far less space in the green-
house, than the old sorts. For the garden, they are, we believe, equallj^ hard}^ with the
latter.

All these small flowered Chrysanthemums have, we believe, been originated from seed
by the French florists, from a variety called the " Chusan Daisy," brought out from China
by Mr. Fortune.

Messrs. Parsons, of Flushing, Thorbuen, of New-York, and other leading florists,
had pretty collections of these miniature, or Daisy Chrysanthemums, in bloom last au-
tumn, and they may no doubt be had this spring at any of the large general nurseries, at
very moderate prices .

We received last autumn, from Messrs. Ellwanger & Barrt, of the Mount Hope
Nurseries, Rochester, a small box, containing some exquisite blooms of these Daisy Chry-
santhemums— so clear and pretty in color, and so petite and distinct in form, as to be mis-
taken at first sight for rare small asters. The following are the names of the sorts from
Messrs. E. & B:

Daphics. — Crimsom purple — quilled and prettily formed.

Circea. — Light pink — very delicate.

THE NEW DAISY CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

if.>^^''^;j;^^^i

:->

^;r^

Daisy Chkysanthemum*.

AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND.

La Fiancee. — Pure white — round and small, like a small white Daisy — one of the best

Le Jonghur. — Yellow — with orange center.

Soulidelta. — Purplish pink and white — prettily shaded.

Lc Sajrajon. — Yellowish hrovvn.

Eliza Miellcz. — Light pink — open centre.

Earinone. — Dark pink — good flower.

The following are excellent varieties of the Daisy Chrysanthemums, which are to be had
in some of the nurseries :

Cupidon. — Light crimson — full double — inclining to purple.

Migronetti—Ylowcr very double, imbricated— about half an inch in diameter— color
lilac.

Picciolina.— Rosy white— regular in form— about three quarters of an inch in dia-
meter.

Nivi. — Fine small crimson flower, about half an inch across.
Le Feu Follet. — Rich beautiful crimson — nearly an inch in diameter.
Lp Pygmee. — Yellow — full double — about half an inch broad.
Cora. — Color silvery, inclining to purple — flowers quite small.

lUninns.

Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England, with Illustrations: By

Fred. Law Olmsted. [Putnam's Family Library, No. Ill; price 25 cents.]
Here is a book of travels with a smack of novelty about it. Mr. Olmsted is one of
our original young Yankee farmers, who, not being satisfied with knowing the old world,
and its farming ways especially, through the books of literary men, set out to see Europe
■with his own eyes, and learn what he could by actual experience. Accordingly, he es-
chews railroads, post-coaches, and the like modern conveniences for reducing all the civil-
ized world to one dead level of interest, and takes to his legs, to spy out the beauty as
well as the nakedness of the mother country, for himself.

A very pleasant bit of travel he has made of it, with no dust in his e3'es — for Mr. Olm-
sted is one of the new school of American farmers, without a single old prejudice, wide
awake on all questions of the times, and a believer in the largest interpretation of the fu-
ture of the people. He looks around him with his democratic eyes wide open, and peers
into all the musty and rotten corners of mother England, as M'ell as many of her bright
and glorious places, that she offers to the eyesight and reflection of all strangers. Travel-
ling on foot, and thus entering into conversation, sometimes with relations of intimacy,
with the heart of the people, is undoubtedly the true way of getting at the pith of weal
and woe of a country. You free yourself, in this way, of the " company manners" of
the nation, and see it in its homely, genuine, earnest life — the good and bad mixed, like
woof and warp of individual character.

Mr. Olmsted's book is extremely fresh and honest, and you travel along with him
through the great lanes, and between hedges of hawthorns, snowy with blossoms. You
talk with milk-maids about making cheese; with farmers about the misery they find in
free trade, and with your neat landlady, who serves you Avith the mug of "home-brew
quite as if you too, had your " short, crooked sapling for a walking stick," an
ow traveller on a " long jog."

AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND.

Mr. Olmstead is a bit of a poet, or rather he has other eyes for nature, besides those
which he bestows on turnep fields and Short Horns. The following description of his
" first glimpse of the country," after leaving Liverpool, is as genuinely, freshly natural,
as the song of our Bob-o-link in rising from a clover field in a June morning.

" There we were right in the midst of it! The country — and such a country! — green,
dripping, glistening, gorgeous ! We stood dumb-stricken by its loveliness, as, from the
bleak April and bare boughs we had left at home, broke upon us that English May — sun-
ny, leafy, blooming May — in an English lane; with hedges, English hedges, hawthorn
hedges, all in blossom; homely old farm-houses, quaint stables, and haystacks; the old
church spire over the distant trees ; the mild sun beaming through the watery atmosphere,
and all so quiet — the only sounds the hum of bees and the crisp grass-tearing of a silken-
skinned, real (unimported) Hereford cow over the hedge. No longer excited by daring to
think we should see it, as we discussed the scheme round the old home-fire; no longer
cheering ourselves with it in the stupid, tedious ship; no more forgetful of it in the bewil-
derment of the busy town — but there we were right in the midst of it; long time silent,
and then speaking softly, as if it were enchantment indeed, we gazed upon it and breathed
it — never to be forgotten.

"At length we walked on — rapidly — but frequently stopping, one side and the other, like
children in a garden; hedges still, with delicious fragrance on each side of us, and on, as
far as we can see, true farm-fencing hedges; nothing trim, stiff, nice, and amateur-like,
but the verdure broken, tufty, low, and natural. They are set on a ridge of earth thrown
out from a ditch beside them, which raises and strengthens them as a fence. They are
nearly all hawthorn, which is now covered in patches, as if after a slight fall of snow, with
clusters of white or pink blossoms over its light green foliage. Here and there a holly
bush, with bunches of scarlet berries, and a few other shrubs, mingle with it. A cart
meets us — a real heavy, big-wheeled English cart; and English horses — real big, shaggy-
hoofed, sleek, heavy English cart-horses; and a carter — a real apple-faced, smock-frocked,
red-headed, wool-hatted carter — breeches, stockings, hob-nailed shoes, and " Gee-up
Dobbin'''' English carter. Little birds hop along in the road before us, and we guess at
their names, first of all electing one to be Robin red-breast. We study the flowers under
the hedge, and determine them nothing else than primroses and butter-cups. Through
the gates we admire the great, fat, clean-licked, contented-faced cows, and large, white,
long-wooled sheep. What else was there? I cannot remember; but there was that alto-
gether that made us forget our fatigue, disregard the rain, thoughtless of the way we were
going, serious, happy, and grateful. And this excitement continued for man}' days.

" At length it becomes drenching again, we approach a stone spire. A stone house inter-
rupts our view in front; the road winds round it, between it and another; turns again, and
there on our left is the church — the old ivy-covered, brown-stone village church, with the
yew tree — we knew it at once, and the heaped-up, green, old English churchyard. We
turn to the right; there is the old old ale-house, long, low, thatched roof. We run in at
the open door; there he sits, the same bluff and hearty old-fellow, with the long-stem-
med pipe, and the foaming pewter mug on the little table before him. At the same mo-
ment with us comes in another man. He drops in a seat — raps with his whip. Entar a
young woman, neat and trim, with exactly the white cap, smooth hair, shiny face, bright
eyes, and red cheeks, we are looking for — " Maggoyail, lass!"

* * * "Mug of ale!— aye, that's it! Mug of ale!— Fill up! Fill up! and

the toast shall be

" Merrie England! Hurrah!"

AN AAIERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND.

Another very perfect sketch of an English rural landscape, the squire's house, the con
versation of the working class, and a bit of information for the farmer worked in, is the
following morning stroll, after sleeping at the village Inn:

" I dressed, and worked my way through the dark, crooked stairs to the kitchen, where
on a bright steel fender, I found my shoes dry and polished. I walked through the sin-
gle short street of the hamlet. The houses were set closely together, with neat little gar-
dens about them. They were of every age; one I noticed marked with the date 1630 —
about the time of the first settlement in Connecticut. It was of stone, narrow, with a
steep roof covered with very small slates; the windows much wider than high, and filled
with little panes of glass set in strips of lead. Except in this, and the materials of which
it Avas built, it was not unlike some of the oldest houses that we yet see in our first Puri-
tan villages, as Hadley and "VVethersfield.

" A blackbird hopped before me, but did not whistle, and plenty of little birds were
chirping on the walls and rose-bushes, but there was nothing like the singing we have at
home of a spring morning. At the other end of the village was another inn — " The Blue
Lion," I believe, and a tall hostler opening the stable doors, was dressed just as I wanted
to see him — jockey-cap, long striped waiscoat, breeches and boots.

" As I returned, I saw the farmer that had been at the inn thenight before, and asked him
to let me see his cows. He said they were coming down the lane, and if I went with him
I should meet them. Passing a group of well-built, neat, low buildings, he said they were
the squire's kennels. They were intended for greyhounds, but he had pointers in them
now.

" The squire's! But where's the squire's house?"

" Yon's the hall," pointing to a distant group of trees, above which a light smoke was
rising straight up in the calm air, and a number of large black birds were rapidly rising
and falling. " Yon's the hall; ye see the rooks."

" The rooks! Then those are rooks, are they?"

"Ay, be they — rooks — do ye not know what rooks be?"

" Yes, but we don't have them in America."

"No! not have rooks? They be main good in a pie, sir."

" We met the cows, of which there were about a dozen, driven by a boy towards the
farm-house. Any one of them would have been considered remarkably fine in America.
They were large and in good order; with soft, sleek skin, and like every cow I have seen
in England, look as if they had just been polished up for exhibition. He could tell nothing
of their breed, except of one, a handsome heifer, which he said came partly of Welsh
stock. He took me across a field or two to look at a few cows of the squire's. They were
finer than any of his, and seemed to be grade short-horns.

" The cows were driven into hovels, which he called shippens, and fastened at their man-
gers by a chain and ring sliding on an upright post (the latest fashion with us,) eight of
them in an apartment, standing back to back. Three or four of his daughters came out
to milk — very good looking, modest young women, dressed in long, loose, grey, homespun
gowns. They had those high wooden tubs to milk in that we see in the old pictures of
sentimental milkmaids. It seems constantly like dreaming, to see so many of these things
that we have only known before in poetry or painting.

" The dairy-house and all the farm buildings were of brick, interworked with beams of
wood, and thatched. They were very small, the form being only of fifty acres, and the
d grain always kept in stacks. The arrangements for saving manure were poo
the same as on any tolerably good farm with us — a hollowed yard, with a poo

quid on one side. He bought some dung and bones in Liverpool, but not much. He es-
teemed bones most highly, and said they did immense good hereabout. They made a
sweeter, stronger, and more permanent pasture. Where he had applied them twelve years
ago, at the rate of a ton to an acre, he could see their effects yet. He took me into an ad-
joining field, which, he said, was one of the best pastures in the village. It had been
ploughed in narrow lands, and the ridges left high, when it was laid down. The sward
was thiclier, better bottomed, than any I ever saw in America. He sowed about a bushel
of grass seeds to the acre, seeding down with oats. For cheese pasture, he valued white
clover more than anything else, and had judged, from the taste of American cheese, that
we did not have it. For meadows to be mowed for hay, he preferred sainfoin and ray-
grass. He had lately underdrained some of his lowest land with good effect. His soil is
mostly a stiff clay resting on a ledge of rocks."

Our agricultural readers, particularly those in grazing districts, will be especially interest-
ed in the following more detailed account of the use of bone manure on pasture lands, and
the more, now that the beds of native phosphate of lime, discovered in New -Jersey and
New- York, bid fair to give us a supply of this fertilizer at a rate that will enable us to use
it profitablj' :

"The farms in the country over which we walked in Cheshire, were generally small,
less, I should think, than one hundred acres. Frequently the farmer's family supplied
all the labor upon them, — himself and his sons in the field, and his wife and daughters
in the dairy — except that in the harvest month, one or two Irish reapers would be em-
ployed. The cows, in the summer, are kept during the day in distant pastures, and al-
ways at night in a home lot. During the cheese making season, which on these small farms
is from the first of May till November, they are driven home and fastened in shippens, or
sheds, between five and six o'clock, morning and night, and then milked by the girls,
sometimes assisted by the men. On a farm of one hundred acres, fifteen to twenty cows
are kept, and three persons are about an hour in milking them. From twenty to thirty
gallons of milk, (say six quarts from each cow,) is expected to be obtained on an average,
and about one pound of dried cheese from a gallon of milk. From two to five cwt. (of
112 lbs.) of cheese, may be made from the milk of each cow during the year. Three cwt.
is thought a fair return on the best farms. In a moderately dry and temperate summer,
more cheese is made than in one which is very wet.

" The pastures are generally looked upon as permanent; the night pastures are some-
times absolutely so, as it supposed that the}' have not generally been broken up for many
hundred years. During the last ten years the pasture lands have been very greatly, and,
as they tell me, almost incredibly improved by the use of bone dust. It is applied in
the quantity of from twenty to forty cwt. on an acre, as top dressing, and I was told that
pastures on which it had been applied at the rate of a ton to an acre, eight or nine years
ao'o, had continued as good, (or able on an average of the years to bear as many cows,) as
similar land top-dressed with farm-yard dung every two years, probably at the rate of
thirty cubic yards to an acre. There seems to be no doubt at all, that land to which inch
bones were applied ten years ago, are yet much the better for it. They are usually ap-
plied in April, and the ground is lightly pastured, or perhaps not at all, until the follow-
ing year. The effect, the farmers say, is not merely to make the growth stronger, but to
make it sweeter; the cattle will even eat the weeds, which before they would not taste of.
However, in poor land especially, it is found to encourage the growth of the more valua-
sses more than that of the weeds, so that the latter are crowded out, and a clean,
clo.se turf is formed. If the ground has been drained, all these improvements are

AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND.

much accelerated and increased. Upon newly laid doion lands however, the eifect is not
so great; it is especially on old pastures, (from which the extraction of phosphates in the
milk has been going on for ages sometimes, uninterruptedly,) that the improvement is
most magical. The productive value of such lands is very frequently known to have been
doubled by the first dressing of bones.

" Both boiled and raw bones are used, and though there is a general belief that the latter
are more valuable, I do not hear of any experience that has shown it; on the contrary,
I am told of one field which was dressed on different sides equally with each sort, and
now, several years after, no difference has been observed in their effect. A comparison
must, of course, be made by measure, as boiled bones are generally bought wet, and over-
weigh equal bulks of raw about 25 per cent. Dry bone-dust weighs from 45 to 50 lbs. to
a bushel."

We believe every American goes abroad with the idea, that nowhere are the people at
large so intelligent and well educated as his countrymen at home; and, take the popula-
tion of the country at large, he is right. But at the same time, no educated and unpre-
judiced American can fail to be struck with the superior manners of the middle classes in
Europe, to the corresponding class here, and the greater value placed upon the mere manner
of doing a thing. This is, to be sure, the result of an old civilization in part — but also in
part to the little pains taken among oiir people, generally, to cultivate the finer feelings. Only
the intellect is cared for in the schools — and home education is almost unrecognized by the
people at large. Mr. Olmsted's remarks on the conversation of the women of the middle
classes that he met, and which we fully corroborate, are as follows:

" There are peculiarities in the speech of these women that would distinguish them any-
where from native Americans. Perhaps the novelty of them is pleasing, but it has seem-
ed to us that the speech of most of the people above the lowest class of laborers that we
have met, is more agreeable and better than we often hear at home. Perhaps the climate
may have effect in making the people more habitually animated — the utterance more dis-
tinct and varied. Sentences are more generally finished with a rising inflection, syllables
are more forcibly accented, and quite often, as with our landlady, there is a rich musical
tone in the conversational voice, to which we are not yet so much accustomed, but that it
compels us to listen defferentially. I wonder that beauty of speech is not more thought
of as an accomplishment. It is surely capable of great cultivation, and should not be for-
gotten in education.

" Except in the lower class, the choice of words seems often elegant, and we hear very
few idiomatic phrases or provincialisms. Where we do notice them, in the class I am now
speaking of, it would not seem an affectation of singular language in an educated person
with us, but rather a fortunate command of vigorous Saxon words. We have never any
difficulty in understanding them, while we do sometimes have to reconstruct our senten-
ces, and find substitutes for some of our words, before we are plainly understood. The
"II." difficulty is an exception to all this, with nearly all the people, except the most po-
lished, that we have met."

The cleanliness and neatness of English people, is another point of civilization which
strikes an American as essentially diiferent from what he sees in the same persons, or even
those of far greater means, at home.

Nothing is so disgusting in this country, or so great a reproach to the social refinement
of the people, as the want of cleanliness in servants of our hotels and steamboats. Fine
s and carpets, silver forks, and immense salons — but servants in attendance

Ihout a single clean article of clothing that would be tolerated in a stable in

AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND.

land.* The following account of our author's embarrassment at the quantity of bathing
utensils in a first-rate English private residence, and the anecdote that follows it, are signifi-
cant commentaries on our short-comings in certain essential points of civilization — as we
think, still unrecognized in this country generally, despite our superior popular education :

•■'The bed-chambers and dressing-rooms were furnished to look exceedingly, posy and
comfortable, but there was nothing very remarkable about them, except perhaps the im-
mense preparation made for washing the person. I confess if I had been quartered in one
of them, I should have needed all my Yankee capabilities, to guess in what way I could
make a good use of it.

" There is a story told of two members of our legislature that came from " the rural
districts," and were fellow lodgers. One of them was rather mortified by the rough ap-
pearance of his companion, who was of the " bone-and-sinew" sort, and by way of
opening a conversation in which he could give him a few gentle hints, complained of the
necessity which a Representative was under to pay so much for " washing." " How often
do you shift?" said the Hon. Simon Pure. " Why of course I have to change my linen
every day," he answered. "You do?" responded his unabashed friend. " Why, what
an awful dirty man you must be! I can always make mine last a week."

The present condition of the tenant farmers in England, (and those who actually culti-
vate the land — above the laborers — are almost all tenants,) is far from being an enviable
one. Free trade, which has benefitted largely the manufacturer, has borne down heavily
on the farmer, and notwithstanding the improvements in farming, and the low price of la-
bor, nothing can enable the tenant farmer to live, but a great reduction of the rents all
over the country. Mr. Olmsted thinks that the general introduction of thorough drain-
ing alone, during the last ten years, has saved England from a revolution; and it is certain
that only those farmers who have large capital, and the most perfect system of farming,
can make profit under the present and probable future condition of things in England. The
consequence will inevitabl}^ be, the gradual breaking up of all heavily encumbered landed
estates, and the greatly lowered value of the rents upon others. In the mean time, small
farmers are swallowed up, and the laboring rural population is more and more driven to
emigration.

Mr. Olmsted deals with aristocracy, and especially with the law of primogeniture, with
the spirit of a republican, who cannot see either rhyme or reason in them :

" Strange! T find this monstrous primogeniture seems natural and Heaven inspired
law to Englishmen. I can conceive, how, in its origin, it might have been so — in the pa-
triarchal state, where it was the general direction of the common inheritance, rather than
the inheritance itself, that was taken by the eldest of each succeeding generation ; but in
modern civilized society, with its constant re-familization, and in England, especially,
where the immediate isolated domiciliation of every newly-wedded pair, is deemed essential
to harmony and happiness, it seems to me more naturally abhorrent and wrong than po-
Ij'gamy or chattel-slavery.

" Doubtless, if you take it up as a matter to be reasoned upon, there is much to be said
for it, as there is for slavery, or, among the turks, for extra wiveing, I suppose; and first,
I fully appreciate that without it, could in no way be sustained such noble buildings and
grounds — national banner-bearers of dignity — schools of art, and systematic encourage-
ment of art, and perhaps T should add, systematic, enterprising agricultural improve-
ments, such as this of five thousand acres thorough-drained in the best manner, by the

* When will the keepers of our showy hotels, for instance, banish the dirty dish of hot-water, and dirtier towel, at
the side table, into wliicli everybody's fork is dipped, and with which it is afterwards wiped by the waiter

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

conviction of its profit in one man's brain instead of fifty men's, as it must be with us.
And finally, it may be that for some few, there is sustained by it a local home, a family
nucleus, more permanently than it can be with us.

" But there is everything to be said against it too, that there is against an aristocratical
government and society, for the customs of primogeniture and entail, are in fact the basis
of aristocracy. And between an aristocratical government and society, with all its digni-
ties and amenities, and refinements, and a democracy, with all its dangers and annoyan-
ces, and humiliations, I do not believe that any man that has had fair observation of our
two countries, and who is not utterly faithless in God and man, a thorough coward, or whose
judgment is not shamefully warped by prejudice, habit, or selfishness, can hesitate a mo-
ment. I think that few Englishmen, few even of the English nobility, and no English
statesman, would advise us to return to their system. I think that most of them would
be sorry to believe that England herself would fail of being a democratic nation a hundred
years hence."

A little more personal contact with the class who hold the feudal tenure, would proba-
bly have convinced Mr. 0. that " to possess power and not abuse it," is, as Burke said,
the greatest human virtue. High minded and truly noble as many of the English aristoc-
racy are, it is, naturally, not easy for them to acknowledge the superiority of democracy
to a constitutional monarchy and aristocracy, which in their eyes have made England the
greatest nation. But, in the mean time, the world does not stand still, and the England
of nineteen hundred, will not be the England of to-day. But as the greatness of England
is in her moderation and common sense, we feel sure that she will gain more by that gradu-
al change which all classes there admirably accommodate themselves to, than by those re-
volutionary spasms that agitate her neighbors across the channel, and subject them to the
pity of the rest of mankind.

And now, having given our readers a taste of the quality of Mr. Olmsted's book, we
feel certain they will be inclined to walk and talk it out with our American farmer.

/nrfign writ MhnWmnm IJntim

Ornamental Trees of Panama. — The most
famous of all the ornamental plants is the
Couronpita odoratissima. Seem., combining a
most delicious fragrance with a splendid flower.
In the Morro, a forest near the village of Rio
Jesus, are four of these trees, which are con-
sidered by the inhabitants as the only ones that
exist in the country, and tlie greatest curiosi-
ties Veraguas can boast; and, indeed, I myself
have never observed them in any other locality.
They form a group, and are vernacularly termed
Palos de Paraiso (i.e., Paradise trees,) or Gra-
nadillos, deriving the former name from tlicir
beauty , and the latter from the close resemblance
which their flowers bear in shape and size to
those of Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis,
Linn.) The trees are from 60 to 80 feet high,
and up to an elevation of 20 feet, where the
branches diverge, their stems are thickly cover-
d with little sprouts, bearing, from February
May, blossoms, the odor of which is of so
;htful and penetrating a nature, that in a

favorable breeze it may be perceived at nearly
a mile's distance. The flowers are 1^ to 2 inches
in diameter, and their petals are of a beautiful
flesh color with yellow stripes, contrasting
charmingly with the golden stamens of the
centre. The people of Veragiias, whose apathy
is not easily roused by the beauties of Nature,
often repair to these trees during their flowering
season, in order to behold the bright tints of the
blossoms, and enjoy the delicious perfume which
they e.xhale. Hooker's Journal of Botany.

Acer circinatum. — This is a most beautiful
hardy deciduous tree from Oregon, with purple
and white flowers, and leaves rich crimson in
the autumn. It was introduced by the Horti-
cultural Society. There is probably no hardy
tree in this country more eminently beautiful
than this, if tree it can be called, for it seems
rather a bush. In the spring, when its 1
unfold, they are preceded by long crimson
scales, from two to four to each twig; the leaves

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

when they first come are thin, semi-transparent,
and a clear light green; at the same time peep
out little tufts of purple flowers, with white
petals; and in the autumn the plant seems
on fire with the rich red of the foliage, more
rose-colored, and not less intense, than that
of the most scarlet of Oaks. Sir William
Hooker tells us that the species is found wild on
the Great Rapids of the Columbia river, and is
common along the north-west coast of North
America, between lat 43° and 49°. Mr. Douglas
observes that it is exclusively confined to the
woody mountainous country that skirts the
shores, and there, among the pine forests, it
forms almost impenetrable thickets. The branch-
es are pendulous and crooked, often taking root,
as is the case with many species of the genus
Ficus. Bark smooth, green when young, white
when fully grown. The wood is fine, white, and
close-grained, very tough and susceptible of a
good polish. From the slender branches of this
tree the native tribes make the hoops of their
scoop-nets, which are employed for taking sal-
mon at the rapids, and in the contracted parts
of the river. It is -said to form a tree 20 to 40
feet high. — Paxton's Flower Garden.

Acer villosttm. — A noble tree, from the
Himalayas, with the aspect of a Sycamore. It
was introduced by Messr.s. Osborne and Co.,
of the Fulham Nursery. Dr. Wallich tells us
that this is a very large tree, inhabiting the high
Alps of India, approaching towards those of
perpetual snow in Sirmore and Kamaon, ripen-
ing its fruits in November, at which time " the
very fragant flowers also begin to appear." Dr.
Royle says it is only "seen with pines and
birches on the loftiest mountains, wliich are for
many months covered with snow." In its gen-
eral appeai'ance this may be compared to the
common Sycamore, but is a much finer looking
tree, its leaves being thicker, greener, and lar-
ger; besides which, they are covered with a
close fur on the underside, although smooth
above; in the autumn they assume a peculiar
nankeen tint. The plants in the possession of
Messrs. Osborne and Co. have not yet blossom-
ed; but our Herbarium tells us that the " fra-
grant" flowers come out in close panicles, cover-
ed with long yellowish hairs. Undoubtedly this
is one of the finest hardy deciduous trees yet
introduced. It is to be" hoped that India will
soon yield us her other alpine Sycamores, of
which there are three, viz: 1. J. st'erculiaceum,
Wallich, found near the summit of Mount Shco-
pore, and very like ^. villosum, except that it
is nearly destitute of hairs. The trunk of this
is said to be three feet in diameter, and the
flowers white. 2. ./?. caudatum, Wallich, so
called because the palmate leaves have the lobes
extended into tails. In this the leaves are
scarcely more than three-lobed, and are sharjjly
and doubly serrated Dr. AVallich says it is a
of the highest regions of Nepal, towards

ossain Than, as also of Sirmore and Kamaon.
Royle found it growing in company with J.

villosum. It is a remarkable and handsome
species. 3. ji. cultratum, Wallich, the leaves
of which are heart shaped, and deeply divided
into seven much acuminate undivided lobes, be-
sides being much smaller and thinner than in
the two preceding species. It is "a larger tree,
native of the regions towards the Himalaya, in
Kamaon and Srinaghur." Dr. Royle, who also
found it, says that its wood '• is white, light,
and fine-grained." Dr. Wallich suggests its
being allied to the Jlcer pictum, of Japan, to
which we must add that it is little different from
Bunge's Acer truncatum, from Northern China.
Paxton's Flower Garden.

The Cedron Tree of Panama. — A tree,
which has attained great celebrity, is that called
Cedron (Simaba Cedron, Planch.) The most
ancient record of it which I can find is in the
"History of the Buccaneers." an old work
published in London, in the year 1699. Its use,
as an antidote for snakes, and place of growth,
are there distinctly stated ; but whether on the
authority of the natives, or accidentally dis-
covered by the pirates, does not appear. If the
former was the case, they must have learned it
while on some of their cruizes on the Magda-
lena. for in the Isthmus the very existence of the
tree was unsuspected until about 1845, when
Don Juan de Ansoatigui ascertained, by com-
parison, that the Cedron of Panama andDarien
was identical with that of Carthagena. The
virtues of its seeds, however, were known, years
ago, from those fruits imported from the Mag-
dalena, where, according to Mr. William Pur-
die, the plant grows in profusion about the vil-
lage of San Pablo. In the Isthmus it is gen-
erally found on the outskirts of forests in al-
most every part of the country, but in greater
abundance in Darien and Veraguas, than in
Panama. The natives hold it in high esteem,
and always carry a j)iece of the seed about with
them. When a person is bitten, a little, mixed
with water, is aj)plied to the wound, and about
two grains scraped into brandy, or, in the ab-
sence of it. into water, is administered internal-
ly. By following this treatment the bites of the
most venomous snakes, scorpions, centipedes,
and other noxious animals, have been unattend-
ed by dangerous consequences. Doses of it have
also proved highly beneficial in cases of inter-
mittent fever. The Cedron is a tree, from 12
to 16 feet high ; its simple trunk is about 6 inch-
es in diameter, and clothed on the top with long
pinnated leaves, which give it the appearance
of a Palm. Its flowers are greenisli, and the
fruit resembles very much an nnri])e Peach.
Each seed, or cotyledon I should rather say, is
sold in the chemists' shops of Panama f^)r two
or three reals (about Is. or Is. 6d. English,)
and sometimes a much larger price is given for
them. — Hooker's Journal of Botany.

Vegetation of Borneo: Ascent of Kini-
Balu. — The following interesting remarks are
from a letter received by a correspondent from

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Hugh Low, Esq., Colonial Secretary at Borneo,
who has hcen the first to ascend the loftiest
mountain of that island. The position of Kini-
Balu is atthcN.E. extremity of Borneo, in about
(j° north lat., where it forms a most con.spicu-
ous feature from the ocean to the east, north,
and south. It has hitherto erroneously been
presumed to be volcanic, from its peculiarly
steep summit, and the rugged crater-like ridges
it presents on various sides, and probably as
much from analogy, the lofty explored peaks
of Java being invariably so. The discovery of
its granitic structure is on this account the more
interesting. To the botanist, Kini-Balu seems
to afford a rival in Rliododendrons to the Hima-
laya, and in Pitcher plants to any known coun-
try. In the same communication, Mr. Low
informs us that he intends agaiu ascending the
mountain, and, if possible, reaching a higher
elevation. We wish this adventurons and in-
telligent explorer every success. Nothing is
said of the difficulties and dangers that must
have attended his journey from the coast to the
foot of the mountain; they were doubtless many
and severe, and we wait with anxiety for fur-
ther particulars, which shall be laid at once be-
fore our readers. " Labuan, April 23, 185L
As, when I had the pleasure of meeting you in
England, you expressed a wish to know some-
thing of the mountain Kini-Balu, I have now
the pleasure to inform you, that I have sent to
Colonel Butterworth, the Governor of the
Straits, a small collection of plants made there
by myself, on a visit I paid to the mountain
last month, of which I beg your acceptance. I
enclose in the same parcel two or three small
pieces of the rocks from different parts of the
hill, by which you will perceive that the moun-
tain is granitic, and not volcanic, as has been
generally supposed. The view of the hill by
which it is best known gives it a conical form ;
but that, I am inclined to think, is from its
having been principally observed from the west-
ward, where the end only of the mountain is
seen. I imagined I had gained the top of the
south-west end, but such could not have been
the case, as the height of the point I gained is
by barometer only 851G; whereas the top, by
triangulation had been found to be 13,500
feet.
[Captain Sir E . Belcher, who visited this locali-

ty in the Samarang, in 1844, and published, in
his ' Narrative' of that voyage, an admirable
view of the mountain, drawn on the spot, by
Lieut. Browne, estimated its height, from ob-
.servations made at Labuan, Ambong, Tampas-
sook, Mantanani, and other places in the vicini-
ty, to be 13,698 feet. Its summit was enveloped
with mist, and from the difficulties which its
outline and surrounding scenery presented.
Captain Belcher did not attempt the ascent.]
The highest parts are bare granite, and the ridge
verynarrow.the side to the northward being sheer
precipice. Two or three Orchids were growing
on the rock at the extreme point I gained, when
the thermometer stood at 52'' at noon of a fine
day. [By this observation, the elevation reach-
ed by Mr. Low might have been assumed as be-
tween 8000 and 9000 feet.] The whole of the
ascent is exceedingly steep, but with no places
with any great difficulty to surmount, as far as
I went. I remained two or three nights at an
elevation of about 8000 feet, encamped under
an overhanging rock, with a pretty considerable
torrent rushing past it; the ravine of which
was densely clothed with vegetation, including
a fine yellow Ehododendron, forming a large
shrub or small tree. In the same ravine grew
also a Phyllocladus, a small leaved Dacrydium,
and another curious Rhododendron, like a
Heath.

One of the most remarkable plants was a new
Dacrydium, which looked so much like a Spruce
Fir, that I, at fir.st, thought it must really be a
cone-bearing plant. Of four species of Pitcher
plant, one was of a very curious, and to me of
quite a new form, and so large as to contain as
much water as I could drink at a draught when
thirsty, probably a pint; it was a strong groAV-
ing species, and after a rather long search I
found it in flower; but all my specimens of it,
together with many others, were thrown away
by my lazy followers, during the descent, which
we found very severe, aggravated as it was by
being made in very heavy rain. This Pitcher
plant was not found high on the hill, not more
than from 2000 to 4000 feet. In all, I saw thir-
teen species of Rhododendron, in a distance of
about three miles ; some of those on the lower
parts of the mountain epiphytal, and all that
were in flower exceedingly beautiful." — Litera-
ry Gazettb.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

inniBstit JMim.

Frontispiece — Design for a Free School.
— In our January number we gave an original
design for a district-school house, built of wood,
in a simple, convenient and economical form,
which we are glad to see has been extensively
copied into other papers. As a cheap rural
school-house, it is adapted to the country gene-
rally.

Our frontispiece to this number, shows how a
school-house may be rendered highly architec-
tural— where more means are at the disposal
of the building committee. It is adesigr^ by
Mr. Meyer, an English Architect, for the St.
Helen Free School, and has been erected in the
suburbs of London — very substantially, of brick,
with stone dressings, for £1,200. The boys'
school-room measures 59 by 27 feet, and the
girls' school-room 42 by 27 feet. There is a
separate porch and entrance to each, as shown
on the elevation.

Poddrette and Guano. — Dear Sir: As I
notice that you endure questioning very pa-
tiently, I beg leave to propose one or two for
answers in the Horticulturist for March . I wish
to know:

1. "Whether the Poudrette of the Lodi Com-
pany, 74 Cortland-street, New-York, is to be
depended on, and is Avorth " $2 a barrel, or
$1.50 for any quantity over six barrels;" what
crop it is best adapted to, what quantity to be
applied, &.c.

2. The same information relative to the Bone
dust and Peruvian guano advertised by New-
York dealers. Yours. J. M. Winchell. Sy-
racuse, N. Y., Feb., 9, 1852.

Answer. — We have tried the Lodi Compa-
ny's Poudrette in various ways, in our own
grounds, for the last three or four years, and for
all the neater work of sowing and planting in
gardens, we prefer it to any other manure. For
strawberries, for early vegetables, flower beds,
roses, &c., it is preferable to everything usually
to he had ; because, unlike guano, it enriches
without burning, may be used safely with any
plant, and brings no weeds, like common ma-
nure. We consider a barrel of it fully equal in
fertilizing material to 4 cart-loads of stable ma-

nure-while being pulverised, it is much more rea-
dily managed in mixing it with light gardensoil.
For farm crops it is equally valuable whenever
the farmer can afford to pay for manure at the
rate of 75 cents a waggon load, and a barrel
may, in using it, be considered equal to two
such loads. It should be used in the hill for
corn and potatoes, and the drill for beets and
carrots.

Bone dust has not generally proved so valua-
ble here as in England. Guano must be used
in the fall, or early in the spring, or it is of lit-
tle value — except in parts of the country where
much rain falls in summer. We can say noth-
ing about its quality, not having had any sam-
ples lately. Allen & Co., New- York, sent us
a superior article last season.

The Srawberry in England.— Mr. Downing:
I discover by a letter in your number for the
present month, from a working English garden-
er, that we are behind the age in general, and
Great Britain in particular, in horticulture. I
would request your correspondent to enlighten
us, by a description of the sexual character of
the strawberry plant. I am told that in Eng-
land, they follow in the footsteps of the world
renowned Linna?us — hold with him, that this
plant always has blossoms perfect in botli male
and female organs; and all the English garden-
ers I have met with, adhere to the same doc-
trine, and can discover no sexual difference
between the blossom of their world renowned
Keen's Seedling, and Ilovey's Seedling. They
are compelled to admit, that where these two
are planted together, that Hovey's produces a
full crop of perfect fruit, whilst the Keen will
not bear one-fifth of a crop. But this they say
arises from our climate varying from that of
England.

Now the presumption is, that these English
gardeners must be right, as they tread in the
footsteps of the greatest of all botanists, whilst
we for our principles, depend on an ignorant
German female, who supplied our market with
strawberries, 30 years since. Her fruit was
much larger, and her grounds produced five
times the quantity, of any English gardener's

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ground in the vicinity. They discovered this,
and as she yearly threw vines on the road, they
planted them, and strange to tell, not one of the
plants ever bore a single fruit. True, when the
supposed secret of the old woman was discover-
ed, she got in a passion, and quit raising the
strawberry, as the price was reduced from 2-5
cents to eight cents per quart, as the average rate
of the best, declaring that she had thrown none
but the rascally husbands on the highway, to de-
ceive them. There may be something of " Ro-
chester knockings"' in this, or mesmerism, as
some of our gardeners bring to our backwoods
market, near 5000 quarts of strawberries in a
single day, when no English gardener, who at-
tends the market in the great cities of Gotham,
Boston, or Philadelphia, send one-quarter the
quantity. An Enquirer. Cincinnati, Feb.

11, 1852.

New and Valdaele American Grape. —
Mr. Downing — As it is the horticultural fashion,
at present, to abuse the one who may be instru-
mental in bringing forward any new plant or
tree, by which an " amateur may be deprived
of his two dollars," it is with some degree of
hesitation that I venture even to allude to the
fact, that there is a grape, or that there is said
to be a new seedling grape of American origin,
perfectly hardy in Massachusetts, and free from
mildew, and that ripens before the Isabella or
Diana. Now this may be another humbug, and
I caution all the green ones, and all those that
value their dollars, to wait, patiently, and let
those who have become accustomed to trials of
this kind,pay the piper, and make our experience
public,- if it proves a failure, it will not cost
them much ; if it is what it is represented to be,
they can buy a vine then safely, provided they
do not get the wrong kind, with the right name
on the label. This grape is larger than the
Diana, of a clearer red, and more closely resem-
bles the Rose Chasselas than any thing. The
fruit was sent me last autumn, two bimches,
and I have never (to my taste) seen such grapes
grown in this country in the open air. Asthev
were shown me to obtain my opinion upon the
fruit, I shall not say where it can be had, or
any other matter that concerns would-be pur-
chasers. I will add that I could not get a vine
or cutting. It will be for sale by and by, no
doubt. Tours, J. FisK Allen. Salem, Mass.

Teaching in School-houses. — I have for
some time contemplated a remonstrance against
one feature of the excellent Plan for a School-
house recently given in the " Horticulturist,"
and re-produced in the " Cultivator." I refer
to the division of the sexes contemplated in that
scheme. Having been all my life, till within
three or foiu' years past, a teacher, and that
with a design, if health permitted, of following
the business as a profession, I feel naturally, a
deep interest in the subject of schools. I re-
gard the sphere of the school, as embracing
a much wider range than the common rou-
tine of science, so called; it is the nursery
of all the faculties—social and moral, as well as
intellectual. And if any one thing conduces to
a development of evil passions, and takes from
the hands of the teacher one powerful aid that
nature has given him, I believe it to be the se-
paration of the sexes.

The influence of each on the other, is refining,
elevating, and restraining; repressing evil ten-
dencies, while it developes noble ones, and calls
into action all that loftier kind of emulation en-
joined by St. Paul, and which is the living
soul of the school-room. And this view is not
that of a solitary, humble ex-pedagogue alone,
but of the most successful of all our eminent
teachers; the customs of some of our large ci-
ties to the contrary notwithstanding. In haste,
yours truly, J. M. Winchell. Syracuse.

P. S. — By making one of your rooms a Pri-
mary, and the other a Senior department, your
plan is admirably adapted to common schools.

[This is interesting, and we should be glad to
hear the comments of other school teachers.
Ed.]

Errata. — In your last number, containing
my article on " the curled leaf of the peach,"
there are two errors of the press. 1. At p. 05,
line 18th from the bottom, the word nominally
is put for normally. 2. At p. 66, 19th line
from the bottom, the word renewed is put in
place of removed.

This last error is quite important, since the
renewal of the covering could do no good, while
its removal is needful to admit the sun to the
roots of the trees. C. E. Goodrich. Utica,
Feb. 6, 1852.

The past Severe "Winter. — We fear horti-
culturists, all over the country, will be forced

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

to remember the past winter as one of the moat
severe known in the United States for the last
half century. Fahrenheit's thermometer has
fallen as low as 28° below zero at Albanj'-, 11"
atKew-York, and 4° at Washington. Wherever
it has fallen to 12° below zero, the peach crop
for the coming season has been destroyed in the
germ, and though the blossom will open the fruit
will not set. Many half-hardy plants which
have stood the winters uninjured for fifteen
years past, will he found greatly injured or
killed entirely. The cold having extended all
over the south — the harbors of Mobile and 'New-
Orleans having been obstructed by ice, its bad
effects will probably be more disastrously felt
there than at the north. We fear the orange
trees in Florida will be killed to the ground.

The following note from a correspondent will
show, that near Philadelphia, the peach buds
are only destroyed on the south side of the
branches — thus proving that the injury is done
by the sudden thawing, rather than by the ex-
treme cold.

Dear Sir — The peach buds upon the up-
per sides of the branches, are all destroyed ;
those on the lower sides appear to be safe.

The evergreens have suffered .severely; this
season will prove to a certainty which is or
is not hardy. The thermometer has been with
us 10^° below zero at night, and only 3° above
it during the day. I have never had to record
such a degree of cold. Yourstruly, R. Buist.
Rosedale Nujseries, near Philadelphiaj Jan.
16, 1852.

Horticultural Societies. — Dear Sir: Your
" AVorking Gardener" correspondent in the
January number of the Horticulturist, does not
appear to be familiar with the rules and regula-
tions of the " Pensylvania Hort. Society." It
is emphatically a gardener's society, aided by
the wealthy and intelligent citizens of Phila-
delphia. There are one or more working gar-
deners on all the flower, fruit and vegetable
committees. The committee of arrangement are
ail practical gardeners, who subdivide the gene-
ral committee on exhibitions. The prize schedule
is revised by a majority of gardeners. So that
his sentence, " As gardeners have no direct in-
fluence with the gentlemen of those Societies"
no way ap])ly to that of the Pennsylvania
Society. We have seen as fine fruit in

America as we ever saw in Europe, (Pine-apples
excepted.) Show plants cannot, yet, be grown
here as in England. Where are our Ericas,
Fuchsias, Pimeleas, Epacris and many others?
When your " working gardener" has a few of
our summer suns over his head, he will find
that plants go off' in a night like the gourd of
history. In England too, there are 100 growers
and 50 competitors for one in the United States,
It will also be another half century before any
of our lady amateurs will pay <£500 for a few
plants to take to a show, as has been done in
the vicinity of London. R. Buist. Rosedale
Nurseries, Philadelphia, Jan. 16, 1852.

Deep Holes for Trees. — Dear Sir: In your
November number, under head of Domestic
Notices, are to be found excellent directions for
transplanting trees, the best in fact I have ever
met with, subject however, I think, to one ob-
jection; I allude to making deep holes well filled
with old manure, rich soil, &c. This proposi-
tion I think will not bear the test of reason, al-
though from its almost universal adoption, it re-
quires some nerve to battle against it. For in-
stance; You dig a hole three feet square and
three feet deep, the fir.st foot in deptli being
generally pretty good soil, and the other two feet
a stiff" clay. Well — fill up the hole with good
soil and manure, and plant your tree on top of
it according to directions. As surely as the
needle points to the pole, so surely will the roots
of your transplanted tree strike down into the rich
compost prepared for it, and possibly it may
thrive apace. In a wet season this fine deep
hole will be half full of water, hopeless of exist ;
in a very dry season the roots will likely be
burned up in your rich compost. However,
your amateur don't believe a word of it. He
rather likes that hole three feet deep and full
of fat soil. 'Tis scientifically, thoroughly done.
Well, your tree bears once, perhaps twice, and
then somehow it goes backwards. The shoots
dwindle, the leaves look sickly, the stock gets
hide bound, covered with moss; in fact it is near
death. My amateur scratches his head, passing
around his tree, examines every inch above
ground, possibly grubs around the roots a little,
but finally gives it up as a mystery. Could his
eyes have penetrated down in that fine
hole of his, have seen the roots, rendered

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

der by the rich nourishment they had feasted on,
and by this time entirely consumed, writhing
and striving to penetrate through the four clay
walls of the cell into which they had been de-
coyed, their gnawing hunger, their vain strug-
gles upward, he would not require to be puz-
zling his head so much about yellow blights and
premature decline. The surface soil is the soil
for roots; make that fat and loose, and lead
your roots into it, and not into the bowels of the
earth away from sun and air, and light. Having
officiated at numerous funerals of this kind, I
speak knowingly of the sad effects. Some years
since, passing through a new peach orchard on
a gentleman's country seat, a few miles from
town, in rather a hurry, after a flock of quails,
I went sock into one of those deep holes half
full of water ; on scrambling out and surveying
the premises, I perceived numerous other ex-
cavations taking their winter soak in true ama-
teur fashion, so giving the owner a hasty anath-
ema,! trudged home rather in poor plight . How-
ever I consoled myself that there would be few
peaches gathered there. It is now a pasture
with some dead sticks marking the spot where
peach roots were buried. Yours, respectfully,
C. G. SiEWERS. Cincinnati, Jan. 19, 1852.

Our correspondent is both right and wrong.
He is right in saying that it is folly to dig deep
holes in clay hard-pan, unless such hard-pan is
broken up and the holes drained. The advice
to dig deep holes, was based upon the supposi-
tion that the subsoil was one that would drain
itself. Such is the fact in good soils generally,
and where an exception occurs the practice must
be varied.

In other ca.ses there is great advantage in
deepening the soil in the hole. It enables the
roots to go down for nourishment out of the
reach of the burning sun, — a great gain in a hot
climate. Of course, if one could afford to trench
the whole garden or orchard, we would always
do so instead of preparing any holes at all — but
where neither the trenching nor subsoil plowing
is possible, then one must dotlic next best thing.
After a while, of course the roots will entirely
occupy the deeply prepared soil in the hole —
but nothing then prevents those nearest the sur-
face from striking out in the surfiice soil, and
all that can be gained thereby. For the
e think it quite as likely that the peach

trees our correspondent refers to were killed by
deep planting, as by the deep soil into which
they were put. The first, kills thousands of
trees annually. We never knew a single tree
killed by the latter.

Destruction of Peach Bcds. — Dec. 27th
exhibited the coldest morning of the present
winter. At three o'clock A . M., the thermome-
ter stood at 22° below zero ; at daylight at 17°,
the wind having changed to the east, meanwhile,
Previously to this severe weather a large por-
tion of the fruit buds of the peach, retained
their vitality. Immediately subsequent to that
day, they were generally dead. I have a few
very strong seedlings, however, that are yet
safe. C. E. Goodrich. Utica. Feb. 6, 1851.

Ventilation. — The public are by degrees
waking up from the lethargy into which they
have sunk, regarding the uses and necessity of a
supply of pure air to breathe. The following
true and straight forward article from the Tri-
bune, is well worthy of perusal and reperusal.
Pale faces and '•' nervous complaints," more
common among our countrymen, and especially
countrywomen, than among any civilized peo-
ple on the globe, are the effects of a total igno-
rance of all the laws of respiration, and a blind
passion for close Stoves and furnaces. There is
not a railroad car in the country, heated by its
red hot stove, which is not an enemy to health,
more to be dreaded than the cholCi'a — and yet
our people sit still and drink in the poison of air,
expelled again and again from the lungs of those
crowded around them, as if the thing were
either delightful or irremediable. Ed.

Tlie fundamental truth that air inhaled by
breathing is essential to the preservation of ani-
mal, including human life, we may fairly pre-
sume to be generally understood. If any one
could be found to doubt it, he might easily be
convinced by trying the experiment of not
breathing for two or three minutes. But the
intimately related and equally important truths
tliat every human being has lungs, or air cham-
bers, wherein the inhaled air or breath is con-
sumed or worked over by a process akin to
combustion — that the oxygen which forms one-
fifth of the air is thereby extracted from the
residuum, or nitrogen, and employed to clarify
the blood of its constantly accumulating impu-
rities— that the blood which, thus freslily reno-
vated with oxygen, has been ejected into the
arteries of a bright red color, and in a thoroughly
liquid state, is returned thorough the veins

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

saturated with carbon and other impurities,
and thence dark, shiggisli and clotted — that it
must now be renovated by fresh air, containing
a large proportion of oxygen, for which purpose
the air already in the lungs or once inhaled and
respired therefrom is no titter than the ashes of
yesterday's fuel would be to make a new fire
for to-day — that for this purpose every adult,
healthy human being needs to inhale about
eighteen breaths per minute of about one pint
of fresh, pure air each, making over two gal-
lons of air per minute — and that the inhalation
instead of air already deprived of oxygen and
loaded with impurities by respiration is a pro-
cess alike baneful to health, strength and life —
these truths are not generally understood, or
their importance could not fail to be realized and
respected. It is not possible that men and wo-
men would consent to be shut up in a close,
crowded, low-roofed car, having possibly one or
two small, utterly inadequate apertures for the
escape of vitiated air, but none at all for the
ingress of that which is pure, and that, while
thus poisoning themselves, they would raise a
row against any one who should kindly and
slightly raise the window by his side, if they
only knew what they were doing. Nor would
they build costly churches and commodious
halls for public meetings, and there huddle for
hours, enduring discomfort and imbibing the
seeds of fatal disease, if they only knew that
copious ventilation was the very first require-
ment for such halls, and that they might far
better, even during a tempest, sit there without
any roof at all over their heads than with a roof
which imprisons and returns upon their lungs
the poisonous, corrupting exhalations from their
own chests and bodies.

So with private dwellings. A man has toiled
liard and long for a competimce, and, having
finally attained it, resolves to build a house after
his own heart. He grudges no expense to se-
cure an agreeable location and prospect, pure
water, spacious rooms, tasteful draperies, ample
bedding, elegant furniture. &c., &,c., providing
carefully and bountifully for every want but the
first and greatest of all — pure fresh air. He
might have .secured this in every room of his
mansion for some paltry twenty or thirty dol-
lars; yet he neglects it and leaves his children
to fester in their own corruption night after night
until they finally sicken and die, for want of
that element which God abundantly and freely
supplied f(H- their sustenance, but which he in
his dense ignorance has perversely shut out and
rejected.

Our architects, so called, are shamefully in
fault in the premises. They have no right to
be ignorant of the necessity for ample ventila-
tion ; and if not ignorant, they have no right to
construct slaughter-pens and coffins where they
are paid for erecting proper dwellings. They
have no business to plead, " My employer did
not want ventilation;" for if tliey know their
siness they know full well that he vitally
it, though the density of his ignorance

prevented his desiring it. They are paid to
know what he does not ; and they should never
draw the plan of an edifice of any kind without
providing for its thorough ventilation as a mat-
ter of course. Should the employer interpose
objections, (which he rarely will.) it is their
duty to enlighten and convert him. If he should
insist on exalting his obstinate stupidity above
the architect's scientific knowledge and practiced
skill, (which not one in a hundred will do,) the
latter should quietly say, '■ Sir, I have studied
faithfully and labored hard to acquire the re-
quisite knowledge of architecture ; if you think
I have not succeeded, please employ some one
else ; but if / direct the construction of this
house, it must be thoroughly ventilated; lean-
not in good conscience be responsible for any
other."

"Why," says Thickskull, "whence comes
all this clamor about ventilation? If it is so
vital a matter, why did not our wise ancestors
know something about it ? Why didn't the want
of it kill them, I'd like to know? I mistrust
it's one of the new-fangled '/s/ns, and closely re-
lated to socialism and infidelity!''

Most conservative Thickskull, your fore-fath-
ers did not thrive in the absence of ventilation,
but because they had it. It is precisely because
we have all departed, necessarily and irrevoca-
bly, from their habits that special attention to
ventilation has become so necessary. They
lived far more in the open air and less in crowd-
ed assemblages than the present generation does ;
they sat around huge firesides which voraciously
sucked all the vitiated air up chimney. They
slept oftenest in spacious unpartitioned chambers
and garrets, whence the stars were visible through
the crevices in the sides or roof. Such bed-rooms
needed no ventilators — need none now. The
mischief is that you cannot have them or will
not sleep in them. The hospitable old fire place
has been narrowed and lowered, or has given
place to a stove or furnace ; the bed-room is
ceiled and papered; the doors are listed, the
floors caulked, and the modern house, though
in some respects more commodious and com-
fortable, is far less healthful and invigorating
than those which it has supplanted . Hence the
necessity for special regard to ventilation. There
were hovels and dens of old, mainly in cities,
where the poor herded in atmosphere fouler if
possible than that of our modern churches dur-
ing service, and of our mansions on soiree nights ;
and from these Spotted Fever, Black Death,
Plague, and other pestilences went forth to de-
va.state the world. If you want these results of
the wisdom of our ancestors back again, just
blunder on in defiance of the monitions of science
respecting respiration and air, and you will very
probably be accommodated.

Growth by Magic — All Parishasbeenniar-
velling, for some time past, at the exhibition,
by a M. Hebert. of a process by which the
this gentleman causes the blossoms of plants to

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

burst into bloom instantaneously. No one has
been able to penetrate the secret of the ' ' dis-
covery," as it is called, — legerdemain, as it pro-
bably ought to be called. The following account
by an eye witness, (the correspondent of the
St. Louis Kepublican,) gives the impres.sion
made upon the speculators, w'hich is certainly
very curious.

And now let me tell you of a most beautiful
and interesting discovery which has lately been
made by a celebrated Parisian horticulturist by
the name of Hebert. I was persuaded to go
to his rooms a few days since, and I assure you
I had no reason to regret the long walk. I had
taken. Beneath a large glass case, four or five
feet in height, and as many in circumference,
were placed pots of roses, japonicas, pinks,
dahlias, china asters, 8tc., &c., all in bud. By
means of a certain gas, invented by himself,
and which is made to pass by a gutta percha
tube to any pot required, Mr. Hebert causes
the instantaneous blooming of the flowers. The
ladies in the room asked successively for roses,
dahlias, and japonicas, and saw them burst into
full bloom and beauty, in a second. It was
really wonderful. Mr. Hebert is now trying to
improve on his discovery, and to make the gas
more portable and its application less visible.
The secret is, of course his, and his rooms are
crowded every day with the most delighted
spectators. I wish I could send you the lovely
camellia which I received, which, when asked for
was so tightly enveloped in the green leaves of
its calix, that the color of its flower could not
even be guessed at ; and yet the request was
hardly out of my lips wlien the beautiful white
camellia was in my hand. When he has made
a little more progress, Mr. Hebert intends to
get out a i^atent and deliver his discovery to the
public.

Gardeners — so-called. — Mr. Elliott, in
the first number of the Ohio Farmer, comments
on our complaint of the scarcity of really good
gardeners — who understand the nature of our
climate, as follows:

Amateur cultivators of ornamental trees,
shrubs, plants, etc., in Ohio, and farther west,
we opine, have cause for complaint far beyond
our friends on the sea shore. Here we have
men applying for situations as ' ' head gardeners,"
claiming to know all about the cultivation of
every variety of tree or shrub, how to arrange
and plant out grounds, Stc, &,c., wlien in truth
they are incapable of planting a tree successful-
ly, know nothing how to make a cutting or lay-
er for propagation, have never studied vegeta-
ble physiology sufficient to know aught of the
nature and habits of plants; and yet these men,
talking large, obtain situations, and because they
succeed, the proprietor, who often has
ime to give his grounds, becomes discour-
and unless more successful the second

than the first year, abandons further improve-
ment.

If state experimental gardens and farms, un-
der the superintendence of a competent board
of managers, and supi)orted at the expense of
the state, were established, emigrants as well
as aspirants to the art of our own country, could
labor and study for a season or seasons, until
they acquired such proficiency in the practice,
and knowledge theoretical, as to enable the
board of managers to give them a certificate,
and send them out fitted to meet the real wants
of zealous but inexperienced amateurs.

We hope to see our own Ohio take hold of
this subject, and that other States throughout
the Union will follow her example.

Albany and Rensselaer Hort. Society. —
The annual meeting of the society was held at
the State Agnicultural Rooms, February 4th,
1852— V. P. Douw, President, in the chair.

The Treasurer, Mr. Tucker, presented his re-
port : —

Receipts, 5204 68

Disbursemems, 19i) 01

$8 67

Messrs. Wilson, Kirtland, E. Corning, Jr.,
J. S. Goold, Mayell and Menand, were appoint-
ed a committee of nomination.

Mr. Wilson, from the committee, reported the
names of the following persons for officers for
the ensuing year, who were duly elected: —

President — Herman Wendell, M. D.

Vice-Presidents— E. P. Prentice, E. B. Kirt-
land, D. T. Vail, Wm. Newcomb.

Secretary — B. P. Johnson.

Treasurer — Luther Tucker.

Managers — V. P. Douw, J. McD. Mclntyre,
J. M. Lovett, L. Menand, E. Corning, Jr., C. P.
Williams, A. F. Chatfield, J. S. Gould, E. Door.

On motion of Mr. Newcomb, a vote of thanks
was tendered to V. P. Douw, Esq., for the effi-
cient and satisfactory manner in which he had
discharged the duties of the office of President
of the Society, for the past two years.

The following resolution was adopted:

Resolved, That it be recommended to those
to whom premiums shall be awarded during the
year, to leave the same in the Treasurer's hands,
to form a permanent fund for the benefit of the
Society, and thus enable it to increase its means
of usefulness.

The constitution of the Society was amended
bj' making the annual fee of members
instead of $2, as heretofore.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Meetings and exhibitions for 1852, are to be
held on the 22d June, 6th July, and 14th and
15th September. Annual meeting, third Wed-
nesday of February, 1853.

A premium list for 1852 was adopted. This
is to be printed in pamphlet form.

The members present took tickets to the
amount of $70, and more interest was manifest-
ed in tlie advancement of the Horticultural in-
terest, than at any former period.

The Secretary was directed to prepare the
Constitution, By-Laws, and Premium list for
publication, for the use of members.

The following reports of committees, and
awards of premiums were made:

Feoit. — The committee on fruit report that
they have examined the several collections of
fruit exhibited, and have awarded the premium
for the largest and best collection to Dr. Henry
Slack, of Guilderland, and the premium for the
second largest and second best to Wm. New-
comb, of Pittstown.

They also recommend for complimentarj^ no-
tice two several displays of grapes exhibited by
E. A. Wood, of Watervliet, and David Gary,
of Albany.

Flowers. — The committee have awarded the
premiums as follows: — '■

To L. Menand, for best six plants in pots, $3.

To L. Menand, for best display of cut flowers,
$3.

To E. Corning, jr., for best flat bouquet for
vase, $3.

To. Jas. Wilson, for largest display of cut
camellia japonicas, $3.

To E. Corning, jr., for best six varieties, viz:
Prattii, Double AVhite, Lady Hume, Imbricata,
Fimbriata and Henri Favre, $3.

To L. Menand, for best three varieties, viz:
Fordii, Lady Hume and Amabilis, $1.

To E. Corning, jr., for best three primroses,
$1.

Pennsylvania Hort. Society. — The stated
meeting of this society was held at the Chinese
Saloon, Philadelphia, February 17, 1852. Gen.
Patterson, in assuming the chair, took occasion
to indulge in some appropriate remarks, tender-
ing his sincere thanks to the society for his
unsolicited election to the office of President,
ving that he could foresee the obstacles
ould be presented, by following in the

footsteps of no ordinary man; that the standard
for efficiency in office was now placed so high,
and he, from his long absence, being in a great
measure a stranger in the community, he hoped
that his administration would be looked upon
with a lenient eye ; and he would claim the in-
dulgence of the society towards any errors of
commission or omission that might occur in the
performance of his duty.

The display was excellent for the season , and
consisted of a collection of plants — fine speci-
mens of Azaleas, Spirjeas, Ericas, Cinerarias,
&c., from Joseph Lovering's houses. A num-
ber of large, and very handsome Camellias,
from Frederick Lenning's. A collection of se-
lect rare plants — the Illlcium religiosum. Salvia
gesneriteflora, (a choice species,) Camellia j.
var. CoUettii, by R. R. Scott, gardener to J.
r. Know. A large oblong stand of four eleva-
tions, covered with moss, in Avhich luxuriated
some fifty Hyacinths of choice varieties, was
shown by Peter Raabe.

The designs of cut flowers and boquets were
creditable, A tall vase-shaped design of choice
flowei-s, was shown by James Dundas' garde-
ner; a beautiful large cone boquet, crowned
with a bud of the Victoria, the forty-sixth from
the same plant, and a handsome basket, by Ca-
leb Cope's gardener ; a fine basket and hand bo-
quet, by Joseph Ripka's gardener; another
beautiful basket and hand boquet. by R. Corne-
lius' gardener. Collections of cut Camellia
flowers were exhibited by John Sherwood, Rob-
ert Buist, James Ritchie, John Pollock, garde-
ner to F. Lennig, and Benjamin Gulliss.

Fruit consisted of " Eschasserie and Easter
Beurre," by Thos. Hancock; the "Nile's"
pear, by W. V. Pettit, and a beautiful apple
of good qnality, brought from Paris, and pre-
sented by Chas. Crugan.

Two large tables of vegetables were exhibit-
ted by R. Cornelius' and Miss Gratz's garde-
ners ; and forced Rhubarb and early Radishes,
by Joseph Ripka's gardener.

The standing committees made their awards
for the evening.

The special committee to which was referred
the subject of a testimonial to the late Presi-
dent, reported that he be requested to sit for his
likeness, which was agreed to, and order
be carried into effect.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

A resolution authorizing the committee for
establishing the names of fruits, to procure mo-
del fruits, was acloi)ted.

A package of seeds obtained at the World's
Fair, was presented by Thomas Fisher, and the
thanks of the society was ordered for the gift,
and seeds referred to the committee for distri-
bution.

A member gave notice that at the next meet-
ing he would move for the appointment of a
committee to examine and report upon the con-
dition of the Green-houses of the city and vici-
nity.

The President appointed the standing com-
mittees for the year.

On motion adjourned.

Thomas P. James, Rec. Sec'y.

Buffalo IIorticoltural Society. — The an-
nual meeting was held January 6th, Vice Presi-
dent Bryant presiding. A communication was
received from the President. B. Hodge, declin-
ing a re-election, and the following officers and
committees were elected for the ensuing year:

President — Abner Bryant.

Vice-Presidents — 1st. Charles Taintor. 2d.
Warren Granger.

Treasurer — Austin A. Howard.

Cor. Secretary — WiUiam R. Coppock.

Rec. Secretary — John B. Eaton.

Committee on Fruits and Fruit Trees. —
Benj. Hodge. Chas. Taintor, Geo. F. Pratt,
Jos. G. Masten, Warren Granger.

Committee on Flowers and Flowering Plants.
— Wm. R. Coppock, Jas. W. Brown, Isaac F.
Bryant, Elijah Ford, A. Mason.

Committee on Vegetables — Jason Sexton, H.
W. Rogers, Jno. R. Prince, Jos. Dart, Orlando
Allen.

Committee on Entomology and Manures —
Lewis F. Allen, William Treat, S. T. Haven.

Council — Abner Bryant, Charles Taintor,
Austin A. Howard, Benj. Hodge, Jason Sexton,
Warren Granger, John B. Eaton, William R.
Coppock, Lewis F. Allen.

The Society will hold its annual exhibition
on the 14th and 15th of September, and the
semi-annual, on the 22dand 23d of June. Jno.
B. Eaton, Rec. Secretary.

iNNATi HoRT. Society. — This Associa-

held its annual election on the first Satur-

the year, when the reports of the finan-

cial officers were rendered, and ordered to be
filed.

The President made a touching valedictory,
and then stated that the polls were about to be
opened; appointed as tellers, M. Kelly, and J.
Gilmore.

On counting the ballots, the following persons
were declared duly elected:

President — Stephen Mosher.

Vice-Presidents— N. B. Shaler, W. S. Hatch,
Jacob Hoffner.

Treasurer — William Stems.

Recording and Corresponding Secretary — J.
A. Warder.

Council — M. McWilliams, S. M. Carter, Jno.
G. Anthony, S. S. Jackson, T. H. Teatman,
Wm. Orange, M. Kelly.

The polls were then opened for the election
of other officers, as directed by the constitution,
on a separate ticket.

Flower Committee — William Heaver, Jno.
McFadden, I. C. Ferris, S. S. Jackson, Thos.
Knott.

Fruit Committee— T. V. Peticolas, William
Orange, S. M. Carter, M. McWilliams, D. Mc-
Avoy.

Vegetable Committee — A. Worthington,
Jacob Hoffner, Anthony Pfeitfer, Patrick Con-
sidine, R. B. Davies.

Wine Committee — J. P. Foote, J. Brace, S.
Robert, L. Rehfuss, Geo. Graham.

Financial Secretary — Henry Ives.

Iwmm to tCnrrmnnhnts

Books.—/?. J. B., (Rushville, 0.) The best
work on the Trees of America published in this
country, is Michadx's (advertised in this Jour-
nal lately.) The best original work written in
the United States — though it applies only to
the northern species, is Emerson's Report on
the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts. You
will find a description of all the most ornamen-
tal trees, both European and American, in our
work on Landscape Gardening. Brown's work
has never been completed, only the first volume
having appeared.

Manures. — A. W., (Galesburg, 111.) In
heavy soils, coal ashes is valuable for all fruit
trees. It is specially adapted to the Cherry. In
light soils, we would use it chiefly for the Cher-
ry and Peach . Sawdust half-decayed, has some
litile value as manure, but its value would be
much increased by mixing it with barn-yard
manure, and fermenting all together. B. Pell.
Your lawn, which has run down, would be more
benefitted by covering it immediately wiih half-
rotten stable manure, allowing it to lie
spread all over it for three weeks, and then

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ing off all but the finer parts, than by anj' other
top dressing whatever. Guano is an excellent
top dressing for a lawn if applied in the autumn,
but if applied in the spring, though it benefits
the grass greatly at first, it often causes it to
burn up more rapidly in midsummer. If your
lawn lies low, or has dampness enough in the
soil to prevent the latter, then, of course, this
does not apply.

Stocks. — A Nurseryman, (Bangor.) Graft-
ing pears on apple stocks has been abandoned
by all good growers, because the union is not
permanent, and the tree is short-lived. The
plum tree makes a more enduring stock for the
peach at the north, or in heavy soils, than the
peach itself, and is less liable to disease and in-
sects. A. W., (Galesburg.) The Angers
Quince is chiefly prepared as a stock for dwarf
pears, because it takes the bud easily, and grows
more vigorously than the common quince. The
latter answers very well when once budded.

Evergreens. — G. M. T., (Hickory Park,
Va.) To make your cedar grow equally fast
with the other one, you must remove the soil at
the extremity of the roots, and fill it with rich-
er soil, mixed with leached ashes. Amos Dean.
The Irish Yew is hardy about New- York — and
does best in a northern, shaded exposure.
There is no ornamental evergreen, on the whole
so generally satisfactory, so hardy in all parts
of the country, and so well adapted to all soils,
as the Norway Spruce.

Deep Trees. — A Michigan Subscriber. If
your apple trees which you are forced to bury
a foot deeper than they stood, by raising the
ground, are trees readily moved by all means
lift them, and bring the roots as near the sur-
face as before, as this covering them with so
much earth is often fatal. If they cannot be
lifted, then cover the roots for a very large
space, with small stones, spreading earth over
the top.

List of Trees.— A''. S. R., (Branchville, N.
J.) We recommend the following for your
" good gravelly loam" soil, in the northern part
of New- Jersey. Apples.— Ilarly Harvest, Early
Strawberry, Red Astrachan, Porter, Fall Pip-

pin, Monmouth Pippin, Yellow Bellfleur, Rhode
Island Greening, Melon, Ladies' Sweeting, Rox-
bury Russet, Baldwin. Peaches. — George IV,
Early York, Old Mixon Free, Cooledge's Fa-
vorite, Late Red Rareripe, Snow, Morris White,
Heath Cling. Cherries. — Black Tartarian, May
Duke, Elton, Downer's Late, Graffion. Apri-
cots.— Breda, Large Early, Moorpark. /. /.
Delchamps, (Bel Espoir, Ala.) We recom-
mend for the extreme south with some difiS-
dence — but think the following varieties most
valuable there. Apples. — Maiden's Blush, Early
Harvest, White Bellfleur, Gravenstein, Bevan,
Golden Russet, Horse Apple, Holland Pippin,
YelloAV Bellfleur, Porter, Grindstone, Dutch
Mignonne, Pryor's Red. Pears. — Bartlett,
Dearborn's Seedling, Surpass Virgalieu, Golden
Beurre of Bilboa, Flemish Beauty, Heathcot,
Louise Bonne de Jer,sey, Petre, Seckel, Winter
Bonchretien, St. Germain, Lawrence, Duchess
of Angoulenie. Fruit trees raised from cut-
tings are not so good as those grafted on good
stocks — they are less vigorous. Quince stocks
are worth about $12 a thousand in northern
nurseries.

Green-house Plants. — A Lady, (Rich-
mond, Va.) You will find in Buist's Select
Catalogue of " Rare and Popular Green-house
and Hot-house Plants," both the list and the in-
formation you require. (Address R. Buist,
nurseryman, Phila., with 2 postage stamps en-
closed.) This catalogue, just published, con-
tains brief descriptions and hints for the culti-
vation of any genus of plants enumerated.

Arboretums. — A. S., (New-York.) We
recommend you to Messrs. Parsons & Co.,
Flushing, Long-Island, to complete your list of
rare trees. They have paid much attention
lately, to importing rare trees for arboretums,
and other choice collections.

Exotics. — B., (New- York.) — The Cleroden-
drons and Gardenias jou name, may be had of
Parsons & Co. Cupressus Lambertiana has
not proved hardy about New- York. Hedera
Regneriana is a new variety of Irish Ivy, with
large foliage and rapid growth. Maybe had at
several of the leading nurseries.

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

(De tjif Sinprnnniirat nf ^rgrtabl^ txwm,

WOTWITHSTANDING- all the drawbacks of the violent extremes of climate, the
^ * United States, and especially all that belt of country lying between the Mohawk
and the James rivers, is probably as good a fruit country as can be found in the world.
Whilst every American, travelling in the north of Europe, observes that very choice
fruit; grown at great cost, and with the utmost care, is more certainly to be found in
the gardens of the wealthy, than with us, he also notices that the broad-cast pro-
duction of tolerably good fruit in orchards and gardens, is almost nothing in Europe,
when compared to what is seen in America. As we have already stated, one-fourth
of the skill and care expended on fruit culture in the north of Europe, bestowed in
America, would absolutely load every table with the finest fruits of temperate cli-
mates.

As yet, however, we have not made any progress beyond common orchard culture.
In the majority of cases, the orchard is planted, cultivated two or three years with the
plough, pruned badly three or four times, and then left to itself. It is very true, that
in the fruit gardens, which begin to surround some of our older cities, the well pre-
pared soil, careful selection of varieties, judicious culture and pruning, have begun to
awaken in the minds of the old fashioned cultivators a sense of astonishment as to the
size and perfection to which certain fruits can be brought, which begins to react on the
country at large. Little by little, the orchardists are beginning to be aware that it is
better to plant fifty trees carefully, in well prepared soil, than to stick in five hundred,
by thrusting the roots in narrow holes, to struggle out an imperfect existence ; little
by little, the horticultural shows and the markets, have proved that while fruit trees of
the best standard sorts, cost no more than those of indifferent quality — the fruit they
bear is worth ten times as much ; and thus by degrees, the indifferent orchards are
being renovated by grafting, manuring, or altogether displaced by new ones of
rior quality.

April 1, 1852.

No. IV.

IMPROVEMENT OF VEGETABLE RACES.

Still, there are some important points in fruit culture overlooked. One of the most
conspicuous of these is, that varieties may be found, or, if not existing, may be origi-
nated, to suit every portion of the United States. Because a fruit-grower in the State
of Maine, or the State of Louisiana, does not find, after making trial of the fruits that
are of the highest quality in New- York or Pennsylvania, that they are equally first
rate with him, it by no means follows that such wished-for varieties may not be pro-
duced. Although there are a few sorts of fruits, like the Bartlett Pear, and the Rox-
bury Russet Apple, that seem to have a kind of cosmopolitan constitution, by which
they are almost equally at home in a cool or a hot country, they are the exceptions, and
not the rule. The English Gooseberries may be said not to be at home anywhere in
our country, except in the cool, northern parts of New-England — Maine, for example.
The foreign grape is fit for out-of-door culture no-where in the United States, and even
the Newtown Pippin and the Spitzenberg apples, so unsurpassed on the Hudson, are
worth little or nothing on the Delaware. On the other hand, in every part of the
country, we see fruits constantly being originated — chance seedlings in the orchards,
perfectly adapted to the climate and soil, and occasionally of very fine quality.

An apple tree which pleased the emigrant on his homestead on the Connecticut, is
carried, by means of grafts, to his new land in Missouri, and it fails to produce the
same fine pippins that it did at home. But he sows the seeds of that tree, and from
among many of indifferent quality, he will often find one or more that shall not only
equal or surpass its parent in all its ancient New-England flavor, but shall have a wes-
tern constitution, to make that flavor permanent in the land of its birth.

In this way, and for the most part by the ordinary chances and results of culture,
and without a direct application of a scientific system, what may be called the natural
limits of any fruit tree or plant, may be largely extended. We say largely, because
there are certain boundaries beyond which the plants of the tropics cannot be accli-
mated. The sugar cane cannot, by any process yet known, be naturalized on Lake
Superior, or the Indian corn on Hudson's Bay. But every body at the South knows
that the range of the sugar cane has been gradually extended northward, more than
one hundred miles ; and the Indian corn is cultivated now, even far north in Canada.

It is by watching these natural laws, as seen here and there in irregular examples,
and reducing them to something like a system, and acting upon the principles which
may be deduced from them, that we may labor diligently towards a certain result, and
not trust to chance, groping about in the dark, blindly.

Although the two modes by which the production of a new variety of a fruit or
flower — the first by saving the seeds of the very fruit only, and the other by cross-
hreedmg Avhen the flowers are about expanding — are very well known, and have been
largely practiced by the florists and gardeners of Europe for many years, in bringing
into existence most of the fine vegetables and flowers, and many of the fruits that we
now possess, it is remarkable that little attention has been paid in all these eff'orts to
acclimating the new sorts by scientific reproduction from seed. Thus, in the case of
flowers — while the catalogues are filled with new Verbenas every year, no one,
can learn, has endeavored to originate a hardy Verbena, though one of the trailing

IMPROVEMENT OF VEGETABLE RACES.

purple species is a hardy herbaceous border flower — and perhaps hybrids might be
raised between it and the scarlet sorts, that would be lasting and invaluable ornaments
to the garden. So with the gooseberry. This fruit shrub, so One in the damp climate
of England, is so unsuited to the United States generally — or at least most of the
English sorts are — that not one bush in twenty, bears fruit free from mildew. And
yet, so far as we know, no horticulturist has attempted to naturalise the cultivated
gooseberry in the only way it is likely to become naturalised, viz — by raising new va-
rieties from seed in this country, so that they may have American co7istitutio7is , adap-
ted to the American climate — and therefore not likely to mildew. The same thing is
true of the foreign grape. Millions of roots of the foreign grapes have, first and last,
been planted in the United States. Hardly one can be pointed to that actually "suc-
ceeds" in the open air culture — not from want of heat or light — for we have the great-
est abundance of both ; but from the want of constitutional adaptation. And still the
foreign grape is abandoned, except for vineries, without a fair trial of the only modes
by which it would naturally be hoped to acclimate it, viz — raising seedlings here, and
crossing it with our best native sorts.

Every person interested in horticulture, must stumble upon facts almost daily, that
teach us how much may be done by a new race or generation, in plants as well as men,
that it is utterly out of the question for the old race to accomplish. Compare, in the
Western States, the success of a colony of foreign emigrants in subduing the wilder-
ness and mastering the land, with that of another company of our own race — say of
New-Englanders. The one has to contend with all his old-world prejudices, habits of
labor, modes of working; the other being "to the manor-born," &c., siezes the Yan-
kee axe, and the forest, for the first time, acknowledges its master. While the old-
countryman is endeavoring to settle himself snugly, and make a little neighborhood
comfortable, the American husbandman has cleared and harvested a whole state.

As in the man, so in the plant. A race should be adapted to the soil by being
produced upon it, of the best possible materials. The latter is as indispensable as the
first — as it will not wholly suffice that a man or a tree should be indigenous — or our
American Indians, or our Chickasaw Plums, would never Tiave given place to either
the Caucassian race, or the luscious " Jefferson ;" — ^but the best race being taken at the
starting point, the highest utility and beauty will be found to spring from individuals
adapted by birth, constitution, and education, to the country. Among a thousand na-
tive Americans, there may be nine hundred no better suited to labor of the body or
brains, than so many Europeans — but there will be five or ten that will reach a higher
level of adaptation, or to use a western phrase, "climb higher and dive deeper," than
any man out of America.

We are not going to be led into a physiological digression on the subject of the in-
extinguishable rights of a superior organization in certain men and races of men, which
nature every day re-affirms, notwithstanding the socialistic and democratic theories of
our politicians. But we will undertake to say, that if the races or plants were as much
improved as they might be, and as much adapted to the various soils and climates of
the Union, as they ought to be, there is not a single square mile in the United States,

that might not boast its peaches, melons, apples, grapes, and all the other luxuries of
the garden now confined to a comparatively limited range.*

And this is not only the most interesting of all fields for the lover of the country
and the garden, but it is that one precisely ready to be put in operation at litis season.
The month of April is the blossoming season over a large part of the country, and
the blossom governs and fixes the character of the new race, by giving a character to the
seed. Let those who are not already familiar with hybridizing and cross-breeding
of plants — always efi'ected when they are in bloom, read the chapter on this subject in
our " Fruit Trees," or any other work which treats of this subject. Let them ascer-
tain what are the desiderata for their soil and climate, which have not yet been suppli-
ed, and set about giving that character to the new seedlings, which a careful selection
from the materials at hand, and a few moments light and pleasant occupation will af-
ford. If the man who only made two blades of grass grow where one grew before,
has been pronounced a benefactor to mankind, certainly he is far more so who origi-
nates a new variety of grain, vegetable, or fruit, adapted to a soil and climate where
it before refused to grow — since thousands may continue to reap the benefit of the la-
bors of the latter for an indefinite length of time, while the former has only the
merit of being a good farmer for the time being.

ON THE DISEASES OF THE PEACH TREE.

BY AV

I have been for a few years a slight observer of the disease, as it is manifested in this re-
gion, and which your correspondent, " C. E. Goodrich, Utica," designates " the curled
leaf on the peach tree." It may be that our peach trees are afflicted with a different dis-
ease from that mentioned by your correspondent, as it varies in many particulars from
that described by him. And first, the trees having serrated leaves, are generally much
more affected by the curl, than the glanded sorts; in some few cases, however, the gland-
ed are more affected. But the effect on the after health of the tree, is uniformly more in-
jurious on trees whose leaves have not glands. Again, the large uniform glanded leaves,
are less liable to the curl, and the trees suffer, afterwards, less than any other.

The general symptoms of the disease resemble those described by your correspondent,
with some additional ones, which I shall presently describe.

The disease is not owing to an exhausted soil. The character of our soil is threefold.
On the flat, a rich black mold, with a sub-soil of clay or gravel ; on our east hill, general-
ly, a rich sandy loam; and on our south hill a heavy clay. On all these soils are to be
found peach trees, varying in their age from fifteen to thirty years, and from eight to
twelve inches in diameter — which are no more affected by the disease than those upon the
various soils in localities which have never been cultivated until within the last 4 or 5 years.

* Nature is always giving us both liints and materials for tliis purpose. For instance, the peach, so conimon in our
orchards all over the middle states, does not ripen well, and is rarely seen in northern New-England. Yet in a large
of seedling peaches, that we saw in a cold part of Massachusetts, where all the better varieties had failed, there
ee or four so perfectly hardy as to bear every year the finest crops. The fruit was only second rate— but by
ossing with the hardier of the fine sorts, might in one generation have been rendered both hardy and delicious

DISEASES OF THE PEACH TREE.

The disease, as exhibited here, is not owing to the winter, or the changes of temperature
Trees on the east or south wall of a house, which would be more liable to suffer from such
causes, uniformly escape, whatever the character of the leaves.

Tn addition to the s3'niptoms mentioned by your correspondent, if the disease with him
is the same as with us — if he will go into his peach orchard in winter, and examine the
last years' wood — he will find, principally near the base of the branch, blotches or warts
varying in size from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch in diameter. The smaller blotches
are generally round, and unbroken mostly, and looking like a blister or burn — the larger
ones generally eliptical in form — the bark within the elipse entirely gone, and the woody
parts bulged out, and sometimes slightly gummed. These blotches are frequently upon,
and sometimes just under the bud — more frequently, however, on the branch between the
buds. Tf your correspondent will again go into his orchard in the spring, shortly after the
leaves have expanded, and the blossoms fallen, he Avill find, with the exception of those
buds which have the blotches on or under them — the whole branch covered with the most
luxuriant vegetation — the blotches, however, will be seen, as the season advances, to be
gradually extending themselves in size, and those branches having many, or large ones^
round the base of the stem, will be gradually encircled by a ring of dead bark; as soon as
this happens, the leaves and branch beyond, all die. This occurs about the time that the
curled leaves have dropped from the trees. After this, those trees which have not died,
put forth fresh leaves, and make a healthy growth until the end of the season. When the
months of July or August have arrived, (the precise time I have omitted to note,) if your
corresponrlent will examine closely the wood of the current year, in places corresponding
to those where he now finds the blotches above referred to — he will find pieces taken out
of the young wood, as if eaten or bitten out; and if he will watch these punctures, he will
find them gradually assume the appearance of those blotches which are now wanting bark.

If opened with a knife at this present time, by slight and successive slices, the outer
blotch removed, presents a slightly discolored surface, which increases to the center of the
branch, extending frequently up the branch a considerable distance, and accompanied,
near the exterior surfocc, with a black line, similar to that seen in the plum knot — below
the blotch; frequently the wood in the center is not discolored, and at some distance above
presents the same healthy appearance.

Looking at this present time along the wood of two or three years growth, he will find
the same eliptical shaped marks, indicating where the same injury has been inflicted for
successive years.

Should your correspondent find the marks which I have hastily and imperfectly de-
scribed, I suggest whether —

1. It may not be the puncture of an insect, and the blotch the nest for its young.

2. Whether the curl is not the old and long known disease mentioned and described by
all authors, and particularly in Downing's work.

3. AVhethcr amongst the remedies, the knife is not the most certain, and the time, at the
aimual shortening.

4. Whether the serrated leaf trees should not be wholly abandoned, and their place
supplied with trees having glanded leaves. T have myself, almost entirely abandoned the
cultivation of all trees having serrated leaves.

I have omitted to state, that in the spring, about the time the branch dies, the punctur-
ed part gums after a rain, as also the old blotches in the older wood.

Again, here, if the disease is permitted to progress, the trees surely die. I have seen
many trees that have knots upon them almost as large as those on the plum.

LARGEST DESSERT PEAR.

By the way — should you deem this article worthy of publication — I would remark that
the time to cut out the plum knot is the latter part of June, when the green knots begin
to appear ; if then cut out C^^\h thoroughly, (that is the black line run-

ning up and down all remov- \ . j J ed,) they will never return. 1 have

the scars on my trees, but \ \H not a single knot — my neighbor's trees

are dead or dying. \ |\\ W.

/.

THE LARGEST DESSERT PEAR.

Few of the French pears, imported into this coun-
try fifteen or twenty years ago, have so well stood
their ground in the public estimation, as the Dutch
ess of Angouleme. A natural seedling found grow-
ing in a hedge in a piece of woods near Angers, it has a
robust habit of growth, and is well adapted to all the
middle states, the west and the south. It should always
be borne in mind, however, that the fruit never attains
its highest flavor, at least in our gardens on this side of
the Atlantic, except when the sort is grafted on a quince
stock. Besides this, the large size of the fruit renders it
much more likelj' to be blown off when grown standard high,
on a pear stock, than when dwarfed on the quince.
We believe no fine flavored pear attains anything like the size of this:
only the Catillac and one or two other cooking pears equalling it in this re-
spect.

One object in referring to this variety ai present, is to call attention to the
perfection to which it is grown about Boston. Many cultivators there, train
this variety upon an upright trellis, by which the utmost perfection of size
and flavored is obtained. The cut herewith presented is an exact outline oi
a specimen grown by S.Leeds, Esq., of Boston, and would not be consider-
ed of unusual size at the Horticultural Shows in that city. It weighed ex-
actly one pound nine ounces, was of a deep golden yellow, with reddish
brown specks on the surAvce of the skin, and excellent flavor.

Outline of a Duchess of Akgouleme Peak, raised at Boston.

CRITIQUE ON THE JAN. HORTICULTURIST.

CRITIQUE ON THE JANUARY HORTICULTURIST

BY JEFFREYS.

Mr. Editor-"A long interregnum has passed since my pen laid aside its meddling with
your pages. Bodily ailments, a gouty limb — I do confess to a twinge of the gout, now and
then, with other infirmities — and some little necessary travelling, have prevented my re-
sponses to the frequent calls of your correspondents, to whom, I trust my random scrib-
blings have given less pain than pleasure. Should the former sensation at any future mo-
ment preponderate, or even a symptom of lassitude come over their spirits, in reading me,
exeunt omnes will, in the phrase of the play, shut my further intrusion from their sight.

TTie Home Education of the Rural Districts. — This article speaks for itself — Major
Patrick included. " 0 that /(not mine enemy,) could write a book." That book should
be on domestic education — not boarding-school dissipation, miscalled by the true term, in-
stead ! How I would score up the paltry, narrow pride of thousands of parents, who think
— and act upon the thought — that the education of their daughters is accomplished only
when they have taken a degree at some distant " Female Institute," fashionable "Semi-
nary," or other fantastic place, (the schools are not all so, however,) where girls are
spoiled in having all sorts of superficial nonsense put into their heads, instead of good,
sound knowledge, and every-day common sense, which should fit them to excel in the
sphere which Providence has marked out for them : and that of their boys, when sent to
some equally improper place, to learn that for which they have no natural taste; but in-
stead, do acquire notions that turn their heads all topsey-turvey, into exalted fancies which
they can never realize, and from thence graduate into professional offices, town trade, Ca-
lifornia, or to the , a nameless gentleman, where, in vulgar parlance, many an oth-
erwise clever boy, brings up at last. No, no, no, as Mr. Daniel Webster says; that is
not the rig/tf way. " But the world is progressing," says the kind, misjudging parent.
So it is, in steam-engines, railways, telegraph-wires, all sorts of domestic extravagance,
and French revolutions. But in the way of mind, and attention to the homely, agreeable
duties of life, I incline to the opinions of an old fashioned author, not much consulted in
these progressive days. I fear that " there is nothing new under the sun." I cannot
now go into this subject as I would; but to my thinking, they manage these things much
better at the south, and west, than they do at the north. There, Planters and Farmers
are not ashamed of their profession. Here, cultivators of the soil are. If we are not
thus ashamed, why not bring up our children to an honest, manly appreciation of our own
calling, instead of encouraging them to sneak away into everything else, reputable or not,
so long as they can make money by it, and thus shirk honest labor, and the true dignity
of agricultural life?

Do, my kind, rural friends, read this chapter once a month for the coming year, and
practice upon its teachings. Your children will forever thank you for it, notwithstanding
a little domestic rebellion in the outset.

The True Soldat Laboreur Pear. — Why is it that so many foreign pears come to us
under wrong names? Great confusion has been caused among our Pomologists in this way.

Mr. Olmsted appears to have got hold of a good fruit, and I hope we shall hear from
it hereafter. A single bearing, however, is not always a correct test. He is considerate
enough to tell us the soil on which it grows, which is always important, to enable us to
of the quality of a fruit. A deep, clayey loam is the only soil on which accurately

CRITIQUE ON THE JAN. HORTICULTURIST.

to test the pear. This, with enough of lime, ashes, and the phosphates in it — artificially-
applied, if these ingredients are naturally lacking, or have been exhausted — will show us
what the fruit really is.

The Color of Buildings in Rural Scenery. — Mr. Cooper, in his foreign travel, if not
in his home education, had an opportunity to cultivate a high and a correct taste in what
constitutes propriety and truth of color in rural buildings. All who have sojourned in, or
passed through the charming and picturesque village of Cooperstown, at the foot of Otse-
go lake, must have admired the fine baronial style of his dwelling, and its broad lawn
of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubbery — the fit repose of a ripe scholar, and an ac-
complished man. The mature taste of one who has fixed his home in the midst of such
striking scenery, and whose life, for thirty years, had been in perpetual communion with
its most attractive objects, is well worth the heed of all builders, and dwellers in the
country. The judgment, and the taste of our people, is fast improving in the color of
their buildings, although broad mistakes are now and then made in escaping from the old
fashioned white, into some of the new-fangled colors which we see mis-applied to newly
got-up houses. Observation and experience will correct this; and we shall, it is hoped,
work down into appropriate tones of color and shade for our buildings.

The California Grape. — We must see about this. There are, no doubt, good native
grapes in California; and when other suVjjects than gold seeking, and speculation, creep
into the brains of her people, I have little doubt that the soil and climate of that wide belt
of Pacific territory, will yield us both grapes and wine, of a character not yet produced
in the Ohio valleys, and perhaps of equal quality and like flavor to the best of European
wines.

It is nowise certain, however, that any grape from California will prove the same iden-
tical fruit, if transplanted here, and subjected to the influences of our widely different cli-
mate and soils. An indigenous production of any kind, of good quality in its native soil,
and matured under the influences of its own sun and air, will not alwaj's develop its fine
peculiar qualities in other soils, and under sunshine less propitious. We Avitness that in
many familiar fruits in our own localities, but a short distance apart, and in nothing more
striking than in the European grapes subjected to out-door culture here. Still, I would
not discourage the transfer of a really good grape from California into our soils. Something
good may come out of it; and when the thing can be so cheaply tried, it would be a mat-
ter of public interest that it should be done in a thorough way.

Notes on Evergreen Trees. — Most comforting words to the nurserymen! — "the most
hardy, the most beautiful, and the most rapid growing of them all" — the evergreens.
Pretty high praise that, Mr. Downing. My good old father used to say just so, when I
was a boy, about the Lombardy Poplars. Yet folks don't think so now. It may be all
true, however, about the Deodar; and if it shall so prove, it will be perfectly magnificent —
for to excel our pines and hemlocks, in their stately and majestic growth in the open lands,
will be both a lofty and a spreading merit in its character. Let us have a Deodar Cedar
thirty feet high, and then we'll look at it, and pass a judgment upon its excellence.

A saving clause, however, guards your eulogium — " the most popular of all the neto ever-
greens yet proved in this country." Good. My dear sir, the Pines, the Hemlocks, the
Firs and the Spruces, of North America, are unrivalled in breadth and grandeur, by an)"-
evergreens in the whole universe.

— " The piny top of Ida,"

of which Thompson sung in his gorgeous Summer tale of Damon and Musidora, would
shrink into insignificance by the side of many of our pine-capped American hills. You do

well to praise the Pines and Hemlocks; and our countrj' dwellers — on propitious soils
will do equally well to plant, and train them to the finest development of their luxuriance
and beauty.

A neio Slratcberry from the South. — New-Orleans is a good ways off, and this is a
pretty big story, Mr. Pardee. " Six months" of steady bearing is great work for a

strawberry. I don't doubt it, however; I don't doubt anything in the strawberry line

till I see it. When your strawberry gets well into bearing, my good sir, just send me
word, and I'll take a morning run up to Palni3'ra, and look at it.

On the Prizes at our Horticultural Shows. — Your " AYoiking Gardener" talks both
sensibly and practically on the subject. Frequent and manifest injustice is practiced by
the "judges," or viewing committees, at all our exhibitions, both horticultural and agri-
cultural. One difficulty, I imagine, arises from the want of a standard by which to judge
of the just properties of the thing in competition, which is the fault of the managers of the
concern— yet not always their fault, for they do often try to establish that standard. But
the main difficulty is, in obtaining disinterested and conip-f. 71/ judges of the article under
examination. And this, in Vnc present low state of the requisite judgment in such mat-
ters, in this country, is hard to be corrected. We are improving somewhat in this parti-
cular, but it is a most difficult thing, now, to select competent to judges, as those who are
at all experienced in these exhibitions, are aware. When we shall have educated a suffi-
cient number of our people to understand what the proper qualities and characteristics of
the articles which come under their review should be, then we shall have something like
truth and justice in their awards; — but not till then. True, there are many such in
attendance upon our exhibitions; but they are usually professional men, who are either
competitors, or if not so, are directly or remotely interested in the success of certain things
exhibitc-d, and thus are uisqualitied in the minds of more or less of the competitors, from
passing an opinion.

The proper indviduals to settle all such questions, are amateurs, who possess sufficient
knowledge and taste in the various subjects of display, to decide upon correct principles.
Their position and judgment would then give to their decisions an authority quite sa-
tisfactory to all fair competitors.

A Chapter on Dogs. — T haven't been " Coon hunting" for many years. I never fol-
low the hounds after fox or deer — the only trailing game we have in this countiy, save
now and then a wolf or bear, in the new settlements. Neither do T go out shootino-, ex-
cept to exercise my old fowling piece at a henhawk, or that viler brute, the carrion crow-
I love dogs, however, and always keep a useful one of true breed, by me. The common
curs that are kept in such quantities in every straggling village, and on many of our farms
are a standing nuisance, which ought to be abated. But it won't be, so long as there are
neighbor's sheep to kill, and pigs to run at large, where a dog fence is necessary.

Landscape Gardening in New-England. — Mr. Jaques is a bold man, and talks to the
point. Our Yankee friends are getting on however. There have been great improvements
in lawn-dressing in New-England, within twenty years past. But they know, practical-
ly, nothing of parks, nor will they, until they give up that universal habit they have, of
squatting themseves right onto the highway, as if no one could be content without knowino-
who passed his door overy hour of the day. Mr. Jaques can discourse further on this
subject, with profit to all who have to do with ornamental grounds.

Heat and Ventilation of Houses. — This subject will bear a good, sound chapter in your
pages, as often as once a quarter, at least, to the great edification of your readers
into a country church, the other day, at the afternoon service, and I was almost stifled

the offensive atmosphere which the morning congregation had left in it. There was a
stove-heat and no ventilation; and the sexton did'nt know enough to letdown the top aash
of a gallery window on each side, to let out the pestilent stuff between services. On no
one subject can the " schoolmaster" start out on his travels, to more advantage than this.

Artificial Feeding of Fish. — ^Tt is a matter of surprise that our country residents pay
so little attention to the cultivation of fish, in a thousand places where they might con-
duct their fine little hill-brooks and spiings into beautiful ponds, which would cost next
to nothing in their construction. Not to speak of the profit, or the convenience of having
a fine mess of fish now and then for the table, the amusement of breeding and tending the
fish, would be ample compensation for the trouble. It is not a difficult thing at all.
Trout, to be sures cannot be bred in every stream, particularly in limestone waters. But
perch can be bred everywhere, and they are a beautiful docile fish, and fine for the table.
Boys, and girls, and "old folks," can attend to this, — the first to keep them out of mis-
chief, and the others for amusement. Actual labor, there is little of, in connection with it.
Fish breeding is one of the round of interesting objects that make up the variety in home
attractions in the country; and wherever the water can be commanded, a fish pond should
as much be one of the appurtenances of a country-house, as the chicken-coop, or the pig-
stye.

j1 Country School-housa.—^A very neat design — picturesque, cheap, and tasteful. This
model cannot be too extensivel}'^ practiced upon. AVhat a beautiful array of station-hou-
ses, something in this style, the Harlem and some other of our railroads, have along their
lines. If people only knew how much the style of their school-houses, and other build-
ings of a public character, have to do with the pleasure they give to those who look upon
them, and the improvement they add to the places they occupy, they certainly would
study to put up better ones, arcliitecturall}', than they do.

j^gricuUural Education. — We believe the Editors of the Evening Post belong to that
class of politicians who imagine that government has nothing to do but collect taxes and
pay its own salaries, and let the people take care of themselves. Very well. Then sponge
out at one sweeping dash, all government connection with, or care of, all institutes and
seminaries of learning of every kind, whatever, and let those who want them, get them up,
as the.se editors think the farmers can get up agricultural schools — on their own hook. We
don't object to that, provided all interests shall be served alike. One would suppose that
men as observant of our institutions as the Editors of the Post, would know that no such
political teachings as are practiced in the Prussian Agricultural Schools, could be taught
in the schools of this country, under any circumstances. It is just such stuff as this that
pervades the minds of many of the farmers themselves, and has prevented our having, j'ears
ago, at least one leading agricultural school in this boasted " Empire" State of New- York.
Everjf winter, for years past, a proposition has been introduced into our legislature to cre-
ate an institution of this kind; and at once, a majority of the farmer members, like the old
rat in the fable, di.scover " a cat in the white heap yonder." Thus, year after j^ear, our
great agricultural interest is cheated by its own guardians, out of its equal share in the
common property of the state, for its own improvement. When we see anything better,
it will be, probabl}', when a new generation of farmer legislators rise up, who, knowing
what their true interests are, will have the courage to serve them. The measure could
now, in three weeks time, be accomplished, if our farmers in the legislature would only
say the word. But they prefer lending their aid to the "soulless corporations" of the
non-producers, to doing anything for the benefit of the wide-spread, and long-neglected
class to which they, themselves, belong.

PEAR BLIGHT IN ILLINOIS.

A truer thing never was said than by yourself, Mr. Editor, in this very article; that
"farming is either an intelligent occupation, and demands education, or it is not, and
demands only brute force." Our legislators hold to the latter; and so long as they prac-
tice on that opinion, we may knock at their doors till doomsday, with our petitions, before
we can get a successful hearing. But let a body of men go at the work with the same en-
ergy and determination of purpose, and the same appliances that others do, when they
want to get a legislative enactment for private benefit, and the work would be accomplish-
ed " in a jifley." Jeffreys.

NOTES ON PEAR BLIGHT IN ILLINOIS,

BY PROFESSOR TURNER, JACKSONVILLE, ILL.

Thk principal horticultural event worthy of notice last season, in these parts, was the
great and unparalleled blight and failure of all sorts of fruit.

The spring frosts killed the plums, peaches, and apples, and as there was no food for the
Curculio and kindred vermin last season, we may expect that a great variety of specific
preventives for their ravages, will succeed to perfection — for an enemy already starved and
annihilated is often easily conquered.

"VVe will therefore leave these specifics and all further experiments, and eat our plums
till the " Grand Turk" has time to multiply or emigrate for another crusade upon us —
and also learn that Providence is wise — ^and that frosts that kill all thefruit, are some-
times most excellent and necessary things; worth more for the " Turk" than worlds of
pigs, chickens, sulphur, salt, &c. &c. Both the blight and grape rot are different matters,
from which as yet we see ne relief.

The season till September was remarkably wet, and all the grapes were smitten with
the rot sometime in July — it was an entire destruction, and no remedy seemed to do the
least good — while the true philosophy of the matter seems to be more of a m3'stery than
ever. No position or tr&ining, or pruning, or picking, or artificial soil, or subsoil, or
drainage, seemed to be of the least avail — while some facts seem strongly to indicate that
the real cause must be either fungus or animalculse.

I shall, this spring, enter upon a new course of experiments as regards the grape rot,
by planting vines in Vjrick and cemented vine pits or vats, filled with different artificial soils
and subsoils, of which in due time you shall hear. My Catawba vine was the only one
that escaped a total rotting and loss of fruit for two past years.

As to the pear and apple and quince blight, it swept every thing last season in these
parts. It entirely destroyed every privet bush and hedge on my grounds, and attacked
the pears and quinces with unparalleled vehemence. The apple trees seem to have an innate
power of re.sistance, (or a vix medicatrix,) which the pep,rs, quinces, and privets have not.

I devoted much time to the phenomena, and examined carefully all the pear trees in
town, and I think the following facts quite well established with us:

I. There are some six forms of blight, not one alone, if we may believe what appears
to be well authenticated by credible witnesses, and they all appeared among us the last
season :

1. There is an insect which eats into the terminal bud, and down the pith to a conside-
distance, and causes a terminal blight in the ap])le tree. This is not serious, a
found on no other tree here.

PEAR BLIGHT IN ILLINOIS.

2. There is a sort of locust that stings the branch, and causes a similar phenoinenon
sometimes.

3. There is an insect that eats into the roots of any of the tender buds on the terminal
branches, and sometimes causes them to break, or blight and wither.

4. There is an insect, probably the Scolytus pyri, that eats a ring around the terminal
branches, and causes their death above, on the apple, and sometimes runs down on the
pear, and apparently causes the death below the part injured.

5. There is a blight on the pear, beginning on the parts exposed to the hot sun, and be-
fore this characterised as the sun-blight, sometimes also affecting a newly trimmed apple tree

6. But there is also a worse form of blight than all these combined, which developed
here in the most fearful ravages of the pear tree, quince, and privet bush, last season, and
in some cases, affected the apple also. It is the real " Asiatic cholera" of pear trees; and
I believe has never before spread among us in this county till last season. We suppose
that we /enow, now?, what you and your correspondents really mean by " pear blight,"
when you speak in your saddest and most despairing tones — and we have never fully
known before. But lest it should still be different from your forms of blight, I will try
to describe it; for it is evidently very different from all the forms of blight mentioned
above, in its origin and effects, and coincides only in the single fact, that the terminal
branches appear to the careless observer, (but to no others,) to be first affected— just as
in the other cases.

This form of blight differs from all the forms produced by insects above described, in
the fact that it always begins in the trunk and larger branches, and never in the small
shoots of the tree: and it differs from what I described as the "sun-blight," in a former
number of the Horticulturist, (Sept. 1849,) in the fact that the poisonous blotch on the
limbs or trunk, is as likely to appear in cool, as in extremely hot weather; and as often
found where the sun never shines, as beneath the full stroke of its rays.

Indeed, I am inclined to think it is the natural sequali, or terminatori, of that singular
leaf blight which I described in the same article, of Sept. 1849.

The first fatal symptom that strikes the e)'e, as in the other cases of blight above nam-
ed, is the blackening and perisliing of the terminal leaves and branches. But by a careful
microscopic examination, a dead and putrid blotch, or spot of bark, will always, (in this
form of blight,) be found on the neck, trunk, or branches, of the tree below, which has
thrown its poison first upward, and killed the tender terminal shoots, and then it again
passes downward, and never stops till all the tissues are killed, at least down to the origi-
nal plague spot.

This spot is most likely to be found at those points where the bark is changing from
smooth to rough — either at the collar near the ground, or in or near the crotches and bi-
furcations of limbs and shoots. This, and other facts, induced last July, the suspicion
that the cause must be either fungus or animalculse. And, after examining many hundred
pear trees in this town and county, most of which are entirely ruined, I set about endea-
voring to ascertain what was the cause.

I first spent a week in a thorough personal examination of my trees, root and top, "with
spade, knife, and microscope, at hand. I found nothing, save that the seat, or apparent
origin of the disease, was as indicated above, and a confirmed belief that it was the work
of fungus, or extremely minute animalculje, invisible with a common microscope. I ac-
cordingly procured a solar microscope of great power, belonging to the college apparatus,
presence of Professors Adams and Bateman, cut a small bit of bark where
the insects were, (if an3Mvhere,) and placed it in the focus of the microscope

PEAR BLIGHT IN ILLINOIS.

all repeatedly saw an animalcula3, which, under the great power of the glass, much re-
sembled, in color and shape, the common " sow-bug," (as it is called,) running among
the fibres of the bark, with about the same ease and freedom that a pig would run in a
thicket. But we could none of us decide whether this animalcule was a cause, or only a
consequence of the disease — as multitudes of coarser insects will always be found around
dead bark — evidently only because it is dead — and therefore gives them a proper nidus.

I made however, on this hint, a strong wash of soap suds and tobacco water, scraped
all the trees thoroughly root and branch, and washed them all over, removing and burn-
ing every dead piece of limb or bark. I also threw about one peck of coal ashes from a
steam mill around the trunk of each tree. I was then obliged to leave for several weeks
for the east.

On ray return I was rejoiced to see all my pear trees greatly improved in health and
general appearance. But whether the effect was to be ascribed to the changes in season,
or to the treatment, or both, T cannot say as yet.

I shall continue my experiments next season, with some hope of ascertaining the pre-
sence of Fungus or animalculte, and a remedy for the same, if they exist, and hope others
will do the same, and to prompt this research or inquiry is the sole object of this present
paper.

Meantime I think the following points established:

1. It is certain that this form of blight differs from all others mentioned above, and from
all other forms we have ever before had in this place.

2. It is certain that it begins its final destruction on the outer bark of the larger limbs,
by a peculiar, though at first invisible poisonous blotch, which first throws up a poison,
or something analagous to it, that kills the terminal shoot — while many feet of perfectly
sound wood, bark, and leaves, may lie between the dead top and fatal spot, until at last
the return current of sap kills all down to this blotch, and often below.

3. If this blotch is found, and all the dead parts thoroughly removed, especially if washed
in spirits turpentine and lamp black, carefully, the limb above may be saved without am-
putation, but if any dead or poisonous bark is left, it will generally keep spreading from
year to year, till all is dead.

4. It is probable that the disease really begins near the ground in the neck of the tree
or its roots, and that the blotches in the crotches and rough places of bark above noted,
are merely a secondary symptom of the disease, though they always precede the dying of
the twigs.

5. It is probable that the black specks on the leaves in fall, and the red carbuncled spots
on the bursting buds and younger leaves in spring and summer, are also premonitory
symptoms of the same dreadful disease, which takes several years to run its full course.

All spots on the leaves and branches being an effort of the tree to throw off the annual-
ly accumulating disease, and the deadly blotches in the crotches and consequent dying of
branches, only the fatal catastrophe of the previous course.

I ought more properly to ask if these things are not so. Let our friends this spring
scrape away the dirt and carefully examine the condition of the necks of tlieir pear tices
under ground, and see if they do not find indications of a scurvy, rustj^, disese; then
let them examine all the bark above, especially all rough places, and see if the dead bark
is peeling off and growing healthy as it ought to do, or cleaving down and turning red and
black

Then let them notice the condition of the blotches on the leaves in summer — of the
in spring — and see if they do not find all this followed sooner or later, with sudden death

ON THE CULTURE OF GOOSEBERRIES.

of tops and branches, or perhaps the whole tree at some future year, soon after the com
menoement of the second growth in summer — in this M'ay we shall sometime be likely,
among .is, to find out the truth of the nature and causes of some, or all of these various
forms of blight, which I am sure we never shall do so long as we are content only to con-
sider "a blight, a blight," and let it all go at that. I think there are some reasons for
suspecting that the blight of the quince, pear, and privet, in this form, and the rot in the
grape, and the rust in wheat are of kindred nature and origin — and if we can discover
their nature and laws in either case, it will be productive of immense good. Let us all
trjf. Yours truly, J. B. Turner.

Illinois Colle«:e, Feb., 1852.

PRACTICAL HINTS ON THE CULTURE OF GOOSEBERRIES.

BY J. C. THOMPSON, STATEN-ISLAND, N. Y.

As you invite " practical communications from your practical readers," I offer for your
consideration and disposal, the following article, believing the account of my successful
method of cultivating gooseberries, will be instructive to your numerous readers.

About thirteen years ago, I obtained a small stock of gooseberry cuttings of the white
variety, and have continued to grow the same, and m fact have some of the original stocks
now in good condition among my bearing bushes, which number over two hundred, yield-
ing between thirty and forty bushels annually, of fine and perfect fruit, which I readily sell
at from two to three dollars per bushel.

I always begin my gardening operations as early as the ground can be woiked. I there-
fore soon discovered that those that stood in the part of the garden which was first dug
up, and the manure worked in well about them, were free from blight or mildew, and the
crop fine in size and flavor; bushes vigorous; foliage heavy, and very dark gieen.

The strongest proof I had of the advantage of good treatment, I will state: an isolated
bush in the door-yard, was left to take care of itself. The result was a very fine crop of
well mildewed fruit. The other case was, where some half dozen bushes stood in front
of the bee-house, and as it was difficult to trim them, and manure and work the ground
around them, the fruit was worthless — being covered with a heavy coat of black rust, or
mildew. These I dug up; separated; trimmed off the tops to a mere stump; planted
them out, and treated them in the same kind way that I did the others. The result is,
that they are now the finest bushes; bear as many berries as any in the garden, and never
show the least sign of mildew.

Treatment, — All my bushes are trained on a stem six or eight inches from the ground,
before they branch off, and trimmed so they have a uniform shape. The trimming should
be performed in February, or as early in March as possible — the gooseberry being among
the first that shows the approach of spring, so it is the first that needs attention. In
trimming, when I wish to renew a bush, or any portion of it, I cut back to a good bud
near the main stem, to obtain a good growth of wood for future bearing, and then cut off
from a third to a half of the last years' growth, of every twig or shoot on the bush.

The trimming completed — the roots are carefully uncovered, and tM-o or thiee shovels-
full of manure are worked in about the roots, with a fork, being careful to injure them as
little as possible; this finished, the earth to be replaced.

I have all my garden trenched every season before planting, and as the diggers approach
the bushes, and uncover the deeper roots, they apply some manure to them also.

ON THE CULTURK OF GOOSEBERRIES.

That some varieties are more disposed to mildew than others I have good, reason to be-
lieve. I purchased a few bushes in market, represented as being " extra fine," but I found
with the same treatment as the others they showed a slight disposition to mildew.

That the mildew is contagious, I do not question. Having put a lot of cuttings on the
shady side and extreme edge of the garden, for the purpose of rooting, tliey were left to
take care of themselves, being neither trimmed, manured, or the least attention paid to
them. Early last May the leaves became very much mildewed, and I soon found that the
fruit on them, and a row of bearing bushes which were six feet distant, and ran parallel
with the row of cuttings, was affected just as fiir as the mildewed cuttings extended,
while all the others were free from blight of any kind.

The operation of shortening the twigs, is to in-
crease the growth of the new wood and reduce the
quantity of fruit, so that the bush can perfect
"what it bears, and furnish new and vigorous shoots,
which are indispensable in order to secure a future
crop.

I have lately adopted the following plan : trench
the ground two feet deep; manure and mix tho-
roughl}^; set out two feet apart well rooted plants
one year old, trimmed to a straight stem twelve or
fifteen inches long; take off all the lower buds, six
or eight inches from the ground ; permit them to
grow at random the first year, (putting down a
slight stake to steady each.) Last autumn they
appeared as No. 1. This winter I clipped off
from a third to a half of last year's growth, (as
at a on branches of No. 1,) giving the bush a good
shape. The next was cut back to one or two good
buds close to the main stem, and appears when trimmed as No. 2
as No. 1 and so alternatelj'.

The advantage of this method is simplicity — takes up little space, en-
sures new wood with large thorns, which always produce the best fi nit.
The trimming is performed with ease and rapidity, affording the bearing
bush ample space, light, and air, while perfecting the fruit, by which
time No. 2 will have filled up the open space. The winter foUowino-,
No. 1 is cut back, and appears as No. 2, while No. 2 will take the ap-
pearance of No. 1.

My experience, after thirteen years successful cultivation and observa-
tion on the habits and wants of the gooseberry, fully satisfies me that the
latter plan faithfully carried out, will ensure a fine crop with little
trouble, as well as adding beauty and uniformity to a bush, that is too
apt to be neglected, and makes a hideous appearance in our gardens. The
person from whom T obtained my stock (then very good) has since for want of attention
permitted his to run down, so that they are far below mine in size; while mine have been
improving, and last summer when offered at our horticultural exhibition were awarded
the first premium. [Thanks for this sensible and practical communication. Ed.]

Yours truly, &c. J. C. Thompson.

Tompkinsville, Stateti Island, N. Y., Feb. 29, 1S52.

No. 1

The next is trmimed

COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

FURTHER NOTES ON COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

BY HORTICOLA.

Rose Hill, the residence of Thomas Page, Esq., near Waltham, a pretty country resi-
dence fast rising into repute in the horticultural world, and named in honor of the pro-
prietor's favorite flower, which he cultivates largely and successfully, sparing no expense
to obtain all the varieties worthy of cultivation. This place is situated on a gentle emi-
nence, and commands a beautiful prospect of the picturesque scenery for many miles around.
This part of the country is beautifully varied with wood and water, and admirably adapt-
ed for villas and villa gardens, and it is rather surprising that the vicinage of this pretty
suburb is not more employed for that purpose by the wealthy Bostonians.

The mansion of Mr. Page is a neat and commodious structure with much interior com-
fort and convenience, but it has one radical fault. It is too little and too low for such a
commanding site, while the offices and outbuildings adjoining are too conspicuous. This
is a very prevalent defect about the Bostonian suburban villas, and nothing is more com-
mon than to see pretty Tuscan, or Gothic, or Italian villas, with a barn standing alongside,
of four times its size, out of all character and proportion. Mr. Page is fully aware of
this fault, and contemplates a thorough alteration, by which this feature will be entirely
done away with. Much has already been done on this bleak hill to change its original
aspect, and when all the improvements now in contemplation are completed, this will be
one of the prettiest suburban villa residences in the whole neighborhood of Boston.

Among the recent improvements at Rose Hill, is the erection of a handsome green-house,
with a wing attached for the purpose of growing roses alone. This is one of the prettiest
green-houses about Boston; it is roomy and commodious, and we were informed by Mr.
Page, it is admirably adopted to the cultivation of plants. It is heated by hot water
pipes, and this winter has thoroughly tested their capacity of keeping Jack Frost at a
respectful distance. This house is now quite filled with a choice collection of all the dif-
ferent varieties of green-house plants, including a choice collection of Camellias. We ob-
served some fine large Azaleas in full flower, as well as Acacias also flowering splendid!}'.
The collections of Geranium, Cineraria, Calceolaria, Primula, &c., were very fine, and
some specimens exhibiting very superior skill in their cultivation. The other house was
filled chiefly with roses, in good condition, though rather backward, and not producing so
many blooms as we would like, but those produced were truly superb — especially the hy-
brid perpetuals, which Mr. Page grows largel}' in pots; among the rest Mr. P. showed us
J^urtune's five-colored rose, which, from the specimen there presented in full flower, we
are very much inclined to pronounce a complete humbug. The bud in embryo is just like
a monstrosity very common in the rose family, and when fully expanded, is little else than a
cluster of half developed leaves struggling for light. This is like many other much talked
of floricultural and horticultural importations, which come across the channel with high
sounding names, and nothing else.

The residence of G. C. Lyman, Esq. This is a place of considerable note, and has in
its grounds many of the elements of a fine place, such as abundance of wood and water,
and a surface varied by undulations, with a river running through the grounds. The
mansion is apparently a series of after thoughts, and revised additions, possessing no pre-
tension to architectural taste or beauty, and seems to have been built, like many old fash
loned houses — bit b}' bit — as the family required them. It stands, compared wi
unding grounds, exceedingly low, without any prospect from itself, save of the

COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON.

residence of Rose Hill, and some others, that appear to look down upon it somewhat con-
temptuously. It is, nevertheless, snugly nestled among fine trees, and possesses a fine
lawr, — or rather park — somewhat in the English style, extending along its front, but rath-
er meagerly, and we should think very injudiciously planted, except round the outer edge,
in the form of hedge rows, a system of planting very extensively carried out by the late
Mr. LviMAN, which has added much to the comfort and beauty of the highways connect-
ed with, and surrounding the whole of this fine estate.

There is a good range of vineries. The grapevines, however, are indifferently managed.
We must repress the reflections which arose out of the contemplation of this specimen of
gardening, and suspend our judgment on what we cannot speak with freedom, without
doing an injury to the feelings of the party who is, perhaps, unavoidably censurable.

We had heard a good deal of this place, and though a great deal had been done by the
late proprietor, in the way of planting, we turned a way from it with a feeling of disap-
pointment. Much, we say, has been done — but how, and why, we could not tell. The
arrangement of the place exhibited a lamentable jumbling of crotchety notions, carried
out in the most ludicrous possible manner. When the late Duke of Northumberland ask-
ed the celebrated Brown, on what principle he planted trees, his answer was — " I stick
them in here and there, as the fly bites," and on this famous principle has this place ap-
parently been planted.

The orchards occupy the rising ground in the rear, and include some ancient pomologi-
cal patriarchs, borne down with age. We have seen few places where art has done so lit-
tle for nature, and nature done so much for art, and where both so violently antagonise
each other. One glorious object we cannot overlook — and that is the old Purple Beech,
the oldest and largest, we believe in the country; it is truly a noble tree. Another fea-
ture observable in the neighborhood of this place, is the fine avenues of forest trees plant-
ed by the late proprietor, along the roadsides; these extend for miles, around the whole es-
tate, and are now large and lofty trees, uniting their boughs to form an umbrageous cano-
py overhead, and for which the late venerable proprietor deserves the gratitude of future
generations.

The residence of George Lelland, Esq., Waltham. This is another of those pretty
villa residences that have sprung up within the last few years, giving a character to this
interesting neighborhood. The grounds are of limited extent, but the green-house and
shrubbery contain some objects of rarity and interest, which give the place a more inte-
resting character than it would otherwise possess.

Considering all the bearings of this place, we think the hot-houses and green-house,
most unfortunately situated. Built on the side of a deep bank, with the back running
within a few rods of, and parallel to, the main front of the mansion, the back walls and
chimneys present a very ungardenesque appearance from the piazza of the house. 'Tis
not very uncommon to see persons making such a hobby-horse of one stereotyped idea, that
they entirely destroy every other therewith connected. The hot-houses at this pretty place,
are a standing manifestation of this fact; not from anj' fault in the worthy proprietor,
who has spared no expense in their construction, but from a cause which has been also the
bane of hundreds of others besides.

The range consists of two graperies, with a green-house between them, spanned on the
projecting ridge and furrow plan. The former are good houses for growing grapes, and
most elegantly finished and fitted up. The green-house in the center is, I believe, a coun-
t, if not an exact copy, of the one at Mr. Bigelow^'s, noticed in my last. It
ed from the house by a spiral stair-way, which descends from the ground level

THE HYDRAULIC RAM.

hind, and enters the green-house through a door in the back wall; a most awkward and
unhandsome arrangement, to say the least of it. In fact, this plant-house is more out of
place than any structure of a similar kind I ever beheld. But it stands under the lee of
a deep terrace, and that consideration was apparently sufficient to counterbalance all oth-
ers; at least all others have been made subservient to it, although finer sites than is pre-
sented by other parts of the ground, could scarcely be found. We believe Mr. Lelland
contemplates an addition to his plant-house this season, which is not yet begun; and were
it not for the fine orange and lemon trees now crowded together, we would be tempted to
wish that it never would. It is seldom that the plan or appearance of a structure of this
character, can be improved by alteration or enlargement, and unsuccessful attempts gene-
rally leave the building worse than at first. Besides, it would hardly be advisable to make
the conservatory project farther on the vineries than it does at present, and the same
money which would be required to make this house what its proprietor wishes, would
build a better structure from the foundation, and upon a far better site.

The orange and lemon trees alluded to are indeed splendid — we thought the finest trees
we had ever seen, and the fruits too were splendid. Even in our comparatively tropical
southern states where the orange grows with far more luxuriance than in our green-houses
here, the fruit for size, richness, and abundance, could not be surpassed. We felt sorry
to see them so much crowded for want of room to extend their branches, but notwith-
standing their crowded condition, they were in vigorous health. The house contained
many other good plants, and had the beautiful Wistaria, in full bloom, trained on a trellis
under the roof; though hardly in its proper place, is nevertheless a beautiful object, and
forms an agreeable contrast to the dark green foliage of the plants beneath.

The vines here are vines in good earnest — we never saw such young wood as they made
last year — the canes nearly an inch in diameter. In one house the vines were just com-
mencing their growth, which contained also a fine lot of peaches in pots. Why is this plan
of producing early peaches not more extensively adopted.'' Fine early crops can be produced,
and with very little trouble or expense, and lucky are they who this winter have peaches
under glass, for there will be very few out of doors; indeed none at all about here. There
is not a single peach tree in my garden, rather sheltered too, that has a young shoot alive.
How fares it with them on the Hudson, and in the peach orchards of New Jersey.'*

There are many other objects of interest about here that I would mention, but T shall
throw aside my pen till another time. Yours truly, Horticola.

THE HYDRAULIC RAM.

BY T. W. LUDLOW, Jr.. YONKERS. N. Y.

This little machine, one of the most useful inventions of the age, gives to every farmer
the use of water raised by it to a higher level, and at about the same expense for the same
distance, as it formerly cost to bring water in pipes, from a height above the point to which
he wished to carry it. AVith a small stream from a spring, at a descent of a few feet, you
can now force, say one seventh of the water, to any part of the farm, and raise it ten feet
for every foot you have of descent or power. If properly put up, according to the loca-
tion, and well protected from frost and the sediment of water, the Ram will run a year
it ought to be taken down, cleaned and painted, and new leathers and washers put

* On the Hudson only the blossom buds injured — Eind on the hill-tops these have escaped. Ed,

THE HYDRAULIC RAM.

In November, 1850, I planned and put up for a gentleman in Westchester county, an
Hydraulic Ram, bringing the water from a small brook fed by a spring, 600 feet, to the
house, with a rise of fifty feet to the second story. By a dam four feet high, I obtained
six feet descent from the surface of the pond, to a small well of seven feet deep, in which
the Ram is placed to guard it from frost.

I consider it important to place the driving pipe about a foot below the surface of the
pond, so that if the pond settles down in the dry season, the Ram may be supplied with
water. By doing so in this case, the Ram continued to work during the whole of the ex-
traordinary drouth of last summer, the water at one time sinking in the pond to within
an inch of the driving pipe. This was one and a half inches in diameter, and with a No.
5 Ram, supplies the house with sixteen hogsheads a day.

The reason, however, for my troubling you with this communication, is this. From the
bottom of the well where the Ram is placed, I laid a two inch glass pipe to convey the
waste water to the brook; and being short of this pipe, I continued it with a six inch
brick drain, about 30 feet, to the brook. Last week the well filled with water, and the
Ram stopped, and as the proprietor had not cleaned the Ram and supplied it with new
leathers, after running fifteen mouths, it was supposed that something was the matter with
the Ram ; but on examining the brick part of the drain pipe, I found that although laid
in mortar, it was entirely filled with the roots of trees, choking it up in this short period
so as to prevent the passage of the water, and thereby filling the well above the Ram, pre-
venting its action. I think it may be useful to draw the attention of your correspondents
to this, as it will be better to use glass, or other drain pipes impervious to fibrous roots,
especially near streams where so many exist.

Now you will perceive from this statement, that those roots must have continued to
grow and fill up the drain in this last severe winter, for the ram worked the whole winter
through without stopping, and it was only the beginning of this month that the drain, from
being entirelj^ closed up with roots, prevented the working of the ram.

Can you give any information on this point. If roots grow below frost in winter, it
would be an additional reason for transplanting in the autumn.

Yours, T. W. Ludlow, Jr.

Yonkers, N Y., March 9, 1852.

The roots of many trees have such an affinity for running water, or rather the elements
of food which that water contains, that they will penetrate drains of ordinary masonry,
and, little by little, choke them up entirely, as we have twice observed, and as our corres-
pondent's illustration clearly proves. It is also well known to physiologists that a gradu-
al growth is always going on in the roots whenever the ground is not actually frozen.

Undoubtedly, on this account, in all parts of the country, where the ground rarely freezes
more than a few inches, it is greatly advantageous to transplant in the autumn. But, on
the other hand, in extreme northern countries many trees suflfer, during the succeeding
winter, if planted in the autumn, from the effect of the severe cold on the branches, much
more than if planted in the spring; and, as is abundantly proved, a transplanted tree is
much more susceptible to cold than one well established, with its roots deep in the soil. So
much is this the case that it is the opinion of some writers that a higher temperature is
maintained in the trunk and branches of a tree, by mere ordinary conducting power,
during severe cold, in proportion to the depth to which the roots extend — since the lower
the less liable to be frozen. Hence too, the great advantage of covering the soil over the
roots of comparativelj^ tender trees, with a mulching of saw-dust, tan-bark, or any
non-conductor — to keep the frost out.

CRITIQUE ON THE FEB. HORTICULTURIST.

The hydraulic ram is of incalculable value in all places where a constant small rivulet
of water can be commanded — and we notice that in some parts of the country the farmers
use it for supplying their cattle-yards instead of digging wells. Ed.

CRITIQUE ON THE FEBRUARY HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREYS.

Citizens retiring into the Country. — You probably recollect the story in " Salmagun-
di," told by the meditative Launcelot Langstaff, of his "Uncle John," when on a
visit to him, then in his country retirement, enjoying a cheerful and merry old age; and
how the old gentleman related to his nephew, with all the vivacious garrulity of a boy,
what improvements he had made, and what more he was going to make; and how, a few
months after, our narrator was sorely shocked at the news of his uncle's death, just as he
had worked down comfortably into a bed of rocks, where he was blowing out a fish-pond!

I fear the example of " Uncle John," is too often followed now-a-days, for either the en-
joyment or the profit of many " retired citizens." If a great many people who determine
to retire to country residences, after making their fortunes in codfish and candles, or other
honest and praiseworthy vocations, equally distinct from the cultivation of a taste of what
truly belongs to an jimerican country place, would first employ some honest man of ca-
pacity in such matters, to fit them up a place by contract, it would save many a dollar to
their pockets, and a world of groaning over their folly, when they had cooled down from
the excitement of over-looking the outlay of their money. The difficulty is, that every
man who knows, experimentally, nothing about it, thinks he knows it all, and can get up
just as good a place on a bleak side hill, or on a leaching gravelly piece of plain, as anoth-
er one has done, who has availed himself of a century of nature's industry, in strewing
her trees over a beautiful undulating surface, and only combed her out, and thrown her
tortuous twistings into agreeable shape. But I am satisfied there is no help for it. Os-
tentation in expenditure has as much to do with the absurdities of getting up country pla-
ces, as the desire to provide an agreeable residence. How would their rustic neighbors
know they had money, unless they saw them spend it?

Nine men in every ten, who get up a country place themselves, get tired of, and aban-
don it, in less than ten years after it is completed — or more frequently in half the time.
The philosophy of country life they never studied when young, or while toiling in the
every-day excitement of business, in accumulating their estates; and when they think
they want to enjoy retirement, are too old to learn it. A man, to enjoy the country in
the decline of life, must know the country when young. He must keep up a constant in-
timacy with it all the while. He must love it too, and appreciate its pleasures. If he
cannot do this, better to stay in the city, and only pass out now and then, for a jaunt to
Saratoga, Newport, or Niagara, and spend the rest of his sunshine in his old haunts of
the crowded city, and amid the noisome atmosphere of the docks, the sinuosities of the
chambers of Nassau-street, or the nicer moral influence of the board of brokers!

To guard trees against Hares and Rabbits. — Hares don't grow in this country, and the
boys snare all the rabbits; so we have nothing but the mice to trouble us. And they
sometimes annoy us exceedingly. Till the bark of young trees gets so thick and rough
that the mice will not touch them, I have found no better way than to keep the grounc
ploughed, or dug around them, for several feet, and then examine them late in the fall.

CRITIQUE ON THE FEB. HORTICULTURIST.

see that no burrowing place is left for them. Hardly an effective composition can be in-
vented, but what will hurt the trees more in its application, than the mice will in gnaw-
ing them, or that will not, after a little time, lose its pungency, or its peculiar preventive
properties, and the vermin work their destruction in spite of it. A thousand nostrums
have been invented for this bark-preservation during winter, but I have found the spade
better than them all.

The quick-lime, and the water, and the soot, may be tried, however, and if it will do no
good against the mice, it will certainly do the tree no harm.

Hints for Country Houses. — I think I could take that old home of Sir Walter Ra-
leigh's, and by throwing a long low veranda along the front, and shifting the chimneys
into the body of it, make a very respectable alFair in the waj' of a country residence; but
I would not build such a house to start with.

Your hints, in the way of alteration, are good, and if more people would act upon such
hints, in improving substantial bodied old houses, which happen to stand on the places
they buy, instead of tearing them away, and building something in their places not half
as good, they would do better.

I once knew a company of gentlemen who bought a large farm for the purpose of laying
it out into lots of several acres each, for their own residences. On a part of it was an old,
substantial, uncouth looking house, that had long been used as a tavern, and as they pro-
posed changing the line of the highway which ran by it, the old tavern was thrown back
into the enclosure some distance. It had trees around it, and some capabilities. One of
the party chose this and the ground around it for his own, to which the rest, thinking it
of no value, consented. He was a man of taste, and went to work, spending not half the
money upon it, that the others did in getting up their cellar walls, and made it the most
inviting and admired of the whole! Such things may be frequently done, if folks will
only think so.

The Curled Leaf on the Peach Tree — An ingenious essay and theory, this of Mr.
GooDDRicH — and quite observant, at least. All of us, who grow peaches, have had the
curled leaf more or less, for the past two years. But I doubt the cause to be what he sug-
gests. Why should the peach trees in Delaware and Ohio, have it at the same time, where
the weather was not half so cold as in Western New-York; and not so cold either, as has
usually been the case in and about Utica, when no curl took place? The truth is, these
curls, and other maladies, come and go in all sorts of seasons; we neither know why nor
wherefore. Mr. G.'s trees appear to have been more deeply affected than many others. I
saw many that were badly curled, which bore good crops of fruit, although the curled leaves
fell off, and were replaced with new ones, which fact would contradict a part of the theory
in question.

This article is valuable, however, in recording the presence of such a malady; and al-
though we may not see the curl again fur years, it may hereafter be referred to with profit
in other questions.

Our Improving Agricxdture. — There is a freshness and a raciness in Mr. French,
which always makes him a most welcome visitant to your pages. There is, too, a vein
of sound practical sense running through his remarks, most edifying to his readers.

The very soul of a periodical like the Horticulturist, next to the labors of an energetic,
discriminating editor, is the thoughts of intelligent, practical correspondents upon the le-
gitimate subjects connected with it. There is no better way — none so good, even — to build
up a paper and give it character, influence, and usefulness. This correspondence, too,
should be wide-spread; it should come from every state and territory in our broad Union.

CRITIQUE ON THE FEB. HORTICULTURIST.

What a fund of valuable information would it thus throw together — what a fund of in
struction would be thus combined, making it a thoroughly national work of reference for
all time, in many most interesting subjects! The circle of your correspondence should be
greatly enlarged. Distant territories, now scarcely heard of in your pages, should contri-
bute their share of information, and a circle of intelligence would grow out of it, most
profitable to your readers in the information it would convey, and delightful in the inte-
rest it would impart to those who read simply for pleasure.

Should a Republic encourage the j^rts. — No : except the arts of attack and defence,
either in billingsgate or boxing — not much matter which, for they are both practiced in
Congress, at Washington. " We are a government of the people," and that people sui
generis. When the " freest, the taost intelligent, and the most enlightened nation on the
earth," are sufficiently cultivated in the arts to know the difference between the designs
of a village carpenter, and those of Michael Angelo, their "government" may do some-
thing to encourage the arts; and that will require something besides " Art Unions," who
spend five shillings for sack, to a half-penny for bread, after the fashion of Jack Falstaif,
to accomplish.

Some years ago I was gazing at Greenough's statue of Washington, then in the ro-
tunda at our national capitol. By the way, I never liked either the posture or the drape-
ry of that piece of sculpture. The attitude of Washington should be standing, like his
own towering greatness, superior to everything around it. A few feet from me stood that
elegant man, and accomplished scholar and statesman, William C. Preston, of South
Carolina. He was looking upon the statue with much interest, and, as I thought, a criti-
cal eye. At that moment a couple of the "sovereigns" passed by, one of whom was
picking with his fingers, the kernels out of some walnuts which he held in his hand. He
had got hold of a hard one, which, after trying with his teeth, still held fast to the
" meat." Stopping short against the statue, he exclaimed : " I say Bob — if I had a ham-
mer, I'd crack this nut on that old chap's toes!"

We have been fortunate enough in this country to get some fine specimens of architec-
ture in our government buildings, and many more in our public structures where govern-
ment had nothing to do with them. So too, in the way of pictures and statuary. Now
and then, we have a tolerable public garden, or park, but on a small scale. The eflfect of
these will be to produce better ones. We must get on by degrees; and after a while, and
a good while too — we may possibly get up by the side of some lesser things among the
barbarian Italians, French and Mohammedans. From the constitution of our government,
and the operation of our institutions, w^e can never have in America, that riotous display,
or that high cultivation of the arts, which exist in the despotisms abroad. " The great-
est good of the greatest number," contrary to that of " the greatest good of the fewest
number," as there, is our theory and our practice. Private fortunes in this country are
not sufficiently large to indulge in a display of the arts to any extent; nor is it often that
the wealth of any one family — even if the successive generations of such fiimily were dis-
posed to indulge in it — sufficiently large to carry forward a work of this kind to coanplo-
tion, with any grandeur of design. Government, of course, will not do it, save in detach-
ed parcels for its own use, and those not largely expensive. A despotism, or a monarch}'^,
where the will of a single man, or the combined will of many, and that will perpetual for
the time of a generation, or longer, only can carry out great national works of art.

Another question then comes up; are they, as a whole, beneficial to man? I mean such
magnificent conceptions of art, as those of Michael Angelo, Raffaele, and the
masters of centuries gone by — for in these better days for the people, there exist,

CRITIQUE ON THE FEB. HORTICULTURIST.

sedly, no such masters. Such works, in the expense they entail in their erection and ex
ecution, and in the care and keeping of them afterwards, are incompatible with the free-
dom and happiness of the people where they exist. We need only name Greece, Rome,
Venice, Geneva, France in the time of Louis XIV, to say nothing of ancient Egypt, and
the nations contemporary with her power and grandeur.

" While stands ihe Coliseum, Rome shall stand j"

and so shall stand the tale of her luxury, her wretchedness, her fall, her degradation and
misery. The spetacle of her " Dying Gladiator,"

" Butchered to make a Roman holiday,"

and a thousand other atrocities practiced by that highly refined, yet barbarous people,
must ever sadden the picture of the arts in Rome. No : better that the arts should creep
along in America, under the stinted patronage of the government, or of the few communi-
ties of private citizens who can appreciate and afford them; even that Jonathan, in his
hunting-shirt and happiness, should crack his shag-barks on the toes of Washington,
than that we should give up our comforts, our usefulness, our liberty, to that which, with
all our efforts, we cannot equal in nations now in their decline, and who send us by way
of addition to our strength, save now and then a man of worth, little else than singers,
dancers, trinket-venders, shoemakers and beggars.

More about the Sage Grape. — Till I know more about it, I shan't burn my fingers with
its meddling. When any body finds a wild Fox grape north of the Potomac, worth in-
troducing into the garden and cultivating, by the side of the Isabella, and the Catawba,
and the worth of which is well substantiated by the pomological test of a company of good
judges, we'll talk about it.

Selections of best Fruits. — P. P. writes like a man who knows what he is about. There
is no greater folly in the world — I know it by experience — than for one to take up a nur-
sery catalogue, and run over the lists of the fruits, marking such as are highly recommen-
ded, and thus making his selections for his orchards. Every single variety of fruit that he
marks may be all that is said of it, in certain places — but not equally good in any two
places in the United States. If he be a new-comer to the place he occupies, he has it all to
learn, and the cheapest way to learn it is to examine the best fruits which have been suc-
cessfully cultivated in his neighborhood, and adopt them; and if there be not varieties
enough, then cautiously to select others which are known to flourish in like soils and cli-
mates to his own. I have myself — and have known others — to take the say-so of people
a good ways off, and they, probably, poor judges of the real qualities of fruits, and intro-
duce varieties into their orchards, which, when they came into bearing, proved worthless,
and the trees had to be headed down and grafted again.

A dozen kinds of apple, pear, and half as many kinds of peaches, cherries, and plums,
are all that any one needs for market purposes, or for family use. For the locality of Sta-
ten-Island, Long-Island, or New-Jersey, thirty miles up the north or east rivers, from
New-York, the selections here given are good, and quite sufficient.

Notes on Landscape Gardening. — I should like to see a proper definition of the term
" Landscape Gardening." There certainly can be no fixed rule about it. Many ingenious
and many absurd books, have been written on this subject. The best American Landscape
work is that of Downing, and the best short essays which I have seen, have appeared in
this paper. A professor of landscape gardening should have rare natural qualities. He
should first be a devoted, an enthusiastic lover of nature in all her works of earth, rocks,
water, and trees. He should possess an enlarged capacity for discrimination, combination,
and arrangement. He should well understand the features of a piece of ground, and its

NOTES IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN.

capabilities; and, added to all these, he should be a man of fine natural taste, and that
taste highly cultivated by observation and travel. Any body can ditch apiece of low land,
fill up a hole, or dig down a hill or a bank. But it takes a man of mind to catch the sa-
lient points of view from a given piece of ground, and to displace the trees and shrubbery
from the intercepting angles, or to cover the bald spots between with the proper shade and
foliage.

Trees, Trees, Teees! They are the poetry, the beauty, the grandeur — the repose, the
/enfwres of a country place. They are the greatest attraction ; and properly distributed,
and selected, in variety and keeping with the topographical — this word don't sound well
here — character of the surface, waters, and distant views will come in of themselves.
Never employ an empiric in landscape gardening to do your work, if you want it well done.
You might as well engage a " pretender" to invade, and establish himself successfully on
the throne of Old England, as to suppose that your charlatan landscape gardener, can
make a " thing of beauty," by the aid of triangles and trapezoids.

The Improvement of Gardeners. — There is nothing like association for improvement in
anything worth improvement at all. The great difficulty in the way of association in this
line, is the jealousies and rivalries of our gardeners. They are mostly foreigners, and al-
though clever men apart, have too much of the spirit of the "Fardowners" and " Cork-
onians," when brought into competition. I don't mean to say anything oifensive, my
good friends; but I know a dozen excellent gardeners — all "old countrymen" — in my
neighborhood, clever, honest, upright men, all; but they are too jealous of each other to
associate and mutually improve. Shake handSj and come together. You'll all be the bet"
ter for it. Jeffreys.

NOTES IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN.

BY A PRACTICAL MAN, NEW- YORK.

Perhaps there is no season when the want of a supply of good vegetables for the fami-
ly is more felt, than the spring. At this season the winter's stock of every thing but pota-
toes, is pretty well exhausted, or, which amounts to the same thing, is become good for
nothing. The gardener who has, at the opening of the spring, plants of nice salad that he
has kept through the winter, or grown in the hot-bed in frames, has what may be consi-
dered the most important of spring vegetables. Besides this, most ordinary gardeners
will have at this season, only a little asparagus. This is but a sorry show for the kitchen
garden; in fact one that any gardener or housekeeper ought to be ashamed of — in a cli-
mate where it is as easy to grow vegetables as this.

What ought a good gardener to have ready for the table, simph' in the open air, by the
first of x\pril.' Let, us see: German Greens, Sea Kale, Salsify, Rhubarb, Asparagus,
Spinach. This is a respectable show, yet every good kitchen gardener in the northern
states ought to furnish it as a matter of course, and will do so with a very little care. I
shall say a word or two about some of these vegetables.

German Greens, or Siberian Kale. The Horticulturist first made this vegetable
known to thousands in this country. In Germany and Russia it has been cultivated for
a hundred years. It is in reality, a sort of kale or cabbage, growing with spreading leaves
turnip — but the leaves are much crimpled or curled. It is one of the hardiest

getables — will grow in any soil, and stand all kinds of weather. As soon as the sprin

NOTES IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN.

opens it commences to grow, and the leaves are fit in a week after to cut for boiling. It is
cooked and served up just like any other kind of " greens," and is something in flavor,
between cauliflowers and asparagus — very excellent. The seeds are planted broadcast,
like turneps, in August and September, and twenty feet square will supply a family. It
is emphatically a poor man's vegetable, requiring so little attention, and affording so much
food; it will hold its place in the best garden where it is once afforded a trial.

Sea Kale. — I think this is a vegetable too seldom seen in this country. I do not re-
member to have found it for sale in any of the city markets more than once or twice. I
suppose this is because it demands a little attention in the .spring, and besides, it does not
yield so large crops as asparagus. The flavor is, however, more delicate to my taste than
asparagus, and as it has the merit of being more of a novelty, the gardener should always
have a bed of it about twelve by twenty or thirty feet. It wants deep, rich soil, like as-
paragus, and beds made in the same way, answer well for sea kale. Sandy soil is the most
congenial to it. To make beds of sea kale, sow the seeds in April, and thin them out,
when well growing, so as to leave them about twelve inches apart. In the autumn cover
the beds with a little manure, and over this spread three or four inches of black bog earth
that has been well pulverized; or, if you have it at hand, tan bark will answer equally as
well — charcoal dust is still better. Through this layer, the young shoots will rise in the
spring, and force their way up in a blanched state. The}^ are then ready for cutting and
cooking, as the sea kale, like celery, must be blanched. When you have cut over the bed
twice, remove the loose materials, except the manure, which, (with the addition of a
slight sprinkling of refuse salt,) msLj be lightl)^ turned under. The plants then grow all
summer, and at the end of autumn the blanch covering should be again renewed. Consi-
dering how much importance every body seems to attach to the asparagus bed, it is sur-
prising how little sea kale is known. I am sure if one half the ground usually devoted to
asparagus, were occupied by a permanent bed of sea kale, it would give more variety, and
more satisfaction, at the dinner table.

Salsify, or the "vegetable oyster," as its admirers call it, is now pretty generally cul-
tivated, and a limited supply of it may be had in many of our markets. It is as easily
raised as parsnips, if the seeds are planted early in April, in the same way — but it should
have a place in the richest part of the garden. As the salsify is an excellent winter vege-
table, and may be left out in the beds all winter without an}' injury by the frost, and is
unquestionably the most delicate and agreeable of all the root vegetables, there is no rea-
son for its very limited culture. T presume that many who plant it, fail because they sow
the seeds too late.

Rhubarb, or Pie Plant. — It is remarkable how the cultivation of this has increased
within a short time. Twenty years ago it would have been diflScult to find a dollar's
worth in New-York markets — now thousands of dollars worth are sold annuall3^ As
everybody raises it, and many prefer it for tarts to gooseberries themselves, I will not take
the trouble to say anything about its general cultivation.

There is one hint about Rhubarb, however, that I will give, as I think it very useful.
This is that everybody, fond of early spring tarts, (and who is not.) should have a small
plantation near the stable yard. If it is only a dozen hills, it will be something well worth
while — enough to make you feel that your garden is better than your neighbor's. These
hills should be about three feet apart — so as to admit of covering each hill with an old
barrel, at the beginning of winter. By having them near the barn-yard, the spaces be
tween the barrels can he filled without any trouble, (by throwing it in from time to time,)
with litter and fresh manure from the horse stable. The tops of the barrels should be

ORANGE PEAR— ORCHARDS NEAR NIAGARA.

only verj' slightl}' covered. When the spring opens (unless the winter has been very se-
vere) you will find the barrels quite filled with nice tender stalks and leaves — the stalks
much more tender than when grown out of doors. In this way you get a good cutting
of Rhubarb full one month before you get it out of doors, especially if your Rhubarb
patch is on a sloping south bit of ground. The manure between the barrels keeps the
frost out of the ground, while the heat forces the plants to grow inside. When you have
cut the stalks twice, the leaves should be allowed to grow, and the barrels and manure
cleared away, (a good dressing of the latter being dug in,) so as to let the plants get
strength for another season. A Working Man.

THE ORANGE PEAR— LARGE ORCHARDS NEAR NIAGARA.

BY B. HODGE, BUFFALO.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — It is quite possible that the readers of the Horticulturist will
demand at my hands, some explanation in relation to the Orange Pear, so pathetically al-
luded to by my friend Allen, in the March number of the Horticulturist. Well, I am at
all times ready to make the amende honorable, and more particularly so, when one of my
good friends seem to demand it. Now Mr. A. and myself partake something of the cha-
racter of the legal profession; we speak and write rather pointedly, sometimes; a little
sparring occasionally. But it is merely the spice of life, very like the Paddy and his wife —
"a little bit of ajar now and then, makes us better friends."

But I must give the history of this Orange Pear. It was introduced here some forty
years ago, by an " itinerant" grafting man. And here I must be permitted to tell a short
story. The man had engaged to set a few apple .scions for my father, and when the job was
about completed, he .said, would you like to have a few pear .scions set? " No," .says my
father, (then about 55 years old,) " I never shall live to see them bear." " But," says the
man, " perhaps some of your children may." Well, a few pear scions were set in the
roots of the common thorn. Three of these grew, and in time become stately trees. Two
of them were the Orange Pear, and the other the " Autumn Pear." The Autumn Pear
proved to be very good, of medium size, and one of the most productive I ever saw. My
father died in the winter of 1837, and in the autumn previous, he gathered from that one
tree, thirt3^-flve bushels of pears, which he sold at one dollar per bushel. The two Orange
pear trees also, soon become very productive. I purchased a part of the estate, including
one of the Orange pear trees. The other stood only some three feet from my line. I of-
fered $100 for the tree, with a line of a rod square of land around it, during the life of the
tree. My offer was rejected. Well, the trees produced fine crops, and the fruit was th^'n
" the best in the market." Two of these noble trees yet survive, and it does one good to
look at them. The Autumn pear tree has produced forty bushels of pears in a season.
But my poor Orange pear tree has since died. In the autumn I noticed that the leaves
seemed to be drooping, as though suffering from drouth. As the ground was very moist
at the time, I could not account for the appearance of the tree. The next spring it put
forth its leaves, and seemed to be as vigorous as ever, but before midsummer it withered
away, and was dead, root and branch. Was this fire blight.? It was a great loss, and I
would almost apply to myself, the pathetic lines quoted by Mr. Allen — " I never nursed
a dear Gazelle, &c."

But I have wandered from the main subject. But no matter. These two varieties of

ORANGE PEAR-=ORCHAnDS NEAR NIAGARA.

the pear, with a few others of less worth, were all that we had in cultivation. So some
thirty years ago— -when I first commenced the nursery business here-^we propagated them
to considerable extent, and sold them too as "one of the best sorts." Then we knew
nothing about such pears as the Bartlett, Seckel, White Doyenne, Louise Bonne de Jersey,
Bloodgood, Madalcine, Stevens' Genesee, &c., all of which, together with many more, 1
have " fancied," were far superior to the Orange PeSr,

In September, 1848, Mr. A. presented this pear before the Pomological Congress, then
assembled in Buffalo; not merely the fruit, then in perfeetion, but also a fine dish of pre-
serves, which all present had an opportunity of tasting. The subject was debated, and
it is presumed that all were of the opinion, that the pear would "absorb sugar perfectly
and abundantly," in the same way that a dry sponge will absorb more water than a wet
one. Several gentlemen had expressed their opinion, not very complimentary, to the good
qualities of the pear. In this crisis, ray friend Allen arose, and said he wished to hear
from Mr. Hodge on the subject. Of course, Mr. H. being thus publicly called on, must
take the floor; and it has been said that " this speech killed it stone dead." Perhaps
I was wrong in comparing the pear to the choke cherry or to the common wild cherry.
Indeed, I now acknowlege that neither of them are analagous. I ought to have compared
it to the common Morello cherry. It would certainly have given me pleasure to have
helped the matter along. And I can most cheerfully subscribe to most of the good quali-
ties given to it by my friend Allen. He says "that for preserving purposes, it has no
equal, and that repeated juries of ladies have settled this question." To this I must be
permitted to take exceptions: and I move the court for a new trial, on the ground that
these juries have not been regularly unpanelled, that the testimony was merely exparte,
and also on the ground, that the presiding judge, has not only been partial in his charge
to the jury, but also, that he was an interested party. Let a new trial be had, and it can
readily be shown, that no dry or yellow fleshed pear will compare favorably, with the rich
juicy white fleshed pear. The latter when preserved becomes almost transparent, beautiful
to the eye, and of superior flavor. The Orange Pear is well enough; much like the Dutch-
man's bank note, not very good or very bad, but about so-so. The tree is a strong, hardy
grower, and verj^ productive, and " a good market fruit." By the way, my friend A.
says that this last expression means, " good to sell to people that don't know any better."

It is to be presumed, that no one will contend, that the proceedings and decisions of our
Pomological Congress, have always been infallible. Far from it. Let me state an instance
in which, in my opinion, injustice was done. The Brown Beurre pear was brought up for
discussion. Its merits and demerits pretty fully discussed, when one of our Pomological
Doctors, (L. F. A.,) " moved that it be considered as unworthy of cultivation." This
done, killed it outright. Mr. A. has since cultivated this fruit more successfully, and now
thinks well of it. Indeed, I was much gratified to read his remarks on this fruit; they
perfectly coincide with my own. Mr. A. is a good cultivator, a discerning pomologist,
and a vigorous writer. His remarks on fruit, «ic., in the March number of the Horticul-
turist, I like very well. (Doubtless, just as he will like mine.)

Mr. Allen has a fine farm of near one thousand acres of land, on the head of Grand Isl-
and, in the Niagara river. Here he has fine orchards of the apple, pear, cherry, &c.
Some four years since, I also purchased two hundred acres of land on the foot of the Is-
land, near the Falls of Niagara. For two or three years past I have been planting out
pretty largely of the peach, pear, apple, &c. I had anticipated having, in a few years,
one of the largest orchards in Western New-York, but somehow, of late, a new impulse
has been given to the orchard on the upper end of the Island, and it now covers no less

TRANSACTIONS OF THE STATE AG. SOCIETY.

than seventy acres, and is rapidly increasing — 'Whether the Orange Pear controversy has
had any agency in this matter I cannot say.

Mr. A. and myself are pretty uniform in our opinion, as regards fruit for cultivation,
(the Orange Pear always excepted.) For our main stock of winter apples, we have the
Baldwin, Northern Spy, and Roxbury Russet. For autumn, the Porter, Fall Pippin and
Fameuse. For early, Early Harvest, Williams' Favorite, and large Sweet Bough. Beside
these, we cultivate quite a number of other sorts sparingly. Pears, also, comparatively
but few varieties, to wit: Bartlett, Seckel, Bloodgood, Madaleine, Tj'son, Louise Bonne
de Jersey, White Doyenne, Stevens' Genesee, Duchess d' Angouleme, Beurre Diel, Glout
Morceau, Winter Nells, Beurre Easter, &c.

I hope to be able to grow the peach successfully. " Peach Haven" has a northern ex-
posure; the forests adjoining break off the cold westerly winds. For the main crop, I have
Crawford's Early; more of this than any other variety. Early York, Honest John, Royal
George, Grosse Mignone, Late Red Rareripe, Crawford's Late, &c. We had a few sam-
ples of peaches last year, that looked about right. Mr. Allen had a fine sprinkling of
apples on his trees last autumn; more beautiful fruit I never saw. The Porter and North-
ern Spy Apples were truly fine. We have no fears in regard to growing the Northern
Spy on the Island. Our Boston folks say that it does not succeed well there. Well, then
we will lay them under contribution to us — for it is truly the apple for the spring of the
year, and they cannot afford to do without it.

We have had one of the most extraordinary cold winters ever known here, during a re-
sidence of over forty j'ears. I am quite certain that I never passed through one more se-
vere; and yet the peach buds are but partially killed. The Cedar of Lebanon and the
Cedar Deodar, are but little injured; and even the Osase Orange has merely suffered a lit-
tle in the top branches. We have had continuous cold weather, and most of the time
cloudy. It is the freezing and thawing, accompanied by the rays of a bright sun, that
proves so destructive to tender trees and plants. Yours very truly, B. Hodge.

Buffalo, March, 1852.

Transactions op The New-York State Agricultural Society, ivith an abstract

of the Proceedings of the County Agricultural Societies. Vol. X. 1851.
The annual volume of Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society lies be-
fore us, a goodly octavo of over 700 pages. We find it more than usually filled with inte-
resting facts, valuable reports, and able speeches, on the topics that belong to the culture of
the soil.

First of all, in importance and completeness, we place Mr. Delafield's, (the late Pre-
sident,) " general view and Agricultural Survey of the County of Seneca." We do not
remember to have seen any where, in the annals of American husbandry, so perspicuous,
comprehensive, and valuable a report, embracing all that relates to the local history, ge
ography, scientific facts, and practical agriculture of a district of country, as this survey
of Mr. Delafield's. Though intended to apply directly to only a small portion of the
broad farm-lands of the State of New-York, a good part of it may be read with the great-
est advantage by every intelligent farmer in the northern states. Mr. Delafield is a
ical farmer himself, in our best farming district, and it needs but a little such leaven

such minds are made of, to create a new moving spirit in the hitherto inert and cold

TRANSACTIONS OF THE STATE AG. SOCIETY

mass of those who hold the plow handles. We consider the latter half of this report as
a most valuable book of reference for all intelligent farmers.

The Prize Essay of Mr. Thomas, on " Agricultural Dynamics," which might have been
called the natural philosophy of the farm, we should like to see printed, bound, and hung
up in every work-shop, tool-room, and farmer's book-shelf, in the country. Without con-
taining one word that is new, it gives the reason, and explains the action of mechanical
powers, and the forces of nature generally, with illustrations so directly drawn from the
former's daily routine, that it gives a direct meaning and value to every point, rarely found
in text books devoted to the subject.

With every years' volume of these Transactions, we notice with satisfaction, the in-
crease of interest about agricultural education. Almost every speech made at the county
societies last j'ear, alluded distinctly to its importance, and several able addresses before
the state and the local societies, take the strongest ground on this topic. Nothing seems
wanting now, but some concert of action between the difBerent county societies, for the
purpose of pressing the subject on the attention of the legislature, in order to secure a
practical farm-school, endowed by the state. The law-makers will never take any deci-
ded action in the matter till the farmers besiege the capital of the state with flails in hand,
and lay their strong hands on the members who feed them with fine compliments, but lay
their petitions on the table.

One of the most valuable features — perhaps the most valuable, in these Transactions of
the State Society, is the account given under affidavit, by those cultivating the " premium
farms," of their management, and routine of cultivation. The true test of ability is suc-
cess, all the world over, and the best possible mode of finding out what can be realised by
farming, in any district of country, is to look carefully into the practical results — the cost
and profit of the crops on farms that are so managed as to pay well.

A capital example of this kind is the second premium farm, of last year's competition —
that of Mr. Daxiel D. T. More of Watervliet, near Albany. Mr. M. bought, as it ap-
pears, five years ago, a farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres, a sandy loam, worn
down by having been leased to " skinners," for fifty years running. The buildings were
all decayed, and had to be either pulled down or destroyed by Mr. M. on his taking pos-
session.

This farm was let, before More bought, for $100 a year, and even this was complained
of as too high a rent. The tenant sold all he could raise upon it, for ^400 a year. Mr.
More, nevertheless, bought it, "against the advice of all his friends," paid all the money
that he had or could raise upon the purchase money, and had to pay more as interest than
the former occupant paid as rent.

" The land was so much exhausted," says Mr. M. in his statement, " that for two j'ears
I could only raise white beans." Not a very promising prospect surely. Nevertheless,
he undertook a system of deep plowing, and bringing his land into condition again by
plowmg under green clover, using plaster to promote the growth of the clover, at the rate
of about 250 pounds to the acre.

Mr. More, as fast as he brought his land into heart, adopted a rotation of crops, and
applying manure as follows: " Plow under clover, plant corn, follow with potatoes, and
then rye, with a top dressing of manure, not so much for the benefit of the rj^e, as for the
clover and future crops. I am satisfied," he adds, "that my land has improved rapidly
from this mode, in fact at such a rate, that I shall not be able to follow it, so far as the
crop is concerned."
ow it appears that Mr. More has made this old worn out farm, that would not

CLOVERNOOIC

rent of $100, and whose annual product was $400, show for the year 1851, a total re-
ceipt account of $4,852.51 — which, against a total expense account, (of farm and family,)
of $2,174.85, leaves a clear net profit for one j'ear, of $2,078.16, And during the five
3'ears he has been about this course of improvement, he has erected anew and substantial
dwelling house, farm buildings, and fences; paid all the interest and part of the principal,
besides the last year's profits.

If any body after this, says there is nothing to be learned in farming — that intelligence
and system applied to agriculture, will not, even under the most unfavorable circumstan-
ces, produce the same favorable results as when applied to any other practical business ;
if any body says that the " worn out" lands of the Atlantic states need any thing but
a master, i. e., a man who finds out and respects nature's laws, not ignores and despises
them, we turn him over to such men as Mr. More. His success is a better appeal to the
state to educate the farmers generall}^, by a practical scliool, than all the speeches that
will be made on the subject in the legislature, at three dollars a day, from now till the
millennium. Oh, generation of skinners — ignorant earth-robbers and land-pirates, when
will you give place to cultivators who look deeper in the furrow than the horses who drag
the plough through it!

Cloveekook, or Recollections of our Neighborhood in the West : By Alice Caret.

New-York. Redfield, publisher.
If any of our town readers, sated with the artificial perfumes of town civilization, have
ever strolled into the country some soft, warm morning in June, when the wild grape-vine
is in full bloom, and inhaled the delicious odor of its unseen blossoms, floating upon its
still air, they will understand how this little volume of Alice Gary's affects us, after the
loads of French and English "Society Novels," that are turned out by our great pub-
lishing houses by the cart-loads. Natural, sincere, and home-like, as the sight and song
of the robin red-breast that skips over the lawn, are the pictures of rural life that it pre-
sents to the mind's eye. And it is perhaps in this, that they are painted with the genuine
colors of our nature — the foregrounds are the farm pictures of the American settler, the
skies are filled with the heat and flush of American harvests, and the fireside conversa-
tions are so genuinely homely and truthful, with their mingling of romance and stern re-
ality, that they will seem only too natural to be interesting to many of those to whose
daily lives the mirror is thus held up. But there is also a feeling of tenderness and beauty
which runs through these pages, that gives a poetic charm to the simple stories of rustic
life they portray, and bathing there, in that magic atmosphere of genius, which, like the
glory of a sunset after a summer shower, makes a paradise of the old familiar landscape.
It is curious to see how the truly national literature seems to be developing itself, rath-
er in the hands of our female writers, than in the books of our men. Miss Cooper's
" Rural Hours," and this volume of Rural Stories by Miss Caret, are two of the most
perfect transcripts of rural home life and scenes, that have been wi'itten in any country ;
and no one but an American writer, who has lived and breathed the air of our own nature,
with a strong feeling of its peculiar life and individuality, could have written such books.
By their profound and earnest sj'^mpathy with nature, it is that the female writers seem
to have caught the key-note of our Hans de Vaches that has escaped the more highly
prized intellectual sufficiency of our authors of the other sex.

on the advent of such books as these, we look with the greatest satisfaction
the most striking fact in America, to observing and thoughtful foreigners, is how

tie relation the intellectual and social culture of Americans, has to America — outside of
the pale of politics. Our belle-letters, our reviews, our fashions, our very thoughts on
most matters that relate to society and manners, are essentially and avowedly foreign.
" The glass of fashion and the mould of form," to us comes in the shape of a milliner's
band-box from Paris, or the conversation of the fictitious lords and ladies of the last po-
pular novel from England. Unfortunately, too, the tone of our society in the rural di.s-
tricts, is only a bad copy of that in our cities, and it may be safely said, that the only
thing in America which has little or nothing in common with the new world, is the social
culture of a large part of the intelligent, independent classes. Foreign literature, foreign
affectations, foreign ideas badly naturalised, in our republic, instead of a high ideal of the
true gentleman and republican of the new world — more independent than kings, far more
simple than men bred in courts, with too much intelligence to be coarse or vulgar; too
much consciousness of the full enjoyment of his natural rights, to feel any unworthy infe-
riority, and too much respect for the rights of others, and the value of human nature, ever
to be unjust to others. This is the social development to which we ought to grow — this
the model of a republican gentleman, which ought to be held up to the eyes of our j'outh.
Franklin, a man who is only, or for the most part, remembered as a man of science, was
ever remarkable as a tj^pe of the true gentleman of our Republic. Taken from the print-
ing office, and placed in the midst of the brilliant court of Versailles, or in the cabinet
councils of English peers, he always made men feel that there, their rank and fashion were
onlj"- luxuries, and that he was, in his simple frankness and courteous dignitj^, the intrinsic,
natural gentleman.

Whether in the.se later da3's of our Eepublic, we have as clear instincts on such sub-
jects,— whether in the highest aims of our own social life, both in town and country, there is
not more of the false glitter, and less of the true gold, than in Franklin's day, we leave
our readers to judge. Certain it is, that nothing contributes so much to denationalise us,
as the growing habit of our more refined and cultivated minds, of looking whollj'' to the
old world for that social refinement and elevation, which, to be genuine, should spring
from the institutions of the new.

Alice Carey's Clovernook, is a series of sketches of rustic life in Ohio and the "West,
so genuinely drawn that the farmers' families, the country clergyman, the deacon, the
school-master, and the whole dramatis personse of the countr}', with the mingled prose
and romance of their lives, rise as vividly before us as the old familiar mill, whose rum-
ble, and strange mixture of wheels and pinion, made the mystery of our childhood
With a quiet power, she makes the commonest events of a country life interesting, and
touches the landscape that forms the background or foreground to her figures, that makes
you marvel why our poets are so dull. The following extract, taken almost at random,
will serve, perhaps as well as any other, to show the power and grace of Miss Carey's
mind.

"It has always seemed to me one of the most beautiful provisions of Providence, that
circumstances, however averse we be to them at first, close about us presently like waves,
and we would hardly unwind ourselves from their foldings, and standing out alone, say,
let it be thus or thus, if it were Dossible. When the morning comes through her white
gates, lifting her eyes smilingly on us, as she trails her crimson robes through the dew,
we would fain have it morning all the day. But when noon, holding in leash the shadows,
goes lazily winking along the hill tops, and the arms of labor rest a little from their work,
the fountan bubbles, or the well lies cool, it seems a good season, and we
back the din that must shortly ruffle its placid repose. And when the phantoms

CLOVERNOOK.

twilight troop out of the dim woods, with the first stars, whether the moon have all her
golden filliug, or hang like a silver ring in the blue arching of the sky, the time seems the
most beautiful of all, and we are ready to say to the shadows, crouch back a little, let the
ashen gray prevail. Night broods over the world, deep and solemn; away above us the
still constellations go on their way, and throwing earthward wildering beams like golden
ladders, whereon our thoughts may climb to heaven ; clouds, with dark ridges, cut the
blue, or build a wilderness of black along the edges of the horizon, or lie against each oth-
er, like squadrons in the offing of a mighty sea; and whether the winds run laughingly up
and down the hills, or kennelled among the thick forests, whine dismally and low, night
seems a blessed time — a season of thought, or of dreams, or of peaceful sleep.

And so with the various seasons of the year. May, with her green lap full of sprout-
ing leaves and bright blossoms, her song-birds making the orchards and meadows vocal,
and rippling streams and cultivated gardens; June, with full blown roses and humming-
bees, plenteous meadows and wide cornfields, with embattled lines rising thick and green;
August, with reddened orchards, and heavy-headed harvests of grain; October, with yel-
low leaves and swart shadows; December, palaced with snow, and idly whistling through
his numb fingers — all have their various charm ; and in the rose-bowers of summer, and
as we spread our hands before the torches of winter, we say, joyfully, " Thou hast made
all things beautiful in their time." We sit around the fireside, and the angel, feared and
dreaded by us all, comes in, and one is taken from our midst — hands that have caressed
us, locks that have fallen over us like a bath of beauty, are hidden beneath shroud-folds
— we see the steep edges of the grave, and hear the heavy rumble of the clods; and in the
burst of passionate grief, it seems that wecan never still the crying of our hearts. But the
days rise and set, dimly at first, and seasons come and go, and by little and little the
weight rises from the heart, and the shadows drift from before the eyes, till we feel again
the spirit of gladness, and see again the old beauty of the world. The circle is narrowed,
so that the vacant seat reminds us no longer of the lost, and we laugh and jest as before,
and at last marvel where there was any place for the dead. Traitors that we are to the
past ! Yet it is best and wisest so. Why should the children of time be looking back-
ward where there is nothing more to do ? Why should not the now and the here be to
us of all periods the best, till the future shall be the present and time eternity ?"

The following sketch of " Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Troost," is so true to the life, and the
point of the story is so entirely within the scope of this journal, that we give it as a wel-
come contribution. Our readers will find in Mrs. Thoost a capital specimen of the mistresses
of tumble-down dwellings, who always accuse nature of making "every thing die" that
they plant; while Mrs. Hill is one of those happy, practical, excellent women, who make
order and sunshine and a spirit of content and beaut}^ grow up around them, wherever
they are.

" Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Troost.

" It was just two o'clock of one of the warmest of the July afternoons. Mrs. Hill had
her dinner all over, had put on her clean cap and apron, and was sitting on the north
porch, making an unbleached cotton shirt for Mr. Peter Hill, who always wore unbleach-
ed shirts at harvest time. Mrs. Hill was a thrifty housewife. She had been pursuing this
economical avocation for some little time, interrupting herself only at times, to " shu!"
away the flock of half-grown chickens that came noisil}'^ about the door for the crumbs
from the table cloth, when the sudden shutting down of a great blue cotton umbrella
caused her to drop her work, and exclaim —

" Well, now, Mrs. Troost! who would have thought you ever would come to see

CLOVERNOOK.

" Why, I have thought a great many times I would come," said the visitor, stamping
her little feet — for she was a little woman — briskly on the blue flag stones, and then dust-
ing them nicely with her white cambric handkerchief, before venturing on the snowy floor
of Mrs. Hill. And, shaking hands, she added, " It has been a good while, for I remem-
ber when I was here last I had my Jane with me — quite a baby then, if you mind— and
she is three years old now."

"Is it possible?" said Mrs. Hill, untying the bonnet strings of her neighbor, who
sighed, as she continued, " Yes, she was three along in February;" and she sighed again,
more heavily than before, though there was no earthly reason that I know of why she
should sigh, unless perhaps the flight of time, thus brought to mind, suggested the transi-
tory nature of human things.

Mrs. Hill laid the bonnet of Mrs. Troost on her "spare bed," and covered it with a
little, pale-blue crape shawl, kept especially for like occasions; and taking from the draw-
er of the bureau a large fan of turkey feathers, she presented it to her guest, saying, " A
very warm day, isn't it?"

" Oh, dreadful, dreadful; it seems as hot as a bake oven; and I sufier with heat all
summer, more or less. But it's a world of suffering;" and Mrs. Troost half closed her
eyes, as if to shut out the terrible reality.

" Hay-making requires sunshiny weather, you know; so we must put up with it," said
Mrs. Hill; " besides, I can mostly find some cool place about the house; I keep my sew-
ing here on the porch, and, as I bake my bread or cook my dinner, manage to catch it
up sometimes, and so keep from getting over-heated; and then, too, I get a good many
stitches taken in the course of the day."

" This is a nice, cool place — completely curtained with vines," said Mrs. Troost; and
she sighed again; " thej^ must have cost you a great deal of pains."

"Oh, no — no trouble at all; morning glories grow themselves; they only require
to be planted. I will save seed for you this fall, and next summer j^ou can have your
porch as shady as mine."

" And if I do, it would not signify," said Mrs. Troost; "I never get time to set down
from one week's end to another; besides, I never had any luck with vines; some folks
have'nt, you know."

Mrs. Hill was a woman of a short, plethoric habit; one that might be supposed to move
about with little agility, and to find excessive warmth rather inconvenient; but she was
of a happy, cheerful temperament; and when it rained she tucked up her skirts, put on
thick shoes, and waddled about the same as ever, saying to herself, " This will make the
grass grow," or "it will bring on the radishes," or something else equally consolatory.

Mrs. Troost, on the contrary, was a little thin woman, who looked as though she might
move about nimbly at any season; but, as she herself often said, she was a poor unfortu-
nate creature, and pitied herself a great deal, as she was injustice bound to do, for nobody
else cared, she said, how much she had to bear.

They were near neighbors — these good women — but their social interchanges of tea-
drinking were not of very frequent occurrence, for Mrs. Troost had nothing to wear like
other folks; sometimes it was too hot, and sometimes it was too cold; and then again,
nobody wanted to see her, and she was sure she didn't want to go where she wasn't wanted.
Moreover, she had such a great barn of a house as no other woman ever had to take care of.
But in all the ncigliborhood it was called the big house, so Mrs. Troost was in some mea-
sure compensated for the pains it cost her. It was however, as she said, a barn of a
with half the rooms unfurnished, partly because they had no use for them, and partly

CLOVERNOOK.

cause they were unable to get furniture. So it stood right in the sun, with no shutters,
and no trees about it, and Mrs. Troost said she didn't suppose it ever would have. She
was always opposed to building it, but she never had her way about anything. Never-
theless, some people said Mr. Troost had taken the dimensions of his house with his
wife's apron strings — but that may have been slander.

While Mrs. Troost sat sighing over things in general, Mrs. Hill sewed on the last but-
ton, and shaking the loose threads from the completed garment, held it up a moment to
take a satisfactory view, as it were, and folded it away.

" Well, did you ever!" said Mrs. Troost; " you have made half a shirt, and I have
got nothing at all done. My hands sweat so I can't use the needle, and its no use to
try."

" Lay down you work for a little while, and we will walk in the garden.

So Mrs. Hill threw a towel over her head, and taking a little tin basin in her hand, the
two went into the garden — Mrs. Troost under the shelter of the blue umbrella, which she
said was so heavy that it was worse than nothing. Beans, radishes, raspberries and cur-
rants, besides many other things, were there in profusion, and Mrs. Troost said everything
flourished for Mrs. Hill, while her garden was all choked up with weeds. " And you have
bees, too — don't they sting the children, and give you a great deal of trouble? Along in
May, I guess it was, Troost, (Mrs. Troost always called her husband so,) bought a hive,
or rather he traded a calf for one — a nice, likely calf, too, it was — and they never did
us one bit of good" — and the unhappy woman sighed.

" They do say," said Mrs. Hill, sympathizingly, " that bees won't work for some
folks; in case their king dies they are likely to quarrel, and not do well; but we have never
had any ill luck with ours; and we last year sold forty dollars worth of honey, besides
having all we wanted for our own use. Did yours die off, or what, Mrs. Troost.'"'

"Why," said the ill-natured visitor, " my oldest boy got stung one day, and, being
angry, upset the hive, and I never found it out for two or three days; and, sending Troost
to put it up in its place, there was not a bee to be found, high or low."

" You don't tell! the obstinate little creatures! but they must be treated kindly, and I
have heard of their going off for less things."

The basin was by this time filled with currants, and they returned to the house. Mrs.
Hill, seating herself on the sill of the kitchen door, began to prepare her fruit for tea,
while Mrs. Troost drew her chair near, saying, " Did you ever hear about William Mc-
Micken's bees?"

Mrs. Hill had never heard, and expressing an anxiety to do so, was told the following
story :

" His wife, you know, was she that was Sally May, and its an old saying —

' To change the name, and not the letter,
You marry for worse, and not for better.'
" Sally was a dressy, extravagant girl; she had her bonnet ' done up' twice a year al-
ways, and there was no end to her frocks and ribbons and fine things. Her mother in-
dulged her in everything; she used to say Sally deserved all she got; that she was worth
her weight in gold. She used to go everywhere, Sally did. There was no big meeting
that she was not at, and no quilting that she didn't help to get up. All the girls went to
her for the fashions, for she was a good deal in town at her Aunt Hanner's, and always
brought out the new patterns. She used to have her sleeves a little bigger than anybody
ou remember, and then she wore great stiffners in them — la me! there was
extravagance.

CLOVERNOOK.

She had a changeable silk, yellow and blue, made with a surplus front; and when
she wore that, the ground wasn't good enough for her to walk on, so some folks used to
say; but I never thought Sally was bit prouder lifted up; and if anybody was sick, there
was no better-hearted creature than she; and then, she was always good-natured as the
day was long, and would sing all the time at her work. I remember, along before she
was married, she used to sing one song a great deal, beginning

'I've got a sweelliearl willi briglil black eyes;'

and they said she meant William McMicken by that, and that she might not get him after
all— for a good many thought they would never make a match, their dispositions were so
contrary. William was of a dreadful quiet turn, and a great home body; and as for being
rich, he had nothing to brag of, though he was high larnt, and fjllowed the river as dark
sometimes."

Mrs. Hill had by this time prepared her currants, and Mrs. Troost paused from her
story while she filled the kettle, and attached the towel to the end of the well-sweep, where
it waved as a signal for Peter to come to supper.

" Now, just move your chair a leetle nearer to the kitchen door if you please," said Mrs.
Hill, " and I can make up my biscuit, and hear you too."

Meantime, coming to the door with some bread-crumbs in her hand, she began scat-
tering them on the ground, and calling, " Biddy, biddy, biddy — chicky, chicky, chicky"
— hearing which, a whole flock of poultry was about her in a minute; and stooping down,
she secured one of the fattest, which, an hour afterwards, was broiled for supper.

" Dear me, how easily you do get along!" said Mrs. Troost.

And it was sometime before she could compose herself sufficiently to take up the
thread of her story. At length, however, she began with —

" Well, as I was saying, nobody thought William McMicken would marry Sally May.
Poor man, they say he is not like himself any more. He may get a dozen wives, but he'll
never get another Sally. A good wife she made him, for all she was such a wild girl.

" The old man May was opposed to the marriage, and threatened to turn Sally, his
own daughter, out of house and home; but she was headstrong, and would marry whom
she pleased; and so she did, though she never got a stitch of new clothes, nor one thing
to keep hou.se with. No; not one single thing did her father give her when she went away,
but a hive of bees. He was right down ugly, and called her Mrs. McMicken, whenever he
spoke to her after she was married; but Sally did'nt seem to mind it, and took just as
good care of the bees as though they were Avorth a thousand dollars. Every day in win-
ter she used to feed them — maple-sugar, if she had it; and if not, a little Muscovade in a
saucer or some old broken dish.

" But it happened one day that a bee stung her on the hand — the right one, I think it
was — and Sally said right away that it was a bad sign; and that very night she dreamed
that she went out to feed her bees, and a piece of black crape was tied on the hive. She
felt that it was a token of death, and told her husband so, and she told me and Mrs.
Hanks. No, I won't be sure she told Mrs. Hanks, but Mrs. Hanks got to hear it some
way."

" Well," said Mrs. Hill, wiping the tears away with herapron, "I really didn'tknow,
till now, that poor Mrs. McMicken was dead."

" Oh, she is not dead," answered Mrs. Troost, " but as well as she ever was, only she
feels that she is not long for this world." The painful interest of her story, however, had
her from work, so the afternoon passed without her having accomplished much — she
never could work when she went visiting;

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

Meantime Mrs. Hill had prepared a delightful supper, without seeming to give herself
the least trouble. Peter came precisely at the right moment, and, as he drew a pail of
water, removed the towel from the well-sweep, easily and naturally, thus saving his wife
the trouble.

" Troost would never have thought of it," said his wife; and she finished with an
"Ah, well!" as though all her tribulations would be over before long.

As she partook of the delicious honey, she was reminded of her own upset hive, and
the crisp-red radishes brought thoughts of the weedy garden at home; so that, on the
whole, her visit, she said, made her perfectly wretched, and she should have no heart for
a week; nor did the little biisket of extra nice fruit, which Mrs. Hill presented her as she
was about to take leave, heighten her spirits in the least. Her great heavy umbrella, she
said, was burden enough for her.

" But Peter will take you in the carriage," insisted Mrs. Hill.

" No," said Mrs. Troost, as though charity were offered her; " it will be more trouble
to get in and out than to walk" — and so she trudged home, saying, " Some folks are born
to be lucky."

Alice Cart has been pronounced by the reviewers to be the superior of Miss Mitford,
whose rural sketches of England have so long held the highest rank in this kind of com-
position. Clovernook is, in short, one of the most popular books of the season, and if
any of our readers, who wish to enjoy a real American country book, have not already
met with it, we commend it to them, with the fullest confidence, as one of the best of fire-
side companions.

/nrngE null SJlisrrllnnrnns lintim

The Snake Plant of South America. —
Venomous serpents abound in all the tierras
calientes Chot lands) of America. The fre-
quent fatality following their bite — particularly
among the Indians, who roam barefoot through
the tangled woods — renders the knowledge of
any counteracting remedy a matter of great im-
portance to these people. In conseijuence, much
diligence has at all times been used in seeking
for such remedies; and many, more or less
efficacious, have from time to time been dis-
covered.

That of surest virtues yet known is a plant
called the guaco — the sap of whose leaves is a
complete antidote against the bite of the most
poisonous reptiles. The guaco is a species of
willow. Its root is fibrous, the stem straight
and cylindrical when young; but as it approach-
es maturity, it assumes a pentagonal form, hav-
ing five salient angles. The leaves grow length-
wise from the stem, opposite, and cordate. They
are of a dark green color mixed with violet,
smooth on the under surface, but on the upper
rough with a slight down. The flowers are of
a yellow color, and grow in clusters — each calyx
holding four. TV.i corolla is monopetalous in-
fundibuliform , and contains five stamens uniting
anthers into a cylinder which embraces
le with its stigma much broken.

The guaco is a strong healthy plant, but grows
i only in the hot regions, and flourishes best in
the shade of other trees, along the banks of the
streams. It is not found in the colder uplands
(tierras frias ;) and in this disposal nature
again beautifully exhibits her design, as here
exist not the venomous creatures against whose
poisons the guaco seems intended as an antidote.

That part of the plant which is used for the
snake-bite is a sap or tea distilled from its leaves.
It may be taken either as a preventive or cure:
in the former case, enabling him wlio has drank
of it to handle the most dangerous serpents with
impunity. For a long time the antidotal quali-
ties of the guaco remained a great mystery, and
was confined to a few among the native inhabi-
tants of South America. Those of them wlio
possessed the secret were interested in preserv-
ing it, as through it they obtained considerable
recompenses, not only from those who had been
bitten by venomous snakes, but also from many
who were curious to witness the feats of these
snake-tamers themselves. However, the medi-
cinal virtues of the guaco are now generally
known in all countries where it is found; and its
effects only cause astonishment to the stranger
or traveller.

Being at Margarita some time ago, I heard
of this singular plant, and was desirous of wit

FOREIGN AND mSCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

nessing the test of its virtues. Among the
slaves of the i)lace there was one noted as a
skilful snake-doctur ; andaslenjoy theacijuain-
tance of his master, I was not long iu obtaining
a promise that my curiosity should be gratified.
A few days after the negro entered my room,
carrying in his hands a pair of coral-snakes, of
that species known as the most beautiful and
venomous. The negro's hands and arms were
comjiletely naked ; and he manipulated the
reptiles, turning them about, and twisting them
over liis wiists with the greatest apparant con-
fidence. I was for a while under the suspicion
that their fangs had been previously drawn;
but I soon found that I had been mistaken. The
man convinced me of this by opening the mouths
of both, and showing me the interior. There,
sure enough, were both teeth and fiings in their
perfect state ; and yet the animals did not make
the least attempt to use them. On the con-
trary, they seemed to exhibit no anger, although
the negro handled them roughly. They appear-
ed perfectly innocuous, and rather afraid of him
I thought.

Determined to assure myi5elf beyond the
shadow of a doubt, I ordered a large mastiff to
be brought into the room and jtlaced so that
the snakes could reach him. The dog was suf-
ficiently frightened, but being tied he could not
retreat ; and after a short while one of the ser-
pents " struck," and bit him on tlie back of the
neck. The dog was now set loose, but did not
at first appear to notice the wound he had re-
ceived. In two or three minutes, however, he
began to limp and howl most fearfully. In five
minutes more he fell, and struggled over the
ground in violent convulsions, similar to those
occasioned by hydrophobia. Blood and viscous
matter gushed from his mouth and nostrils, and
at the end of a quarter of an hour by the watch
he was dead.

Witnessing all this, I became extremely de-
sirous of possessing the important secret — which
by the way, was not then so generally known.
I offered a good round sum; and the negro,
promising to meet my wishes, took his depar-
ture.

On the following day he returned, bringing
with him a handful of heart shaped leaves,
which I recognised as those of the bejuco de
guaco, or snake-plant. These he placed in a
bowl, having first crushed them between two
stones. He next poured a little water into the
vessel. In a few minutes maceration took i)lace,
and the " tea" was ready. I was instructed to
swallow two small spoonfuls of it, which I did.
The negro then made three incisions in each of
my hands at the forking of my fingers, and three
similar ones on each foot between the toes.
Through these he inoculated me with the ex-
tract of the guaco. He next punctured my
breast, both on the riglit and left side, and per-
formed a similar inoculation. I was now ready
snakes, several of which, both of the
and cascabel species, the negro had brought
ith him.

"With all my wish to become a snake-charmer,
I must confess that at sight of the hideous rep.
tiles I felt my courage oozing through my nails.
The negro, however, continued to assure me;
and as I took great pains to convince him that
my death would cost him his life, and I saw that
he still entreated me to go ahead, I came at
length to the determination to run the risk.
With a somewhat shaky hand I took up one of
the corals, and passed it delicately through my
fingers. AH right. The animal showed no dis-
position to bite, but twisted itself through my
hands, apparently cowering and frightened. I
soon grew bolder, and took up another and
another, until I had three of the reptiles in my
grasp at one time. I then put them down and
caught a snake of the ca.scabel species — the rat-
tlesnake of the north. This fellow behaved in
a more lively manner, but did not show any
symptoms of irritation. After I had handled
the reptile for some minutes, I was holding it
near the middle, when to my horror, I saw it
suddenly elevate its head, and strike at my left
arm! I felt that I was bitten, and flinging the
snake from me, I turned to my companion with
a shudder of despair. The negro, who with
his arms folded had stood all the while calmly
looking on, now answered my quick and terri-
fied inquiries with repeated assurances that there
was no danger whatever, and that nothing serious
would result from the bite. This he did with
as much coolness and composure as if it had
been only the sting of a mosquito. I was more
comforted by the manner of my companion than
by his words ; but to make assurance doubly
sure, I took a fresh sup of the guaco tea, and
waited tremblingly the result. A slight inflam.
matory swelling soon appeared about the orifice
of the wound, but at the expiration of a few
hours it had completely subsided, and I felt that
I was all right again.

On many occasions afterwards I repeated the
experiment of handling serpents I had myself
taken in the woods, and some of them of the
most poisonous species. On these occasions I
adopted no further precaution than to swallow
a dose of the guaco sap, and even chewing the
leaves of the plant itself was sufficient. This
precaution is also taken by those — such ashunt-
ers and wood-choppers — whose calling carries
them into the thick jungle of the southern
forest, where dangerous reptiles abound.

The guaco has no doubt saved many a life.
The tradition which the Indians relate of the
discovery of its virtues is interesting. It is as
follows: In the tierras calientes there is a b'rd
of the kite species — a gavilan, whose food con-
sists principally of ser[)ents. When in search
of its victims, the bird utters a loud but mono-
tonous note, which sounds like the word gwa-co
slowly pronounced. The Indians allege that
this note is for the purpose of calling to it the
snakes, over whom it ])ossesses a mysterious
power, that summons them forth from
liiding-places. This of course is pure su
tion, but what follows may nevertheless be

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

They relate that before making its attack upon
the serpent, the bird always eats the leaves of
the bejneo de guaco. This having beenobserv-
ed, it was inferred that the plant possessed anti-
dotal powers, which led to the trial and conse-
quent discovery of its virtues. — Household
Words. •

How TO GET RID OF COCKROACHES. Mr.

Tewkesbury, of Nottingham, in a letter to the
Manx Sun, says: — " I forward an easy, clean,
and certain method of eradicating these insects
from dwelling-houses. A few years ago my
house was infested witli cockroaches (or 'clocks,'
as they are called here,) and I was recommend-
ed to try cucumber peelings as a remedy. I
accordingly, immediately before bed-time,
strewed the floor of those parts of the house
most infested with the vermin with the green
peal, cut not very thin from the cucumber, and
sat up half an hour later than usual to watch the
effect. Before the expiration of that time the floor

where the peel lay was completely covered with
cockroaches, so much so, that the vegetable
could not be seen, so voraciously were they en-
gaged in sucking the poisonous moisture from
it. I adopted the same plan the following night,
but my visitors were not near so numerous — I
should think not more than a fourth of the
previous night. On the third night I did not
di.scover one; but anxious to ascertain whether
the house was quite clear of them, I examined
the peel after J had lain it down about half an
hour, and perceived that it was covered with
myriads of minute cockroaches about the size
of a flea. I therefore allowed the peel to lie
till morning, and from that moment 1 have not
seen a cockroach in tlie house. It is a very old
building ; and I am certain that the above re-
medy only requires to be persevered in for three
or four nights, to completely eradicate the pest.
Of course it should be fresh cucumber peel
every night." — Builder.

Dnnirstit JMim.

The great Palm Hocse atKew. — "We have
already alluded to this beautiful, tropical glass
house, in which the palms and other trees of
the equatorial regions, growing in the ground
and in huge tubs, reach the altitude and wear
the same aspect as in their native clime. The
engraving which forms our frontispiece of this
month, will enable our readers to form a more
definite idea of its external appearance.

Tliere is no doubt that this is the most beau-
tiful plant house in the world. Though not so
huge as the great conservatory at Chatsworth,
and but small compared with that miracle of
size, the Crystal Palace, it has an airyness and
elegance that neither of these latter buildings
can boast. This is owing to the exterior of the
Kew Palm House, or at least the roof, appear-
ing an unbroken sheet of curved glass — while
the others, being constructed on what is called
the " ridge and furrow'' system, presents a
series of ploughed or angular roof lines.

The Kew Palm House is one of the largest
glass houses in the world — being 362 feet long
l)y 100 feet wide, (in the center,) and 66 feet
high. The main ribs of the roof are wrought
iron, as well as all the ties. The columns are
cast iron, and being hollow, conduct the rain-
from the gutters on the roof to rain-wa-
tanks formed underneath and around the

whole interior of the building. A light gallery-
runs round the whole, from which, not only the
best view of the trees and plants is obtained,
but the tops of the trees are watered, the sup-
ply being obtained from a reservoir in an orna-
mental tower at some distance.

" The roof is wholly glazed with sheet glass,
slightly tinged with green, the tint being given
in niaking the glass, bj*- oxide of copper. This
has been done to counteraet the injurious effects
on the vegetation, arising from the use of white
sheet glass, an arrangement proposed by Mr.
Hunt, of the Museum of Economic Geology,
and practically carried out in this building for
the first time." — (London Builder.

To heat the house, there are 28 ,000^ superfi-
cial feet of hot water pipes, connected with
several boilers, laid under the perforated iron
flooring, which forms the paths, &c.

No chimneys being visible, the visitor who
examines the building is at a loss to know what
becomes of the smoke. He is, in answer, shown
in the distance, (550 feet off.) a high Italian
tower, to which the flues lead under ground.
There is a subterranean passage the whole way
from the tower to tlie l)eating apparatus, and
tlirou'i;h this passage runs a small railway
iron wagons to convey the coal and take

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

the ashes. In ventilation and other details the
building is equally perfect.

The entire cost of this conservatory was about
$160,000. The rich collection of plants which
it contains, and the admirable way in which
they grow, are worthy of the great national
garden in which it stands, and which the British
nation keeps up at a large annual cost, for the
instruction and delight of any and every person,
without any fee whatever, who wishes to enter.

Practical Gardeners and Hort. Socie-
ties.-^Dear Sir: It appears that my remarks
on the Penn. Hort. Society have been mis-
understood by Mr. BuisT. Beingmyself a mem-
ber of the society, I cannot well avoid knowing
something of its rules and regulations, as well
as the profession and abilities of its executive
members.

Mr. BuisT tells us that the committee of ar-
rangements are all practical gardeners, who sub-
divide on exhibitions, &c., so that he has endea-
vored to make my remarks inapplicable to that
society. However, I will explain where the dif-
ference of opinion lies, so that Mr. Buist, and
the readers of the Horticulturist, will see at
once that my sentence, " as gardeners have no
direct influence with the gentleman of that soci-
ety," is emphatically applicable where it was
intended to apply.

The difference is simply this. Those who
Mr. Ei'isT thinks proper to call practical
gardeners, are nurserymen, and not gardeners
at all ; and what I mean when speaking of gar-
deners, is to denote those who hold situations,
and are paid as such. But as I never before
understood nurseryman and gardener to be a
synonymous term, he, Mr. Buist, will probably
excuse my error ; and perhaps when a few more
summers suns have acted upon my dull brain,
I shall be able to comprehend that gar-
deners and nurserymen are synonymous. My
remarks in the January number were writ-
ten purely for the benefit of the working sub-
scribing competitors; also my remarks on plants
and fruit, strictly confined to our own society —
for there alone, we have plenty of room for ira-
improvement, without travelling further from
home. Allow me to ask Mr. Buist, did he
suppose the party that revised the prize schedule
last January, to be all practical gardeners,
who discarded the prize for early grapes in pots,

and substituted in its place a collection of Cacti,
for which they offer a silver medal. What, I
ask, is there to be seen in a best named collec-
tion of Cacti, not even restricted to be in flow-
er, or part in flower — for a very good reason —
they know it is almost impossible to obtain 20
cactuses in flower at the same time, from one
proprietor.

What a desirable acquisition will be this new
collection to our saloon? But, by-the-bye, there
is only one practical who grows them, so that
the silver medal will be a walk over. Where
is there another society in the world, composed
of practicals, that would make such a revision
as this? I am asked, where are our Ericas.
Fuchsias, Pimelias, Epacris, &c. I answer I
don't know — but I would suggest to our prac-
ticals, to pull the weeds out of their pots pre-
vious to placing them on the exhibition tables,
and then, perhaps, we shall be able to see where
they are. Tours very respectfully, A Work-
ing Gardener. Philadelphia, March 15.

Winter Fruits Grown in Western New-
York. — The production of apples in Western
New- York, for 1851, was not as large as usual j
and the scarcity both east and west of us, at
Rochester, created a demand more than equal
to what could be well spared from home con-
sumption— so that at this moment it is barely
possible to obtain a single barrel of choice ones.

The qualities grown were in many instances
superior, but oftener with great defects.

It may be said that the apple trees planted
within the last fifteen or twenty years, are now
as fruitful as ever, and bear as fair fruit as they
will. Insects and blight affect the trees fre-
quently, and some seasons the fruit is not as
good as in other years.

I did myself the honor to send you in 1847,
(see Hort. vol. 1, p. 482,) samples of several
kinds grown with us, and now forward you spe-
cimens of choice ones — so that you may judge
how well they compare. You will find:

Northern Spy.

Canada Red or Nonsuch.

Herefordshire Pearmain.

Swaar.

Pomme Grise.

Esopus Spitzenbergh .

Green Sweeting.

The "Canada Reds" sent, are the

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

have ever seen of the kind, and I am free to ad-
mit them a very, very choice apple, and a good
keeper. The " Northern Spy" I have found to
bear me out in all that has been said in its favor,
and I am sure a better, or more choice barrel of
fruit, has never been sent to Europe, than one of
that kind which I packed the past week to send
there, which Dr. Lindley, Mr. Rivers, and
all the nurserymen in and about London, are to
have the privilege of tasting.

Of their keeping qualities, let me tell you.
I put my '• Spys" as late in the fall as possible,
and vei-y soon after they are gathered, into a cel-
lar, kept cool by having a pane of glass taken
out of the window, (which remains out all win-
ter,) and place them on wooden frames, about
12 inches from the bottom of the cellar, (the
bottom a ground one,) and there let them stand
till the first of March. If well selected, the
fruit will open sound, and well colored, with a
fragrance equalling anything of the fruit kind.
About this time they commence ripening, and
if pains are taken to head up the barrel, as the
fruit is taken out for use, so that the air is ex-
cluded, they will keep till June. This is my
plan, founded upon experience.

Many of the trees grafted are producing the
" Northern Spys," and all I have seen thus far,
have been choice ; and persons growing them
hesitate not to charge a dollar per bushel, and
get it too.

Trusting you may get the fruit safe, I remain
truly, James H. "Watts. Rochester, March
8, 18.52.

The apples were received in perfect order,
and our correspondent will please accept our
thanks for the beautiful pomonal display. The
Northern Spys, (for which Rochester is the
meridian,) were the handsomest specimens
— and very sprightly and refreshing in flavor.
The Canada Red, or old Nonsuch of New-Eng-
land, is, to our taste, one of the finest of apples
— really superior in flavor to the Northern Spy.
Its merits as a dessert fruit, have long been
known, but in New-England and Long-Island,
where it has been most cultivated, it is rather a
shy bearer. In Western New-York, it is, we
believe, quite prolific, and we certainly know
few apples better worth planting, in a rich, deep
than this variety.

pecimens of Swaar and Spitzenbergh,

were very handsome— but not .so high flavored
as the same sorts grown on the Hudson.

Tan on Stkawberry Beds. — A. J. Down-
ing— Dear Sir: From what has been published
in the '-'Horticulturist," of the good qualities
of tan-bark to cover strawberry beds, I have
tried it on mine this winter, and now I wish to
ask what is done with the beds in the spring?
Is it necessary to remove any part of the tan,
as this would be a difficult job. I first gave my
beds a good top dressing of old compost manure,
and then the tan, but not so thick but what the
tops of the plants have always been in sight,
(when the snow was off".) If all the tan is left
on the beds, will it not prevent this year's runners
from taking root? Respectfully yours, T. P.
Waltham, Mass., March 9.

Leave the tan on all summer, say from one
to two inches deep. It is only necessary that
the heart or crown of the plant should be ex-
posed when growth commences. The runners
will strike roots through the tan. Ed.

Early Grape Crops. — Dear Sir: I feel grati-
fied that my article on the grapevine, in the
Horticulturist of last month, has aroused at
least one of your numerous subscribers. I was
not aware that it amounted to such paramount
importance as he assigns to it, and do not con-
sider that I have done more than hasoftenbeen
performed before, and that without injury af-
terwards, under good treatment. As to the
doubts and fears of Mr. Cleveland, they go
for what they are worth. It is well known that
the grapevine can be brought to healthy and
permanent bearing in less time than four years.
I sincerely hope that his invitation to grape
growers, generally, will meet with a hearty re-
sponse, for no one more than myself, wishes to
see this valuable boon of nature brought to its
greatest capabilities ; but if we are to derive any
really valuable information for our guidance,
our various operations in detail should be re-
corded, our success and failures alike registered,
so that the sure test of public opinion may pass
its verdict, and we may be benefitted, generally
and collectively. It was no self-glorification on
my part that caused me to give my practice as
in that article detailed, but a wish to encourage
the erection of graperies and the cultivation of
the grape vine, and if it will lead to further and

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

better experience being recorded, ray most san-
guine wisihes will have been accomplished. Per-
haps if Mr. Cleveland had taken up the same
space that he has occupied in describing his work-
ing, instead of expressing so much opinion, it
might have been of more general benefit, for
'• our judgments like our watches, none goes
just alike, yet each believes his own." Suffice
it to say, that my ideas in cultivation are not
the mushroom aspiration of yesterday, but
are founded upon the experience of twenty-five
years close observation, and practical applica-
tion of the laws of nature, and whether suc-
cess or failure be my fate in the present case,
your correspondent shall have it faithfully re-
corded to amply satisfy him, but for the present
my motto is " nil desperandura." I am yours
most respectfully, 'Wm.Chorlton. New Brigh-
ton, Slateri Island, March 10, 18-52.

Effects of the Hard Winter. — Mr. Down-
ing— Dear Sir: We have had an unusual cold
winter here, destroying every peach bud M-est
of the mountains. As far as I can learn, the
crop is entirely destroyed in Ohio, Indiana, Il-
linois, Missouri, and Kentucky and Tennesse.
The fall season was very mild, having no cold
weather till the 22d and 23d of December, two
very cold days, thermoiiieter down to eight de-
grees below zero, lower by two degrees, than I
have seen it for 18 years past. On examining
peach buds they were not injured ; we had anoth-
er cold interval on the 12th and 13th of January,
but not so cold; no buds were hurt, but the
next fall of temperature, on Monday the 19th,
brought intense cold . At daylight on the morn-
ing of the 20th of January, the thermometer
stood at 13 degrees below zero, but I supposed
it had been much colder through the night,
which killed every peach blossom bud, not leav-
ing one, and nearly all the heart cherry blos-
som buds and fine plums are destroyed, except
a few kinds — Damsons which are not hurt, nor
Morello cherries ; it has been stated by close ob-
servers, that the germ of the peach blossom
buds would perish at 14 degrees below zero. I
never believed it before this winter, as I knew
peaches were raised north where the thermome-
ter frequently went down to 30 degrees below
zero; but I now suspect whenever the ther-
mometer went below 12° or 13° below zero, the
buds were killed. I don't suppose it would be

of any benefit to us, but it would be a satisfac-
tion for us to know, precisely what degrees of
cold the peach bud will stand. By collecting
some facts, we might ascertain, very nearly, the
degree of cold peach buds will bear. I think
if you would collect all the facts you can, and
publish an article in the May or June number
of the Horticulturist. I feel very confident it
would be interesting and valuable. Thepeaches
west of the mountains, and north of 37 degrees
latitude, are all destroyed. If you would make
a memorandum of the range of the thermome-
ter of the different places, and next summer
compare the thermometer, and places where
peaches bear, we may ascertain very nearly
what degree of cold they will stand. I give
you the lowest fall of thermometer as far as I
know:

Below zero.

Cincinnati and southern Ohio, ]3

Pittsburgh, 15

.St. Louis, 20

New-York, 7

Columbus, Ohio, 20

ZanesviUe, 27

Baltimore, 5

Cjty of VVashiiigloii, 2

The above was all on the morning of the 20th
January, at daylight. The buds were in per-
fectly good condition to stand the lowest point
of depression of the thermometer, as the fall
and winter had been very dry, and the wood
was perfectly matured ; at the time of extreme
cold, there was no sleet on the buds, and had
been no thaw to excite the sap.

A few days since I learnt from a friend in my
neighborhood, that it was much colder on Mon-
day night, January 19th, than I had supposed;
this gentleman was a distiller, and was up
through the night watching his pipes from free-
zing, and found the thermometer down to 21
degrees below zero, between one and two o'clock
in the morning of the 20th January, and had
risen to 13° below zero at daylight, which exact-
ly corresponded with my own; it is thought the
coldest weather ever known in this country.

I should like to see some information in the
Horticulturist, in regard to the effects of the
winter on fruit buds east of the mountains, in
New-Jersey, and Western New-York. It
would be very interesting to all persons interest-
ed in fruit culture, to see a statement in the
Horticulturist, of the lowest degree of ther-
mometer, from various parts of the country.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Such infol-mation miglit be easily obtained of
each subscl-iber of the Hoi-ticulturist, by giving
notice nf such request in the next number, post-'
paid. It would certainly be quite interesting to
the readers of your valuable Journal.

Cherries of the fine kinds, will not stand this
climate, unless the body of the tree is protect-
ed with straw, to keep the sun frotn the tree.
A board Should be set on the south side of the
stems in summer, and well wrapped round the
body in winter. With this care they do finely;
otherwise, it is better not to plant. The only
kinds, out of some 60 varieties I liave, that are
not killed in the bud, are the following i^May-
duke. Belle de Choisy, Late Duke, Black Ea^
gle, and Ilolman's Duke. The latter is one of
the hardiest, fruit and trees, I have — earlier
and finer than Mayduke — bears abundantly, and
is excellent.

The buds of our fine Plums are generally kill-
ed, except the following: — Peach Plum, unhurt,
stands this climate first rate. Corse's ^otabene,
as hardy as a Damson, and very fine. Sharp's
Emperor, Downton, Imperatrice, Bleeker's
Yellow Gage ; Coe's Golden Drop stands any
degree of frost here — and the Jefferson, too,
which is altogether one of our very finest plums.
I think the apples and pears are not injured as
yet. The weather is as balmy as May, to-day;
frost all out of the ground, and quite spring-
like. Yours respectfully, Joseph Clark.
Lewis, Brown Co., Ohio, Feb. 23, 1852.

The state of Ohio seems to have suffered
more from the excessive cold of the past ex-
tremely '-'hard" winter, than any part of the
country. The peach crop here is wholly des-
troyed in some places — but has quite escaped in
others. Wherever the thermometer has fallen
12° below zero, the germ peach bud is destroy-
ed— but, as usual, the orchards on the hills have
escaped, while those in the valleys have suffered.

We shall be glad to have accounts from all
parts of the country, of the precise effects of
the past winter — admitted, we believe, to be the
most severe for 40 years. It will be interesting
to ascertain what plants and trees have suffered
most; what have been destroyed; and the soils
and sites that have best preserved the trees, &c.,
growing on them. It is singular, that young
n the nurseries have suffered far less from
ffects of the cold, the past winter, than

they did from the freezing and thawing of the
previous one= — though a mild winter. Antwerp
Raspberries, after being killed by a inild winter,
appear perfectly uninjured, where they have
been left without covering, in our garden.

Thorough Draining the Son. ^— Mr. Down-
ing: Having, since the commencement of your
HorticultUiist, derived from it many valuable
hints for the culture of plants, I will hazard
giving you a history of an experiment made by
me in this city, in hopes 1 7nay in some measure
reciprocate. In October, 1849, I commenced
my house, number 1 Madison SqUare, north,
and after the roof was on, say June, 1850, I
hired an old gardener to prepare my lot for a
garden, in viy own way. It was only after
much conversation, that I could persuade him
to follow my directions; and after consulting
some of his fellow gardeners, who had heard
that I knew something of Horticulture, and
finding that I was detcrinined, he put himself
under my direction, being very careful to warn
me that he could not be responsible for the fail-
ure that must ensue.

He then, with carts, took away the top, con-
sisting of clay, sand, and other rubbish, four
feet deep of the entire surface of my lot ; he
then pl-aced all over the bottom, stones of all
sizes, thrown in carelessly, but as level as possi-
ble, about twenty inches deep. Over these he
put quite small stones, and the screenings of
building sand, filling up all the holes, and cov-
ering over the larger stones about six inches.
The remaining part was then filled with a fine
sandy loam, every load of which I inspected
personally . While this was being done, a crowd
of curious people watched our proceedings, and
all, {with no exception,) pronounced it worse
than useless — bad in every respect, and calcu-
lated to kill the plants by drouth in summer.

I confess I was rather shaken in my determi-
nation, when some of my friends, amateur hor-
ticulturists and gardeners, in whom I place
great confidence, gave their opinions, that " hav-
ing the free use of the Croton water, I might
keep my plants a/ive through the hot weather;"
but as I had some reasons I thought good, for
commencing, I concluded to carry it through,
and I laughingly told them, that I hoped to
avoid the very evils they feared, by thus
ing the soil.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The ground was finished in August. 1850; it
laid until thehousewascompleted, March, 1851,
when I commenced planting. My plants were
selected mostly from the stock of the gardeners
in the vicinity. During March and April, I
planted about six hundred trees and shrubs; a
great proportion of them were roses — imported
French grafted stocks^^(but many were on their
own roots.) I used no other manure during the
season, than a bag of guano, put in with a
trowel some distance from the roots, after the
plants were in full foliage. I lost, in all, not over
six idants — and although it was the first season,
I never saw such a growth of wood and such
succession of flowers, either in city or country.
Your friend. Dr. A. G. Hull, visited my garden
den one day in July, and appeared much pleased,
as I explained to him the cause of such growth
and flowers, which he declared he had never be-
fore seen. You will recollect the excessive drouth
we had last fall, enough to try my experiment
thoroughly in that way. The result was in this
respect, too, perfectly successful, more than I
had ever hoped. I used the Croton water much
less than ray neighbors, whose soil was dry as
powder, and could not absorb the showers tliat
so seldom came, while mine drank easily all the
rain or water, as it fell. It percolated though
the earth, down among the stones, and as the
hot sun heated the surface during the day, it re-
turned at night in vapor through the soil, re-
fresliing the roots of the plants. This action
was so perfect, that at the dryest time you
miglit have found moisture in my soil, at the
deptli of two inches. The old gardeners now
consider me a master in horticulture, and all ad-
mit the benefit of drainage in summer, which
was all I hoped to prove.

I left out all my roses on their own roots,
Avithout any covering whatever — such as Devo-
niensis, SafiTrano, Triumph de Luxumburgh, &c.
and at this time they appear in good order,
though tlie winter has been far from a mild one.
I do not hope to save all these ; but if a fair pro-
portion should be saved, I shall be satisfied that
I have proved that effectual drainage will sup-
ply plants with moisture in summer, and take
away the surplus from the roots in winter —
thereby giving them a chance to live through
lieat and cold — when without it they might die.
W. W. LivERMORE. New-York, March 3, '52.

Preservation of Grapes. -^Dear Sir: I en-
close you a recipe for the preservation of grapes,
as given by my friend Dr. Blatchford.

I ate some of his grapes a few weeks since as
fresh and as luscious as if they had not been
more than a few hour.s from the vine. Very
respectfully yours, J. H. AYillard. Female
Seminary, Troy, March 17, 1852.

You was pleased to make mention of some
fresh Isabella grapes I sent you the first of this
month. To-day we have eaten the last of four-
teen boxes, each containing between one and two
pecks of fruit, which I put down in October last.
They retained their plumpness (except here and
there a bunch which appeared a little withered)
and their delicious flavor, very nearly, if not
quite equal to what they possessed in the time
of gathering. In most of tliem the stems had
not lost tlieir verdure. The luxury of having
Isabella grapes not only all winter in great
abundance, but so late as the middle of March,
is worth enjoying to all lovers of that delicious
fruit. The experiment having been so succes.s-
ful. and the method of preserving them so sim-
l>le, many of my friends have asked me to de-
scribe the process for their benefit. I have done
So, and now send it to you for publication if you
feel so disposed, that tlie benefit, if anv, may
not be confined to a limited circle.

In July and August I procured a quantity
of ash saw dust fri>m Messrs. Eaton, Gilbert &,
Co.'s coach and rail car manufactory. Ash, be-
cause it imparts no taste to tlie grajies and be-
cau.«e it is usually obtained dry. I then sifted
it to get rid of the fine powder which hereto-
fore I found difficult to remove from the grapes
when taken out for use. After thus preparing
it, I kept it under cover until I wanted to use
it, when it was sufficiently dry. When the
grai)es were fully rijie in October, I picked them
and immediately packed them away in boxes,
(old soap and candle boxes, without covers,)
jnitting in first a layer of saw dust about half
an incli thick, then a layer of grapes in bunch-
es, tiie bunches as close together as they could
be placed witliout bruising them ; then a layer
of saw dust just thick enough to cover them,
and so alternately a layer of grapes and saw
dust until the box was full, the boxes contain-
ing four and five layers. After packing them I
))iled the boxes one on top of the other, the
bottom of one' box forming the only cover of
the one underneath. I ke]»t them in one end
of my wood-shed (enclosed) until it became
fVeezing weather, when I removed them to the
cellar in the same order. None of them have
been mouldy, none of them musty. In remov-
ing tliem from the boxes for use, all that we
found necessary by way of cleaning them, was
to use a small dust-brush, which very soon re-
moved every particle of saw dust and left tliem
at once fit for use. Yours sincerely, Thos. W
Blatchford. Troy, March 15, 18.52

Ke.marks. — We are much oblised

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Willard- The ash sawdust is excellent, but
we fear in most cases the use of candle boxes,
would impart a disagreeable flavor, having had
many samples of fruit sent us, of which we were
unable to judge at all, simply from their having
been packed in candle boxes. Other boxes are
easily substitued. Ed.

Prizes in Hort. Societies.— Mr. Downing
— I have read with great attention the article
" on the prizes at the horticultural exhibitions of
Philadelphia," bya Working Gardener. lagree
with him, that if gardeners would interest them-
selves a little more (in acquiring first) in diffus-
ing a knowledge of the culture of plants, no doubt
that it would promote a more general taste for
horticulture; but if, there is the rub! — first, the
ninety-five hundredth part of gardeners, what-
ever countrymen they are, are only gardeners
by name, and when by chance half of the other
five hundredth fall in with a gentleman who has
any taste for plants, they will soon disgust, sa-
tiate him by glutting his green-house with weeds,
or pretty near the same, the most common sort of
plants that are easily propagated and taken care
of. If there are any valuable plants on the
premises, they will treat them in such way, that
in a short time they will send them to the shades,
or make such hideous objects, probably hop-
poles — specimens grown bj' the yard or the like ;
yet you will hear these gardeners complaining
that there are " no amateurs." Amateurs of
what? In fact, a person must be flower-mad to
admire such plants as are daily seen, not only at
the Philadelphia shows, which I think your cor-
respondent has a little exaggerated, but in most
of private and public establishments through
the country. The comparison he draws between
Chiswick and Regent's Park shows and Phila-
delphia, is not quite rational ; in good justice we
are not here placed in condition to ask as much
of a gardener as in England. Still, though the
Hamburghs are red, there are some Americans
who have grown grapes handsomer than the
" Working Gardener" has ever seen either in
England or France, or any other part of Europe.
I have not seen the former place, but I have
seen some parts of the latter, and nowhere have
I seen grapes there, half the size and beauty
of those I have seen in America. Now will
your correspondent permit me to ask him one
question; he says " that in England it is art

combined with nature, that shows man's ability."
In this respect we perfectly agree ; further he
says, " nature produces grapes, but in England
it is man's ingenuity which produces the color-
ing matter in fruits." This may be, but if so,
if British gardeners have so much ability, so
much genius, are so well acquainted with the
laws of vegetable physiology, how is it that in
this country, favored by a fertile soil, a bright
sun, and a clear sky, they cannot do half —
half — not a quarter of what they do there? Yet
I think that a majority of the gardeners in
America are British ; are the same men who at
home, in the old country, draw enough heat
from the sun to produce the coloring matter, etc.

Speaking of the inducements given by the
horticultural society, and of the arrangements
being too limited in each class class, he com-
plains of the society's allowing amateurs to com-
pete with nurserymen ; that one who grows a
small number of plants has no chance to com-
pete with a nurseryman who has thousands. In
this respect we widely differ. I, on the con-
trary think, he who grows a small collection has
more chance to get good specimens, inasmuch
as number is not required, but quality ; there is
no distinction in what is regarded " the best
collection," leaving you at liberty to exhibit what
kind of plants you like. I think this is perfect-
ly right ; you are at liberty to exhibit what plants
you choose, but the society and the committee
are also at liberty to judge whether your plants
are the best or not. •' I exhibit a few green-
house plants and they may be good, but anoth-
er who has a little more convenience than me,
may add an exotic or two, or an orchideae, and
if so, my plants are thrown in the shade." Please
tell me Mr. "Working Gardener, Avhat is it you
^\ash more just, that the best collection should
take the prize? Do you wish that it be the
worst? or do you think that the addition of an
orchidcjB makes the number of plants required
for competition look worse? Must the queen
of plants be an object of exclusion to competi-
tion?

I thought you said gardeners ought to pro-
mote the love of flowers, the diffusion of know-
ledge, &c? Do you want devotees to Flora to ad-
mire only your Pelargoniums, grown in 6, 8, 10,
12 inch pots? — in all sizes of pots from two inches
up to a hogshead, and so for the rest — 12 pri-

&^§^^

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

zes for Pelargoniums — only that! My dear sir,
I think you- are a Pelargoniomanee. What a
pretty, well varied collection of plants it would
be, that — all your Pelargoniums in all sized
pots, when you are asking fur a reform in the
schedule, &c. You ought to ask the exclusion
of all the plants you don't mention — that is to
say — all but Pelargoniums ; for if Orchidse don't
suit you, I suppose that well grown Ericas,
Epacrises, Boronias, Ixoras, Cliviac, Acacia
pulcrum, Vettita, &c., yEshcynanthi, Rondele-
tia, Stc, would still please you less — for devo-
tees to flora, of your school, could not easily
get them ; at least, it is what a gardener friend
of mine, says. I conjointly, with you, feel con-
vinced " that if gardeners had means of sug-
gesting their ideas before the Horticultural So-
ciety of Philadelphia, and that their ideas being
similar to yours, &c., should be adopted,"
Pennsylvania might change its name for the
more appropriate one of Pelargoniosylvania.
As for the rest of your remarks, I cannot too
loudly say that I agree with you. I am with
you, body and soul. Those " Floral designs"
— I would call tliem Floral monstrosities — as
well connected with horticulture, as temperance
is with drunkenness, truth with falsehood, or
rather connected in this way — that horticulture
has for its object, to improve the culture of
plants and Floral designs; to disgust with Flora
any person of taste.

Committees award premiums of 2, 5, and 10
dollars, for such designs, that not one of its
members, that had a party at his own house,
would exhibit in his room, if he were to re-
ceive ten times the amount he awarded for such
a design. In general, the societies pay, in pro-
portion to the articles exhibited, the highest
premium to the most unworthy thing; for in-
stance— a person brings half a dozen Verbenas,
and half a dozen Pansies, in the crown of his
hat, and he gets 1, 2, 3 or more dollars. Ano-
ther, 10 or 12 plants that have taken 2 or 3
years to grow, and you want a horse and wag-
gon to carry them, and he gets 2 or 3 dollars.
There is certainly alteration required in this re-
spect. If, however, horticultural societies have
really in view the improvement of all the branch-
es of horticulture, and if Mr. Downing would
be our Lindley — not in anglicising, or rather
murdering the botannic names of plants, such

as Dcndrob for Dendrobium ; an Angrase for An-
graBCum ; a Lechenault for Lechenaultia, &c..
a reform as useful for the ditfusion and intelli-
gence of botany, as — excuse the comparison — as
a poultice on a wooden leg. But, in allowing us
lovers of horticulture and botany to communi-
cate through the channel of the Horticulturist,
no doubt, that in the course of time, we could
bring a reform in the arrangement of the horti-
cultural societies throughout the country, in sti-
mulating the emulation of cultivators and ama-
teurs, in making a wiser distribution of premi-
ums; in giving a chance to the most humble
grower, as well as to the most refined amateur.
Yours most respectfully, &c., A Lover of
Flowers, and A Working Man, too. Alba-
ny, Feb., 30, 18-52.

Mowing Machines. — Dear Sir: I seldom see
anything used but the scythe, in mowing lawns
in this country. Now garden labor of all kinds
is so dear here, that the mowing machines u.sed
in Great Britain, (which I noticed you spoke
highly of in your letters from England,) vvould
be particularly valuable in this country — both
as saving labor and expense, and I may add,
doing the work far more neatly than most of
the ordinary mowers and gardeners. I have not
used the lawn mowing machine in this coun-
try, though I have abroad, and I believe the
American mowing machine is only adapted to
the hay-fleld — quite a different thing from lawn
mowing — which must be done like cutting vel-
vet. I send you a cut and description of one of
the English mowing machines, in the tbrm of an
advertisement, which very fairly describes the
instrument, and may introduce it to some of
your readers who will be benefitted by the in-
formation. Your obedient .servant, A Mon-
treal Subscriber. March 10, 1852.

Shank's Improved Grass Cutting and Roll-
ing Machines. — The complete success which
has attended the introduction of this machine
for mowing grass, and its fine adaptation for
cutting the grass of lawns, has been fully prov-
ed by the numerous instances where it has been
tried, and now in common use, particul
Rossie Priory, Camperdown, and Kinbletli
Forfarshire; Breadalbane, Perthshirer

\s^=

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ber, and at many other nobleman and gentle-
man's, seats in England, as well as abroad. The
machines are made to cut breadths of 42, 30 or
20 inches, as required, the latter being adapted
to liand power. The machine performs three
different operations at one time, viz; rolling,
mowing, and collecting the grass; and works
witli perfect ease, producing a beautiful smooth
surfoce, and attended with great saving in
abridging labor.

Orders may be addressed to Messrs. Alexan-
der Shanks &, Son, Machine Makers, Arbroath,
N. B., by whom further particulars will be
given.

Sold by Messrs. J. & F. Dickson, Nursery-
men, Chester; Messrs. J. & C. Lee, Nursery-
men, Hanmiersmith ; and Mr. George Barry,
Nurseryman, Castle-street, Liverpool.

Planting Orchards. — The following on the
subject of " orchard planting," should you
deem it of any importance to j'our readers,
may be inserted in your valuable paper. The
growing of fruit should be a source of pleasure
to everj" farmer, and would be a source of great
comfort, health, and profit, at the expense of
but little time, attention and labor. The time
and application required, to grow the very best
fruit, need not materially interfere with the bu-
siness of the husbandman. It is the little at-
tentions the young orchard receives before sun-
rise in the morning, and after sunsQt in the eve-
ning, that ensures a speedy and profitable re-
turn. The labor, after your orchard is once
planted, is comparatively trifling; and indeed
there can be no excuse for any individual, wlio
pretends to be a " tiller of the soil," not having
an abundant supply of the best fruits upon his
land.

In travelling over a great portion of "Western
Pennsylvania, you will find scarcely one good
bearing orchard to the square mile ; this is ac-
counted for by some, that their land is not suita-
ble for fruit, and by others, that they have tried
orchard planting, but found after waiting many
years, a majority of their trees were dead and
destroyed, and what few remained produced but
a meagre crop, and of the poorest quality. The
conclusion, therefore, most generally arrived at
is, " that there is no use trying to raise fruit;
it takes too much time and attention, and in the
end pays but little."

My desire is to show that every farmer may,

short period of from three to seven years,

aping the rich fruits of an orchard, in a

fine, healthy, bearing condition; producing him
a profit greater than any other crop, and with
the least labor. The modus operandi is as fol-
lows: Select the spot for your orchard, having
an even surface — if a little elevated the better
— and having also, if convenient, a south-east-
ward bearing. If the land selected is good, the
less preparation will be required. Surround it
with a good, close, and substantial fence; and
if necessary, to prevent depredations, plant a
hedge of the Osage Orange in the inside of your
fence, which in a few years would prove a most
complete protection. In the fall of the year
plough and trench-plough the whole, having first
applied a copious coating of stable manure ; the
next spring pulverise with a heavy harrow, and
again applying a heavy coating of long manure,
plough and subi)lough to the depth of sixteen
inches, if possible, then harrow well and plant
in potatoes. This crop itself will pay the ex-
pense of preparation.

After your potatoes have been taken up, which
may be a little earlier or later than usual, plow,
harrow, and mark out for your trees ; for apple
trees, forty feetdistant, in squares or pentagons,
and between each mark for peaches; and, hav-
ing selected healthy seed, and peach nuts from
healthy trees, plant alternately, eight or ten in
a hill, applying some well rotted cow droppings
or compost, and placing a small stake to each
hill.

In the coming spring, a majority of the seed
will germinate, and being thinned out to four or
five in a hill, must be carefully cultivated, and
kept clear of weeds during the season. The
ground should be again planted in some hoed
crop, care being always had not to plow within
four feet of the hills of your fruit trees; in July
or August, your young trees are ready for
budding, which must be done from the best se-
lections, and early in the mornings, or after
sunset in the evenings; carefully recording in a
book kept for the purpose, the names of your
varieties — and here we might say your work is
done. The spring following, the hills are to be
again thinned out, leaving two of the most vi-
gorous buds — and if there ai'e any vacancies,
supplying the same ; continue to cultivate hoed
crops, as before, and keep the ground about the
plants, loose and clear of weeds. In the
fall or spring, select the more vigorous

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

healthy tree in each hill, and remove all the oth-
ers; your standards will then be from four to
six feet in height, and strong in proportion. In
one year more you will have an abundance of
peaches, and in four years your apple trees will
produce a bushel of fruit each. In eight or ten
years your peach trees may be cut down or
taken out, and you have an apple orchard to be
proud of.

The advantages of this mode of planting over
all others, must be evident without enumera-
tion; however, if your readei's should desire, I
would be pleased to set them forth, in a contin-
uation of this article. B. B. Pitt Township,
Alleghany Co., Pa., Feb., 12, 1852.

HrAciNTHs. — Among a small collection of
choice Hyacinths, forced the past winter, in
glasses, in a common room, I had one that I
deem worthy of note. It was a Grand Vain-
queur, or single white, and had fifty-five distinct
flower bells, growing on a stout stalk of a foot
in height. For water growth this was extraor-
dinarily fine. F. Hall. Elmira, March 18,
1852.

Pennsylvania Hort. Society. — The stated
meeting of this association was held at the Chi-
nese Saloon, Philadelphia, on Tuesday evening,
February 16, 1852. E. W. Keyser, vice-presi-
dent, in the chair.

The display was exceedingly beautiful, and
was composed of the finest green-house plants
in bloom. The collection from Joseph Ripka's
was unusually rich, comprising Rhod .dendron
maximum, a fine tree in its proportions, being
about 12 feet in height, and bestudded with nu-
merous trusses of magnificent flowers ; jizalea
indica alba, a very large plant, throwing out
an immense number of pure white blossoms —
also three other jizalea trees, in the fullest flow-
ering condition, with roses, stocks, etc. From
Caleb Cope's houses were seen three very large
Azaleas, of different species, presenting great
masses of flowers, dazzling to the sight, and
Erio.itemum nereifolium, a neiu plant, and well
grown specimens of P/M»i6ago rosea, Lechenaul-
tia formosa, and the fifty-third flower of tlie
Victoria regia, very perfect; also a handsome
large moss vase, and basket of cut flowers.
From Robert Buist's, there was a collection of
the choicest plants, several of which were new,
and shown for the first time ; the Einchosper-

mum jasminoides and Diclytra spectabilis.
Benj. Gulliss exhibited a beautiful collection,
mostly Roses, Camellias, Heliotropes and Hya-
cinths. From Robert Cornelius' houses, a pret-
ty collection of Roses, etc. James Ritchie ex-
hibitea j, table of the most select Camellia flow-
ers.

Of fruit, there were dishes of the " Reading"
winter pear, from J. F. Boas. Reading, Pa., and
Ridge Pippin apple, from Mahlon Moore, Bucks
county. Pa. A table of forced vegetables were
shown by R. Cornelius' gardener, and forced
Lettuce, Radi.«hes, &.C., by Miss Gratz's.

A letter from Dr. John Dawson, of Rangoon,
Burman empire, a corresponding member, was
read.

A dissertation from R. Robinson Scott, gar-
dener, showing the superiority of the natural
system of Botany, over the Linnajan, or artifi-
cial, was read.

Professor Hare addressed the society on the
subject of Horticultural Chemistry, throwing
out many useful hints of a practical nature, to
the cultivator.

A committee was appointed to make arrange-
ments for the ensuing meeting of the American
Pomological Congress. Adjourned. Thos. P.
James, Recording Secretary.

HoRT. Society in New- York. — The friends
of Horticulture held a meeting at the Stuy-
vesaut Institute, on the 22d March, for the pur-
pose of forming a Horticultural SocietJ^ On
motion, R L. Pell was appointed Chairman,
and George W . Curtis, Secretary. It was re-
solved that the Society be known as " The Hor-
ticultural Society of the City of New- York,"
and a constitution and a code of by-laws were
adopted. The committee appointed at a pre-
vious meeting- to select officers for the ensuing
year, reported tlie following, and they were
unanimously chosen-.

President — ARCHiBAtn Russell. Vice-Pre-
sidents—yV \\\\a.m H. C. AVaddell, William A.
Haynes, Nicholas R. Anthony and Sheppard
Knapp. Rec. Secretary — George W. Curtis.
Cor. Secretary — Peter B. Mead. Treasurer
—William W. Crane.

Mr. Russell declining to act as President, the
committee asked further time to enable them
to make a suitable selection. A committee of
five was appointed to make out a list of ])re-
miums to be awarded at an exhibition, which it
is proposed to hold about the 20th of May.
Many of our first citizens have already enrolled
their names on the list of members of the
ciety, and there is every reason to believe
the movement will be successful. — N. Y. Times

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The Chester County (Pa.) Hort. Society
held its first, monthly meeting for the year 1852,
on 20th March, at which time the following
named officers were elected for the ensuing
year:—

President — "Washington Townsend. Vice-
Presidents — Paschall Morris, Ziba Darlington.
Treasurer — John Marshall. Cor. Secretary —
Joseph P. Wilson. Rec. Secretary — Isaac D.
Pyle.

Jonathan C. Baldwin, the late President,
having declined a re-election, a resolution of
thanks was voted, complimentary of the man-
ner in which he had discharged the duties of
his office.

%\[mm tn CnrrtspDnknts.

Lime Ashes. — C. H. Perkins, (Ascutney-
ville, Vt.) Lime ashes, which usually consist
of wood ashes and lime in about equal parts,
are excellent for compost heaps to be used for
fruit trees — better than leached ashes — provided
they do not contain magnesia. Limestone that
contains so much magnesia as to be injurious,
will not efferversce rapidlj^ when sulphuric acid
is poured upon it. Mr. Antisell, chemist to
the American Institute, N. Y., or Prof.
Mapes, of Newark, N. J., will examine a speci-
men, and inform you of the proportion of lime
and magnesia, for a small charge — say $5. The
best waj' of composting the lime ashes is to
mix it with five times its bulk of black muck.

Wash for Barns. — A Constant Reader,
(Maryland.) Take hydraulic cement, 1 peckj
freshly slacked lime 1 peck, yellow ochre, (in
powder,) 4 lbs. , burnt umbra 4 lbs. ; dissolve the
whole thoroughly in hot water, and apply with a
whitewash brush. Window shutters, for a
" rough cast house, left the natural color of the
mortar,'' may either be dark green, or light
brown. If the slats of the shutters are painted
a light brown and the borders or frames of the
same, two or three shades darker, the effect is
good.

Evergreens. — Ibid. Take out one of the
leaders of the Norway Spruce. The best time
to prune evergreens is at mid-simimer, but small
limbs may be taken off now. You may prune
trees at any time, if you use the shellac solu-
tion recommended, in our " Fruit Trees."

Botany. — A Mass. Subscriber. The na-
tural system is considered superior to the ar-
tificial, but the latter is much more easily mas-

tered by beginners. We would commend to
you as a first hand-book, by which to become
acquainted with the Flora around you, Eaton's
Manual of Botany. Then take up Gray's Bo-
tany of the northern and middle states. No
person who loves nature, and lives in the coun-
try, should neglect to become sufficiently ac-
quainted with botany to find out the names and
history of every plant he meets.

Strawberries. — B. Arnold. Your bed was
planted on soil too much worn out. Make a
new one at once, in a part of your garden where
strawberries were never raised, and to make
sure of success trench-in a large supply of stable
manure, 18 inches below the surface. To suc-
ceed best, the strawberry roots should be en-
couraged to go down deep in search of food.
The best varieties for your purpose are Hovey's
Seedling, Early Scarlet and Burr's New Pine.
W. B., (Astoria, N. Y.) The best way of get-
ting a good crop on your old bed, is to give it
a good top dressing of poudrette immediately.
The Lodi works, N. Y., will supply you with a
good article.

Flower Beds. — A Lady, (New Bedford.)
Discard all your miscellaneous flowers, and fill
your beds with verbenas, scarlet geraniums,
salvias, and Petunias. They will stand the sun
and dry weather, and make your garden gay at
all times.

Imported Trees. — B. P., (Philadelphia.)
If the trees are much dried up, head back the
ends of the shoots and bury them, root and
branch, for a few days in sandy soil They will
soon absorb moisture and become fresh again —
then take them out and plant them just before
a rain.

Tree Seeds. — R.Johnson. Tree seeds kept
till this spring, (that should have been planted
in the autumn,) may be made to grow more
certainly by soaking them for a couple of hours
in water, in which you can just bear the hand,
and then sprinkling them, very thinly, with
newly slacked lime, just before planting them.

Mulching. — New-Bedford Subscriber. Spent
tan-bark is one of the best things to mulch the
surface of the ground, over the roots of your
newly planted Norway Spruces. Your mode
of planting them is a good one, and you may
cover the ground two inches deep with tan

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

%tmn jDnusFS ml Tigjitning Cnnkrtnrs.

WIHERE are fashions in all things, and so far from underrating the importance of
^ imitation as a means of improvement, we are inclined to value it for all it is worth.
Many a man who would never be led to make any progress in mental, moral, or social
culture, for the intrinsic value of these things in themselves, is induced to do so because
he finds others considering them essential. The powerful, original, inventive minds lead;
the merely imitative and dull are content to follow. The misfortune is, that in follow-
ing, they often lose the spirit, and pertinaciously adhering to the letter, they blunder
into errors, sometimes more ludicrous than those they seek to cure.

We are led to these remarks by observing how, when the absurdity of an old idea
is pointed out, and it begins to be abandoned by those who think and act first in such
matters — those who think and act from some principle — it is often taken up and car-
ried to excess, by those who see or understand no principle at all, but merely adopt it
because it is the fashion to do so.

An amusing example of this is the rage now in vogue in New- York, for painting all
dwellings of a dingy brown color — " Victoria brown," we believe the painters call it.
It so happened, that along with the building of Trinity Church, in New-York, some
ten years ago, sprung up quite a new and improved taste in architecture. This
grew partly out of the novelty of seeing, for the first time, a really good church built
of solid stone, the beautiful details of which were finely executed in the compa-
ratively soft sandstone used in that building, and also from the fact, made manifest
by the extensive use of that material, that the beauty resulting from enriched ar-
chitecture, a thing almost impossible in cold, hard granite, was not only possible,
but delightful in a more pliant material. Captivated by the use of a building materi-
which edifices no longer frowned in the sternness of gray rock, but smiled in the
ss of " freestone," granite and bricks were almost abandoned, and churches,

May 1, 1852.

No. V.

BROWN HOUSES AND LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS.

shop-fronts, and private dwellings, with solid-looking fagades of this brown stone, have
sprung up all over New- York, as if by magic. It is undeniable, that the use of this
stone has amazingly improved the character of the buildings, both public and private,
that adorn all the newer and better portions of the city ; for there can never be any
comparison instituted between the expressionless brick walls that formerly made up
all of New- York, (and that still make up all of Philadelphia and Baltimore, and the
more expressive and architectural effects that have grown up since freestone has come
into general use. Architecture, like sculpture, demands stone before it can develop
and blossom in all its fair proportions — and dull and monotonous as much of the brown
sandstone* used in New- York, is, we owe to its greater facility under the chisel, the
only just pretension to architectural beauty, that any of our cities have yet made.

So far, it is all very well. There is something real in the color of any stone, and
therefore, in a certain degree satisfactory, because it is the natural color — though the
stone may be by no means the best one.

But now comes the imitation — the false instead of the real — the paste instead of
the diamond. Brown stone houses are the best houses in town — therefore they are
the fashion. Now, unfortunately, there are many brick houses that cannot by any
conjuror's wand be turned into brown stone. Still, the owner is very unhappy, not to
live in a brown stone house — it is such a miserable thing not to be a la mode. What
is to be done? The house painter is the only man who alone can solve this problem.
And he solves it — by fainting his house " Victoria brown" — i. e., the fashionable
dingy brown stone color, (in imitation of our freestone.)

Now, as we think few things uglier than red brick walls, we have no objection to
calling in the help of the painter to impart the agreeable impression of a pleasing color,
instead of an ugly one — to the otherwise insipid, meagre, brick surface. All that we
complain of, is, that any body should be forced to swallow, as a quack medicine to cure
all diseases that the optic nerve is heir to, this eternal, dingy " Victoria brown."

The only object of painting the surface, (beyond that of preserving it,) is to please
the eye. Why not, therefore, choose a pleasing drab, or a soft, warm gray, or a light
mellow fawn, or any one of the many quiet, neutral tints, that are as easily mixed in
a paint-pot as this dingiest and most melancholy color — the color of dead leaves in au-
tumn? Why not take two or three shades, (only shades, not distinct colors,) of the
same drab, or gray, and by painting the body of the house one shade, the window-
dressings and the cornice another, and the blinds another, give some pleasing variety
of expression, (for color alone is capable of doing wonders in this way,) to our other-
wise monotonous meagre piles of brick houses? Why not — but it is useless to in-
quire! The painter, shaking his " Victoria brown" brush at you, stops your mouth
with that answer from which, in the opinion of the multitude, there is no appeal, "this
is the color, sir, everybody prefers now."

If fashionable Victoria brown is simply an error of taste in town, it is an abomi-
nation— a miserable cockneyism in the country. But in the country it has come, (at

* We notice with pleasuie, tliat several of the newer structures in New- York, are of a sandstone of a much lighter
shade — the color of which is very haticisorr.c

BROWN HOUSES AND IJGHTNING CONDUCTORS.

least everywhere within 300 miles of New-York,) and we, who used to put our eyes out
with the everlasting glare of white paint, (with only the vulgar relief of very green
bliuds) — are now being " done brown" — Victoria-ized— {poor innocent republicans as
we are) — simply because Trinity Church was built of brown stone, and some ignorant
John Bull of a house painter took it into his head to daub over all the brick houses
in Gotham, as nearly like brown stone as he could make them.

Seriously, we protest against this snufF-colored mixture, with which all our dwellings,
good, bad, and indifferent, are likely to be painted out of existence — for "Victoria
brown" is a most suicidal, melancholy color. There are, to be sure, many houses so
little calculated to awaken any emotion but those of wonder as to how they came to
be built — houses that we would like to see deeply dyed of some hue that would render
them quite invisible to mortal gaze. But others there are, that the eye rests on with
delight — beautiful country houses — perhaps modest cottages, with latticed porches
half overgrown with the " lush woodbine," or pretty villas, embowered in shrubbery
and smooth lawns, or pleasant, rambling farm houses, seated amid blossoming orchards,
or, may-hap, stately mansions with park-like meadows, studded with noble groups of
that loveliest and most graceful of all American trees, the Weeping Elm ; and for all
such we implore a respite ! We beg all true lovers of good taste to protect these fair
homes in the country, from the rude assaults of these Knights of the Brush — these
valiant Don Quixotes of the Victoria Brown regiment, who go about attacking all
that does not wear their color, more desperately and omnipotently than Don Quix-
ote of old did the windmills of La Mancha.

This is the epidemic of New- York. That of New-England has taken a widely dif-
ferent shape. The tendencies of our eastern neighbors always take a more subtle and
spiritual direction, and accordingly, we find that while the rural districts of New- York
are brown-stone-blind — or rather blind to everything but brown, the country folks
down east are equally distracted on the subject of lightning rods I

We have never heard from scientific men, that New-England is a land peculiarly
liable to be struck by lighfni?ig, (rather famous it is, generally, for s^W^es of another
sort,) but certainly, any person travelling for the first time through that part of the
Union, at the present day, would set it down as a fixed fact, that it was " down east"
alone, that Spencer could have had in his imagination when he was led to say,

The sky in pieces seeming: to be rent

Throws lighuiing Ibrlli, and hail, and harmful showers.

Why, there is scarcely a house worth five hundred dollars in Connecticut or Massachu-
setts, which has not, within the last half dozen years, mounted a chevaux de frieze of
bristling steel conductors, as terrible to the eye of a lover of repose in the country, as
the serried ranks of one of Napoleon's invincible hollow squares, presenting innumerable
bayonets at all conceivable points of attack, were to his enemies. A new neighbor stroll-
ing out for the first time, and encountering one of these domicils armed from top to
toe with iron rods, and " presenting arms" at every angle, at the top of every chim-
the turn of every corner, yes, and at intervals of every half dozen feet
the straight ridge of the roof there are no angles — would he not turn back

THE VICTORIA REGIA.

dismay, with all thoughts of seeking hospitality at such a home driven clean out of
his head ?

We are at a loss to know how our shrewd neighbors of New-England have been
persuaded into such a very considerable item of needless expenditure as this same
hideous display of lightning conductors on every house must have cost, all over that
populous country. We suppose some magician, "cuter" than the "cutest," must
have waved his iron rod over them, with some potent spell of incantation, to have pro-
duced such an eflFect on a whole people, where the school-master is so thoroughly
abroad as he is there. We have questioned and cross-questioned, and for the life of
us, cannot ascertain that any greater damage is sustained in the farm buildings and vil-
lage dwellings of New- York and Pennsylvania, where one lightning rod answers for a
whole building, than in New-England, where it takes 50 or 100 points of the very
sharpest description, shooting up into the air in all directions.

We know very well the philosophy of protection which the savans have laid down
— that only a certain circle beyond the conductor's point of radius, is protected by that
point — but, in good truth, it is but very rarely that a dwelling is struck at all —
because tall trees standing near and about it, conduct away the fluid first, and any
barn with a cupola ventilator, and a single high rod surmounting it, one which may
be made most useful and ornamental, would be amply protected.

At any rate, we would as soon have a fire engine, with all its customary accessories
of noisy boys, and red flannel shirts, and hoarsely bellowing trumpets, standing perpetu-
ally before our front door, because a fire might break out once in fifty years, as to have
our house skewered and stuck with sharp points in all imaginable directions, because
such a misfortune might happen as for the electric fluid to step out of its usual cur-
rent to pay us a visit. In the town where we live, with a population of 11,000 souls,
not one house in five has even one lightning conductor, and we do not remember in the
whole of our life, of a single death by lightning, or one house damaged to the extent of
one hundred dollars. Certainly, a wise man will not build a good house and neglect
a reasonable share of precaution to guard it against possible mischance — but this hys-
terical nervousness of our good New-England friends, about lightning, is a mania
about which they have not the less run " clear daft," than we, in this part of the
country, have with that optical abomination, the "Victoria brown" disease.

THE VICTORIA REGIA AT MR. COPE'S.

BY THOMAS MEEHAN, HOLMESBURGH, PA.

Mr. Cope's success with the culture of this most gigantic of water lillies is one of the
most satisfactory triumphs of American horticulture. An aquatic whose leaves measure
6 feet across, and that demands a pond under glass twenty or thirty feet across, the wa-
ter in which must be kept perpetually warm and in motion, is not a plant which one per-
son in a thousand would undertake the culture of, for the first time in the United States,

THE VICTORIA REGIA.

and succeed. But Mr. Cope not only succeeded more perfectly last summer in growing
and blooming the Victoria, in more magnificent proportions than it has ever been grovrn in
the finest private establishments in England, but he has, to our great surprise, succeeded
in causing it to bloom superbly all through the winter. So far as we know, this has never
been accomplished before, and to the fortunate conjunction of skill displayed at Springdale,
and the abundance of light on this side of the Atlantic, the development of this new and
most valuable characteristic must be attributed. We commend the following interesting
account of the culture at Springdale, by Mr. Meehan, to the attention of our readers —
who will not fail to notice also the liberal offer of the popular ex-president of the Pennsyl-
vania Horticultural Society. Ed.

Dear Sir — The interest which characterised the flowering of the Victoria in this coun-
try, continues unabated. The success which has crowned the efforts of Mr. Cope, and
the abundant reward which the plant and its flowers, afford its beholders, are inducing
others to attempt its cultivation. It has occurred to me that a few notes on its progress
here to the present time, would be interesting, as well as seasonable.

It would not be extravagant to call the beauties of this plant unsurpassable. Like the
gigantic idea, its leaf-structure originated — the Crystal Palace — it stands among its class
alone and unapproachable. Its flower has been compared to a colossal specimen of the
night blooming Cereus, ( Ccreus grandi flora.) In certain respects this comparison is just;
as in the general appearance of the flower, and its delightful fragrance. But when we
proceed to examine each beauty separately, all comparison with any other flower must
cease. It is not possible to select one property more than another, the which most to ad-
mire. It is everything to be wished for. A Victoria house is a perpetual conservatory,
filled with ever-blooming flowers. Since its first flowering, in August, last, this plant has
produced on an average, two flowers a week. Up to April first, there have been 58 flow-
ers on the same plant. Nor is this ever-blooming principle one long routine of wearisome
monotony, for no two flowers can be said to be exactly alike. At the appearance of every
bud there is something to anticipate — some new beaut}', as yet unknown, to excite our
curiosity, and raise up expectation. When they expand in the evening, they may be of
anj' shade, varying from the purest white to richest cream, till they close in the morning,
as if to exhibit the change in their calyx, from a greenish to a crimson hue. Soon after
the flower expands a second time, and exhibits the same flower quite metamorphosed —
sometimes of the deepest pink — sometimes rich with crimson — and sometimes feathered
with crimson and white, as if in playful mimickry of the delicate markings of a prize tu-
lip. It is a strange flower — so grand, j'et so accommodating! Promise a flower to a
friend; becomes; the bud is only there. He is much disappointed. The occasion was an
especial one — a marriage festival, perhaps, not perfect without the presidency of this
queen of flowers. He shall at any rate have the bud. It is cut and placed in a box, with
a little warm damp moss and a heated brick, and the top covered over. He reaches home,
and the box is opened, and a perfectly formed flower lies exposed to view! AVliat can be
more magical? Verily, nature in the Victoria, throws the tricks of Monsieur Hebert,
described in your last, far into the shade.

Nor does this ever-blooming, ever-changing property, alone render it so admirable. The
odor of its expanding buds, is in itself a treasure. A whole house crowded with bloom-
ing Olea fragrans, would not excel one bursting Lilly flower.

In a phj'siological point of view, the flower is no less interesting. Few plants better
the influence which light has on vegetation. When the plant here was in th
tageous conditions in this respect, last fall, the leaves averaged about six feet

ameter. About six weeks ago they seemed to have declined to their minimum size — being
then three feet eight inches. Now, as the light increases, the leaves exceed four feet.
When there is abundance of light the leaves turn up at the edges — in winter they lose this
peculiarity — they now seem to be resuming it.

Our plant delights in a water temperature of 85*^ — below 80° or above 90°, an injurious
effect is, at this season, perceptible.

I am informed that in England, they durst not keep the water temperature higher in
winter than 60° or Q5°. This must be owing to the short supply of light to an English
winter. So far, I think, we beat the English cultivators in Victoria growing, — however,
in the peaceful competition of horticulture, John Bull will be glad to learn that his broth-
er Jonathan has gone ahead a second time on the water. Our plant ripens its seed per-
fectly, even in the midst of winter. The seed germinate readily under the same treatment
as that given to the parent plant. Plants frequently come up in our tank from self sown
seed. One of these, not four months old, recently bloomed in a box six inches deep, eight
inches wide, and ten inches long— the box being plunged in the large tank. The leaves
were two feet in diameter, and the flower seven inches across. This plant was growing
near the water wheel, which may yet be found more useful than some are disposed to ad-
mit.

Skillful treatment may overcome the difficulties apparent in out door summer cultiva-
tion. I do not consider a very high temperature essential, — but, whatever temperature
it will grow in, must be maintained with regularity. It will evidently flower and grow
in a small space; but to realize the full effect of its majestic beauty, good room must be
afforded.

Is the plant an annual or a perennial.'* This has not yet been definitely settled. I
should not be surprised to learn that it is one of those plants which are annual in some
countries and climates, biennial in others, and yet still in others perennial — one of the
same class as the Ricinus communis for instance. In England they incline to set it down
as a perennial. Our light and climate may advance it more speedily to maturity. An
English winter, though it deprives the grower of flowers, may in consequence add to its
longevity, and, although it is being classed amongst perennials, only lengthen out for a
few months its biennial existence. But all these things have yet to be known.

Mr. Cope has kindly permitted me to state that he will be happy to supply any one
forming a tank for the Victoria with a plant for it, — and I should be pleased to give any
desired information to those desiring it, as well as to record any future observations in the
pages of the Horticulturist, should the editor encourage them.

Thomas S. Meehan.

Holmesburgh, Pa., April <lth, 1852.

THE THEORY OF PRUNING.

ON THE THEORY OF PRUNING— No. 4.

BY L. YOUNG, SPRINGDALE, KY.

Dear Sir — Before closing these numbers by a few short comments upon the several pro-
cesses of pruning, listed under the head of the second class, I have determined to make a
few desultory remarks touching those external evidences, which, in practice, the operator
should recognise as indications suggestive of a particular process in its class above others,
or as symptoms, which, as violent or gentle in character, are more or less abiding, of delay
in the application of the knife.

However much the success of the unskilful and of the negligent, may seem at war with
such a proposition, still I hold it to be true, that every stroke of the knife, every rubbing
off of a leaf or bud, exerts its influence for evil or for good, and that he who prunes with-
out object, or who, attempting to accomplish some design, is not assured that the cut he
is making will accomplish such design, is employed in an exercise quite as likely to result
in mischief, as in advantage. French philosophy and French skill, have brought a know-
ledge of those rules of practice to a high degree of advancement, in so much that many of
their specimen trees, viewed as artistic productions, excite the admiration of all beholders.
It is a source of surprise to witness with what passive obedience they submit to be mould-
ed into form, by the will of the trainer, and how, at the same time, the operator can ex-
ercise such rigid constraint over the form of his trees, and yet preserve their general
health.

Here, however, is a fundamental rule of the French school, endorsed by high Anglo-
Saxon authority, which if not a paradox, is certainly to be received as true in a much
more limited sense than that set forth in the books — it is this, that "in all trees, and
under whatsoever form, the branches of the most vigorous parts should be cut short, and
those of the weak parts long," in order that the greater surface of leaves produced by the
numerous buds of the weaker branches may attract more sap, and thus produce a more
vigorous growth! This, it will be perceived from the reasoning, is a winter or spring ope-
ration. In about the year 1840, I recollect seeing a lot of pear trees headed back — whilst
at the same time their roots were treated with a dressing of manure well spaded in. This
treatment was applied as a remedy for feebleness of habit, the result of over production,
and at the end of five or six years the amputated trees had grown larger than when head-
ed back. One of them, a Red Bergamot, had, indeed, become barren from over lux-
uriance; here and there, only a branch was seen, sufSciently fruitful, so that here, if ever,
one would have thought, was a case for the application of this French rule. Abundant
space around several of these branches, was formed by cutting out the neighboring parts,
and the whole system of buds left to the feeble branches, with free space for enlargement.
At the end of two years, however, the beariilg branches remained stationary, whilst the
vacated space was re-filled with shoots more nurserj'-like and unproductive than those re-
moved. I believe, as has been stated in a former number, that whenever fruit-buds have
acquired control of the sap, by seizing upon the extremities, which are commanding points
in the system of circulation, that shortening-in is the only means of restoring the wood
system to active development — and that in this case, and at this season of the year, which
is the season of rest, the proper remedies were shorteniug-in for the feeble branches, and
bending down for the too vigorous. For the same reason, that is, its tendency to cripple
the energies of the wood system, I cannot but dissent from the implied doctrine of the
books, that bearing its crops "principally at the extremities of the branches" is one of

I

THE THEORY OF PRUNING.

the healthy habits of the fruit tree. Without attempting a scientific classification, I thinl-
trees and plants cultivated for their fruits, would admit of a rude division into three class-
es, viz: First, those which develop the bloom Avith or without an attendant system of
leaves, before the bursting and growth of the wood-buds. Second, those performing the
wood growth of the season before the development and expansion of the bloom, and third,
those bearing fruit upon branches of the current j'^ear, which branches continue to elongate
after the bloom has been developed. The Quince and the Orange are examples of the se-
cond clacs. In these cases it would seem but maternal kindness on the part of nature, to
instal these fruitlets into the most favorable position, having to contend, as they do, for
subsistence, even in infancy, with the fully developed leaves of the wood system. In these
instances, however, in which nature herself dispossesses the wood system, she restores the
possession on the ripening of the fruit, by a sort of shortening-in. In the first class, em-
bracing the apple, pear, and many others, there exists no adequate necessity for giving to
the fruitlet the same " vantage ground," The fruits setting before the development of
the leaves and branches of the wood system, they begin to draw upon the circulation for
subsistence, and are not only capable of competing for a share of the sap, but in excessive
crops entirely suspend the wood growth; again, it is hardly reasonable to infer that nature
designed this as their normal position, since she has not provided for the contingency
of keeping up a supply of wood in those parts, by restoring the extremities to the posses-
sion of the wood system at the end of each crop, as in case of the Quince. But, on
the other hand, the ajjple, and some others, bear their fruit in terminal clusters, the cen-
ter of which are buds, which buds will continue to point the extremity of the brandies
with additional fruit buds, until removed by accident or the knife, or until the branch it-
self shall perish from loss of wood.

In the third class, the Pecan and Chestnut, among trees, also the vine and melon among
plants, might be enumerated. It is a well known fact, that the Pecan and Chestnut,
under cultivation, produce abortive fruits for many years before they come into success-
ful bearing, if the annual growth continue vigorous and luxuriant. So too, every body
does, or may know, that if a single cluster each, of grapes, be permitted to grow upon two
branches of equal vigor, upon any vine, and if one of those branches, being headed back
to within one or two joints of the cluster, is kept free from suckers, whilst the other is left
to grow at will, making a length of ten, fifteen, or even twentj' feet, that at the season of
maturity the long branch will have diminutive berries, some shriveled, some ripe, some
green — whilst the amputated branch will bear a broad-shouldered cluster, with berries,
each one of which has pressed his neighbor so sorely for space to expand, that all have lost
their rotundity.

To me it seems hardly to admit of a doubt, that failure in both these cases is attribu-
table to the power of the wood-bud system, in a state of active growth, to starve out in-
fant fruits, over which it has the advantagcTin position, as it always has when located at
the ends of the branches.

I think the following experiment will tend to show that when even annuals display simi-
lar habits, the same general laws prevail. Some years ago I witnessed an experiment of
an amateur cultivator in growing the watermelon. Having made a ver}' early planting
upon a small square in a village garden, in consequence of inclement weather, but four
plants vegetated. Somewhat resolute in temperament, and impatient of defeat, he deter-
mined to try by extra culture, and the appliance of all the expedients of the cultivator's
art, to raise a crop from these plants, which were over twenty feet apart. The branches
were constrained to take such <directions as to cover the whole space, and in order to keep

HORTICUIiTURAL NOTES FROM MICHIGAN.

their vigor unimpaired until the whole space was covered, the fruit-bearing force was kept
in abej-ance b}' removing the embrj'o fruitlets as soon as visible. The cultivator, howev-
er, soon discovered, that even within the comparatively placid waters through which the
humble tiller of the soil passes in the voyage of life, a Scylla not unfrequently has its cor-
responding Chary bdis; for the very means adopted to enable these plants to avoid a short
coming of the ability to cover so much space, drove them into that habit of over-luxuri-
ance which generally swallows up the fruit-bearing force. Many of the leading branches
attained the size of a man's thumb, and I recollect some roots exceeded thirteen feet in
length, beside the filamentose spongiole, too delicate to be gotten up entire. It is the after
treatment in this case, which I think suggestive of principle and instruction— M'hich was,
to prune the vines much after the fashion of the grape crop, removing unnecessary laterals,
and after allowing only two fruits to the largest branches, to prune off the leading shoot
a few joints beyond the last fruit, whilst the fruits were quite }'oung. The result was, an
average yield to each plant, of between thirty and thirty-five fruits, of fair size and good
quality, a yield by many thought remarkable.

Appertaining to this third class, there is a "vexed question," about which a few sug-
gestions may not be inappropriate, which is this — ■" what is the proper time for heading
back these leading shoots, when the design of the operator is to benefit the fruit crop?"
According to some authorities, it would seem quite immaterial, since they direct amputa-
tion " when the branches become inconvenient!}' long." Most authors fix upon a date
subsequent to the " setting of thsfniit,'' and but a single writer within the limits of my
reading, has spoken of a date " anterior to the expansion of the bloom." It appears to
me, if external symptoms are to be consulted b}' the operator for his guidance, that the
degree of luxuriance indicated by the wood growth, during the first few days after the
embrj'O fruits become visible, should be regarded as the measure, both of the necessity of
amputation, and of the danger of delaying the process; and tliat in a case where the wood
growth was so rapid as to form a branch eight to ten feet in length ere the expansion of
the bloom, amputation delayed to that period, would be pregnant with greater danger to
the fruit crop, than entire omission of the process in a case of feeble wood growth.

L. Young.

Louisville, Ky., March, 1852.

HORTICULTURAL NOTES FROM MICHIGAN.

BY WM. ADAIR, DETROIT.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: Your correspondent, Mr. Lewis F. Allen, in the
March number of the Horticulturist, says " he would give a trifle to know if the old
French Pear trees on the Detroit river were ever struck with the blight," and complains
very justly, that cultivators in this quarter are so dilatory in giving the results of their
experience. Being far more familiar with the horticultural implements than the pen, it is
with some degree of diffidence that I say any thing on the subject, when there are so many
much more competent to do it justice.

In this vicinity there is nothing of the blight known, and we are told that " where io--
norance is bliss, 'twere folly to be wise." The old Pear trees line the banks of the river
for several miles, both above and below the city, and are still as healthy and vigorous as
ative trees in the forest; and notwithstanding their immense size, being fifty or sixty
h, and from two to three feet in diameter, they are sound and solid to the heart,

HORTICULTURAL NOTES FROM MICHIGAN.

bearing regularly and well. Onz hundred and twenty bushels have been gathzred Jrom a
single tree in a season. The fruit is not of the first quality, still it is ver}' good, where
there is little better to be had, and sells readily from four to six shillings per bushel. It
more nearly resembles the Early Crawford, [Catherine.' Ed.] than any other variety with
which I am acquainted, and there is but very little difference in the quality of the fruit,
among the old Pear trees around Detroit.

It is Worthy of notice, that all the old and magnificent specimens of the pear tree, that
have attracted so much attention among horticulturists, stand near the bank of the river,
so that their situation is never wet, although the soil is very retentive of moisture, (being
mostly a heavy black loam, from nine inches to a foot deep, with a stiff yellow clay sub-
soil.) Perhaps this may be accounted for by the settlers at that early period, locating on
the immediate banks of the river, which is evident from the shape of the farms, being only
narrow strips, about eighty rods wide, and running back three miles, all considering it
important to have a front on the river. By such an arrangement, each would have their
fishing ground, and would also be better able to protect themselves from any incursion of
the Indians.

Although the predominating soil is a stiff cla}- loam, still I have never seen so much
diversity of soil in so short a distance, as there is to be found in the immediate vicinity of
Detroit. At some period of the world's history, it was probably all submerged by the
waters of the lakes.

I have grafted many of the leading varieties of the Pear on some of the old trees that
stand on my place, and all .seem to grow as vigorously as the original trees themselves;
(they have not yet been grafted long enough to show specimens of the fruit,) viz: Onon-
daga, Angouleme, Bartlett, Virgalieu, Beurre Diel, Bloodgood, &c. This brings to mind
an anecdote that occurred in connexion with these pear trees. A Scotch friend came to visit
me at the season when the fruit was at maturity. Wishing to test their qualities, he
climbed the tree to assist himself, during which time he had been examing some of my la-
bels, which were, perhaps, not very legible to him ; Avhen he came down he accosted me
with — " queer peers," them; there is one marked the Vera Diel, a.n' anather Bloody-
good, an' I couldna' read the rest." After a laugh, I told him that he had not read the
names quite correctly.

I have noticed a disease in Pear trees brought from the east, which is, perhaps, the
blight, and which may throw some light on the subject. When Pear, Peach, Apricot,
Nectarine, and heart Cherry trees, are received in the fall, it is my invariable practice, to
plant them away in a cellar till spring, thus pj-eventing all possibility of their being Min-
ter killed; and this, too, would surely prevent the frozen sap blight. During summer the
diseased specimens begin to show a yellowish, sickly appearance in the leaves; by degrees
the tree is completely denuded of its foliage, black spots begin to exhibit themselves on the
branches and trunk of the tree; finally the bark shrivels, vitality being longest retained
immediately around the buds — this being the case sometimes, even throughout the win-
ter, the roots and stocks being still apparently fresh. Is this the blight.' I have never
observed this disease after the trees have grown one season, without the aforesaid .symp-
toms; may we not infer fi'om this, that the malady was in the tree before it was received?

The winter with us, has been very severe — -on the night of January 19, at 11 o'clock,
my thermometer indicated 17° below zero. Many of the Bourbon and Remontant roses
are killed down to the snow line. The beautiful new shrubs, Spirea primifolia, and
(ft rosea, have stood it bravelj- — not a particle of the wood is killed; this is cer
excellent quality, as they are the most beautiful of the new shrubs that I have

CRITIQUE ON The march horticulturist.

The Peach trees have also stood it well; the young wood was fully matured in the fall,
so that not a particle of it is killed. In examining the fruit buds, I find that many of them
exhibit the black speck in the heart; still they are not all killed, and if they are not more
than half destroyed, it is rather beneficial than otherwise, as the tentendy of the Peach
with us, is notoriously to over-bearing, and this saves thinning out.

Now this seems rather to combat your theory of the crop being destroyed when the
thermometer reaches 12" below zero; under certain circumstances this may be the case, but
that such is not the case under all circumstances, I am confident. During the winter of
1849, my thermometer indicated 18" below zero. This was shown by two different instru-
ments, one of London, the other of Philadelphia manufacture; they hung side by side, so
that there could be no mistake. Many prophecied that there would be no peaches next
season; the season, however, showed a different result, for we were rewarded with an ex-
cellent crop. Respectfully yours, Wii. Adair.

Detroit. March, 1852

CRITIQUE ON THE MARCH HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREY.S.

The Beautiful in Ground. — " Paint me as I am— warts and all!" said stern old Oli-
ver Cromwell to the artist who was taking his portrait. It is the strangest thing in the
world, when God has made a spot— and made it right — that men should want to spend a
small mint of money to pervert nature, and twist it into other shapes, merely to show that
they can do it. Why, anybody can mark out a chess-board, or build a flight of steps, with
earth, as well as with timber, although he may call one a rectangular lawn or garden, and
the other a line of terraces.

There is hardly a spot of earth of any magnitude, but what has a character of its own
— an expression, suitable, in the hands of a sensible man, to make it agreeable and plea-
sant. Then why not be content with its natural capabilities, which, when only '* slicked
up," gives it its own peculiar beauty, beyond all the expense and conventional expression
which spade, plough, or shovel, will add to it? The last paragraph of the article in ques-
tion, is living perpetual, truth.

The Sage Grape again. — This is a free country, and if folks prefer these hard-pulp-
ed, musket-ball grapes, why let them enjoy them, in all conscience. The more you tell a
man that his taste is bad, the more sure he is that yourself, not he, is mistaken. Hudi-
bras was right :

" Convince a man against his roill,
He's of the same opinion still."

The world is wide enough for all sorts of grapes — the Sage among them. I shall not,
however, send for it.

Cropping Vines under Glass.—l have the more confidence in this article, because Mr.
Cleveland grows his oicn gi apes, instead of growing them for others. The profesional
gardeners are good men, many of them; but I have found a majority of them so opinion-
ated, that they are troublesome. A cultivator of the soil, and a horticulturist, educated
abroad, to be successful in this country, must be caught young. It is no proof, because
g, or the mode of doing a thing, succeeds abroad, that it will equally succeed in
ith such a difference of climates and soils. There can be no more question

CRITIQUE ON THE MARCH HORTICULTURIST.

plant should be in some degree of maturity before its bearing properties are heavily taxed,
than that the animal creation should not be over-burthened when j'oung.

All growing things have their periods of infancy, maturity, and decay. The grand de-
sideratum is to understand their true nature, and treat them accordingly.

Vegetable Physiology, §*c. — Mr. Barry I believe to be right in principle, and I trust
he will be able to introduce the general practice to accord with such principle. But he'll
have a hard time of it. Take us Americans, " by and large," we prefer the " hop-skip-
and-jump" mode of doing things — in the pruning line, particularly.

Why won't Mr. Barry write a distinct, practical, familiar, understandable treatise on
this subject? It would certainly be an acquisition to our Pomological books, of which we
have several good ones. Still no treatise, be it ever so good, and ever so plain, will direct
the workman in all things, unless he be well grounded by study and observation, in the the-
ory of the particular fruit on which he works. The principle on which the plant groMs,
blooms, and bears; its habits; the soil on which it stands — all must be consulted. Dear
me! after a cart-load of reading, how little one knows of this subject when he sets him-
self to work in the orchard. It is the work of a life almost, to do these things success-
fully.

The Progressive Decline of the Vital Powers of a Plant. — Mr. Towni.ey is given
somewhat to speculation in this, and a previous article, on the Decline of Fruits; and he
certainly manages his subject with much ingenuity. I don't say that he is not right; but
I am not j^et convinced of it. Diseases, and various circumstances, affect plants, and va-
rieties of plants. The potato is probably the best subject to illustrate his theory, but not
at all conclusive. One great difficulty in arriving at the truth of the theory, is from the
absence of data to govern the origin of the varieties of the plants or fruits, in question;
and until he produces some reliable Jact of the kind, I fancy he will be slow to find be-
lievers to the extent of his speculations. I admit this last assertion is no proof that he is
wrong. Every great discoverer of a new thing, or a new principle — very different, how-
ever, from a new theory — has had the misfortune to combat prejudice, and ignorance; the-
ories are infinitely harder than facts to surmount, unless they be fortified by illustrations
conclusive and irrefragible.

Notes on Pears. — Mr. Allen looks on the dark side of the picture. Still he may be
partially right. Let us compute the number of Pear trees advertised by the different
nurserymen in this March number of the Horticulturist:
Daniel Brinkerhoof of Fishkill, has 20,000, of over 100 varieties.

William R. Prince & Co., of Flushing, have " 8,000 very large," besides an imtnense number of
all sizes; and as Mr. Prince does things on a great scale, we may safely set him down at
100,000 altogether.
A. Saul & Co., of Newburgh, have over 50,000 saleable trees, besides an equal number, as we

may infer, of smaller ones.
Hovey &, Co., of Boston, have 80,000 trees of all the popular varieties, to say nothing of the
?/«popiilar ones.

Here are 250,000 pear trees advertised by four nurserymen. Then there are fourteen
other advertisements of as many different nurser^'men, who may average 20,000 each,
making 280,000 trees more; in all, upwards of half a million of trees produced by eigh-
teen leading nvirseries. This amount may be safely multiplied by four, for nurseries not
represented, and we have the snug number of two millions of pear trees now on sale fit for
ing! One half of them, if sold, may be safely estimated as lost bj'- casualty
may be included losses in planting, blight, and destruction from other causes

CRITIQUE ON THE MARCH HORTICULTURIST.

are a million of trees to be planted, among probably a hundred thousand planters — certain
ly not a large number when so widely distributed.

This is simply statistics; and probably loose, and underated at that. So we see, that
with all the pear plantations, we are not likely to be overstocked with fruit of this kind for
many years. Go on, gentlemen pear-growers. Like our first i)arents, when driven from
Eden, the wide world is before you, where to choose; and if you should, perchance, be
like to overstock the country, the blight and other troubles will be sure to relieve your
solicitude. The pear is too delicious a fruit to be free from deadly maladies, like the ap-
ple; and the full luxury of its bounties is not to be enjoyed without " much tribulation."

Mr. A.'s " dozen varieties" may answer the purposes of some people, but I fancy few
pear growers will be content with such meager limits. "Variety is the spice of life," and
all the infinity of new varieties in pears will be tried, whether they have any " spice" in
them, or not, beyond the pungenc}^ of paying for & fancy article.

The fate of his "Orange Pear" is not alone in the annals of pomological experience.
Among them he may find many parallels in the want of public appreciation of one's fa-
vorites, and possibly now and then a man who may have mentally recited the blubbering
lamentation of the boy, in companionship with Mr. A.'s non-classical extract:
" I never had a piece of toast
Particularly good and wide,
But fell upon the sanded floor,
And always on the buttered side."

What will the Edifice costl — A very pertinent question, to which I never yet knew an
architect, or a builder, to give a correct answer. No one can read this extract without a
conviction that Mr. Cousin understands what he is writing about. Half of the misery
which arises from ambitious building, comes by underestimating the expense. If a rich
man applies to an architect, or builder, to furnish liim a plan and estimates, in some cases
— depending on the character of the said architect or builder — he will get a correct one.
In other cases, the applicant himself — screwing a bargain, as if buying a lot of unsaleable
goods, — insists upon the gratification of all his wants and all his fancies, and beats down
the price in everything to a degree of absolute meanness. His contractor, knowing his
man, goes to work. The employer, finding, in the progress of things, that he is to have
but a miserable clap-trap aifair, or to get a good house, must pay for it, and his feelings
and pride already enlisted in it, — or, worse than all, an insisting, persevering wife and
daughters at his back — I dislike to say a harsh thing of the gentler sex, but the}^ some-
times have the gift of persuasion to an eminent degree, — after an agony of hesitation, lets
loose the purse strings, and a riotous expenditure is the consequence. His troubles are now
perpetual, and at the conclusion, the question of what it has cost will never be out of his
mind. A successful man, who considers himself "cute" in his bargains, is apt to think,
when looking at his neighbor's house, which has cost him five, ten, or twenty thousand
dollars, as the case may be, that he by his own more adroit management may build one
equally good for half or two-thirds the money, not thinking that this matter of house-
building is out of his line. And so proceeds in the manner aboved stated.

There are two or three principles of action connected with building, in which every man
about to build should be strongly fortified. First of all, he should know how much mo-
ney he is willing to spend. Next, he should a.scertain what sort of a structure, or struc-
tures, of a suitable kind, he can get for his money. Then, adopt a plan that will be com
plete within the amount of his appropriation, with twent3'-five to thirty-three per
added to the builder's estimate. And, lastly, not to be in a hurry

CRITIQUE ON THE MARCH HORTICULTURIST.

These remarks, however, are in but a partial allusion to Mr. Cousin's article, which is
full of sound sense, observation, and fine taste. Churches, and other public buildings,
got up by corporations, associations, and other congregated bodies, are to be governed by
different considerations in their cost, as they are often designed in given styles and for
particular uses, which should be fully carried out, or let alone altogether. A tawdry af-
fectation of a fine thing, is the sheerest folly imaginable.

Frontispiece — Design for a Free School. — " La'-dies, hand gentle'm : the play which
I 'ave the 'oner to produce this hevening, is the celebrated Tragedy of 'Amlet. But, as
the unrivalled hactor who was to appear before you in the character of 'Amlet, has been
taken suddenly hill, the play will proceed with the part of 'Amlet left out!" Thus de-
claimed the unfortunate strolling manager before his village audience, in a calamitous di-
lemma. In like manner, the "Design" is here left out! When that appears, we'll talk
about the school house.

Neiv and Valuable American Grape. — I have heard of a good many such fruits. New,
no doubt; but of the rest, the less said, the better. " Perfectly hardy in Massachusetts."
Good; for Massachusetts is a cold country. " Free from mildew." Still better. " And
ripens before the Isabella or Diana." Capital! Now, let us know how the grape tastes;
and if it be as good as the "Rose Chasselas," it will answer to give a certificate in its
favor. It must, however, be a good deal better than the Diana, to merit that — for this
latter grape is a \ery common thing to look at, and inferior to the Isabella in flavor. When
any man can produce a native " American Grape," which has the fine flavor, and soft
pulp of the Isabella in the latitude of Long-Island, with its vigorous growth and prolific
bearing; or of the delicious aroma, productiveness, and vigor of the Catawba, at Cincin-
nati; and the said "American" grape Avill ripen freely in latitude 43° north, that man
ought to make a fortune out of it; and he probably will do so, if he possess foresight
enough to produce, ten, twenty, or a hundred thousand plants fit for sale simultaneousl3^
when startling the country with the intelligence, and giving the proof of its excellence! I
hope j'our correspondent is correct in his announcement.

The past Severe Winter. — Walking up street the other day, I met " the oldest inhabi-
tant," and being some years acquainted with him, we had a long talk " about the weath-
er." As the past winter has been the most severe of any in my own recollection, I taxed
his memory for its equal. He could name only the winter of 1810-11. My remembrance
fell back to that rigorous winter, then a small boy in this city of New-York; and although
I was then perfectly innocent of "degrees of Fahrenheit," I well recollected how, Avith a
thousand other little shavers, all bundled in great coat and mittens, and ears bound in
tippets, we turned out to s/ide, among the larger boys who skated on the " Collect," where
the " Bastile" now stands in Centre street; and also heard our father complain of the high
price of wood — coal was not much burned in New-York then — and that the corporation
bought up several thousand dollars worth of hewn building timber at the lumber-yards
as fuel for the poor, as the wood sloops could not approach the city, for the ice.

Still, I cannot altogether concur with Mr. Buist in his fears of the destruction of our
trees by the frost. " God tempers the Avind to the shorn lamb." And although the cold
has been extreme, it has been stead3^ An uncommon degree of cloudy Aveather has ac-
companied the cold, which has shut off the rays of the sun — frequently more destructive
in its effects, with much less frost, than we have now had. The peach, and some other
tender buds, may have suffered. Yet I think with all hardy fruits, there will be found
less destruction than in some comparatively mild winters. So far as my own observation
has occurred, the young Avood of our fruit trees is sound and healthy. The growth of last

THE ORANGE PEAR.

year was well ripened, and thus prepared for almost any degree of cold. The Osage
Orange, which has stood in my grounds many years, is perfectly fresh and sound to the
terminal bud of its last season's growth. In some mild winters, with the thermometer
not falling lower thad G" above zero, it has been killed back twelve inches of its previous
season's growth. This is esteemed rather a tender tree in our latitude.

The exceeding heat of the first half of last September, gave uncommon ripeness to the
young wood, and on examination, it will probably be found that, although the winter has
been rigorous almost beyond precedent in modern times, with that wise superintendence of
a kind Providence, which so mercifully governs the physical world, our vegetation will come
out as vigorous and fruitful as when it has scarcely been scathed by the frosts of winter.
Early in March, however, the winter broke through, and spring came out in its accustom-
ed joyousness. The Song-Sparrow, the Blue-bird, the Robin, and the red-winged Black-
bird, appeared among us with their welcome songs, and but for a timely check of a few
cold days, and a snow-storm about the 20th, as usual, we might have suffered more by
the untimely warmth of an early spring, than bj' the exceeding cold of the winter. If I
may venture a prediction, the year 1852 will prove one of uncommon fruitfulness.

Jeffreys.

Note. — In Critique on February number, inserted in April, page 175, read Genoa, for
" Geneva," and showmen for "shoemakers." I could not be guilty of slandering a wor-
thy class of our mechanics, in such a scurvy category as was there enumerated. J.

THE ORANGE PEAR— ONCE MORE.

BY L. F. ALLEN, BLACK-ROCK, N. Y.

I have read the communication of Col. Hodge, in the last Horticulturist, and am under
obligation to him for its history — in Buffalo. As to the rest of the matter, touching its
merits, he is parti}'' facetious, partly laudator}s and the remainder altogether atlooseends.
Setting aside the immaterial, (I perceive the Col. is somewhat of a law3'er, as well as po-
mologist,) part of his communication, which is quite well, I shall only notice what he re-
marks of the pear in question, and will hold him to the point, exactly.

I said that the Orange Pear is a thrifty grower, very hardy, and bears large crops every
year. In these qualities he agrees with me. I also say, that its valuable qualities are
" for preserving and baking," and in these it is eminently good, or the best that I have
known. In these last qualities. Col. Hodge takes issue with me. Now, what does he say
in reply? Why, he plays the attornej^ goes into a process of special pleading, and petti-
Jogs the case, without any rebutting testimony whatever. He quotes me as saying that
it "absorbs sugar perfectly," as I did say; to which he adds " and abundantl}'," which
I did not say. He also asserts that its flesh is " dry," which I did say, and " yellow,"
which I did not say. On the contrary, its flesh is a delicate white — as M-hite a fleshed
pear as any other. I said the color of the pear, (and by this any one would know I meant
the outside color, if he will refer to m^' description,) " is that of a rich lemon." He ac-
cuses me, in his self-instituted trial, of being a " partial presiding judge, on ex-parte tes-
timony," in which I am an " interested party." Very well; what has he to rebut this
timony," and " charge?" Why, nothing that is either evidence — or inference, even,
ever preserve the fruit — or bake it, to test its qualities? He quotes the action of

THE ORANGE PEAR.

the Pomological Convention, and states what was not the fact — that I introduced a "dish
of preserves," meaning, I presume, " preserved pears." The pears which I introduced,
were not "preserved," but "baked," which several of the Convention tasted, and pro-
nounced " good — very good."

He also compares it to the "Morello Cherry," and sa3^s that " he can cheerfully sub-
scribe to most of the good qualities given to it by Mr. A." Then why damn the pear
with faint praise and ridicule, as he afterwards does?

Another thing Col. Hodge ought to know — as a pomologist; and that is, that our best
table fruits, are seldom our best cooking and preserving fruits. The Morello Cherry is
one in point. Although an indifferent table fruit in the raw state, its peculiar valuable
qualities are developed only by cooking. Look at the books, where the acid and Morello
cherries are the most approved for cooking and preserving. So it is with apples, for dry-
ing, cooking, and cider. The heaviest musted apples, like the Harrison, Carpfield, the
Crabs, Red Streak, &c., are all indifferent eating apples, but the best of all for cider. So
for baking. The best table apples are far inferior to the Lyman's Pumpkin Sweet, a green,
hard, astringent fruit, not fit to eat raw, but probably the most luscious baking apple we
have. So with the Talman Sweeting, which, although a fair table fruit, is infinitely bet-
ter baked, and aside from the Pumpkin Sweeting, hardly has its equal. And why
should it not be so with the Orange Pear, an astringent fruit? Its quality is not develop-
ed without fire to bring it out, and burst its raw astringency. 3Mting pears— the best
eating varieties — are not good for preserving or baking. Their fine juices are dissolved in
the ripening process, and cooking only dissipates the juices, instead of developing them,
and they run off, leaving the flesh flaccid and tasteless, instead of retaining them within
the flesh, and perfecting them, as with the others. I have tried the melting pears for bak-
ing and preserving, by the side of the Orange Pear, and know their inferiority. I very
much doubt whether Col. Hodge has ever done as much.

To test this matter, I will make a proposition: Col. Hodge may take any of the melt-
ing pears of the best table quality, like the Virgalieu, Seckel, Louise Bonne de Jersey or
Bartlett, and preseve them, weighing alike, his pears and white sugar — and nothing else
shall be used, except water; and I will take the Orange Pear, observing the like direc-
tions, and the preserves made from them, shall be placed without designation, on the
fruit tables of the State Agricultural Society, at their annual meeting next February,
in Albany, and submitted to the examination of a competent committee, appointed by the
Society; and if the melting pears then, and there, considering the quantity of sugar used,
shall excel the Orange, I will surrender at once; but until then, I shall maintain the integ-
rity of the Orange Pear, which he has so ungratefully cast off, against all the inference he
may bring against it.

A word only, as to the ipse dixit of these fruit Conventions. They have done much
good, and I hope they will continue their proceedings. With the fruits in season before
them, and those with which they are all well acquainted, if not present, and in .season,
their opinions and decisions are valuable; but with a new fruit, of peculiar qualities, as in
the case of the Orange Pear, time, calm consideration, and trial is necessary to decide its
merits. The mere say-so of one or two partial or interested parties, should not govern,
and when decisions are so made, they are entitled to little weight. The Brown Beurre,
quoted by Col. IIodgr, is in point. I had tried the pear then only one year, and knew
little about it. It had not then done well with me; I wanted to condemn it — and so did
friend Hodge, with the rest of the " Doctors." It is an old adage, that wise men may
change their minds; fools never do. I hope neither of us are in the latter category

WARMING AND VENTILATING HOUSES.

As Col. Hodge has incidentally mentioned it, let me say a word about the
Porter Apple. — It has borne M'ith me only two or three years, on young trees. Yet
so far, I think it the very best cooking apple of its season, say from early in September to
the middle of November. It is a fair, and rich table apple, but rather tart to my taste, as
I am not partial to tart fruits. It will cook in almost any way — either bake, stew, or fry,
in a very few minutes. It is, besides, of good size, large, fair, uniform, well distributed
on the tree, and bears most abundantly. As a desirable house-keeping, and market apple,
its equal is seldom to be found. I shall cultivate it largely. The tree grows vigorously,
the wood is strong, and the tree has a finely spreading top. In fact, I have yet seen no
objection to it in any particular, of wood or fruit. Lewis F. Allen.

Black.Rock, April, 1652.

WARMING AND VENTILATINa HOUSES.

BY A D. G., CLINTON, N. Y.

I have read your various articles upon heating and ventilating houses, with much in-
terest. And this, partly because of the great general importance of the subject, but espe-
cially, because of its connection with my own health and comfort. A pulmonary aifection
has driven me for two winters past, to the South, in search of a milder and purer air than,
with our present modes of arranging houses, could be found at the North. In your work
on Country Houses, you concede, if I remember rightly, that the best modes now prac-
ticed for securing a warm and wholesome air in our homes in winter, are most expensive,
and not likely to be adopted by persons of moderate income. If any plan can be contriv-
ed, suitable for general use, it would certainly be a great public benefit. Profiting by
some of your own suggestions, allow me to propose a plan which may lead towards such
a result.

For the month of October, November and April, open fire-places, with Arnott's chim-
ney-valve, in every room, will answer all needful purposes. But when December's blasts
begin to blow, place your stove in any convenient part of the room, enclose it in a taste-
ful Kussia iron case, leaving a space between the two on all sides, of six or eight inches.
Let a door be made in the sheet iron case, corresponding to the door of the inner stove,
only somewhat larger, to facilitate putting in fuel. Have a place in the outer stove sunk
in over against the draught of the inner, so that the draught will communicate with the
air of the apartment, and not with that between the two stoves. Cover the top of this
sheet iron case with an ornamental grate, or wire gauze, surrounding the urn of water
standing on the inner stove. Now connect this apparatus with the air out of doors, by a
tin conductor, from three to five inches in diameter, leading from your cellar window,
along under the parlor floor, and then up through tlie floor, immediately under the stove,
into the open space before described. Insert a register in the pipe directly under the stove,
by turning which with your foot, you can easily regulate the quantity of fresh air you
wish to admit.

These outer stoves can be made quite ornamental, and can be put up in as many rooms
as you desire to warm.

The objects proposed to be gained by this arrangement are obvious. Fresh air will be
constantly introduced into the house, and yet not admitted into the apartment occupied,
t has passed around the heated sides of the stove, and become somewhat warmed,
state, no harm can accrue from it to the health of the most delicate, while if a simi-

THE GRAPE IN VINERIES.

lar volume of cold air were permitted to pour directly into the room, the health of all would
be endangered. With this apparatus for supplying pure, warm air, and Aruott's chimney
valve for carrying it off as it becomes vitiated, should we not have a simple, economical,
and efficient mode of warming and ventilating country houses?

The only practical difficulty in it which has occurred to me is, that with such a current
of cold air continually surrounding the inner stove, there might not be sufficient heat ra-
diated to warm the room. Perhaps, however, the warm air pouring out from the top of
the sheet iron case would accomplish this. If it would furnish 60" or 65'^ Fahr., it would
give as high a temperature as a person ought to live and sleep in during the extreme cold
and fluctuations of our northern winters. Please give us your opinion as to the practica-
bility of the plan above suggested. Respectfully yours, A. D. G.

Clinton, N. Y.

Remarks. — What our correspondent suggests is a great improvement on that popular
abomination — the common stove. Just such a ventilating stove, is, in fact, already in use
in the common schools of Boston — " Clark's Patent ventilating Stove," (described in our
" Country Houses," p. 471.)

But the real difficulty in all stoves lies in the high temperature to which the surface of
hot iron, which forms the stove itself, is liable to be heated, and the certainty with which
hot iron robs the air of its purity, when so heated. If a stove could be invented which, in-
stead of heating the air by presenting a surface of hot iron, backed by red-hot coal or
wood, did so by presenting a surface backed by hot water — or, in other words, if the iron
stove were cased with a thin space of water all round, and the radiated heat came from
this surface of boiler, which could never be heated above boiling point, and would, there-
fore, never rob the air of its purity — such a stove, with the supply of pure air introduced
as our correspondent points out, would be perfect, quite healthful, and satisfactory.

Much the most genial and healthful temperature yet attained, is that from hot water
pipes, or steam pipes. We notice, with pleasure, that the Astor House, and many of the
large hotels and steamboats, are of late heated in this way. Some of the manufactories
are endeavoring to invent a boiler and pipes sufficientl)^ compact and cheap, to answer as
a substitute for the common furnace, in heating houses. It is undoubtedl}'^ true, that
enough heat is wasted in the kitchen flue of many dwelling houses, to heat the whole
house most completely and salubriously, if it could be made to heat a hot water appara-
tus, connected with a system of ventilation, by which all the heat could be retained in the
house. Patience, and continual experiment, will, Ave trust, bring about this desirable re-
sult, for, with the exception of the Russians, no civilized people breathe so much poison-
ous air, as we Americans of the present day. Ed.

THE GRAPE IN VINERIES.

BY T. W. L. Jr., YONKERS, N. Y.

Is there any rule for the distance of grape vines from the glass in different latitudes?

From my own experience in this part of the state, I would recommend about nine inch-
es, but in a more southern climate, where the sun is more powerful, and there is a longer
continuance of heat, I am afraid this is too close, and maj' injure the vines. Some of m}"-
correspondents in the state of Virginia, are anxious to put up warm and cold graperies,

you have any information on this point, you will confer a favor by replying
communication.

CULTURE OF STANDARD PLANTS

Graperies have now become so common, that few persons who can afford it, will do with-
out them, when for a moderate outlay, they can have from ten to fifteen pounds a day of
the different varieties of this delicious fruit, for many months in the year; and any infor-
mation as to the character of the buildings, and growth and treatment of the vines, must
prove valuable to 3'our subscribers.

There is another point in this connection, to which I beg to ask your attention. Is it
advisable to go to the expense of a liue in a cold house, not for the purpose of forcing, but
to be used occasionally to get rid of damp and prevent mildew, and also to preserve the
crop through the early winter months. In the southern states I should judge there is even
greater danger of mildew, almost the only difficulty to guard against in the growth of the
vine under glass, and which, in our climate, renders the out-door culture impracticable.
At the south they have still more dampness, as is shown by the moss and other parasites
with which their live oaks and other magnificent trees are covered; and it appears to me,
that a flue for the purposes I have mentioned, will even be more necessary there than
here. Yours, T. W. L. Jk.

Yonkers, April. 1S3'2.

Remarks. — Our correspondent's conjecture about a greater distanceof the vine from the
glass, being needful in more southern parts of the countr}^ is quite correct. Yet as the
grape leaf needs a great deal of strong, pure light, care must be taken not to go too far,
(for the farther from the glass, the more the light is decomposed,) and twelve inches is
far enough, in all cases. A more important point still, is to have the roof glass uniformly
clear, and free from v,a\y lines — which invariably burn the foliage, and thereby injure the
vines.

A common brick flue would be a most useful appendage to even a cold vinery, in all
parts of the southern countrjf where there is much dampness in summer. A fire would
only be needed occasionally, and the fact that a brick flue is a rapid absorber of moisture,
and that wood is the fuel most readily obtained all over the south, point out this as the
cheapest and best mode of heating them. By having one end of the vinery — say the north
end, terminated by an enclosed shed — the furnace might be placed in this, and the flue
carried from it through the house and back, above the surface of the border, without any
loss of space.

"We may add, that the farther south, the more imperative the necessity of placing the
span-roofed vinery, (the most economical and best form for a cold vinery,) on the north
and south, instead of the east and west line. In the former case, the violence of the mid-
day sun is avoided, and in the latter it is greatly increased, to the manifest injury of the
vines. Ed.

HINTS ON THE CULTURE OF STANDARD PLANTS.

FROM THE LONDON IIORT. MAGAZINE.

How strange a confirmation of the truism, " Too much familiarity breeds contempt,"
may be f tund in the world of flowers and plants! The most beautiful things in the vege-
table kingdom are neglected when they become abundant, and comparatively worthless
subjects are courted and esteemed while they are scarce. We may hear a beautiful melody
e are nauseated with it, and we may see flowers and plants so common th
them with contempt. But men ought to endeavor to correct this morbid appet

CULTURE OF STANDARD PLANTS.

novelty, and cure themselves of their ill-founded dislike to subjects that are plentiful
But plants are first doomed to neglect for their abundance, and many have been actually
thrown aside. It is with a view to bring some of these subjects from their lowly station
or their oblivion, that we have commenced this article, and we hope we shall be able to
impress upon the reader the necessity of looking well to the properties of a plant before he
adopts a novelty or rejects an old favorite. Some of the subjects we have mentioned in
the following remarks, will bear comparison with the most valuable of modern introduc-
tions; and it behooves the lovers of the garden, the owners of an establishment, to insist
on their being brought forward conspicuously, for they deserve it more than a vast ma-
jority of costly and novel plants that bear a heavy price.

The Agapanthus. — We class this splendid subject among neglected plants, because in
the few places where it is seen, it is hardly worthy of the name, from the imperfect manner in
which its growth and flowers, in nearly all cases appear. It may be familiar with some of our
readers when described as aleeky-looking plant, with an upright stem, and a small mop-like
head of blue or whitish flowers. Being unable to sustain itself through our sharn frosts,
it is usually grown in pots, but as it is very nearly hardy, it is too often kept among the
plants of secondary importance, in the cold frames or pits. Like all other subjects of
which the head of flowers is the leading object, there should never be a second head al-
lowed on the plant, and the offsets should be removed as soon as they are large enough to
take off". The usual culture is marked by that kind of inattention that is seen to result in the
starvation of the plant, and the consequent smallness of its bloom. They are potted and put
among the ordinary miscellaneous contents of a cold frame; they have to endure all sorts
of privations and visitations calculated to hurt plants: the want of water and room to
grow in, and the hot beams of the sun to bake up the root, are their lot at one season;
and at another, they are deprived of air and suffer damp. In short, they are fairly classed
among neglected plants, and it matters not how soon they are rescued from the degraded
rank they at present hold. We have seen, by the occasional introduction of the plant in
flower among the collections at the shows, the state in which modern gardeners think it
e.xhibitable. To us, who have seen the head of flowers twice as large, and the growth of
the plant handsome, the best we have ever seen at exhibitions was a comparative weed.
The only way to grow it is as a single plant; no offsets should be allowed on any condi-
tion to grow large enough to rob the parent of any nutrition, for although offsets may have
their own roots, and may not receive much nourishment direct from the principal plant,
the roots themselves take from the soil that which the main plant requires. The rules
may be laid down something after this fashion for the production of the Agapanthus
in its best possible state. We might observe, perhaps, that although the several
kinds will supply bloom collectively from April till October, Agapanthus umbellatus is our
favorite. This and A. variegatus bloom in April and May, pra^cox in June and July,
minor in August and September, and albidus in September and October. All are pretty.

These plants should be separated every year, and the separate plants potted in the size
best adapted for the roots, in most cases size 32; in some cases, if smaller plants, the size
48 will do to commence. The soil should be the richest loam obtained from rotted turf,
three-fourths, one-fourth cow dung and sand, with the impurities of every kind washed
out. Choose a plant with a good solid heart and plenty of leaves, place potsherds or crocks
about two inches thick in the bottom, and plant the subject so that the collar shall be close
up to the surface, that is to say, the root only shall be underneath, for if the heart of the
is sunk at all, it retards the healthy growth, and blanches the leaves. Let
in autumn, and place them in a green-house, but where no fire is kept, or in a

pit that is very dry with a hard bottom, and so contrived that wet shall run off when it
runs through the pots; give air in mild weather by entirely removing the lights, but v/heu
the winds are cold or boisterous, or the rain cold' as well as when frosty, keep the lights
on and close down, or tilted a little on the side or end opposite the weather. What is re-
quired is steady growth without checks.

When the pots are filled with roots let the plants be shifted to those of a larger size,
and remove all the side shoots or suckers with a sharp knife, or by pulling off without
disturbing the ball of earth any more than can be helped. You want all the growth in one
central heart or plant, and nothing to detract from it. They may then be returned to the
frame, and greater care should be taken than ever to prevent a check. Also the suckers
must be removed directly as they appear, and not be allowed to grow at all. If the shift be-
fore is from forty-eights to thirty-twos, they must next be changed to twenty-fours, and
from these to sixteens, but the latter shift may not be required till the spring. The rule
is to shift them when the roots begin to mat or cross one another next the side of the pot.
It may happen that in March or April they throw up their flower stem, and the instant
they show this the ball should be examined, to see if the roots reach the side; if they do,
give them another shift, whatever size they may be in, and water freelj', but never let
them be watered when the soil is moist. They are now doubly sensible of a check, and
therefore require the more care. They like to be cool, but never cold. If they bloom the
first spring after planting, it is never so large as when they go over a second; but with
care the bloom of a first spring is twice the size of those we are used to see in plants neg-
lected in the ordinary way, by being thrust with other half-hardy things in a cold frame,
sometimes only half glazed, sometimes open in bad weather, and at other times closed in
mild. Continue to remove suckers or offsets until the bloom is over. Those plants which
do not throw up their flower must be attended to in the same way throughout a second
season, and during the summer months must not be subjected to the full influence of the
sun all day. They should be placed on a dry bottom, where they will have only the morn-
ing and evening sun, and not the full mid-da}" beams, for it onl}^ dries up their roots next
the pot, and checks them as fatally as frost would in winter. Nor must they be exposed
to heavy rains. The best management through the summer is to keep them in the pots,
but to cover them in the middle of the day with the glass, tilted all round, and a slight
transparent cloth upon the glass. We are prepared to hear many saj^ this is taking a
great deal of useless trouble, but if they will try a few this wa}^, and let the others remain
neglected as usual, with the offsets accumulating in the pots, and the plants sometimes wet
and sometimes dr}^ sometimes burning in the sun, and at other times perished with the
frost or cold winds, they will soon admit that they have never seen the Agapanthus um-
bellatus in its true character; for in perfection it is a noble plant.

Orange akd Lemon Trees. — There is something aristocratic in the appearance of an
orange or lemon tree, and although they require no more pains than man}' plants which
are nursed and taken great care of, there is nothing much more neglected. In all estab-
lishments there are some overgrown, long-legged, pot-bound plants, that exhibit all the
symptoms of neglect or positive ill-usage; generally speaking, the mould they are in is
sour and clogged together, the roots half rotted, the trunk or stem covered with scale or
vermin of other kinds, the leaves small and yellow. If we see younger plants, that have
only been in tlie country a year, it is the same so far as it has been carried; at the proper
season they are not potted; they are making stunted growth, or are otherwise neglected,
ther it is that the plant is misunderstood, or they are considered not worth the trou-
ot one place in twenty is a proper asylum for these trees; and when they aie intro-

CULTURE OF STANDARD PLANTS.

duced in fine health, they generally get worse and worse, until they are scarcely worth
the trouble of recovering or of throwing away. When the tubs, or pots, or boxes in which
they grow are too big to move about, and are crowded altogether into a receptacle hardly
big enough for a third of their number, we can feel the difficulty of getting at them to
give the proper attention, and contemplate the certainty of their taking harm from the
confinement, their want of air, light, and water, or from too much wet, with nothing to
either drain it off or blow it off. We care not where anybody goes, all the old establish-
ments are alike, and with few exceptions, where everything is first rate, it is rare to find
either an orange or a lemon tree, or any of the tribe of shaddock, citron, or lemon, in
what could be fairly called good health and condition. But for its claims on our skill and
industry, where is the subject can beat any of the tribe? Its odoriferous qualities are not
excelled by those of any subject in cultivation. Perhaps the Daphne indica odorata may
take its place by the side of these, but certainly if there be any diflerence the Daphne
must give place to the orange and citron tribe. The flowers are delicate and graceful, the
tree evergreen and handsome, and tractable in every sense of the word, for it may be
trained a dwarf, a pyramid, or a standard. It may be budded, grafted, or struck from
cuttings, each will grow in the stock of the other, and the tree, kept in good order, will,
during a great part of the year, have flowers, and fruit of all sizes and states of ripeness
and unripeness. But no tree sooner feels the effect of neglect, and none have been more
subject to it. The shaddock is the most rapid growing of the whole family, and therefore
is strongly recommended for stocks, and all the kinds will graft or bud well on it, and
grow vigorously. Our first business is to direct something to be done with the old and
ugly trees already about the country.

Management op Old Trees in bad IlEALTn. — Cut in the head to half its present
size, and cut out altogether some of the weakest branches, that there may be room for a
healthy growth from the shortened branches; at the same time that the head is cut in,
take the roots out of the tub or pot, and if the ball be very hard, damp, and black, soak
it some hours, and wash out all the earth. Fill the box, pot, or tub, thus : first put plenty
of crocks, to secure good drainage, next the loam from rotted turves three-fourths, one-
fourth cow-dung and peat, the cow-dung very much damped into mould, and the peat,
which should be turfy, broken small, — the whole well mixed; some of this on top of the
turves, to make a bed, as it were, for the bottom of the roots, and the pot, tub, or box,
must be filled up with the compost, tucked in between and well shaken. Orange and lemon
trees that appear to be doing no good, and growing no form, or an ugly one, with naked
branches, and weakly shoots, may by this operation, be renovated in two or three seasons
to full beauty and bearing. But some conditions must be observed in all cases; first, that
as the rotten, decayed, and closely matted portions of root must be removed, a large por-
tion of the head must be removed also; second, that the roots must be pressed on all sides
with the soil, and this can only be done with great care, and pressing the earth between
them with a blunt piece of wood. It is, however, better in all cases to freely prune the
roots, to facilitate this part of the operation, and to cut the head in to a complete skele-
ton, and shorten the whole of the branches very much, to compensate for the loss of roots,
and begin the larger quantity of new wood. Let the trees thus treated be placed in a close bouse
for some time, until the new growth has started, when all the shoots Avanted to form a
good full head, must be left on, but others, where they are too thick, must be rubbed off
before they waste the resources of the tree unnecessarily. When the)'' are fairly started,
may have air in mild weather, but should be shaded from the mid-day sun. Wat
st not be done too often, but efiectually, when done at all; and the pots or

CULTURE OF STANDARD PLANTS.

must either be on feet, or propped up with bricks, or blocks of wood, to let the air go
freely underneath them, and the water that comes through them run away. If there be
any portions of the tree so bare of shoots as to spoil the appearance, inoculate a few buds
here and there, of the same kind as the head already worked, for nothing is more unsight-
ly than a decided deficiency in the head or bush, nor is there anything much more easily
rectified by means of budding or grafting. This attention, bestowed on old trees that are
now so many emblems of idleness, in old establi.shments, would soon change their aspect;
for once in sound wholesome compost, instead of the filth once recommended,they would grow
vigorously, and soon bloom. Choose March for the operation; it is on all accounts the
best month. As the general culture of the Orange, forms the subject of a treatise already
written for this work, we shall not enlarge upon the management now, but we strongly
recommend all who possess such specimens as we have mentioned, to kill them, or cure
them, directly.

Daphne Tndica Odorata. — This beautiful and highly odoriferous plant, is one of the
most neglected subjects in cultivation: a good specimen is as scarce as a Queen Anne's far-
thing; and he is a lucky man who ever possessed one, if, indeed, he be not lucky who has
ever seen one. Its habit of growth is, perhaps, the very worst that can be imagined, if it
be neglected; and we never saw a large one that was not so. Its general growth is with
naked stems that will not support themselves, with a bunch of short branches towards
the end, too thick to grow well; and three out of four of the bunches of flowers on old
plants, are deformed or cocks-comb like, and so crowded that the flowers cannot open.
Young plants may, however, be grown better, if properly worked, and carefully managed;
and when a specimen can be got not too long in the legs, and with half a dozen bunches
of bloom, it is not only pretty, but of exquisite fragrance, and tolerably lasting. "We
have tried to bring old plants into shape and decent growth, until we are almost tired.
There is but one proper remedy, and that is to cut them down; but this will not always
answer; sometimes they will not break, and the plant is lost; at other times we have
been more successful. We now, when we get hold of an antiquated specimen, with its
crooked stems bending in all directions, and its bunches of green at the ends, sink the pot
in a pit, lay some of the branches, and inarch others on spurge laurel, and so make it at
least answer the purposes of propagation. If it breaks near the bottom, so much the bet-
ter; because, when we release all the layers and grafts from the old stock, any little
growth there is greatly strengthened, and we make the most of it. We have, in some in-
stances, found them break well all after the branches were cut back to a few inches from
their base; and when we saw how they were breaking, we have been able to preserve as
many shoots as would make a good bushy plant, and rub off or cut away the rest. In
growing them, they must not be excited; the slower they grow the better, so that they
do grow. A cold pit is the best protection, because it keeps off rain, or admits it, accord-
ing as it may be wanted or otherwise, and it can be made to keep off frost, without want-
ing fire heat. The soil for these plants should be loam from rotted turves, two-thirds, and
one-third equal proportions of cow-dung or horse-dung thoroughly decayed, and turfy
peat. These should be chopped, and rubbed through a very coarse sieve, that would let
a bullet through. In cutting down old plants, or before submitting them to the process of
laying or inarching, they should be turned out of their pots, and put into larger ones; but
if they are to be cut back at once, the}' may be root pruned if necessary, and for this pur-
pose a good deal of the ball must be removed, and, as soon as it is changed, the plant, or
the stool of the plant, should be placed in a house of rather warmer temperature
common green-house, for eight or ten days. There are many good nurseries, at

HORTICULTURE IN WESTERN NEAV-YORK.

which they have not a single specimen of this very excellent plant. They seem to us to do
better upon their own bottoms, than they do worked; for sometimes we have seen a good
many that have gone off among a far less quantity that stood. "Whether this has arisen
from the stocks not being worked in a proper state, or their not being well established, we
have yet to learn: we have had many that have stood for years with care and proper cul-
ture. Young plants should be kept cool when they have once fairly started. They can-
not be better provided for than in a common garden-frame, with a light over them to
take off and put on at pleasure. The branches should be thinned if they come too thick,
and they want a little regulating and pruning; but it must not be forgotten that the blooms
come at the ends of the branches, and therefore that, although branches may be thinned
out, none must be shortened till after they have bloomed. When they have done flower-
ing, they may be trimmed into shape, and left to make their proper growth.

ON THE PROGRESS OF HORTICULTURE IN WESTERN NEW-YORK.

BY W. R. COPPOCK, BUFFALO

There is probably no subject that has engaged the attention of the staid citizens of the
middle and western part of our Union, during the past decade, more than orcharding and
gardening, and that too with a business-like discriminating judgment, taking advantage of the
present progress of the arts and sciences, and calling to her aid these accessory auxilia-
ries so far as they have a bearing upon this subject.

A peculiar feature in the character of the American, (and indeed the immigrant soon
feels the inductive spirit,) is to possess a homestead, whether it may be a town or village
lot, or larger plot, to "farm." It must be his; the fee simple is necessary to his comfort
and happiness. Hence it is, that in no other country are there so many owners of the
soil, and nowhere so few landlords. Herein lies largely the stability of our institutions
and the patriotism of our people. The sacreduess of these consecrated spots make men
jealous of their prerogative, and ardent defenders of them in time of external strife.
" Those shocks of eorn," said Xenophon, " inspire those who raise them with courage
to defend them."

The spot possessed — the orchard and garden soon take form. The busy housewife, by
hook or crook, has her roses and other posies scattered hither and thither in tasteful plats,
while the manor lord may not so easily, but yet surely plant his fruit grounds. But at
the onset lies a diflBcultj^ — with what varieties? In tillage, in composting, and in drain-
ing the wide spread experience of the past, through the press, has become his; but, in the
selection of his fruit, he finds confusion worse confounded — the immensity in the cata-
logues bewilder his conceptions, and he applies to a friend to aid him in his dilemma. His
list reads: apples, Baldwin, Esopus Spitzenberg, Rhode Island Greening, &c. An Ohio
cousin, at this juncture drops in, and expresses the greatest consternation at the mistaken
selection. " Why," says he, " I and my neighbors have tried these fruits and condemn-
ed them long since. Your Baldwins and Spitzenbergs go off with the dry and hitter rot,
and my neighbor, Mr. Springer, has twenty trees of the Rhode Island Greening, twenty
years old, which he says are not worth twenty cents! You had better take the Cooper,
Belmot, and Yellow Belleflower." Hum! ! how doctors disagree; our neighbor on the
says the Cooper is " cornfed," and would not have it within fifty miles of his
and as to the Belmont and Yellow Belleflower, they will not ripen in western New-

HORTICULTURE IN WESTERN NEW-YORK.

York." Thus it is we find that all fruits are more or less local in their qualities. The
next in the list come pears. Ah! Pears. What a vision comes over us in the category
here presented. The Belgian, the French, and the German, and a host of other foreign
Bonchretians, besides no small number of natives meet us at the onset, to puzzle and per-
plex the novice in these latter days. Who does not revert with peculiar gusto to his lus-
cious fill in boyhood days, of fox-grapes and sugar pears, aye, and will not soon forget
it. Your correspondents have lately been sparring over the " Orange Bergamot.'^ How
strangely whimsical are opinions at different periods of men's lives. Early associations,
boyhood tastes, and even contingent circumstances, all conspire to form and fix opinion — I
will not say judgment, in more things than years.

Here I must tell a story, in point, too good to be lost; it occurred some ten or dozen
years ago, when the dwarf and standard Beurres of the present day, had not got thus far
in the west. A former desired to plant a collection of pears, having occasionally tasted
this fruit in older towns, but without a knowledge of their names, and applied to his
neighbor the nurserj^man for his 6esi trees and advice. "Why, yes sir," he replies,
" you want a dozen of my Orange Berganiot, there is no other pear worth cultivating."
" Well, I will get my ground prepared and call for them." Half a dozen years slipped
b}^ before this was accomplished, when the farmer again calls upon the nurseryman for
his dozen Orange Bergamot. But lo! the spirit of the age has been moving, the " Hor-
ticulturist" had dawned, the orb of pomonal lore had risen higher in the scale of intelli-
gence, and the Orange Bergamot was an out-cast from that nursery. To contend with
the worthj'' Col. and recapitulate his former opinions, his marked enthusiasm for its fame
and luscious qualities, was to no purpose, — that pear could not be got there!!

Co-existent with the horticultural press, and the pomological works which have in rapid
succession appeared, horticultural societies have sprung into active existence, in nearly
every well organised community; and to these associations mainly, may the electric
changes in the astonishing increase of fruit grounds, and the enthusiasm evidenced in flora
culture, be attributed. These exhibitions are in fact schools, where all maj^ see and learn
the mysteries and practices of the art. Here taste is formed, and instructive, free dis-
cussions and comparisons are made by every member ; points of excellence or faults in fruits,
flowers, or vegetables, are shown; and he who runs majM'ead, and although, occasionally,
some one maybe disposed to apply to himself his neighbor's thunder, and detail it through
the press as his own fulmination, 3^et the error is of that pacific nature that no moral
harm is done, while the masses may be benefitted.

A novel feature, as adopted by our Buffalo Horticultural Society, I beg leave to mention
for the benefit of other kindred societies. During the winter season — that is, between the
auttimnal and the following spring exhibition, and while the orchard and garden are en-
joying that repose which nature demands as a restorer of exhausted fruitfulness, our soci-
ety meets semi-monthly at the residence of a member, adjourning from one to another, as
then agreed upon — assembling at 4 P. M., and partaking of a collation during the evening.
Fruits in their season, are contributed by the members generall}', which are cut and fully
discussed, as also the experience and practice of the grower. The subjects of debate are,
of course, those only pertaining to the objects of the society, and it is remarkable how
quickly the novice becomes enlisted in the subject, and is forthwith posted up on the cur-
rent pomonal literature of the day. Among these gentlemen communers, may be found
our friend of the apple dilemma, as also he of the Orange Bergamot experience, neither
of whom any longer entertain a doubt as to fit selections for their grounds, or their co-rel-
ative merits. These meetings are always full of interest, entertainment, and instruction;

ANNUALS FIT FOR BEDS OR MASSES.

and although often not exceedmg, perhaps, a score of members at each, rural art and ru-
ral labor, receive an impulse that is quckening, and ever onward. And neither are its be-
neficial effects confined to narrow limits, for whatever tends to beautify home, or to create
by growth a nutritious and healthful fruit or vegetable, is indeed a national blessing.
"Would that these pacific and domestic associations should more often take the place of po-
litical caucuses, and local municipal wranglings.

At the organization of our Society, in '45, there was but one other similar association,
(the Aurora,) in this state. Horticulture proper, was confined to the banks of the Hud-
son, and the neighborhood of New-York citv. Fruits in Western New-York, there cer-
tainly were, but who could find them.'' The markets possessed them not, and neither
were they aught but common vaiieties, at best. Yet these stocks have been rendered
available. The admirable climate for fruit growth throughout this section of country, has
induced the most energetic efforts. Old trees have been headed-in and engrafted anew,
and within the influences of this society alone, tens of thousands oi trees have been plant-
ed, which are now more or less in bearing. An immediate neighbor has marketed his an-
nual crop of seven hundred barrels of Baldwins — and another a like quantity of Koxbury
Russets; these, with numberless orchards scattered around us, have their thousands of
pears and peaches, under the best systems of culture.

While these astonishing facts are being annually augmented in our midst, there are those
among the more recent planters, who indulge the lacrymose vein for future results. Never-
theless, it is a well settled axiom, founded upon the experience of the past, that choice and
well grown fruits, however greatly they may be multiplied, have never yet produced a
cessation in the demand for them.

Western New- York is doubtless destined to be the great focus of fruit culture. The fa-
cilities for transportation in every direction, by railroad, lakes and canals, will enable the
orchardist to dispose of his surplus at remunerating profits — while thousands of barrels
of our fruit are annually sent to New- York, and then shipped to southern ports — the West
Indies, and even to England and France. There are thousands, also, that thread our
lakes for the great west. Even Ohio buys our apples, considering them superior to her
own, and will gladl)^ take our pears and plums also.

He who plants a tree, improves his estate, while he who plants a thousand, judiciously
selected, and systematically taken care of, provides an inheritance having the four-fold be-
nefits of riches, honors, patriotism, and happiness. Yours truly, W. R. Coppock.

Lpng-Sight Place, Buffalo, April 15, 1852.

ANNUALS FIT FOR BEDS OR MASSES.

BY AN AMATEUR.

Persons who are late in getting their flower gardens in order, or who have at hand very
limited means for this purpose, will find it wise to resort to annuals. As much the gay-
est and most beautiful effect is produced by sowing the dwarfer sorts of annuals in masses
or beds, (each plant about four or five inches apart when thinned out,) and as many an-
nuals are too tall, or too coarse in habit, to be fit for this purpose, I send for the benefit
of the inexperienced, a list of the best annuals for this purpose.
Mexican Ageratum, {Jgeratum Mexicana) — Delicate pa/e blue, grows a foot high
ers all the summer and autumn.

THE YUCCAS— AS HARDY ORNAMENTAL PLANTS.

Golden Bartonia, {liartonia aurea)-~Very fine yellow, cup-shaped flower, a foot high —

showy.
German Asters— A great variety of shades, of red, pink, and blue, plain and quilled —

very ornamental in beds — six to nine inches high.
Venus' Paint Brush, ( Caccalia cocciiiea) — Flowers scarlet— blooms abundantly for a long

time — one foot.
Parti-colored Collinsia, ( Collinsia 6ico/or )-^Purple and white — very pretty — six inches

— should be sown with one-half Schisanthus, to keep up the bloom till autumn.
Dwarf Convolvulus, ( Con«oZ«u^iis jninor) — Blue and white; eight inches high; opens

only in the morning — blooms all the season.
Chinese Pink, {Dlanthus c/nncnsis)— Variegated, crimson, purple and white; one foot;

the double variety the finest.
California Poppy, (Eschscholtzia California) — Bright yellow, and E. crocea, orange —

bloom abundantly; six inches high.
Palestine Mustard, {Erysinuni Peroffskianurri) — Deep orange; one foot high.
Blue Entoca, (Entoca viscida) — Dark blue; six inches high.
Dwarf Trailing Lobelia, (^Lobelia gracilis) — Delicate blue; three inches; blooms a long

time.
Blue Nemophila, {Nemophila insignis) — Sky blue; very pretty and delicate; five inch-
es— (likes the shade.)
Spanish Nigella, (Nigella Hispanica') — Pale blue; curious and pretty; nine inches.
Drummond's Phlox, (^Phlox Drmmnondi) — Various shades, from white, crimson, dark

purple and striped; nine inches high; makes fine beds.
Portulaccas — various colors — white, purple, crimson, yellow and strioed — each sort should

be massed by itself — will grow and bloom in any soil: four inches high.
Schisanthus — Of several species, the hardiest and best for beds are iS". pinnatus, (lilac,)

and S. splendens, variegated — both about one and a half feet high.
Gilia tricolor — Blue, white, and yellow, very delicate and pretty, makes excellent beds —

growing nine inches high.
Blue Tweedia, (^Tweedia ccrulea) — ^Pretty trailing blue annual, ten inches.
Rose Lychnis, (Lychnis Cali-rosa) — Flesh color, profuse bloomer, four inches.

The season is so late, that any of the above may be sown with success till the 10th or
11th of May, (at least north of Baltimore;) and as they may all be had at most of the
seed stores, it will still be easy, by their aid, to repair any deficiencies in the flower gar-
den. An Amateur.

Neiv-York, April, 1852.

THE YUCCAS— AS HARDY ORNAMENTAL PLANTS.

TrfERE are few plants so ornamental as several of the Yuccas, and yet we seldom see
them employed in any conspicuous way, in our pleasure grounds or flower gardens. Here
and there, perhaps, in the gardens of our curious amateurs, one sees a solitary plant, but
beds, groups, and masses, never. Yet there are no plants so altogether satisfactory in
many re.spects, as two or three species of Yucca that we can name.

The Yuccas are mostly southern plants — the name Yucca being a vernacular appellation

Domingo. Some of the species, however, are natives of the United States — from

inia to Florida, and far from being tender, they are hardier than many really northern

THE YUCCAS— AS HARDY ORNAMENTAL PLANTS.

plants. Yucca flaccida, angustifoUa a,niJila'inentosa, bear a temperature of 10° or 15°
below zero of Fahrenheit, and Y. gloriosa 6° degrees below, without being at all injured.

As they grow with great facility in any rich, light soil, and are easily propagated by
division of the roots, there is no reason why they should not be cultivated in every flower
garden. April, and the first half of May, are the best season for transplanting the roots.

The Yuccas belong to the lilly tribe, in the natural system of botany, and the tall stem,
(branched like a tapering pyramid,) of superb lilly-like flowers, of a creamy white color,
that each plant throws up in mid-summer, forms one of the most remarkable embellish-
ments of the flower garden or shrubbery. But a great merit of the Yuccas, over most
herbaceous plants, is the constant beauty of the foliage, in fact of the whole plant, all the
year round. The general appearance of the plant is not unlike that of the Agaves, or
Century Aloes, (to which they are allied,) only the leaves are narrower — being only an inch
or two broad. These leaves retain their deep green verdure summer and winter, and being
systematically arranged on the plant, and handsome in themselves, they are as strikingly
ornamental among the snows of winter, as in mid-summer. A winter garden, such as we
have several times alluded to in these pages, would, beside evergreen trees, be mostappro-
priatelyplanted into beds or groups of Yuccas, to cheat the season out of its dreariness.
We shall notice a few of the sorts most easily obtained at the nurseries, and most suitable
for the gardens of the northern states.

THE Adam's needle, or ytjcca gloriosa.
I. Yucca gloriosa, or Adam's Needle. — This is the largest and most striking
hardy Yuccas. It is, in fact, an evergreen shrub, growing two to five feet high, wi

THE YUCCAS— AS HARDY ORNAMENTAL PLANTS.

woody stem or trunk, clothed with leaves almost to the ground. The end of each leaf is
terminated by a dark spine, which has given rise to the popular name of " Adam's Nee-
dle." The leaves are broad, stiff, and dark green, and have much of the picturesque ef-
fect of those of the Aloe. The flower stalk is generally about four feet high, branching
out symmetricallj'' on every side, (see fig. from Jlrh. Brit.,') but in strong plants is fre-
quently much higher than a man's head. The blossoms, Avhich open in July and August,
are bell shaped, pale white within, marked by a pale purple stripe on the outside of the
petals.

The Adams' Needle is a native of both North and South America, being found wild as
far north as Virginia, and as far south as Carthagena. Though not growing naturally,
farther north than the former state, it is perfectly hardy as far north as Lake Erie — or
wherever the peach ripiens regularly. About Washington, we have noticed it in the fine
pleasure grounds of Wm. Stone, Esq., growing most luxuriantly, springing up and flow-
ering along the sides of the garden walks, with little or no care. About New-York it suc-
ceeds best in a perfectly dry subsoil — a deep sandy loam. Where it needs any protection,
it is only that of a few branches of evergreens to keep ofl" the sun. There is a variety of
V. gloriosa called superba — rather rarely seen, even in our best collections, which is still
finer — being of taller and more tree-like growth, and bearing a greater profusion of pure
white flowers.

II. Yucca filamentosa, or J^dam's Thread. — This variety differs mainly from the
former, in having no spines at the ends of the leaves, but instead, the foliage is irregularly
serrated, and edged with long threads, which hang down two or three inches long. The
same popular notion which coupled the idea of Adam's Needle with the thorn at the end
of the leaves of Y. gloriosa, has found a corresponding thread on the leaves of this spe-
cies. It is a native of Virginia; has stood many winters perfectly uninjured in the open
borders of our garden on the Hudson. Its growth, however, seems slower, and it produ-
ces flowers more rarely than the Adam's Needle. Still, as both the foliage and flowers
are quite ornamental, it is worthy of a place in every good garden. It flowers in Septem-
ter, the blossoms being whiter, and growing more closely to the stalk, than those of Y.
gloriosa.

III. Yucca flaccida, or the free blooming Yucca. — This is one of the most popular,
and commonly cultivated sorts in our gardens — growing and blooming with as much ease
as a cabbage. It is a native of Georgia — but is as hardy as an oak all over the northern
states. The specific name, flaccida, is given from the greater pliancy of the leaves, which,
instead of being perfectly stiff, like some of the other species, are a little weak, and fre-
quently bend in the middle. This species has no stem or trunk, and the reader may get a
good general idea of its appearance when in bloom, by imagining the foregoing figure
of Y. gloriosa, with the foliage springing directly out of the ground — the leaves, however,
being narrower, and more numerous, and the flower stem about half the height. There
are slender threads along the edges of the leaves. This Yucca blooms in our northern
gardens as freely as the common white lilly — throwing up its beautiful pyramidal flower
stalks, two or three feet high, about the end of June, and bearing a profusion of fine milk-
white flowers, all the month of July. It is one of our favorite evergreen plants, beautiful
at all seasons.

IV. Yucca angustifolia, the Narrow Leaved Yucca. — A fine hardy species, found
by NuTTALL on the banks of the Missouri — and grows and blooms in our gardens

ingly well. The foliage is long and narrow, edged with threads, and quite
leaves spring out of the ground without a stem, like those of the last variety

MESSINA— A COUNTRY SEAT ON THE HUDSON.

flower stalk is straight, and not branched, like the preceding sorts, the flower bells
more oblong, and the flowers a pale greenish white. It blooms at mid-summer, and is a
very distinct and ornamental species. Messrs. Hogg, of New- York, have, we believe,
cultivated it with success in the open border, for many j'ears.

There are several other species of Yucca which are less known, but which would doubt-
less succeed in our gardens. Yucca draconii — the Dragon Yucca, a native of Carolina,
growing eight or ten feet high, which is hardy in England, would no doubt be so here; but
though it is to be found in many of our green-house collections, we do not hear of any one
having made trial of it in the open air. There is a variety of Y. gloriosa with striped
leaves, which is very ornamental. Y. stricta, and Y. glaucescens are an interesting spe-
cies, natives of the southern states, that would well repay the labor of cultivation.

We have said enough, however, to call attention to this really noble genus of evergreen
plants — whose superb flowers and striking foliage, render them more valuable as orna-
ments to lawns, gardens, or rock work, than almost any others that we could name. As
the}' are mostly natives of the sea shore, they are also especially valuable to decorate the
grounds of the marine cottages and villas that are springing up at Newport, and other
sea-side watering places. Most of the sorts we have described may be had at very mode-
rate prices, of our leading plant growers, and nothing but ignorance of their real merits,
prevents their being much more generally cultivated.

MESSINA— A COUNTRY SEAT ON THE HUDSON.

[SEE FRONTISPIECE.]

Whoever has not seen the country seats on the upper side of the Hudson, knows noth-
ing of the finest specimens of rural residences in America. There are in the neighborhood
of Boston, many beautiful villas and cottages, designed in admirable taste and kept in the
highest order, that are indeed admirable in every respect; but they, like more solitary
specimens of the same kind, in the environs of many of our cities, are only suburban resi-
dences of a few acres. There are, in various parts of the country, many gentlemen's large
seats, well laid out, with lawns, pleasure grounds and gardens, in a simple and unpretend-
ing manner, highly creditable to the possessors. But nowhere in America, are there to be
found country residences, where nature has done bo much to assist man in his attempts to
create a beautiful home, as in what may be called the upper terrace of the Hudson. This
includes a hill of land on the eastern shore, extending from Hyde Park to Hudson city, a
distance of about 50 miles.

The peculiar advantages of this part of the river are these: First, the finest mountain
and river views in the country — the river being the Hudson, in its loveliest portion — some-
times two or three miles wide — indented in outline, and varied by numerous islands; the
mountains being the Catskills — their highest summit 3,000 feet high — near enough to give
a character of grandeur to the scene, and distant enough to possess that blue haze of at-
mospheric distance, which makes a mountain a bit of poetry, instead of a bare reality of
rocks and trees in the landscape. Second, they have the advantage of having been held
as country seats since the first settlement of the river — with much of the fine natural
beauties of wood and water preserved and heightened by the fostering spirit of
rather than despoiled by the avaricious spirit of the mere tiller of the soil.

MESSINA— A COUNTRY SEAT ON THE HUDSON.

For almost the entire distance of this fifty miles, the east bank of the Hudson is one
line of country seats — varying in extent from fifty to 500 or 600 acres. Instead of h.aving
the same general features of interest and beauty, nothing is more striking to the pictu-
resque tourist, than the highly varied character of these places. Every mileseems to pre-
sent new groupings of headland and foreground, some new combinations of wood, water,
and mountain — so that no one who has seen one or two places, can imagine with certainty
■what will be the aspect and picturesque character of the next residence. The enchanting
beauty of the Hudson itself is varied and heightened too by its peculiar life and anima-
tion. Snowy sails, sometimes singly in calms, and sometimes floating along in the light
breezes like troops of white swans; swift steamers freighted with throngs of busy and curi-
ous people; huge clusters of freight barges, loaded down withtheproduceof whole counties;
and finally, stealing along under the high wooded banks, the river railway, whose trains fly
along between the commercial and political capitals of the state at the rate of 30 to 50 miles
an hour — all of these gives to these finest seats on the Hudson a completeness of interest
which the traveller looks in vain for anywhere else in America.

Among the finest of these residences, Montgomery Place, Blithewood, EUerslie, Hyde
Park and others, have been already described, and some of them illustrated in various
other works of ours. Persons wishing to see the finest specimens of landscape gardening
in the country, naturally go to these places, to study them as the best examples of the art,
and there are few places, out of England, where the lover of embellished home scenery, can
find so much gratification and instruction.

About the center of this upper terrace, lies Messina, the seat of the late John R. LiviNG-
STON, Esq., a sketch of which we present in our frontispiece this month. This house is
one of the noblest in its proportions on the whole river, and is worth an examination as a
specimen of a first class mansion in the country. It was built by Mr. Livixgston, after
his return from France, some years ago. He was so much pleased while there, with the
residence of Beaumarchais, near Paris, that he determined to model his own
home upon it. This accounts for the air of a French Chateau, which we discover in some
of its features. The design was, however, really drawn by an English architect, Brunel
the celebrated architect of the Thames tunnel — who came out to this country and erected
two or three residences for different members of the Livingston famil3^ The plan of the
interior is spacious and elegant — the rooms large and finely proportioned, uniting some
of the best features of both the English and French residences.

Finely varied and extensive grounds surround the mansion at Messina. There is an
abundance of foliage and fine old trees, the scenery is beautiful and the neighborhood
most picturesque and interesting. Though not at present in the high condition of some
of the places we have just mentioned, (owing to the want of personal interest, consequent
upon the declining health of the late proprietor,) it could readily, in the hands of a per-
son of taste and fortune, be restored to its former high keeping. As it is but rarely one
of these first class residences are to be obtained, we believe we shall render a service to
some of our numerous readers who are annually settling in the country, by drawing their
attention to a site that has long been considered one of the best in the Union.

COTTAGE RESIDENCES.

Cottage Residences: or a series of Designs for Rural Cottages and Cottage Villas,

and their Gardens and Grounds; adapted to North America. By A. J. Downing.

Illustrated by numerous engavings. Fourth edition, revised, enlarged and improved.

New-York: John AViley, 18 Park Place, 1852.
It is neither fitting nor necessary, that we should say anything as to the merits of this
volume. The circulation of several extra large editions, and the results all over the coun-
try in the shape of numberless cottages and villas, erected from the designs it contains,
are, perhaps, sufficient proof that it has both found favor in the eyes of the public, and
has exerted a considerable share of influence in the formation of the popular taste for
rural architecture.

The present edition, just issued from the press, will be found to contain several new
designs for cottages, lodges, &c., with considerable additional matter, and the original text
entirely revised throughout.

The most important addition, however, is a chapter entitled, " Further hints on the
Gardens and Grounds of Cottage Residences." In this chapter we have given general
directions, accompanied with plans, for the laying out of plots of ground, from the small-
est parterre of flowers, to the largest area in which a cottage may usually be supposed to
be placed. The different styles of flower gardens — the flower garden consisting of beds and
masses or turf — the geometrical flower garden — the Elizabethan flower garden — the Eng-
lish flower garden and shrubber}^ — the labyrinth of shrubs — and various French and
German plans for cottage gardens and grounds, are explained and illustrated in a way
that we trust will be found of practical value.

This part of the work is, we think, particularly needed by ladies, who, for the most
part, take in hand the laying out of the ornamental grounds of their cottage homes j and,
in doing so, are frequently at a loss for hints and sketches, which, if not precisely adapted
to their own grounds, might at least suggest to their own minds, such variations as would
exactly answer the desired purpose.

"We give, as a specimen of this part of the work, the following extract and plan, which
may be in season to interest some of our readers now busy with the arrangement of their
ornamental grounds.

" In presenting all these various modes of arranging flower gardens, we must be allow-
ed to say that the modern taste of discarding any set flower garden, and, instead of it,
arranging the beds of choice perpetual blooming plants, in and around a small lawn, in
graceful and harmonious forms, is by far the most satisfactory in the majority of cases.
It is especiall}^ so in all small places, where the ornamental grounds are too limited to al-
low of separate scenes. In such cases, the grouping of flowers round a lawn, having only
one or two colors in a bed, heightens the beauty of the lawn itself, while the flowers are
enjoyed, perhaps, more than in any other way.

" Fig. 102 is a design of our own, of this kind, which has been carried out and found ex-
tremely pretty and satisfactory. In this, A. is the dHelling-house; B. the conser-
vatory, (a detached building one side of the lawn;) 0. the lawn; D. flowerbeds; E. vase,
fountain, sun-dial, or rustic basket filled with flowers. Round the whole runs a bounda-
ry belt, F. of trees and shrubs — shutting out all that portion of the grounds not strictly
ornamental. In practice, it is found that small circular beds, about three feet in diame-
ter, grouped in twos and threes, (like those on the left of D.) are more convenient and

COTTAGE RESIDENCES.

effective than the irregular beds; partly because a three feet circle is large enough for a
mass of a single color, in a small garden, and partly because a circular bed, like a tree,
always looks well, either alone, or grouped with other circles. It is also adapted to any
position, which an irregular bed is not.

Fig. 102.

" In order to give the lawn C, a more picturesque character, we have introduced a few
single specimens of trees, such as grow with beautiful forms when standing alone. "We
may mention, as peculiarly adapted to such sites, the Chinese Magnolia, (3/. conspicua,
and 31. soulunguma,) very hardy and beautiful; the Weeping Ash, AVeeping Beech, Pur
pie Beech, and Weeping Silver Lime, all striking in habit and foliage; the Ash Leaved
Maple, or Negundo, for its lively green foliage; the Virgilia of Kentucky, with snowy
white blossoms; the Virginia Fringe Tree, ect. As evergreens, to plant them singly we
may enumerate the Deodar Cedar, the Norway Spruce, the Ilimmalayan Spruce, the Irish
Yew, and the Silver Fir. A lawn and flower garden combined, and planted in this way,
would have a tasteful and beautiful effect in any situation, or in connection with a resi-
dence in any style." p. 204.

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES

/nrngtt null 3IIi5rBllniirnE3 Unta.

The Gladiolus. — The genus Gladiolus now
comprehends many brilliant species and varie-
ties, and is fast increasing in interest with the
floral world. The variety of colors, together
with the beauty of its varied stripes and mark-
ings, and its graceful habit, recommend it as
well worthy the attention of the florist or ama-
teur. Like most bulbous plants, Gladioli thrive
and flower with less care than most florist's
flowers. Being comprised of early and late
kinds, they blossom at various seasons of the
year: the earliest soi'ts commence flowering in
June when planted in the open air, and many
of the late kinds continue in blossom up to the
very approach of winter. They are perfectly
hardy, and may be grown in any common gar-
den soil not retentive of moisture ; but sliould
the soil be heavy where they are intended to be
planted, it should be removed to the depth of
about two feet, and replaced by a light rich soil,
composed of a mixture of sandy loam and leaf-
mold, or sandy loam and peat, allowing six or
nine inches for the drainage.

The Colvillii kinds come very early into flow-
er ; they are of taller growth than others of the
early sorts, and are of erect, slender habit.
They include Colvillii, Colvillii blandus, Colvil-
lii superbus, odoratus, tristis, and others; they
are succeeded by a more numerous class, which
generally commence flowering about two weeks
later; the latter are composed of varieties va-
rying from a foot to a foot and a half in height ;
they comprise a great diversity of colors.

Other varieties are later, and mostly com-
mence flowering about the end of July, or in
August ; they are of stronger habit than the
preceding kinds, and exceedingly rich, though
not so varied in their colors as the earlier sorts.
They produce a longer succession of flowers ;
many of them throw up lateral spikes of bloom
to the latest period of autumn ; and vigorous
plants, lifted and potted, continue to bloom dur-
ing the winter.

The varieties of Floribundus, Gandavensis,
and other late tall-growing varieties, chiefly
come later into flower tlian most of the above.
Of these, Splendens is a very noble variety, of
a rich orange scarlet, with much larger flowers
than Gandavensis. Psittacinus sanguineus, is a
good dark one. Brenchleyensis is another
splendid addition to this class.

For pot-culture the Gladiolus is very suitable,
making a beautiful show among other plants in
the green-house or conservatory, and where a
large collection is kept, some may be had in
in flower nearly all the year round. In potting,
tire roots should not be cramped ; they require

fair portion of pot-room. Sandy loam and

or leaf-mould, or any light rich soil, the

being well drained, suits them well. When

flrst planted, as is the case with most other
bulbs, they will not bear forcing ; they should
be allowed to progress gradually, by placing
them in a cool frame or pit, and keeping the
soil in a tolerably dry state till they have made
considerable growth; after which they may be
brought into the green-house, or where they are
required to flower. They make fine specimens
when planted several bulbs in a pot.

This lovely tribe of jjlants opens a wide field
for the hybridist, and the amateur would find
it an interesting engagement, in which his skill
and time would be richly rewarded. In endea-
voring to obtain crosses, the choice should not
only be directed to the color and size of the
flowers, but chiefly to their expanding habit and
breadth of petals; for although there are many
fine sorts which do not possess each of these lat-
ter qualities, yet they should be the points to be
aimed at in our progress towards the improve-
ment of the tribe. Seedlings of the early va-
rieties usually flower the second summer after
sowing, and the later varieties the third. —
Beck's Flo>-ist.

An Acre of Hollyhocks. — Till within these
last few years this flower was used as an orna-
ment in the X)lantation or shrubbery border on-
ly; but it is now becoming an especial favorite
with the professional and amateur florist, and
bids fair successfully to rival, if not to outvie
the Dahlia. The particular sorts selected for
this {lurpose are of a character and family en-
tirely diflerent to those formerly grown. In-
stead of the bell-shaped blossom, showing a
large eye, the new and superior varieties have
a semi-spherical flower exceedinglj' double, with
closely serried petals, and a flat regular guard-
leaf; the blossoms are so thickly i)acked around
the stem, that the green leaf can scarcely peep
between them, and in the best grown plants it is
almost entirely hid. These properties have, in
the present season, been obtained in great per-
fection by Mr. Chater, of Saff'ron Walden, in
whose nursery-grounds, consisting of about six
acres, mo7-e than one-sixth is entirely devoted to
Hollyhocks, 6,000 of which are now in splendid
bloom ; and Saffron Walden may well be proud
of such an extensive exhibition. But it is not
only in the vast number and variety of colors,
but in individual excellence, as has been acknow-
ledged by the gentry and florists who have in-
spected his collection within the last fortnight,
that Mr. C. may fairly challenge the world to
compete with him. The size and beauty of color
displayed in his seedling Comet, which is a fine
ruby red, one would think, at first sight, could
scarcely be surpassed. Equally beautiful in
their several ditfcvent characters and col
his seedlings, — Enchantress, deep rose ; Kosea
grandiflora, light rose; Attraction, ele:

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

veined puce and silver; Model of Perfection,
white with chocolate ground ; Coinniander-in-
chief, remarkable for immensely long spikes of
flowers towering nine feet high; the Queen, a
delicate blush; Aurantia, salmon-color; Pul-
chella, roseate; Pallida, lilac; Magnum Bonum,
a rich glossy maroon; Snowball, purest white;
Black Prince, sable black ; Formosa, dark claret,
with palmated leaves; Mulberry Superb; Deli-
cata; Atro-sanguinca. Mr. C. has exhibited
this season at Chiswick some of his beauties,
grown especially in pots for that occasion ; also
at the Royal Agricultural meeting at Norwich,
where he was awarded a prize for his Seedling
Comet, and ar prize for the collection; and at
the South London Floricultural meeting in the
Surrey Zoological Gardens he obtained a medal.
A visit to these superb and elegant flowers would
be highly gratifying to every lover of Kature in
her gay and brilliant forms. — Beck's Florist.

Cold Spring tn England. — UptothelSth
of this Month, March, there had been for many
years no spring so late and cold as this. In these
respects it was even more striking than that of
1845. Continually frosty nights, little sun, no
material rise of the thermometer during the day ;
from the.se causes, the temperature of the earth,
which is a better indicator of weather than that
of the air, was actually lower than it had been
within any period during which registers to
which we have access, have been kept. It is
true, indeed, that in March, 1845, the earth, 2
feet below the surfiice, was on one occasion as
low as 36 degrees, and that in this year thegeo-
therniometer had not fallen lower ; but the mean
of the month, at 2 feet underground, was up to
that time, lower than in 1845, by more than
half a degree. The following return proves
this.

The temperature of the earth in the garden
of the Horticultural Society, for the first 18
days of March, has been as under —

1 fool

2 foet

3 feet

Deep

37,. 5

Deep.

Deep.

March 1

.38.5

41.0

2

3S,0

39.0

41.0

a

.37.0

.38.0

41.0

4

.37.0

37.0

40.5

5

.30.0

37.5

40.0

G

.36 0

37.0

40.0

7

33.5

.36.0

40.0

8

36.5

.36.5

40.0

9

37.5

37.0

40.0

10

.38.5

37.5

40.0

11

38.5

37.5

40.0

I'J

,38.5

.38.0

40.0

1.3

38.0

38.0

40.5

14

38.0

.38.0

41.0

1-5

38 5

38 0

41.0

Ifi

39.0

36 0

41.0

17

40.0

39.0

41.0

18

40.0

39.0

41.0

■37.77

37.75

40.5

Mean of March. 2 feet.

18.38 41.46

18:39 41.93

1840 41.71

1844 42.24

1845 38.78

1846 45.55

1847 41.03

1848 43.72

1849 43.70

1850 42.33

General av'ge. 41.74

Mill, of March,. 2 feet.

18.38 38 5

1839 39

1840 .39

1844 40

1815 36

1846 44

1S47 38

1648 42. .50

1849 42. .50

18,50 40

nee the 18th the sun has gained some
th, and the temperature of the air by day

has not been lower than 47 degrees, while on the
22d and 24th, it rose to 66 degrees. Still vege-
tation is almost torpid ; buds are swelling very
slowly, and the early blossoms have for the most
part, a shrunken, half-starved aspect. The con-
tinued low tcmpei'ature at night, fluctuating be-
tween 25 and 28 degrees, explains this; for so
little effect has the sun yet produced, that at
the piescnt moment the earth 2 feel under
ground, has not gained more than 42 degrees,
and this maximum still remains less than the
mean of 1844, 1846, 1848, 1849, and 1850.—
London Gard. Chron.

Macaroni and Veemiceili. — In writing
from Naples, Mr. Weed takes the following no-
tice of the manufacture and use of macaroni
and vermicelli in Italy:

Italy, you know, abounds in macaroni and
vermicelli. The making and eating of these ar-
ticles enter into the occupations and appetites
of every city, town and village. It is used in
many forms of which we have no knowledge.
It enters into all their soups and pastry, and in-
to many of their meat dishes. And, though I
started with many prejudices, I must say that
these dishes are invariably good.

I^'aples boasts of making the finest macaroni in
Italy. I visited a small town at the foot of Ve-
suvius yesterday, where thousands of bu.shels
of wheat were being made into macaroni. The
wheat is first subjected to a kiln-drying process,
being spread on tiled roofs which are heated
gently from fires within and from the sun with-
out. It is afterwards ground coarsely, mixed
with water and kneaded into paste, which is
subjected to action by pounders somewhat re-
sembling those used in driving piles. The paste
is then forced through machinery which gives it
its foriu and name, some coming out macaroni
and some vermicelli, each taking, however,
many varieties of form, some long and thin like
paper, some like ribbons, some in balls, and
others like beans, peas, and even as small as
mustard seed.

At Genoa, from which place I think we get
most of our macaroni, saffron is put into the
paste, which gives it its yellow tinge. Here it
is nearer the color of bread. Not only the
Italians, but all who visit Italy, become very
fond of this description of food. The impres-
sion which I think prevails in America, that
macaroni and vermicelli manufacturers are not
particularly clean, is erroneous. There is no
good ground of objection to this food on that
account.

Rice Paper. — The plant from which the
Chinese Rice-paper is made, has long Iteen un-
known, and many conjectures have been hazard-
ed regarding it. There can be nodoubt that the
paper is composed of cellular tissue, and is pre-
pared from the plant without any process of
maceration. In the East Indies it would ap-
pear that a kind of Rice-paper is procured from
the stem of JEschynoinene paludosa, and it is
probable that many plants with abundant pith

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

might be employed in a similar manner, in the
same way as the Papyrus was employed in an-
cient times. Stems of the Indian ^schyno-
mene are to be seen in the Museum of the Edin-
burgh Botanic Garden. Chinese Rice-paper,
however, comes from a totally different plant.
M. Berthold Seeman, who accompanied Her
Majesty's ship Herald, gives, in the Kew Mis-
cellany, the following account of his attempt to
find the plant in China. He says : —

"It was my particular desire to obtain the
plant of which the Rice-paper is made. On my
arrival all I could learn was, that the paper was
manufactured from vegetable pith; respecting
the name of the plant, its vegetation, and native
province, the most contradictory statements
prevailed. My first aim was to discover the
vernacular name of the plant; after I had suc-
ceeded in obtaining this, through the aid of an
intelligent missionary, Mr. Vogel, I experienced
no further difficulty in collecting information,
and in finding a Chinaman willing to procure
specimens. The plant grows abundantly in the
province of Yunnan, and in the work of Li-shi-
chin there is a figure and description of it. Mr.
Williams, the well-known author of " The Mid-
dle Kingdom," has kindlj' rendered that ac-
count into English for me, and the following is
a transcript of his version: — 'The Tung-toh-
rauh, or as it is sometimes called, Tung-tsau
(i.e. hollow plant,) grows on the sides of hills.
Its leaves resemble the Castor-oil plant (Rici-
nn.t communis. Linn. ;) the stem is hollow, and
has in its heart a white pith, which is prized for
its lightness and whiteness, and collected in order
to make ornaments for women.' Knoh-poh
says: ' It grows in Kiang-nan, is about 12 or 14
feet high, and has leaves which are large and
fleshy like those of the Nelumhium. In the
stem is a very white pith. Gardeners now sow
the seed, and also transplant the plant. If the
stem is cooked with honej', and mi.xed with
preserved fruit, the taste is sweet and pleasant."
Li-shi-chin .says: ' The stalks of those plants
which grow in the hills are large, several inches
in circumference. The taste and virtues of this
jdant are sweet, cooling, and innocuous. It
aids the secretions, it stops diarrhoea and excess
of urine, and helps the expectorations. A
tincture of the burnt stalks reduced to power
is good for lock jaw.' "

M. Seemann, from the description given, and
the wood cut annexed to it. thought that it was
a Malvaceous plant. But it now appears that
the plant belongs to Araliaceae, and it has been
called by Sir William Hooker, Aralia paprcifera.
A figure is given in the Kew Miscellany, for
Jan. 1852. The leaves of the plant are large
and radiating, lobed at the margin, and some-
what resembling the leaf of a large Sycamore,
the pulp is in large quantities, and seems to be
hollow and to descend in the center. — /. of H.

Sago Manufactory at Singapore. — The
unprepared sago is imported from the neighbor-
ing island of Borromeo, and consists of the pith

of a short, thick kind of palm. The tree is cut
down when it is seven years old, split up from
top to bottom, and the pith, of which there is
always a large quantity, extracted; it is then
freed from the fibres, pressed in large frames,
and dried at the fire or in the sun. At this
period it has still a yellowish tinge. The fol-
lowing is the manner in which it is grained : —
The meal or pith is steeped in water for several
days, until it is completely blanched; it is then
once more dried by the fire or in the sun, and
passed under a large wooden roller, and through
a hair sieve. When it has become white and
fine, it is placed in a kind of linen winnowing-
fan, which is kept damp in a peculiar manner.
The workman takes a mouthful of water, and
spurts it out like fine rain over the fan, in which
tlie meal is alternately shaken and moistened in
the manner just mentioned, until it assumes the
shape of small globules, which are constantly
stirred round in large flat pans, until they are
dried, when they are passed through a second
sieve, not quite so fine as the first, and the larger
globules separated from the rest. — .A Woman's
Journey Round the World.

Scientific Gleanings. — The Hieraceum
plumbeum of Fries has been ascertained to be
a native of Britain, by Mr. J. Backhouse, jr.,
of York. It grows on Falcon Clints, in Tees-
dale. Mr. Backhouse, who has had an oppor-
tunity, during the past summer, of examining
specimens of the Norwegian Hieracia, describes
it as nearly allied to H. ccEsium, but difiering
strongly in having more truncate involucres,
with broad based acuminate apiculate scales, of
a dark color, margined with green; also, in
the involucres and peduncles being almost or
entirely destitute of stellate pubescens. H.
ccEsium from the same place, and from Cronk-
ley Scar, has narrow, acute, involucral scales,
and usually a large amount of stellate down on
the peduncles and involucres. H. plumbeum
flowers very early (about July,) while H. cce-
slum is in perfection, or nearly so, in Sex)tem-
ber. In cultivation the plants become still more
dissimilar. — Report of Edinburgh Botanical
Society.

Professor Simpson recently communicated to
the Botanical Society of Edinburgh the results
of some experiments relative to the growth of
Alpine ])lants, after having been kept artificial-
ly covered with snow in an ice-house for many
months. Seed and plants, when kept in this
way during winter, and then brought into the
warm air of summer, w-ere found to germinate
and grow with great rapidity. In Arctic regions
the rapid growth of the plants during the short
summer is well known ; and the importance of
similar experiments being made on the different
kinds of grain was suggested. The rapidity of
the harvest in Canada and other countries,
where the cold lasts for many months, seems to
indicate that if grain was kept in an ice
during winter, and sown in spring, there
be an acceleration of the harvest. The subject

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

is certainly deserving tlie attention of cultiva-
tors.— Ibid. [A writer in tlie Scottish Garden-
er recommends to try this plan with the Rhodo-
dendron nivale of the snowy summits of tlie
Sikkira Himalaya.]

The Pe-la, or Insect-rvax of China, has been
largely used in Cliina since the thirteenth cen-
tury, and has been occasionally imported into
France and Britain for many years past, but its
natural history is still very imperfectly known.
Its chemical properties were investigated in 1848,
by Mr. B. C. Brodie, of London, who showed
that, even as it is met with in commerce, it is
nearly in a state of chemical purity, and that it
most closely resembles cerin, the base of bees-
wax. The Pe-la is perfectly white, translucent,
shining, not unctuous to the touch, inodorous,
and insipid. It melts at 100° Fahrenheit. It
is found adhering to the branches of certain
shrubs, whence it is collected yearly in June.
It seems to be produced by myriads of minute
insects, which either excrete, or are changed
into, the wax. Dr. Mcgowan, Medical Mission-
ary at Ningpo, is inclined to believe that the in-
sect undergoes what may be called aceraceous
degeneration, its whole body being periueated
by the peculiar product, in the same manner as
the Coccus cacti is bj' carmine. — Report of
Royal Physical Society.

In the village of Gries, four leagues from
Strasburgh, stands Aixiieof JEscuhis Hippocas-
taiium, one of the oldest in the country, cer-
tainly dating farther back than the year 1680.
At a foot above the ground it measures twelve
feet in circumference. The peculiarity of this
tree is, that from an unknown period it has an-
nually blossomed on one side alone, one year on
the west side, the next only on the east. The
bare half does, indeed, present a bunch of flow-
ers here and there, though seven-eighths of the
branches are without blossom ; but the leaves
exhibit a more vivid green hue, while those on
the flowering half of the tree are of a dull, un-
pleasant color. — Flora. '

Those who have paid little attention to the
Mosses, can hardly imagine the great variety of
beautiful forms they present to the inquiring
eye; and indeed, excepting the Ferns, there is,
perhaps, no tribe of plants which look prettier
than a collection of these in a dried state, and
neatly fastened to small sheets of paper. "We
mention this just now, because a very nice se-
ries of specimens of the British Mosses, are in

course of publication, by Mr. F. Y. Brocas, of
Basingstoke ; and these would form an excel-
lent ground-work for those who might wish to
begin to collect and study these interesting low-
ly forms of vegetation, and would also furnish
materials for those who could only find leisure
to study — not to gather for themselves. The
two fasciculi published, containing each fifty
species, consist of excellently preserved speci-
mens, and, as far as we have observed, very cor-
rectly named. — M.

It appears that the flowers of the Victoria
regia evolve a considerable amount of latent
heat during the period of their development, si-
milar to what has been observed to occur in Ca-
ladium and other Araceou.? plants. M. Otto,
of Hamburgh, has observed that a thermome-
ter plunged into the Victoria flower at the mo-
ment of expanding its anthers, (7h. 11m. p.m.)
rose to 211° R., the temperature of the house
being IT/f" R., and that of the tank 16^" R.
Ijpon being sunk below the anthers, a gradual
decrea.se took place. On another occasion, the
temperature of the air being 18" R., that of the
water 1G| and the thermometer at 165° R., in
the course of fifteen minutes the latter rose, in
the flower, to 32^° R. These experiments were
made at the suggestion of Prof. Lehiuann, who
thought he had formerly noticed an increase of
temperature to occur in the flowers of Nymphcea
alba during their development. — Hooker's Jour-
nal of Botany.

Analysis of the Strawberry. — B. Kirt-
LAND gives the following analysis in the Fami-
ly Visitor, showing a large amount of pota.sh in
proportion to other constituents, much silica,
and more magnesia and common salt, than are
usually found in other fruits. One hundred and
sixteen grains of the ashes were taken, prepar-
ed from the leaves and stalks immediately after
they had borne a moderate crop of fruit.

Silica. 6.117 grains.

Charcoal and sand, 3.101 do

Perphosphate of iron, 1 .515 do

Pcrpliosphate of lime, 26.519 do

Magnesia, 8. 90S do

Sulphuric acid, 1.469 do

Phosphoric acid 6.970 do

Chlorine, 708 do

Potash, 33.154 do

Soda 2.790 do

Carbonic acid, 23.008 do

Oiganie matter and loss, 1 . 739 do

116.000 do

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

intn^stir JhWm.

"WiNTEKiNO Tea Roses in the open air. —
Every body fond of flowers knows that there is
nothing in the "wide" floral "world"' compa-
rable for refined beauty and loveliness to a fine
tea rose, in fact to tea-roses altogether. South
of Pennsylvania, they are grown as easily as
common garden roses, bearing all ordinary win-
ters with impunity. But north of Philadelphia,
the tea-rose is too tender to grow all the year
round out of doors — and is therefore for the
most part confined to the green-house or frame.

A little experiment that we made last winter,
with a bed of tea-roses, containing a couple of
dozen plants, has turned out so entirely to our
satisfaction, that we think it removes all the dif-
ficulty of making permanent beds of tea-roses
at the north. The temperature having been so
unusually severe, and the plants only one season
planted, the result is all the more satisfactory.
We make the process known for the benefit of
floral devotees.

The bed was oval. We covered it early in
November with tan-bark, one foot thick — which
nearly covered all the stems — the longest being
bent down. Over this coat of tan, to keep it
dry, (that being the main point,) w-e put three
bundles of rye-straw — gathering it in the center
to a ridge or point — so as to shed off the water
entirely; no further attention was paid it. When
the straw was removed in April, the tan was
found perfectly dry — on removing the tan the
plants were found in perfect order — even the
leaves of the last autumn's growth as fresh as
when covered. If any of our readers can in-
vent a simpler or more effectual mode of pre-
serving a bed of tender plants, we should like
to hear from them.

large frozen ball in winter — but one which is only
occasionally practiced.

Removing EvERGRE£Ns.~Those who are
behind hand with their planting, may take our
word for it, that there is no season for removing
evergreens, in the ordinary way, like this— just
as the buds are swelling and tlie roots pu.shing
out young fibres. There are fifty different
opinions about the best time to plant evergreens.
The above may be taken as ours, and it is not
without plenty of trials of other modes,
cept, of course, moving the trees with a

Apple Tree Borers. — Sir: In New-Eng-
land there is no greater pest to the cultivator,
than the Apple Tree Borer. In some parts it
has destroyed whole orchards. Many persona,
in fact most persons, fold their hands in despair,
and let the trees die. I have done better by
the help of the Horticulturist — having profited
by the directions given by the Editor three or
four years ago. These directions are the only
ones that I have seen that strike directly at the
root of the matter — that is to say, by prevent-
ing the Borer in a winged state, the last of May
and the first of June, from depositing its eggs
in the bark of the tree, and thereby laying the
foundation of a new brood. The old mode of
killing the borers, by pushing wires into their
holes in the trunk of the tree, is good so far as
it goes — but it only goes half way. Since, if
you succeed in killing all the grubs in that tree,
a fresh set may fly over from your neighbor's
trees, as soon as the grubs hatch out, and lay
their eggs in yours. The plan recommended
by the Editor of the Horticulturist, does the
whole business; as many new subscribers whose
trees may be infected, have not that prescrip-
tion at hand. I shall beg leave to repeat it.

First. Kill all the grubs in the trunk of the
tree, by pushing a wire up the holes as far as
possible. Then take a pail — fill it half full of
thin soft-soap, and stir in enough tobacco wa-
ter to make it two-thirds full. Having first
scraped off any loose bark, next api)ly this to-
bacco and soap paint with a stitf brush, to
every part of the trunk, and larger part of the
limbs — putting it on especially thick at the
" crotches," and the base of the trunk — the
places where the borer likes best to deposit its
eggs. If this is done early in May. I can an-
swer from experience for its efficacy. No Bo-
rer will deposit her eggs in bark coated over
in this way. All the merit of the prescription
belongs to you the Editor,and not to your hum-
ble servant, A. R.C. Rhode-Island, April, 1852.

[We may add to the foregoing, that the soap
and tobacco mixture, painted over the trunks

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

of other trees, as the ash, peach, kc, infected
with Borers, is equally effectual. The main
point is to get it on before the insect comes out
in a winged state — and south of Baltimore that
is usually before this time. North of that point,
the early part of May will answer. Ed.]

Varieties of Box — Mr. Downing — Dear
Sir: Permit me, through the Medium of your
ever welcome Horticulturist, to make a few in-
quiries concerning the different species and va-
rieties of the Box. I have not been able to find
in your pages anything about it, excepting the
manner of propagating the dwarf variety —
which I suppose to be the common Box, (Bux-
us sempervirens,) which I have seen four and a
half feet high, and perhaps thirty years old —
and which is used for borders in this vicinity.
Cannot you give us a description of all the
known varieties? Is not it one of our finest
evergreens, and worthy a special chapter in the
Horticulturist? and will you not tell us the
name of the Hawthorn used for hedges in Eng-
land, and described by Mr. Olmstead in his
'•' Walks and Talks" — and whether it can be
procured at our nurseries, andoblge yours tru-
ly, A Novice. New- England, April 5, 1852.

Answer. — There are four or five varieties of
the common Box, (Buxvs sempervirens,) cul-
tivated in this country. The Dwarf Box, {B.
S. suffruticosa,) in common use for edgings, is
the least hardy of all, the foliage being always
browned, and the ends of the shoots injured by
severe winters, all over the northern states.

The Tree Box, (B. S. arborescens,) which
has leaves about twice as long as those of the
Dwarf Box, and grows from 2 to 10 or 12 feet
high, is much hardier, and bears 10° below
zero without injury. The Gold-striped Tree
Box, and Silver-striped do., are varieties very
ornamental in their foliage, and equally hardy.

But the hardiest of all is what is known as
the Green-tree box, (B. S. angustifulia.) It
has shining dark green, lanceolated leaves,
more narrow and pointed than the common
Dwarf Box, or the other sorts of the Tree
Box — resembling more the foliage of the com-
mon Roman Myrtle. This Box will bear unin-
jured, a temperature that destroys or injures
badly, both the Dwarf Box. and the other
sorts of the Tree Box, and as its foliage is of a
richer tint than any of the others, and as it

may be kept in shape very easily, by the shears,
it ought to take the place of the Dwarf Box
for edgings, in the United States. This varie-
ty is more common about Washington, and in
Maryland, than in northern gardens. It de-
serves to be cultivated more generally.

Grapes in Vineries. — Dear Sir: As a rea-
son for troubling you to do mc a favor, my only
apology is, that I am a lover of horticultural
pursuits, an original subscriber to your Horti-
culturist, and that I have endeavored to extend
its circulation by inducing some of my friends
to subscribe for it, whom I knew would be be-
nefited by taking it. I have received great and
essential benefit from it myself; and perhaps it
is owing more to that than any other cause, that
I was induced, in the spring of 1849, to build
me a grapery, setting out my vines the middle
of May, in that year. About one half of them
were two year old plants, in good sized pots.
They all grew well the first season, and have
continued to do so since. In 1850, by crooking
the older vines in large pots, I allowed them to
bear each a few bunches of grapes, without
hurting the vines at all. In every such case, a
fine strong rod, coming from below the crook,
was sent up to the top of the house, and this
was the bearing wood for 1851, the old rod in
the pot being cut off.

In 1851, being the third season, the vines
were allowed to bear a fair crop. The fruit ri-
pened well in all but two instances, where I had
allowed a little too much to remain. Bntlhadas
fine Muscats of Alexandria, and in perfection,as
you will find in Mr. Allen's graperies. Also, I
had in perfection, Black Hamburghs, Wilmot's
New Black Hamburgh, St. Albans, Grizzly and
White Frontignans, Royal Muscadine, White
Nice, Chasselas of Fontainbleau, and Syrian.

I notice what Mr. Cleveland says in the last
number of the Horticulturist, on the subject of
early over bearing. This is the great danger. His
suggestions are important, and if attended to, may
benefit those who are now constructing grape-
ries, or who may do it hereafter. My vines are
all numbered, and I have from the first kept a
particular account of the state and condition of
each vine, its growth, annual product, 8cc. — in-
deed, everything about it. Thus far my vines
have done remarkably well — but I want to see

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

how they will do the coming season, which I
think will test them. If life is spared, I will
promise you next autumn, as full an account as
you may wish of my cultivation, and its results
for 1850, 1851, and 1852. I do not expect to
bring anything new to light, but facts I can give
you, which, if I had had them when I first be
gan to cultivate the grape, would have been of
great benefit to me. In the construction of my
border, and in the cultivation of the grape, I
have followed in the main, Mr. Allen's book,
excepting that I put no dead animals into the
border. P. Hartford, Ct.

Crescent Seedling Strawberry. — Editor
HoRT: In answer to numerous inquiries per
mail, permit me to say the " Crescent Seed-
ling" Strawberry plants, can be obtained of the
originator, Henry Lawrence Esq., 3d Muni-
cipality, New-Orleans, at $8.00 per 100.

Mr. Lawrence writes me, under date of the
7th inst., saying, " I have had strawberries on
my table since the 4th of January last, and at
the present time have them in the greatest abun-
dance, the average weight being one ounce, and
about three inches in circumference ; this will
continue without intermission, until the middle
of August."

As soon as my plants exhibit their habit of
bearing in this northern climate, I will report
the same to your readers. R. G. Pardee.
Palmyra, N. Y., April 16, 1852.

Horticola's Notes on Country Seats. —
Dear Sir: Tour most admirable magazine is
not one to which exception can often be justi-
fiably taken — certainly not in any case where
your own hand guides the pen, and but seldom
in that of your correspondents. It is not for
me to eulogize the good work it does, or at-
tempt to magnify the place it fills in " the
country" world. There is, however, in the
April number of your book, a letter from one
" Horticola," describing country seats, that, in
one respect, is so void of a proper appreciation
of landscape scenery and the beautiful in coun-
try seats, that I know you will not object to see
a protest entered upon his criticism. I allude to
his remarks upon the country seat of George
W. Lyman, Esq. (Your writer calls the pro-
prietor G. C. Lyman,thus showing his ignorance,
as it would seem, of the vicinity ) He desig-

nates it as crotchety and ludicrous. Tou, who
have an eye for the beautiful, and the sense and
perception to appreciate it, would have come
to a far different conclusion had you been afford-
ed the most distant glimpse of it. He comiiares
it with Rose Hill, and a Mr. Leland's place,
both suburban villas, of the size of two or three
acres, which pretend to nothing else. Mr. Ly-
man's place is an estate of nearly 800 acres,
full of natural beauty, and planned and execu-
ted, and actually grown by the first Mr. Lyman,
nearly fifty years since, when there was no ex-
ample, no '• Downing's Country Houses" to
guide him. He was a man of taste, natural and
inbred, and he produced a work that has but
few equals in New-England, one that you your-
self would call a truly English country seat —
for in looking at it you would be immediately
reminded of the English gentleman's country
home, that you have so often described. For
taste in the grouping of trees, the position and
effect of the house — the management of the ap-
proaches, the just weighing of art with the na-
ture that surrounded him, Mr. Lyman was
eminently successful.

I will not consume your valuable time longer,
but close with the request that when you next
visit this part of the country, you should look
for yourself. Tour neighbor, Mr. Sargent,
could doubtless have given you a more correct
impression of the place than Horticola. Tours,
very faithfully, '•' A Subscriber."

We suspect Horticola not to be an unpreju-
diced critic, and fear, from what we have since
learned, he has done injustice to several places
in his last communication. Ed.

Wants of our Readers. — Will you allow a
subscriber to make a suggestion respecting the
information wanted by a large class of the read-
ers of the Horticulturist, who like himself, are
at a loss for practical instruction on the culture
of flowering plants. But few books on the sub-
ject are within our reach, and these not adapted
to teach floral culture in this climate. A small
number of the readers of the Horticulturist
possess greenhouses or the means of cultivating
plants, requiring artificial heat, yet the common
frame is within the reach of most of them.
Frame plants when perfectly cultivated are a
source of much pleasure. Practical instruction

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

on the culture of plants in frames, and of the
plants most proper for this culture, would be
interesting to your readers; but little on the
subject is in your journal — not a word on the
culture of the Primula flimily, and many other
fine frame plants. Tliis information may be
extracted from English and French works on
floral culture. It will require adaptation to this
climate by a skillful florist, and will then be
more acceptable to your readers, than manj'
essays which have occupied tlie pages of the
Horticulturist; reference is not made to these
essays unconnected with horticulture, from a
desire to censure, for the writer believes the
"Horticulturist" has done much to promote
and improve horticultural taste in general, and
is the best work of its class in the country; it
would be still more valuable, indeed indispensa*
ble to many, were it to furnisli practical instruc-
tion on the cultivation of plants in classes, com-
mencing with plants adapted to small gardens,
and continuing the subject until it contained
practical instruction on the culture and propa-
gation of all the most desirable ornamental
plants grown in the open ground, the frame,
the conservatory, or the hot house. Very re-
spectfully, C. Louisville, Ky., JlprillO, 1852.

^Ye hope some of thejnany experienced cul-
tivators among our subscribers, will assist us in
meeting the excellent suggestions of our cor-
respondent, by sending us short practical arti-
cles on the culture of different classes of plants
and trees. Ed.

Management of Vineries. — In reading, I
think the February number of the Horticultur-
ist, I found a statement from W. Chorlton, in
regard to the management of his cold grapery,
in which he states that he gathered grapes well
ripened on the first of August. Now I should
like to be informed if he had not two stoves in
his cold grapery, for some portion of the early
part of the season, and if he has no objection to
inform your readers, who I dare say are inter-
ested in the matter, how long he kept up the
artificial heat and to what degree, on an average.
Yours truly, H. B. New-York, March 22.

Is Tan-bark a Fertilizer? — The question
has been mooted, " is tan-bark a fertilizer," in
one of the late numbers of the Horticulturist.
Mr. Downing speaks highly of it as a mulcher

for strawberries ; and on the authority of Prof.
MapeS, recommends it as a fertilizer, for that
plaht. Its good qualities as a mulcher, I can
well understand, it being a nonconductor; and
therefore a protection against the cold of winter,
and the too sudden heat of early spring, guard-
ing against great alternations of weather; allow-
ing the cold soil after winter to become gradual-
ly warmed, preventing that rapid change from
cold to heated ground, but blending the one
season gently into the other.

As a fertilizer for strawberries. Prof. Mapes
has found it excellent. For this purpose I have
not tried it myself, but with many other plants
and trees I have. I must, however, in the out-
set, say what I have used, was not fresh from
the tan-yard, but had been used for the forcing
of pines, grapes, and other purposes, and after
all fermentation had ceased. I employed it in
various ways — among others the following: I
have mixed it with soil (a sandy loam) in which
were planted out American Arbor vitfe, Chinese
do., English laurels, laurestinus, Portugal lau-
rels, Evergreen oaks. Arbutus, Daphnes, and
many other shrubs;— and in it not one genera
grew well. Indeed, on the contrary, it gave
undeniable evidence of being most inimical to
the growth of them all ; the first year after plant-
ing they put on a debilitated sickly appearance ;
the second year they became worse, after which
the plants were moved into other ground to save
them ; a considerable part was so sickly they had
to be thrown away. In order to test this more
accurately I had a bed about 100 feet long, five
feet wide, taken out to about the depth of 18
inches, and filled with old tan-bark; in this was
planted a collection of shrubs including nearly
all that I have already named with many others ;
the greater part were turned out of pots and
were healthy, thrifty plants; consequently they
received no check on their removal. This was
performed early in April— an excellent time.
The first summer, if it could hardly be said
these plants grew at all, they did very misera-
bly, turning as yellow as a lump of Californian
gold, and autumn found them half decayed and
dying. Here, however, they were allowed to
remain — grow they did not— another year — at
the end of which more than three-fourths were
completely dead,and of the few which remained,
only portions of the plants were alive. They

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

were in such a lamentable plight that the whole
had to be destroyed without a solitary excep-
tion, and the bed filled in with the original soil.
From the shrubs used, the reader will readily
know these trials have been made in England.
TaU'bark at tliis time, had been strongly recom-
mended as a fertilizer for the Chinese Arborvi-
tte, and in my experiments it proved as fatal to
that shrub as the others. For Rhododendrons
I have employed it in a variety of ways, such
as mixed with peat, mixed with loam, and also
planted them into it in a pure state ; in all of
which it proved inj u rious, and had to be removed .
Upon many other shrubs and trees I have tried it
by digging it into tlie ground and the effects were
the same, as well as on kitchen garden vegeta-
bles. I have seen it tried as a top dressing upon
grass land, and its effects were most injurious.
It destroyed and weakened the best varieties
of grasses, and, as a consequence, gave more
room for the weeds; its effects were visible at
some distance. Having had annually at com-
mand a large quantity of old tan-bark, and this
for some years, I have experimented with it,in
a variety of ways on a large collection of trees
and shrubs, as I have been describing, in an ex-
tensive nursery, without any beneficial results.
In the spring of every year, the prunings, weeds,
rubbish and cleanings of the nursery were regu-
larly charred, and it Avas at last determined to
char the tan-bark too. After which it is found
to be useful as a fertilizer for heavy land, or
seeds, seedling trees, cuttings, or any thing re-
quiring a light manure.

From the above facts it is evident tan-bark
must be used with caution. Perhaps there may
be a difference between what I have used —
what had undergone fermentation in pits and
hot-houses — and what other persons may use
fresh, from the tan-yard, but surely if there is
a danger with either, I should consider the
greater with the latter j it being used in a rank
state. Yours respectfully, John Saul. Wash-
ington, D. C, Jpril 16, 1852.

[AYe quite agree with Mr. Saul as to any
practical value of tan-bark as a manure. To
nearly all plants it is no doubt injurious — espe-
cially if fresh — though possibly it may be bene-
ficial to strawberries if spread lightly over the

as a vmlcher, to keep the soil cool and

moist in this sunny climate, tan-bark is a most
invaluable substance for almost every tree or
plant that needs such protection. As a winter
protection against cold we have found it equally
serviceable— especially if kept dry by a coating
of straw or boards to shed the rain. While
therefore, we doubt its value as a fertilizer,
generally, and are confident if brought in con-
tact with the rootsof many plants, it is injurious,
we look upon it as of exceeding value as a pro-
tection against the excesses of our climate in
all cases where such is necessary. Ed,]

A WoKD FOR THE Cacti.— I fccl Very much
inclined to take up the cudgels against your cor-
respondent " Working Gardener," in behalf
of that exceedingly beautiful and much abused
order of plants, the Cacti.

I do not care for the jealousies of " practi-
cals" or " amateurs," with regard to the silver
medal ; it is true that practical gardeners have
not attended to the cultivation of these i)lants,
because, with the exception of the winter flow-
ering Epiphyllum truncatum, and its varieties,
they cannot be used in bouquets, nor is the
taste for them sufficiently general to allow of
their being cultivated for sale ; consequently they
do not pay.

In this neighborhood, I know b^itone " prac-
tical" who cultivates them for the '■ love of
them." All honor to him for it.

There are certainly five or six collections in
this county, which might contend for the silver
medal in question, and Mr. Working Gardener
is mistaken in supposing that the course would
be " walked over," as I think I know at least
two collections from which better selections
could be made of " twenty best grown species,"
than from that of the practical he alludes
to.

As for having twenty species in flower at once,
I dont se ■ why that should present any difficul-
ty; I could furnish a dozen in flower in an hour
or two, without going to any large collection. I
will have in flower in a week or two, Cereus
speciosissimns, C. Jcnkinsonii, Scott ii, Jlagel-
liformis, Grahamii, a.nd Mamillariauncinata,
yet my Cacti do not exceed fifteen specimens
of all kinds.

Depend upon it, Mr. Editor, a horticultural
society is as right in bestowing prizes on
der of plants, the extreme beauty of

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

flowers no one will question, as on any class of
florist's flowers which may happen to be in fash-
ion. I know that it is the fashion at present to
"snub'-' Cacti, but the fashion may change,
when we shall hear working gardeners talk as
learnedly about Cerei Epiphylla, and Phyllo-
cacti, as they now do about Fuchsias, Cinera-
rias, Pansies and Chrysanthema, for, as Mr.
BuisT saj's in his last edition, " the time is not
far distant when this family will be successfully
cultivated in every parlor window, and the
whole tribe will be sought for with more avidi-
ty than any other class of plants that have ever
been brought into notice, not even excepting
the Rose."

Wishing Mr. "Working Gardener more taste,
I remain, Mr. Editor, your ob't servant, A
Philadelphia Am.^tevr.

The Winter in Georgia. — As you desire
accounts of the effects of the last extreme cold
winter, from all sections of the country, I will
briefly report what injuries we have sustained.

In the coldest day of an ordinary winter, the
mercury with us descends generally as low as
12 or 10° Fahrenheit, frequently to 8°, and oc-
casionally to 6°, which we consider extreme
cold.

This year, after a mild damp day, on the 18th
of Jan. the mercury suddenly fell during the
night, to 16 on the morning of the 19th, and
growing still colder, the mercury .^tood at sun-
rise on the morning of the 20th, at two degrees
below zero. During the rest of the week at
sunrise, it generally ranged at 12 and 15"^, and
we had thus the very unusual pleasure of al-
most an entire week of excellent skating, in the
middle of Georgia!

Of our ornamentiil plants, Newtona Japonica
was killed to the ground. This usually needs
no protection. The Cape Jasmine, usually re-
quiring only a slight protection of evergreen
boughs, is, in spite of its usual firotection, in
the same condition. The Pionian Myrtle, usu-
ally hardy, is in the same state, and the Chro-
matella Rose, has, in some instances, also been
killed. All of the above are, however, sending
ing up fresh shoots from the root. Cedar of
Goa, which, like the above named plants, has
survived our winters for several years past, is
now killed utterly. Dahiins, which generally
winter well in the open ground . arc nearly all

destroyed. Even those which were taken up
and stored, did not generally escape, ourrooms
and green-houses not being prepared to sustain
such excessive cold.

In the fruit garden the Pomegranate is not
hurt. But fig trees of all kinds are killed to the
ground, except some very large treesof the Ce-
lestial Fig, wliich are throwing out fresh shoots
from the main branches. All the limbs less
than about two inches in diameter, on these, are
killed, and the main trunk seriously sx'lit by the
violence of the frost.

In the kitchen garden, the English Pea, plant-
ed in December, which usually survives our se-
verest cold, was killed entirely. Below us,
where the mercury fell to 2° above zero, I
learn they survived . So the cold that is fatal
to the garden pea, is somewhere between 2°
above and 2° below the zero of Fahrenheit.

I enclose you a few seeds of the " Quill Mel-
on," which we think superior to the Rock, and
the best yelloAv fleshed melon we have tried. If
in your climate, it shoiild prove as good, I think
you will be pleased with it. It is nearly as
good as the green fleshed melon ; of a very sin-
gular shape; quite large, and exceedingly pro-
ductive. Yours very truly, Wm. N. White.
Athens, Geo., April 15, 1852.

The Winter in Northern New- York.— In
compliance with your request, in the April
number of the Horticulturist, I send an account
of the effects of the past winter on our fruit
buds, The winter although long and cold, was
exceeded by that of 1835-36, both in amount
of snow and cold, the thermometer being a
number of times 18" and 20" below zero.
Bearing quince and peach trees were killed,
although there was no frost in the ground, and
the snow four to five feet deep. The plum
buds were killed. During the past winter the
falls of snow were light, at no time exceeding
nine or ten inches. The thermometer in our
garden, protected on the east and north by
buildings, stood at daylight, on 17th December,
6° below zero, 2° below on 26th, 10° below on
27th. On 20th January 6° below, 22d 11° be-
low, 23d 3° below. In the outskirts of the city,
and on College Hill, at 18° below on the 22d.
In our city gardens the plum buds are partly
killed ; peach and fine cherries, all killed
rello and common cherry, partly killed

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

my father's farm, a little N.E. from the College,
the peach, cherry and plum buds are all killed.
The varieties of plum are Egg, Green Gage,
"Washington, Jefferson, Columbia,Coe's Golden
Drop, Huling's Superb, Frost Gage, Coe'sLate
Red, &c> Cherries, Elton, Black Tartarian,
Bigarreau, Mayduke, Knight, Early Black,
Downton, Downer's Late, Black Eagle, Bigar-
reau Coleur d* Chair. Belle d' Choisy, Coe's
Transparent, Dubois' Early Apricot, also
killed. The farm is about half a mile east of
the Mohawk, and about a hundred feet above
it, sloping to the west ; soil stiff clay with plenty
of slate stone, partly underdrained. Some
years ago I became satisfied that our tender
fruit buds were not only iiyured by the severe
cold of winter, but also by the sudden thawing
after hard frost. As a general rule after a very
cold night, we have a bright sun in the morn-
ingtill 10 or 11 o'clock.when it becomes cloudy,
I have observed here and there in our city gar-
dens, a peach tree, protected by some building
from the morning sun till 10 or 11 o'clock,
which will blossom and bear some fruit, when
the buds of trees exposed to early sun were
killed. It is so this year. Yesterday I examin-
ed the buds of an early Nectarine, in our gar-
den, and a peach in the garden of a friend,
(both protected,) and they were sound, while
on exposed trees they are killed. A few years
since, in the early part of September, I visited
one of the Shaker families, about nine miles
east of us, in AVatervliet, and their peach or-
chard had an abundance of fine fruit, although
the thermometer, the previous winter, was
down to 8*^ or 10° below zero, and our buds
were killed. The trees were on the west side
of a hill, just high enough to shield them from
the sun till 10 or 11 o'clock; soil sand. I have
kept a record of the weather for more than 20
years, and find tliat when we have the ther-
mometer a little below zero, say two or three
degrees in the early part of December, it is
more fatal than lO'' below zero in February,
if the cold has not been so great previously.
This year our buds were killed in Decem-
ber.

In a nursery near our farm, soil similar, the
only variety of pear injured is the Bartlett,
badly, though the previous winter did not
them at all. Yours truly, Charles H.
ToMLiNsoN. Schenectady, Jpril 6, 1852.

Cherry Trees Destroyed by Insects.— An
inqUry made by Mr. JohK Waters, of Ncw-
Mllford, respecting an insect which destroyed
his young grafts, reminds me of something that
I should have made public before this.

For several years back I have been perplexed
and annoyed by the appearance of my young
cherry trees in the early part of summer; for
on the sprining of the sap they would appear
strong and healthy, and seem to promise an
early and vigorous growth; but as the buds un-
folded themselves, they would begin to shrivel
and to lose force, and after struggling for a few
days or weeks, would finally drop off entirely.

For a long time, I supposed it to be the effect
of our very cold winters, and had almost aban-
doned the hope of rearing the finer varieties in
these parts; but as there was occasionally a tree
that did not show any such signs, although
equally exposed to the weather, and would
thrive exceedingly, I was led to believe it to be
the work of some insect or animal, which had
not yet been described as a tree destroying thing.

I was soon convinced that it did not commit
its depredations in the day-time, for I watched
closely for sometime, without discovering any-
thing, and j-et the trees continued their sickly
appearance; but on watching by night, I readi-
ly discovered that the young leaves were eaten
as fast as they shot out, by an enormous beetle-
bug, that only gnawed by night. I also dis-
covered that these same beetles rose from the
ground immediately under the branches of the
trees; and by further examination by day-light,
I found that there were from one to fifty of these
bugs under every tree, either in the mulching
or in the mellow soil. Now, after having made
this, (to me,) very important discovery, I pro-
ceeded at once and deliberately, to knock each
one of these malicious beetles on their heads,
until their jaws were broken, and they were
thus incapacitated for doing any further injury
to the cherry trees. My trees at once began to
assume a fine foliage and to renew their health,
and since then I have had no difficulty in giving
them an early start.

My practice is now to visit each one of my
small cherry trees, two or three times a week
during the first weeks of their annual growth,
and to hoe them carefully. In this way I keep
a fine nest for the bugs directly around the trees,
which they greatly prefer to any more distant,
and then I can, as I hoe, pick them out and
cripple them at my leisure. Now I am quite
confident that Mr. Water's trouble is occasioned
by this same great beetle, which is very common
in this whole country.

It is a bug about three-fourths of an inch in
length, of a dark red color, and with a small
black head It is commonly noticed when it
gets into the house on a fine May or June morn-
ing— when, after having made a desperate pass
at the nearest candle or lamp, it brings up
against the opposing wall, and with scram
vain efforts to regain its lost equilibrium
pitates itself, sprawling, upon the floor

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

seriously, the effects of this beetle upon my
trees, before I found out its practice of eating
the young leaves, was very pernicious. At least
one tree in ten was destroyed ; and those they
did not destroy, they rendered spare and gaunt
in their forms. Wm. R. Manly. Newport,
Herkimer Co., N. ¥., Feb., 1852.— Ca/<.

The Fruit. — We regret to learn from Mr.
Ernst that most of the fruit, cherries, peach-
es, apples and pears, which had escaped the
extreme cold of the past winter, have been
carried away by the recent and unexpected
visitations of Jack Frost. The warm weather
immediately previous to the recent cold had
tempted most of tlie fruit trees and flowers into
leaf, and the buds of fruit had swollen so that
frost, having a fair chance, has captured the en-
tire lot. We shall have to give up for another
year, hope of fruit. The loss of two successive
seasons will prove a loss severely to be felt bj'
farmers and horticulturists, and must be esti-
mated at several millions of dollars. We have
accounts from a great many sections of the east
and west, and all have suflered severely. In
some places, entire orchards of fruits, which
have just come into bearing, have been destroy-
ed.— Cin. Gazette.

Statistics of Vineyards. — In accordance
with a resolution of the Horticultural Society
of Cincinnati, passed at its last session, calling
on the President and Council to report on the
extent of the interest at this time engaged in
the wine business in the neighborhood of Cin-
cinnati, we submit the following report:

Of the number of acres now under cultiva-
tion in vines, we are not, as yet, prepared to
give an exact account, as the entire statistics of
the county have not been fully made out since
1845. In that year there were eighty-three
vineyards, covering an area of three hundred
and fifty acres. In that year alone one hundred
acres were prepared and planted, and the num-
ber of acres brought under cultivation has been
steadily and rapidly increasing every year since.
The great number of new vineyards commenc-
ed since 1845, some of which embrace twenty,
five to thirty acres, with the annual enlargement
of those previously planted, will swell the ag-
gregate amount to not less than twelve hundred
acres. From the statistics already in our pos-
session, we can safely say that this is within the
actual amount.

The labor bestowed upon this culture in the
preparation of the ground, planting and dress-
ing, and making the wine, gives employment to
at least six hundred efficient laborers, at an an-
nual cost of $120,000, producing when in a
bearing state, in moderately favorable seasons,
about 240,000 gallons of wine, estimated at
about the same number of dollars Beside the

Itivators and wine dressers, employment is
given to wood coopers, equal to the mak-
' 8,000 barrels, estimated at $8,000.

A considei-able portion of this crop now falls
into the hands of the wine coopers, and is con-
verted into sparkling wine or champaign, there-
by more than doubling its market price. The
value of sparkling wine prepared in this county
in 1851, as near as we can arrive at an estimate,
amounts to not less than $75,000. The dealing
in these wines also forms a considerable item in
the transactions of the wine merchants.

As most of those engaged in the culture of
the vine have families to support, as well as oth-
ers engaged in the business, it may, without ex-
aggeration, be calculated that the wine interest
in Hamilton county, affords subsistence, direct-
ly, or indirectly, to at least 2,000 industrious
and sober jjeople — a drunken vine-dresser we
have never m^t with. S. Mosher, Pres. Hort.
Soc. Cincinnati, March 15, 1852.

Black Knot on Plum Trees. — There has
been much speculation and research for the
cause of the black knot on plum trees. Some
persons have supposed it caused by an insect.
Some years ago I opened the knot and examin-
ed it, but did not discover any appearance of
an insect, nor the eggs of one. So far as I
know, it has not been satisfactorily learned what
cau.ses the knot.

The gardens of my adjoining neighbors are
full of plum trees. All the trees are filled with
the black knot, so as to appear as if a flock of
small birds had lighted on the branches. Some
years ago, I advised the owners to cut off the
knots so soon as they appeared, or they would
lose the trees — they thought best to leave them
to the course of nature. The second and third
set of their trees are now in the condition I have
described, while my trees are free from knots.
I have always looked for knots when in the gar-
den, and when one appeared, I cut it off at any
season, whether it was loaded with fruit or not.
The trees soon put out other shoots, which fill-
ed out the place of the limb cut off, and my
trees are in full size, as if no limb had been cut
off, and there is not a knot to be seen on them.
From this treatment, I am of o])inion, tliat if a
knot is suffered to remain on a limb, the disease
soon spreads, like a canker, and fills the whole
tree, as it has the trees of my neighbors. It is
a misconception, that when a tree is set, it does
not require furtlier treatment. D. Tomlinson.
Cultivator. ■

Osage Orange Hedge. — My laltitude is 41°
35' north. The past winter has been one of
intense severity. The plant above has been
represented as semi-hardy, and some anxiety
as to its efficiency as a hedge plant in this lati-
tude, manifested. My hedge is now in its fourth
spring, (if spring it can be called,) — quite a
proportion of the last season's growth reached
four feet in height. Its length is some three
hundred feet. Not a plant shows any
cation of injury, from any cause whate

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

since setting, and a more luxuriant, efficient,
and beautiful Ledge, I have not yet seen. Ja.
BEZ Delano. Fairhaven, Mass. ^pril 16,
1852.

Penn. Hoet. Society. — The stated meeting
was lield on 20th April, Dr. W. D. Brinckle,
Vice Pres't., in the chair. The exhibition was
very fine. The long tables througli the center
of the saloon contained many interesting plants,
and a number shown for the first time. In
Robert Buist's collection, were the Campanula
nobilis alba, a handsome plant; Arbutus nepa-
lensis in full bloom; Epacris hyacinthiflora;
auricula morning star, new and of recent intro-
duction— two remarkably fine seedUiig Verbe-
nas; Pimelia spectabilis, throwing up innumera-
ble stems from thei'oot, each bearing a compact
umbel of delicate flowers, a plant worthy of
admiration.and other beautiful specimens. Fi-om
C. Cope's houses, a variety of choice plants, a
cut flower of tlie Victoria regia, a moss covered
urn and basket containing select cut flowers —
also a basket of strawbei'ries, a dish of grapes
and another of mushrooms. From Robert
Cornelius's garden, were a fiue collection of
everblooming roses, another of pansies and well
grown forced vegetables — comprising one dozen
of cucumbers, half a dozen of cauliflowers, four
varieties of lettuce, six kinds of radishes, early
peas and beans in the pod. asparagus, etc. C.
Sheets exhibited a table of roses ; James Powell,
choice pansies ; Joseph Ripka's gardener, a large
specimen of Rhododendron Russellianum, a
hand bouquet and a dish of mushrooms. John
Sherwood presented a seedling Rhododendron,
hybridised with Azalea Sinensis, partially ever-
green, bearing clusters of orange colored blos-
soms. From Charles Horton of the state of
Maine, superior Baldwin apples.

The conclusion of R. R. Scott's dissertation
on the merits of the natural system of Botany
over the Linnean.

On motion, ordered that a committee of five
be appointed to inspect all the gardens, private
and commercial, in the neighborhood of this
city, and within the influence of this Society,
and report thereon.

The Prospectus of a new Horticultural Jour,
nal called the " Philadelphia Florist," of which
R. Robinson Scott is editor and proprietor, waa
submitted.

A letter from Prof. S. S. Halderaan, in ack-
nowledgment for his appointment to the chair
of Entomology, was read.

On motion, ordered that a vote of thanks be
tendered to Capt. McMichael for a package of
flower seeds from California. Thos. P. James,
Rec. Secretarv.

Buffalo Hort. Societt.— Jar?. 20. — The
Society met at Lewis Eaton's— The President
in the Chair.

ts exhibited.-^Bj Lewis Eaton — Apples;
Eaton.

By Mrs. Vandewater; two varieties for a
name.

The committee appointed to publisli the
Transactions of the Society for the })ast year,
reported progress.

After a discussion of the apples presented,
and on various other subjects, the Society ad-
journed.

Feb. 17. Met at Benjamin Hodge's — Vice-
President Taintor in the Chair.

Fruits Exhibited. — By Benj. Hodge — Ap-
ples: American Golden Russet, Beauty of Kent,
Brabant Bellfleur, Carthouse, Esopus Spitzen-
burgh, English Russet, King, LymansPumpkin
Sweet, Lady, Minister, Michael Henry Pippin,
Pownal Spitzerburgh, Roxbury Russet, Swaar,
VYestfleld Seek-uo-farther. Pears: Glout
Morceau, Pound.

By W. R. Coppock — Apples: Yellow New-
town Pippin, Sweet Pearmain. Swaar, North-
ern Spy, Crow's Nest Russet.

By L. F. Allen — Apples: Ladies' Sweet.
Spencer.

By W. Granger — Apples: Baldwin, North-
ern Spy, Swaar.

The following were tested and discussed —
Apples: Ladies' Sweet, American Golden Rus-
set, Northern Spy, Sweet Pearmain, Minister,
King, Newton Pippin, Spencer, Carthouse,
Westfield Seek-no-farther, Brabant Bellfleuer.
Pears: Glout Morceau.

The committee on the library reported a list
of works which had been purchased for the use
of the Society.

W. R. Coppock stated that Messrs. Mason
and Lovcring had tendered to the Society the
gratuitous use of a room for the purpose of
holding the semi-monthly meetings, whereupon,
on his motion, their offer was accepted, and the
thanks of the Society unanimously voted to
them therefor.

March 3, — The Society met at Lewis F. Al-
len's— The President in the Chair.

Fruits exhibited. — By L. F. Allen — Pears:
Easter Beurre, very fine, from Ellwanger and
Barry, of Rochester.

By B.Hodge — Apples: Falhvater, Jonathan,
Fanieuse, Lovett's Sweet.

By W. Granger — Apples: Esopus Spitzen-
berg, Swaar, Baldwin, Roxbury Russet.

By L. Eaton — Apples; Baldwin.

The following were tested and discussed —
Pears; Easter Beurre. Apples: Fameuse, Jo-
nathan, Baldwin, Swaar.

March 16— The Society met at the residence
of the President, A. Bryant, who presided.

Fruits exhibited. — By A. Bryant & Son —
Apples: Baldwin, Esopus Spitzenberg, West-
field Seek-no-farther, Lady. Fameuse, Talmaa
Sweet, Rhode Island Greening, Golden Rus-
set, Pomme Gris, AVinesap.

By B. Hodge — Northern Spy, Swaar, Bra-
bant Bellfleuer, Lyman's Pumpkin Sweet

By L. Eaton — Baldwin.

The Osage Orange was stated to

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

slightly injured by the winter, and its fitness
for a hedge plant was generally admitted.

The following pears were discussed: French
Jargonelle. Louise Bonne de Jersey, Steven's
Genesee. V. M. Leon le Clerc, Duchessde An-
gouleme, Winter Nelis, and Orange.

On motion of W. R. Coppock , a vote was
passed recommending to the i)ublic Messrs.
Mason & Lovering's Agricultural AYarehouse,
which was ordered to be published.

The Society then adjourned. Jno. B. Ea-
ton, Recording Secretary.

New-Haven Hort. Society. — We sometimes
find it matter of convenience to know the names
of officers of sister societies, as we And them in
the Horticulturist. Possibly it may be equally
interesting to some to know the names of offi-
cers of our society, through the same medium.
If convenient you will please use the following:

At the annual meeting of the New-Haven
County Horticultural Society, held at the office
of Chas. Robinson. Esq., the 17th inst. James
Harrison, Eleazer E. Clarke. S. I. Baldwin,
John J. Walter, N. A. Bacon, Carlton White,
Charles Beers, T. H. Totten, and Jonathan
Stoddard, were chosen Directors for the cur-
rent year.

At a meeting of the Directors, held on tlie
following Monday, at the same place,

Charles Robinson, Esq., was re-elected Presi-
dent.

S. D. Pardee, Esq., 1st Vice President.

C. B. Sims, Esq., 2d do.

George Gabriel, Secretary.

E. U. Bishop, M. D., Cor. Secretary.

Wm. Johnson, Esq., Treasurer.

These together constitute the board for trans-
acting the business of the Society. George
Gabriel, Sec'y. New-Haven, March 23,1852.

Detroit Hort. Society. — At the annual
meeting of the Detroit Hort. Society just held,
the following persons were elected officers for
the present year:

President — A. C. Hubbard.

Vice Presidents — Thos. Lockwood and F.
Raymond.

Treasurer — Stephen Smith.

Bee. Secretary — Clias. Betts.

Cor. Secretary — Bela Hubbard.

The Society has now effected a substantial
and we trust a permanent organization. An
excellent room has been secured for the e.\hibi-
tions of the Society, the present season; and
every effort will be made to make them inter-
esting and instructive.

The advantages of having an energetic Horti-
cultural Society are too obvious to remain un-
noticed. Practical men believe now, that fruit
growing, taken all-rn-all, is one of the most pro-
fitable and pleasurable departments of husband-
ry. Every body is planting trees ; nurseries are
ing up in every part of the State ; yet they
11 double the number of trees that either
ee or four years ago. Our trees first

planted are coming into bearing, and the fine
character of the fruit gives great encouragement
to e-xtend operatious. And a Horticultural So-
ciety now is the result of bare necessity.

Persons in all parts of the State are solicited
to become members. Any person by sending
one dollar to either of the" officers, will be elec-
ted a member of the Society, and it is really to
be hoped that those who are engaged in fruit
growing, and feel an interest in the dissemina-
tion of correct knowledge in reference to cul-
ture, adaptation of varieties to our climate and
soil, the proper naming of fruits, which are now
propagated under false or erroneous names,
which causes perplexity, trouble and loss, Sec,
will take hold and help the matter on.

The Society have decided to hold five exhibi-
tions the present season; one in each of the
mouths of May to September inclusive. Due
notice will be given of the time of holding the
exhibitions, and persons will be appointed to re-
ceive fruit, &c., sent from a distance where
members cannot make it expedient to attend
personally. — Michigan Farmer.

CoLDMBDS, (0.) Hort. Society. — This soci-
ety was organised for the present year by elect-
ing the following officers and committees:

President — John Miller.

1st Vice-President — Lucien Buttles.

2d Vice-President — Benjamin Blake.

Treasurer — Adam Sites.

Cor. Sec— Henry C. Noble.

Recording Sec. — Geo. B. Comstock.

Council. — The President and Treasurer ex-
officio, and Messrs. A. E. Glenn, John Burr,
and F. Stewart.

Garden Committee — Dr. I. C. Jones for five
j'ears; Benj. Blake four years ; Lucien Buttles
three years; Robert Hume Jr., two years and
John Miller one year.

3nsinfF5 tn (rnrrfspnnknb.

Rose Shrubs. — Filius, (Toronto.) Vibur-
num Opulus-roseum — the rose colored variety
of the common Snow Ball, about which you
inquire, we do not remember to have seen. If
any of our nurserymen have cultivated it, we
will be glad to hear from them. We do not
understand your inquiry about cutting apple
•■' stocks" into two or three pieces? Do you
mean grafts? If so, every portion of a good
young shoot, with three buds, will make a good
graft.

Books. — 0. (Newbury, S.C.) Consult Bar.
ry's Fruit Garden, and our Fruits and Fruit
Trees of America. The other books most de.
sirable for you are, Mrs. Loudon's Flower Gar-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

dening for Ladies, Lindley's Horticulture, Lou-
don's Suburban Horticulturist. Paxton's Bota-
nical Dictionary, and Loudon's Encyclopedia
of Gardening.

Grafts. — Ibid. Nurserymen usually send
grafts of rare fruits, at the price of a tree for
a dozen grafts: more common sorts at much
lower rates by the quantity. John Jones. — The
grafts of the grape-vine should be kept in a cel-
lar till the leaves of the stocks are bursting —
then grafted. In this way they take very rea-
dily.

Evergreen Screens. — 0. V.. (Syracuse,
N. Y.) Nothing would be more suitable for a
screen for the purpose you mention, than ever-
greens— especially a mingling of the following
sorts: Norway Spruce, Hemlock, American
Arbor Vitse, with an occasional White Pine,
Scotch Pine, and Balsam Fir. Do not plant
them too thick — or if so planted, thin them
out before the branches touch — otherwise you
•will lose much of the beauty of the trees.

Glass Pipes. — C. W. Wever. Glass pipes
for conveying water, can, we imagine, be had
of Ai.LEN & Co., Agricultural Warehouse, N.
Y. The cost we do not know.

Lawns. — A Lady, (New-London, Conn.)
Plant your lawn with a mixture of the follow-
ing grass seeds, at the rate of three bushels to
tlie acre, viz: one and a quarter bushels red-
top, one and a quarter bushels blue grass, four
quarts of white clover. This will make a thick
lawn in 10 or 12 weeks.

Cut- WORM. — James. Sow the ground with
coarse salt — three bushels to the acre, before
you turn it over with the spade. This will des-
troy the grubs and benefit the crops.

Currants. — M. R. (Utica ) No shrub
shows the good efTi'Cts of high manuring so
completely as the currant. If you wish to get
very large fruit, train the bushes on the north

side of a trellis, and feed the roots well with
half rotted stable manure.

Melons. — A. B., (Trenton.) The earliest
by far is the Christiana — a Boston variety — full
ten days before the green fleshed sorts. The
green fleshed Citron and the Beechwood, are
two of the highest flavored sorts. The Moun-
tain Sweet is the best water melon.

Peach Worm. — J. Constant Reader, (Pitts-
burgh.) Take away the ground three inches
deep at the base of the trunk, around all your
peach trees; if you see gum, the grub is then
at work — follow and take it out with the knife.
Pouring a pail of boiling water at the base an-
swers the same purpose. It is a good plan to
heap a small hill of leached ashes around the
trunk, to keep the insects away.

Stunted Trees. — S. Johnson. Most proba-
bly your orchard was planted too deep. Loosen
the soil well with the spade, and if the ground
is heavy, dig in a mixture of stable manure and
hard coal ashes. Head back the ends of all the
shoots to make the trees throw out new ones,
and wash over the trunks with thick soap suds
— or rather soft-soap and water.

Summer Bulbs. — ji Working Lady G arden-
er, (Staten Island, N. Y.) The best bulbs for
blooming in the borders in summer, are the fol-
lowing: Mexican Tiger flowers, (two colors,)
Tuberoses, Gladiolus Jloribundus, roseus, gan-
davensis, formossissima, and .several other
Ghent varieties; Amaryillis, Johnsonia and
formossissi7na, Crocus autumnalis, Oxalis Bo-
weii, Liliuin Japonicum and speciosum. The
latter should be planted in a shady sheltered
border. Tlie others only require a rich sandy
loam — the manure either poudrette or very rot-
ton stable manure — the former the best — and a
sunny open border. Plant all of these as soon
as possible, before the middle of May.

H^ ^

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Stinrrirnu nmm Iritisli jijurtirulturt.

"\T>r7HEN a man goes into a country without understanding its language — merely as a
"■^ traveller—be is likely to comprehend little of the real character of that country ;
when he settles in it, and persists in not understanding its language, manners, or customs
— and stubbornly adheres to his own, there is little probability of his ever being a
contented or successful citizen. In such a country as this, its very spirit of liberty
and progress, its freedom from old prejudices, and the boundless life and energy that
make the pulses of its true citizens — either native or adopted — beat with health and
exultation, only serve to vex and chafe that alien in a strange land, who vainly tries
to live in the new world, with all his old-world prejudices and customs.

We are led into this train of reflection by being constantly reminded, as we are in
our various journeyings through the country, of the heavy impediment existing — the
lion lying in the path of our progress in hoi'ticulture, all over the country, in the cir-
cumstance that our practical gardening is almost entirely in the hands of foreign gar-
deners. The statistics of the gardening class, if carefully collected, would, we imagine,
show that not three per cent of all the working gardeners in the United States, are
either native or naturalised citizens. They are, for the most part, natives of Ireland,
with a few Scotchmen, and a still smaller proportion of English and Germans.

We suppose we have had as much to do, for the last sixteen or eighteen years, with
the employment of gardeners, as almost any person in America, and we never remem-
ber an instance of an American offering himself as a professional gardener. Our own
rural workmen confine themselves wholly to the farm, knowing nothing, or next to
nothing, of the more refined a^nd careful operations of the garden. We may, there-
fore, thank foreigners for nearly all the gardening skill that we have in the country,
and we are by no means inclined to underrate the value of their labors. Among them
there are, as we well know, many most excellent men, who deserve the highest com-
mendations for skill, taste, and adaptation — though, on the other hand, there are a

June 1, 1852.

No. VI.

AMERICAN VERSl S BRITISH HORTICULTURE.

great many who have been gardeners, (if we may trust their word for it,) to the Duke

of , and the Marquis of , but who would make us pity his grace or his lordship,

if we could believe he ever depended on Paddy for any other exotics than potatoes
and cabbages.

But taking it for granted that our gardeners are wholly foreigners, and mostly
British, they all have the disadvantage of coming to us, even the best educated of
them, with their practice wholly founded upon a climate the very opposite to ours.
Finding how little the "natives" know of their favorite art, and being, therefore, by no
means disposed to take advice of them, or unlearn any of their old-world knowledge
here, are they not, as a class, placed very much in the condition of the aliens in a for-
eign country, we have just alluded to, who refuse, for the most part, either to learn its
language, or adapt themselves to the institutions of that country? We think so ; for
in fact, no two languages can be more different than the gardening tongues of England
and America, The ugly words of English gardening, are damp, ivet, loant of
sunshine, canker. Our bugbears are drouth, hot sunshine, great stimulus to
growth, and blights and diseases resulting from sudde?i checks. An English gar-
dener, therefore, is very naturally taught, as soon as he can lisp, to avoid cool and
damp aspects, to nestle like a lizard, on the sunny side of south walls, to be perpetu-
ally guarding the roots of plants against wet, and continually opening the heads of
his trees and shrubs, by thinning out the branches, to let the light in. He raises even
his flower beds, to shed off the too abundant rain ; trains his fruit trees upon trellises,
to expose every leaf to the sunshine, and is continually endeavoring to extract " sun-
shine from cucumbers," in a climate where nothing grows golden and ripe without coax-
ing nature's smiles under glass houses !

For theorists, who know little of human nature, it is easy to answer — " well, when
British gardeners come to a climate totally different from their own — where sunshine
is so plenty that they can raise melons and peaches as eaeily as they once did cauliflow-
ers and gooseberries — why, they will open their eyes to such glaring facts, and alter
their practice accordingly." Very good reasoning, indeed. But anybody who knows
the effect of habit and education on character, knows that it is as difficult for an Irish-
man to make due allowance for American sunshine and heat, as for a German to for-
get sour-krout, or a Yankee to feel an instinctive reverence for royalty. There is a
whole lifetime of education, national habit, daily practice, to overcome, and reason sel-
dom has complete sway over the minds of men rather in the habit of practicing a sys-
tem, than referring to principles, in their every day labors.

Rapid as the progress of horticulture is at the present tim.e in the United States,
there can be no doubt that it is immensely retarded by this disadvantage, that all our
gardeners have been educated in the school of British horticulture. It is their mis-
fortune, since they have the constant obstacle to contend,with, of not understanding the
necessities of our climate, and therefore endeavoring to carry out a practice admirably
well suited where they learned it — but most ill suited to the country where they are to
practice it. It is our misfortune, because we suffer doubly by their mistakes — first, in
the needless money they spend in their failures — and second, in the discouragement they

AMERICAN VERSUS BRITISH HORTICULTURE.

throw upon the growing taste for gardening among us. A gentleman who is himself
ignorant of gardening, establishes himself at a country seat. He engages the best
gardener he can find. The latter fails in one half that he attempts, and the proprietor,
knowing nothing of the reason of the failures, attributes to the difficulties of the thing
itself, what should be attributed to the want of knowledge, or experience of the soil
and climate, in the gardener.

A case of this kind, which has recently come under our notice, is too striking an il-
lustration not to be worth mentioning here. In one of our large cities south of New-
York, where the soil and climate are particularly fine for fruit-growing — where tho
most delicious peaches, pears, and apricots grow almost as easily as the apple at the
north, it was confidently stated to us by several amateurs, that the foreign grape could
not be cultivated in vineries there — " several had tried it and failed." We were, of
course, as incredulous as if we had been told that the peach would not ripen in Per-
sia, or the fig in Spain. But our incredulity was answered by a promise to show us
the next day, that the thing had been well tried.

We were accordingly shown : and the exhibition, as we suspected, amounted to this.
The vineries were in all cases placed and treated, in that bright, powerful sunshine, just
as they would have been placed and treated in Britain — that is, facing due south, and
generally under the shelter of a warm bank. Besides this, not half provision enough was
made, either for ventilation or water. The result was perfectly natural. The vines were
burned up by excess of light and heat, and starved for want of air and water. We
pointed out how the same money, (no small amount, for one of the ranges was 200 feet
long,) applied in building a span-roofed house, on a perfectly open exposure, and running
on a north and souths instead of an east and west line, and treated by a person who
would open his eyes to the fact, that he was no longer gardening in the old, but the
new world — would have given to7is of grapes, where only pounds had been obtained.

The same thing is seen on a smaller scale, in almost every fruit garden that is laid
out. Tender fruit trees are planted on the south side offences or walls, for sun, when
they ought always to be put on the north, for shade ; and foliage is constantly thinned
out, to let the sun in to the fruit, when it ought to be encouraged to grow thicker, to
protect it from the solar rays.*

But, in fact, the whole routine of practice in American and British horticulture, is,
and must be essentially diff"erent. We give to Boston, Salem, and the eastern cities,
the credit of bearing off the palm of horticultural skill ; and we must not conceal the
fact, that the superiority of the fruits and flowers there, in a climate more unfavorable
than that of the middle states, has been owing, not to the superiority of the foreign
gardeners which they employ — but to the greater knowledge and interest in hor-
ticulture taken there by the proprietors of gardens, themselves. There is really a na-
tive school of horticulture about Boston, and even foreign gardeners there, are obliged
to yield to its influence.

* If we were asked to say whnl praclice, founded on principle, had been most beneficially introduced into our hor
— \vc j^houki answer mulching — niulcliing suggested by the need of moisture in our dry climate, and
preserving it about tlic rools of plants.

We have spoken out our thoughts on this subject plainly, in the hope of benefitting
both gardeners and employers among us. Every right-minded, and intelligent foreign
gardener, will agree with us in deploring the ignorance of many of his brethren, and
we hope will, by his influence and example, help to banish it. The evil we complain
of has grown to be a very serious one, and it can only be cured by continually urging
upon gardeners that British horticulture will not suit America, without great modifi-
cation, and by continually insisting upon employers learning for themselves, the prin-
ciples of gardening as it must be practiced, to obtain any good results. This sowing
good seed, and gathering tares, is an insult to Providence, in a country that, in its soil
and climate, invites a whole population to a feast of Flora and Pomona.

A NOTE ON VINE CULTURE.

BY AVILLIAM CHORLTON, STATEN-ISLAND, N. Y.

Dear Sir — I suspect your correspondent, H. B.,has got the prying faculties very large-
ly developed, as he inquires so very particularly about the " two stoves" which were used
in the cold vinery at this place, in the earlier part of last season; and as persons of this
description are apt to be uneasy until their wishes are gratified, I hasten to relieve him
of his unpleasant anxiety. As I have no secrets in my practical working, and do not wish
to conceal any minutiae in my operations, that will be of service in disseminating useful
information, I feel obliged to him for reminding me of an omission, (if it can be construed
into such a form,) but the matter was of so trifling a character, that I did not think it of
sufficient importance in the detailed account sent you. When writing that account, I had
embodied a few general remarks on cold graperies, in which were mentioned explicitly,
these two stoves: but as the article seemed swelled out into an inconvenient length, these
remarks were extracted from it, with the intention of sending them at a future opportuni-
tj', thinking that your readers, who he says " are interested in the matter," might be
more benefitted by it in that form — and as I do not like to occupy at the present too much
of your valuable space — I will extract the passage, (with your permission,) from manu-
script in which the tivo stoves are mentioned, and which runs as follows:

" I would remark, that however long we may try to retard vegetation, the buds of the
earlier kinds will begin to burst before the occasional frosty nights and north-east storms
of the latter part of April, are past, and for safety, a temporary heating apparatus of
some kind will be of service at this time, merely to be ready in case of need. To answer
this purpose, there w^ere put up in the house at this place, two common stoves, which ena-
bled me to raise the temperature five or six degrees during several frosty nights, and also
once in the day, when there was snow and frosty wind all day. It would also be of ser-
vice in cloudy, damp weather, during November and December, to dry the air of the house,
and prevent mouldiuess in the grapes. At no other is it required, as we have natural heat
and light sufficient, if made good use of, to ripen the grape perfectly."

These two stoves stood in the house about three weeks, but were not lighted more than
six times during that time, and only when the thermometer outside sunk to the freezing
they were only used once in the day time, when there was a severe snow storm
wind, and it was only to keep the frost from killing the bursting buds, that the

FERTILIZER FOR CHOICE PLANTS.

of having them was suggested. There was not consumed more than 150 pounds of coal,
and as I employ my time as usefully as possible, and have no opportunity to trifle, I send
IT. B. the dimensions of the house in which 150 pounds of coal was consumed: it is 74
feet long, 20 feet wide, and 14 feet high, with glass on all sides, and ask him to be kind
enough to work out the mathematical problem of how far it will give " artificial heat,
and to what degree on an average." That he may not err in his calculations, he must al-
low for the exposed situation of the house, which, if I am not greatly mistaken, he is
aware of.

As to the point at issue, viz — cutting ripe grapes on the second of August, (not, as he
erroneously states, the first,) without artificial heat, it is the most simple part of the bu-
siness; and it strikes me forcibly that he writes without much experience, or he would
well know that the kinds mentioned, (Malvasia, and Joslin's St. Albans,) maybe ripened
so early without any fire heat whatever. Those same grapes were ready to cut a week
earlier, but as my employer was from home at the time, they were reserved till his return;
so that allowing for the six nights and one day that the stoves were lighted, the argu-
ment will stand about " zero" in his favor. The season in which the vines were planted,
1850, no stoves were used, and I cut several bunches from tubs planted the same spring,
the latter part of Jul}'. There has not been either, any fire heat of any kind, this sea-
son, and the vines are growing very vigorous, and many have shown from fifty to over
sixty bunches, generally speaking, stronger than last year. Hoping I have explained all
to the satisfaction of your correspondent, I am yours respectfully, Wm. Chorlton,

Gardener to J. C. Green, Esq., New-Brighton, Staten-Island.

May I, 1852.

A LIQUID FERTILIZER FOR CHOICE PLANTS.

KY AN AMATEUR, NEW-YORK.

Dear Sir — I am confident that there are many of your lady readers, and perhaps many
of the other sex, who are puzzed among the many new manures, and having failed with
some, and injured their plants with others, thej'' end by raising only sickly and meagre
plants, when they might have them presenting a luxuriant and satisfactory appearance —
with leaves of the darkest green, and flowers or fruit of double the usual size.

Having made a trial for three years past, with a perfectly safe and satisfactory liquid
fertilizer, which appears to suit all kinds of vegetation, which is clean and easily applied,
and procured without difliculty, in any town, I confidently recommend it to your readers,
especially those who wish to give especial pains to, and get uncommon results from, cer-
tain favorite plants — either in pots, or in the open garden — plants whose roots are within
such a moderate compass, that they can be reached two or three times a week, if not oftcn-
er by the watering-pot.

This liquid fertilizer is made by dissolving half an ounce of sulphate of ammonia in a
gallon of water.

Nothing so good can be cheaper, and the substance may be obtained at almost any apo-
thecary's.

Now for the mode of using it. T may say, at the outset, that weak as this solution ap
to be, and is, if plants are watered with it daily, they will die — ^just as certainly as
will who drinks nothing but pure brandy.

FFRTILIZER FOR CHOICE PLANTS.

The right way to apply it is to water the plant with this solution every sixth time ; the
other five times with plain water.

The proportion is so simple, and the mode of using it so easy to understand, that the
most ignorant person cannot possibly blunder about it — if he can count six. If we pre-
pare the solution occasionally, and water our plants in pots every Saturday, with this am-
monia water, and all the rest of the time with plain water, we shall have a safe rule.

The result will, I am sure, both delight and surprise every person who will make a trial
of it. It has become such an indispensable thing with me, that I regularly mix a barrel
of it every Friday, and use it on Saturday, upon any plants that I particularly wish to in-
vigorate and stimulate. I do not know that I have seen a single instance of its disagree-
ing with any plant — ammonia being the universal food of vegetation. Of course, the more
rapid growing plants — those with foliage that perspire a great deal, are most strikingly be-
nefitted by it. Of course, also, plants that are at rest, or not in a growing state, should
not be fed with it; but any plant that is about starting, or is actually in a groioing state,
will not fail to be wonderfully improved by it. Many plants that have fallen into a sickly
state by reason of poor, or worn out soil, will, usually, in the course of a month, take
quite another aspect, and begin to develope rich, dark green foliage. I will enumerate
some of the things that I have had great success with.

Strawberries. — Beds of indifferent appearance at the opening of the spring, last sea-
son, after being watered four times with this solution, grew verj' luxuriantly, and bore a
crop of remarkably fine fruit. This year I have repeated the experiment on half of every
bed; both foliage and blossoms are as large again on the watered, as on the unwatered
bed; and by way of comparison, I have watered some with plain water also — and find,
though rather benefitted, (for the strawberry loves water,) they have none of the extra
depth of verdure and luxuriance of those watered with the ammonia.

Early Peas. — At least a week earlier than those not watered, and much stronger in
leaf and pod.

Fuchsias. — A surprising effect is produced on this plant, Avhich, with the aid of ammo-
nia water, will grow in very small pots, with a depth of verdure, a luxuiiance, and a pro-
fusion and brilliancy of bloom, that I have never seen equalled. Old and stunted plants
are directly invigorated bj'^ it.

DwarJ Pears. — Some sickly trees, that I have given the best attention for three years
previously, without being able to get either good fruit, or healthy foliage, after being wa-
tered four times with the solution — of course with the usual intermediate sup])ly of com-
mon water — became perfectly healthy and luxuriant, and have ever since, (two years,)
remained so.

Dahlias — Which I have never succeeded well with before, have done beautifully with
me since, flowering most abundantly and brilliantly, when watered in this way. In all
out-of-door plants, if mulching is used, only half the quantity of plain water is needed.
For plants in pots, I consider it invaluable; and gardeners who wish to raise specimen
plants for exhibition, will find this mode of watering them every sixth time with the solu-
tion, to produce a perfection of growth not to be surpassed in any other way.

Yours truly, An Amateur,

Ncii--YoTk, May 10, 1852.

We endorse our correspondent's testimony to the value of the solution of sulphate of
ammonia, applied in the manner he directs, having witnessed its satisfactory effects. Ed

EFFECTS OF THE SEVERE WINTER.

EFFECTS OF THE SEVERE WINTER ON RARE EVERGREENS.

BY HENRY WINTHROP SARGENT, PISHKILL LANDING, N. Y.

My Dear Sir — In compliance with your request to know the effect of the past severe

winter upon the new evergreens, I give you the following result of my examination, first

premising that nearly everything was entirely uncovered on the 2Gth December, when the

thermometer was down to 13* below zero, and that from and after that time, until the 30th

March, they were more or less protected by hemlock and cedar boughs, tied loosely upon

three sides — that to the north being generally exposed.

jlbies Sinithiana — (Iliminalayan Spruce) — Leaves either destroyed, or quite brown, ex-
cept on the lower branches, which, being more or less protected by snow, are quite
green; buds perfect; will no doubt prove quite hardy. I should say young plants
were but little if any more tender, than young Deodars.

j^bies Douglasii — (the Deodar Cedar) — Somewhat burnt — not as much as j^. Smithiana.

j^. Menziesii — Apparently uninjured and quite hardy. Color faded a little, like our na-
tive Arborvitae, which the spring will soon restore.

Pinus Pinaster — Sadly cut up; color of brick dust. A plant ten feet high, unprotected,
except that the 11 o'clock sun is broken off; perfectly green and uninjured.

Pinus Cembra — (Stone Pine) — Uninjured.

Pinus Excclsa — Uninjured — quite as hardy, I should say, as our White Pine.

Pinus Pumilis — Uninjured; hardy.

Pinus Ponderosa — Greener, and even hardier than the P. Excelsa, and I think much
finer; in fact I esteem this rapid growing pine, from the banks of the Columbia
river, as in beauty, next to the Cryptomeria — with a deep green, and fine long
wand-like foliage, of six or seven inches.

Pinus Sabiniana — Badly cut up. I should think if grown for several years on the north
side of an evergreen wood, that it would stand, and become a magnificent tree. It
has a foliage as long and as delicate as P. Ponderosa, but lighter green,, more like
the color of the Deodar.

Pinus Gerardiana — Hardy.

Pinus Lambertiana — Hardy. I can see but little difference between this and our White
Pine, (P. Strobus.)

Pinus Mardta, or Maritiraa — Identical, it seems to me, with the Pinus Pinaster, and
quite as much cut up.

Pinus Insignis — Hopeless; too tender for this latitude.

Pinus Filifolia — Hopeless; (but beautiful.)

Pinus Sylvestris — Of course, quite hardy.

Pinus Aastriaca — Quite hardy, and very valuable.

Picea Cephalonica — (Cephalonian Fir) — Uninjured, and very handsome.

P. Pinsasso — (M't. Atlas Fir) — Uninjured, and very handsome.

P. fVebbiana—(W ehh's Silver Fir)— Quite hardy.

P. Pindrow — Hardy.

P. Nobilis — (Noble Silver Fir) — Hardy.

P. Pectriata — (European Silver Fir) — Hardy and beautiful. And now for the queen of
evergreens, the

Cryptomeria Japonica — I am happy to say, that notwithstanding the thermometer being

EFFECTS OF THE SEVERE WL\TER.

down once to 13° and twice I think to 12*, she has thrown off her cedar overcoat,
and come out as bright, and as vivid, as the Arborvitses in May, and I have no
doubt will be coaxed into hardiness, unless, as I think you once suggested, my most
successful specimen may have been worked upon some peculiarly hardy stock, or
influenced by some fortunate situation, and consequently is not a fair instance of
its hardiness. With other trees I have not been equally successful — but this par-
ticular one, within ten feet of a Deodar, is entirely uninjured, while the Deodar,
with some slight covering, has lost all its leaves. [Your Crj'-ptomeria is no doubt
on its own root — most of the tender ones are grafted. Ed.]
Araucaria Imbricata — I doubt if anything can be made of this, as a general rule — mine is
four and a half feet high, and has survived three winters — but it has just now very
much the appearance of having been made of Russia leather. Planted in a well
drained and gravelly soil, well mixed with river sand, and on the north side of a
wood, it may succeed. It seems peculiarly impatient of moisture.
Cedrus Libani — Generally hardy; this year a good deal cut up.

Cedrus Dcodara— Small plants have lost their leaves; a plant eleven feet high, on the west
side of my house, perfectly green ; same size on the east, somewhat browned, show-
ing conclusively that the sun, and not the cold, is our enemy.
Cedrus Argmtea — About as hardy as C. Libani; may be more so when longer establish-
ed here.
Juniperus Jllpina — Hardy.

Hibernica — Hardy.

Communis Pendula — Beawtifal and hardy.
Hecurva — I think destroyed.
Encordi — Cut badly.
Tamariscifolia — Hardy
Excelsa — Hardy.
Bcdfordiana — Pretty and hardy.
Taxodium Sempervirens — Destroyed — though I saw a tree bearing this name and appear-
ance in Denmark, quite hardy, where peach trees would not live.
Taxus — (^Common English Yew') — Hardy — though cut up this winter.

Horizontalis — Injured; but I think will stand.
Thuja Filiformis — {ivaeping) — Beautifull}^ graceful, and quite hardy.
Tartarica — Hardy.
Plicata — Hardy.
Neva Funebral Cypress — I think will prove quite hardy, though the plants are very

small.
Torreya Taxifolia — (the Florida Yew) — Undoubtedly hardy, though a little touched.

The English Evergreen Savin, has stood well. Golden and Silver leaved more tender.
Gold and Silver Yews I think hardy.

Of the Rhododendrons — the Catawbiense and its varieties, especially the Belgic hy-
brids, have wintered without any protection, perfectly well. I understand from ^Ir.
Parsons, of Flushing, that the Ctinninghamia Sinensis, an evergreen resembling the
Araucaria, but more graceful, and denser in foliage, stands our climate with entire suc-
cess.

recapitulation — I consider as fairly hardy, (by which I mean by the time they
to five years old,) the following trees.

Jfbies — Sinithiana,
Douglasii,
Menziesii.

Piceas — Cephalonica,
Pinsasso,
AVebbiana,
Pindiow,
Nobilis.

Pinus — Pinaster,
Cenibra,
Excelsa,
Puiiiilis,
Ponderosa,
Lambertiana,
Gerardiana,
Austriacus,
Sylvestris,

Pinus — Maritima,

Pendula.
JunipBrus — Tamariscifolia,

Alpina,

Iliberuica,

Excelsa.
Thuja — Filiforinis,

Bedfordiana,

Plicata,

Tartarica.
Taxws — Com munis,

Hoiizontulis.
Ccdrus — Lebani,

Deodara,

Argentea.
Cryptomeria — Torrcya.
Probably, the New Funebral Cypress.

I should also add, that m}' Cedars of Lebanon and Deodars have been planted five
years, and have stood grecji, without protuction, until this remarkable winter. My Au-
ricarias are four years planted and hardy. Everything else is still small, having been out
but two years; if they had been planted several years longer, no doubt they would have
battled this winter more successfully^ To show you the extent of the cold, an entire or-
chard of Dwarf Pears, 102 in number, on quince, planted last fall, was all destroyed.
Even many of the eyes of the grapevines in my vinery, are injured. Yours very truly,

IIenky Wixthrop Sargknt.

Wodcneihe, April 19, 1352.

Remarks. — We are much obliged by the foregoing notes, not only because Mr. Sar-
gent's grounds contain one of the richest collections of evergreens in the country, but also
because the results may be assumed to be those of the latitude of New- York, and the mid-
dle states generally.

The past winter has been the most severe upon vegetation, of any known in 40 j'ears,
except that of 1835-6. And though it should not be taken as having an3'thing to do Avith
the normal temperature of any portion of the Union — since we, in the middle states, have
had the frosts of Canada, and our states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, have felt the
ice and snow usual to the middle states — it is very interesting, as a test of downright
hardiness. Any tree or plant that has stood the past winter, may be considered as past
all doubt, hardy forever afterward.

On the other hand, it does not follow that many fine trees that, to use our correspon-
dent's expressive phrase, were only •' badly cut up," should be abandoned as tender.
Evergreens are remarkably susceptible to severe cold, when they have been lately trans-
planted, say only a year or two before it takes place. As a proof of this, we may men-
tion, that of several hundred young hemlocks, two or three feet high, planted in this place
last season, and which had apparently taken root firmly, full one quarter are now either
partly or wholly dead — solely owing to the effect of the severe cold on one of the hardiest
of all native trees, before the roots were established. The same thing applies more strictly
to rare evergreens turned out of pots, (as most of the rare imported evergreens are.) If,
in planting these in the open border, the planter neglects to unwind the roots from
ball, and stretch them out, so that they shall take hold of the surrounding soil fully

EFFECTS OF THE SEVERE WINTER.

young tree will often die in a severe winter, just as if the pot itself, with the roots in it,
had been exposed — when if the roots were disturbed, and stretched out, it would have
stood very well. Hence, many persons have lost specimens of that most beautiful ever-
green, the Deodar, the past winter, and consider it hopelessly tender— while in fact, the
Deodar well rooted, in dry soil, has stood perfectly well in several parts of the country,
where the thermometer has fallen as low \2° below zero. To prove this still more conclu-
sively, we need only refer to the Cedar of Lebanon. Small trees of this, turned out of
pots one or two years ago, are nearly or quite destroj'ed. A specimen in our giounds, five
feet high, and five or six years planted, is only slightly browned — not at all injured. A
tree 60 feet high, near New-York, (where the thermometer has fallen to 10° below zero,)
is not in the least injured.

We mention these facts to show that M'here a tree has not been killed — only injured
badly — by the late severe winter, it should by no means be abandoned in despair by ar-
boriculturists.

At Washington, the Deodar has not been at all injured. At Philadelphia, its foliage and
terminal shoots have been browned and injured — but as tViistree makes even a new leader
without difficulty, it will soon recover. In Mr. Buist's specimen grounds, below Phila-
delphia, we noticed that a plant of the Cryptomeria four or five feet high, entirely expos-
ed, was quite uninjured, thus proving itself hardier than most of the tender evergreens.
We believe wherever the Cryptomeria seedlings have been planted, this has been found to
be the case — where it has been worked on other stocks, it has suffered.

Perhaps the handsomest of all the new evergreen firs that have proved quite hardy, (it
is entirely uninjured in our grounds,) is the Himmalayan Spruce, {^Abies Smithiana.^ Its
general habit is that of the Norway Spruce — but much finer — more luxuriant — more
graceful — more vigorous. The Florida Yew, (^Torreya,) is another very handsome tree,
quite hardy about New-York. The Cephaloniau Fir is very hardy everywhere — and most
of the foreign Silver Firs are found great acquisitions — the common European Silver Fir
being in every way far superior to our Balsam Fir.

The mildest climate of the northern states is unquestionably that of Newport, R. I.
The thermometer fell to zero but three days last winter — and only for a few hours was
one below. (By a reference to our last number, page 243, it will be seen that it fell to
2° below in the upper part of Georgia — usually an almost tropical state.) In a visit re-
cently to Newport, we observed in the grounds of Dklancy Kane, Esq., which are quite
rich in rare species, that Araucaria Iiubricata, (the most striking of all evergreens,)
which has usually been killed all over the northern states, had stood very well there. In
another garden in Newport, a specimen three feet high was perfectly uninjured, without
the least protection. Cedrus Deodara, six feet high, was perfectly green in Mr. Kane's
grounds, and Portugal Laurels, and English Laurels — sadly injured at Baltimore, were in
sound condition there. Cryptomeria also quite hardy. Ed.

THE CAUSE OF PEAR BLIGHT.

MICROSCOPIC INSECTS THE CAUSE OF PEAR BLIGHT.

BY PROFESSOR TURNER, JACKSONVILLE, ILL.

Mr. Downing — Dear Sir: I am more and more convinced of the utter uselessnes3 of
talking about " blight." fVhat is hlightl Simply the death of certain portions of a tree,
in the only way they can die of any sort of sudden disease, while in full sap in warm
weather. Any poison or affection that kills in hot weather, will of course, produce blight.
However different the fatal cause, the sequali, from the laws of vegetation, must be the
same. There may be minute differences, but the general phenomena must be similar; and
whether the cause is in the root, trunk, or branches, the tree will attempt to throw it off
through the externals and extremities, and there, to the careless observer, the disease and
the death, (or blight, as it is called,) will first appear, though it may have existed for
months, or even years, in other parts of the tree, unobserved.

Again, allow me to say, that in our present state of knowledge, the world is but illy pre-
pared to talk or to hear about, either the infinitely small, or infinitely great. We shall hard-
ly be prepared to contemplate the created universe as it is, till we begin to regard with
more attention, the infinite above and below us — and to deem it possible that even man
may crush microcosms of worlds beneath his puny tread, as the footsteps of Deity scat-
ter stars and suns above and around us.

I have made these remarks with reference to that form of Pear, Quince, and Apple
blight, which so fearfully appeared in this state last season for the first time, and to which
I alluded in my last paper, as probably caused by a microscopic insect. I am now both
sad and rejoiced, to inform you that this is no longer a probability, but a certainty. Re-
joiced at the fact of knowing it — but sad at the appalling nature of the fact itself, as you
will see as I progress in my statement — which I hasten to communicate to the public —
knowing how important it is that all eyes should at once be turned to the true cause, as
the only hope of any relief — at least so far as our pears are concerned. I shall present,
at first, no theory, but simply state facts which any one can verify at his leisure.

1. Examine the trunks and branches of apples, pears, and quinces. There will be seen
little holes in the bark, sometimes two or three together, which look like the pick of an
awl. These will more usually be found near the origin of a branch or sprout — and much
more frequently to be seen on the apple than the pear, for reasons which will be stated.

Take a knife and cut into these perforations, and you will find the bark dead to the
wood, and giving evident signs of poison, or other influence, differing from a similar wound
with an awl or simple puncture, as you may learn by making the latter side by side with
the former.

2. Sometime in the month of August, take out one of these pieces of punctured bark,
in which the puncture has been rccenthj mad?, (as the old ones were used and abondoned
the year before,) and lay it in a bright sun-light, under a powerful compound solar micro-
scope, and you will not cut many before you will discover an infinitessimal insect, some-
what resembling in legs, shape, and color, a common " sow-bu^^-," as they are here called,
running about between the fibies of the bark, much as a pig runs from side to side through
the fence, to avoid the scorching heat of the sun. This discoverj"- I made last August, as
stated in a former paper, but was still not quite cert liii whether tliis animalcula; was a
cause or consequence of the blight. But the discoveries of this month, I think, fully
cide that question.

I have been watching all whiter for the results of this insect, or for its modes of action
and transformation; But with the most careful search could discover nothing, and had in
fact, almost given up in despair, when one day, by accident, I found it lay horribly appa-
rent, right before my eyes — and that I had seen it a thousand times before without know-
ing it. I will, therefore, prescribe a third experiment in the process.

3. Approach that young pear tree, so healthy, thrifty, and clean — not a blemish can be
found on it. Its growth, though excessive (it may be,) appears perfectly sound and good
— and even the last cold winter, of 20 degrees below zero, has evidently had no power to
injure in the least its glossy trunk, its bark, or even its terminal buds. All is in the
brightness of a joyous and storm-defying youth. You, of course, observe little white
specks on all parts of the bright brown wood — for such is its nature. But observe again;
some of those little whitish specks are larger than the rest, and have the appearance of a
mite of mould on the surface of the bark. Well, what strange thing is a mite of mould
on a large tree.'' But there are more, and more, and more, and the longer you look, the
more jou find. Take now the point of your knife, and press one of these little insignifi-
cant patches of mould, and listen closely — you hear a crash under the knife. Ha! j'^ou
have crushed a little world. You can, even with the naked eye, see its brown blood flow
beneath the relentless steel, and though it be a world of pear tree fiends, hostile to them
and to you, you will find little cause to exult, when you see how many more such worlds
remain unconquered around you. Now take one of these little specks and peel it up from
the bark, and appl}"^ your microscope, and j'ou will find your speck of mould a most deli-
cate and finely wrought texture of silk, spread as an impervious awning over a great mul-
titude of little reddish brown eggs, of oblong form, and of beautifully smooth regular
shape and texture, still so small that scores of them are safely packed under this speck,
this particle of a silken coccoon; and even on white paper — to the naked ej'^e are scarcely
visible as dust — though most beautifully apparent through the microscope.

4. But once more return to your tree; examine with a sharp knife and a microscope, and
you will find on the pear, wherever the eggs are .sound, and nearly ready to hatch, the
bark, sometimes for one-fourth of an inch round the nidus, is already, (April 1, 1852,)
turned a reddish brown, in some cases quite down to the wood, and with every accession
of spring warmth, it is constantly extending. These eggs, themselves, seem to be a dead-
ly virus to the bark and sap, especiall}- of the pear tree; and in many cases there is a hole
eaten down from the eggs directlj' into the bark, quite to the wood of the tree, bearing all
around it, the evidences of poisonous influence. Whether the parent insect emerged from
these holes in the bark, or retreated into the tree through them after depositing its eggs, or
simply scarified it for the benefit of its future progeny, cannot be told without future re-
search. Where the branch is not killed, as usually happens on the apple, these holes re-
main, after all other appearances are gone, still visible to the naked eye. All these mani-
festations are more usually found near a bud or branch, a short crotch in a limb, or at the
points where the bark is changing from smooth to rough, as if partial to places where
there is some interruption of flow, or fulness of sap; though frequently on all parts of a
peculiarly vigorous growing shoot or limb, where, indeed, the conditions would be much
the same.

Now that this is thi cause, not the consequence, of the blight which appeared here last
season, any man that has these e3'es may see; and numbers of intelligent men have ex-
amined my trees, (of which I have several hundred,) with me, and all concur with me in
inion. But this blight bears no more analogy to the blight which I described
ago as the " sun-blight," than the worms which ate King Herod's bowels bea

THE CAUSE OF PEAR BLIGHT.

a scalded leg — though a blight — that is death, came of both alike. I do not know that
this insect and the consequent blight, has appeared an3'\vhere else except here — if so, it
is now easily found, or at least traces of it. If not wait a little — don't cotnj)lain — 3'ou
know nothing about jiear blight from any other form of it. In the language of Bukkk,
" all the horrors of blight before known or heard of, were mercy to this new havoc."

Do you ask why, if the cause is as above stated, what so appalling? Why not destroy
the in.sect at once? Destroy him! the villian!! Sweep down the stars — count out the
sands — rehearse all your arithmetic, make millions of billions your unit figure, and there
begin your computation, and when you have thus trained your mind to the infinite in
number, pray tell me how an insect that could tramp by the thousand through the very
bones of your flesh, without disturbing your slumber, can be waylaid and destroyed? If
the Infinite One does not work for us, with the periodical changes of all-devouring cold or
heat, or those other means by which he checks the career of these infinitissiuia races, I
confess I know not what can be done. What soap, ley, ashes, lime, copperas, sulphur,
plaster, tobacco, spirits turpentine, salt, coal-tar, charcoal, assafa'tada, and a whole apo-
thecary shop of other drugs can do, I have already tried upon them — and I despair — for
unless the season should in some way, by its peculiarities, bring relief, I cannot believe
after all my trouble, that my pear trees will one of them exist five years — if, indeed, one
year hence, though to a careless observer, not a finer, thriftier lot of trees can be found in
the country, than they now are; some shoots grew eight feet long last year, perfectly heal-
thy and sound. True, the washing with soap and tobacco water, and putting coal ashes
around the roots, last August, invigorated the trees, and seemed to check the disease for
the time, and has evidentl}' kept the insect from depositing its eggs on the parts washed;
but there was ground enough escaped the wash for more millions of eggs, now visible in
their effects, than there are people on the globe; and what can I do — the covering of the
eggs will not admit water or caustic, unless strong enough to kill the tree, I fear, and be-
sides, who can wash all parts of a large tree all over. That peeling off the eggs, and a
small slice of the bark, will stop it, I know by trial; but who can spend time to do it
where it has got fairly hold, as it has with our trees here; and if one man does it, will liis
neighbors do the same. I see but these possible courses; either to throw something into
the top of the tree, as salt water, or quick-lime when the dew is on, in fine powder, just
as the insects are hatching out; or throwing something offensive into the circulation of the
tree, by absorption at the root from the earth; or by a strong wash on the bark, and ab-
sorbtion from it, as of lime wash, or ley and tobacco water; or by boring and {)Iugging
some offensive substance in the trunk, as has been proposed for the curculio, with sulphur,
spirits turpentine and lamp-black, will drive it away, if it can be used without killing the tree.

I have reason to believe that this insect commences its career at the collar or trunk of
the tree, and passes through one of its stages or tranformations under or near the ground,
as intimated by a lady not long since, in your paper; and that the phenomena above des-
cribed, constitute a second, if not a third period of its history, after the manner of what
are called the grand-nurses and nurses, of the microscopic tribes. But this I leave to
those better versed in such matters than I can pretend to be; for in this inflnitessimal
world, I frankl}'' confess I find myself an utter novice. I am even astonished at wluit
my own eyes compel me to believe, and almost in despair at it too. Where is the
end of this living dust to be found, in wheat-rust, yellows, grape-rot, and all similar
things; if this is the way of this great, coarse, granite world of ours, when you come to
see its living atoms, as they are — small enough to gallop full tilt upon nothing — an
numerous enough to eat up the solid globe itself?

The coarse holes or punctures above described, which are seen in the bark, are by no
means made by the puncture of the insect. He has no occasion for any such chasms; but
they are the result of the sloughing off of the poison he leaves wherever he goes, as you
will soon see by cutting into one of them.

In conclusion, I would say that I have been advised by my friends to withhold the pub-
lication of these facts till I could take time to trace out thoroughly the history, changes,
and remedies, for this (\ital insect, whatever its name may be; though were I to christen
it, I should call it the " Pear Devil.'"

I read the article of Mr. Allen, on pears, in your last number, with great interest,
and I reflected that there was millions of dollars worth, of valuable property, now in the
process of destruction in the United States, as well as my own; and at the hazard of great
mistakes, errors, and even of ridicule and contempt, in the present crude state of the in-
quiry, I have felt it m^' duty to testify as above, to what I have seen, and to turn all other
eyes, at once, and without delay, to this larvae, while it may yet be seen, thinking that this
course gave promise of more safety, and of a more extensive, prompt, and thorough in-
vestigation, than any one man, (especially one so busy as I am in other matters,) could
possibl}^ make alone. And at all risk of errors, I shall not hesitate to report progress
from time time, for we need the million eyes here, instead of one pair; and if others find
out and describe more accurately than I can now do, the nature and habits of this pest,
(as they surely will,) no one will rejoice more than myself — while I cannot but think that
the public will respect my motive for publishing without delay, even after the^' have from
a more thorough knowledge, corrected the errors which almost of necessity must lie latent
in an}' statement made at this point of our research.

Allow me also to saj', that since I have been engaged in these inquiries, I have most
deepl}' felt the need of such an Industrial University,* endowed by Congress lands in
each of the states of the Union, as is recommended in the report of the Granville Conven-
tion, a copy of which I sent j'ou. They could be erected, and the nation would never
feel it; while it would in a few years double the intelligence, wealth, power, and glorj' of
each state, and the Union at large.

Our state, and I hope several others, will move soon. Can you not say a good word for
us.'' Your own Governor Huxt takes the right view of this matter, I am happy to per-
ceive, as well as many other eminent men among your citizens.

I hope, and barely hope, that either some of the many remedies I have applied, or bet-
ter, some change or peculiarity in the season, may check the career of this minute but pes-
tilent destro3'er, and save my trees yet a little longer; and when the scourge is once past,
it probably may not return again for years to come. I notice, also, that trees once severe-
ly affected, last season, have not so many, if any eggs on them this year, which incites
a hope that the same tree may not be visited but once in the course of its histor}"-, with a
course of the disease, and that those which escape with life will stand triumphant, as the
trees of olden time may have done before them.

I am suspicious, after all, that this is the same identical disease attributed to fungus by
Mr. Knight, and others, for its phenomena are much the same; and I myself, settled
down in the conclusion that this little flocculi on the bark, (the evident cause of the dis-
ease,) was a fungus, until I chanced to hear an egg crack under m}' knife, and examined
with the microscope, and found it as above stated.

I shall call a witness or two if I can, to the facts stated above, as I desire that

* AVliich we shall noiice in our next. Ed.

readers should give to these statements more credit than is due to a single interested wit-
ness, that they may be induced to an earnest and prompt examination, and report on the
state of their own trees.

The reason why apples recover from this poisonous influence so much more readily than
pears, is, I think, found in the nature of the trees themselves, as seen in the well known
habits and tendencies of the pear, toward what may be termed a mortification of tissues,
from any wound or puncture whatever, at certain seasons of the year.

I had forgotten to mention that these little nests of eggs will be found much more ap-
parent immediately after a rain, or after wetting the tree, than before, especially on the
apple tree, where thousands will then be seen which escape the sharpest eyes when the
bark is dry.

I would also suggest boring a slanting half-inch hole into the trunk of the tree, and
turning in half a tea spoonful of quicksilver, and stopping close with corks and wax, so
that the oxydised mineral may be slowly ditTused through the sap, as certain species of
insects are killed on trees in the "West India Islands. Other substances should be tried in
the same way.

And I hope that 3'our readers will let us hear from successful experiments before the
ruin becomes complete all over the world; for that this pest will continue to spread by
every wind that blows, there is every reason to fear. It is, however, invariably most
abundant on my grounds, upon trees nearest to those most affected, and least cared for,
last season.

These eggs, when viewed under a powerful solar microscope, appear to be of a cellular
texture, and from their little cavities, the bright sun-light reflects all the varied colors of
the rainbow.

I find no larvae, as yet, on the peach tree — the color of the bark may prevent this, even
if they are there. But on the only two trees on my grounds affected by the yellows, I
find those little holes, or the evident traces of their work last year, which induces the
suspicion that the yellows in the peach may be caused by the same insect.

Yours truly, J. B. Turner.

I am able to add the testimony of my own eyes, to the above statement of facts, by Pro-
fessor Turner. I also concur with him in regarding these focts as revealing with a high
degree of probability, the cause of the pear blight in its latest manifestations.

Samuel Adams, Prof. Chemistry, &c., Illinois College.

Jacksonville, April 0, 1S52.

P. S. I have never yet lost a single cherry tree since I commenced the habit of peeling
them, except one which I peeled in the fall of the year, when quite too small, and the cold
killed it.

GREAT VARIETY OF NATIVE WOODS.

BY AV. H. DENNING, PRESQUE ISLE, N. Y

We were much impressed by a little incident in our neighborhood last summer — show-
ing, 1st, our wealth of forest trees, and 2d, how much more interest foreigners take in
them, than natives. A student in the School of Nimes, in Paris, wished to procure a
collection of samples of the different American woods — showing their structure, grain, &c
tleman in our neighborhood, owning a beautiful peninsula of 40 acres on the
Mr. Denning, undertook to procure them for him. Sixty species he found

VARIETY OF NATIVE W^OODS.

own place, almost as many indigenous trees as could be found in an}- one country in Eu.-
rope. The remainder, making 107 species, he collected without difficulty. So few per-
sons are aware of the great variety embraced in our forests, that we have asked Mr. D.
for the list, for preservation in our columns. Ed.

Deak Sir — Having been requested by Mr. Peabodt, of Salem, to procure for him spe-
cimens of American woods, to be forwarded to a Scientific Institution in France, I found
in our immediate vicinity 107 varieties, some few of which were brought from the south, but
most of them are natives of our own soil. I have taken the nomenclature of Browne's
Sylva jlmericana, giving also the common name, and some have only the name they are
known by in the country. The first sixty varieties I found on this place; the residue in
the mountains in Putnam county. Knowing your great affection for trees, I send you a
list of the specimens furnished Mr. Peabody. Previous to completing the collection, I
became very much interested in it, and quite surprised to find so many varieties in our
own vicinity. Our mountain wood-cutters take much pride in their knowledge of the
different species of wood, and I remarked how very accurate they were in distinguishing va-
rieties in which the difference is not very apparent. I added some specimens not included
in the list, which did not reach the size of trees, as I included none under sixteen feet.

Yours truly, W. H. Denning.

Presqiie Isle, Dutchtss Co., N. Y., April, lSo2.

1. Wliite Oak, Quercus alba.

2. Black Oak, Quercus tinctoria.

3. pcd Oak, Quercus rubra.

4. Sugar Maple, jlcer saccharinum.

5. White Maple, ^cer eriocarpon.
6 Pitch Pine, Pinits rigida.

7. Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis.

8. Hemlock, .dbies canadensis.

9. White Ash, Fraxinus Americana.

10. Red Elm, Ulmus rubra.

11. Aspen, Pupulus tremuloides.

12. Sumach, Rhus typhinum.

13. Iron Wood, Carpinus ostnja.

14. Horse Chestnut. Paviu lutea.

15. Yellow Willow, Salix vitellina.

16. June Bervj', 3IespUus arborea.

17. Barbery. Berberis vulgaris.

18. White Elm, Ulmus .Americana.

19. Catalpa, Bignonia calalpa.

20. American Large Aspen, Populus gran-

didentuta.

21. Bass Wood, Tilia Americana.

22. Common Alder, Ulmus serrulata.

23. White Beech, Fagus sylrestris.

24. Mountain Ash, Pyrus Americana.

25. Crab Apple, Malus coronaria.

26. Pignut Hickory, Jvglans porcina.

27. Sassafras, Laurus sassafras.

28. Shell Bark Hickory, Juglans squamosa.
Wild Cherry, Cerasus Virginiana.
Yellow Oak, Quercus prinus acuminata.

31. Long Leaved Cucumber, Magnolia au-

riculata.

32. Black Alder, Alnus glauca.

33. Rock Maple, Acer nigrum.

34. Tulip Tree. Liriodendron iulipefera.

35. White Chestnut, Castanea vesca.

36. Red Cedar, Juniperus Virginiana

37. Red Mulbery, Morns rubra.

38. Cork Elm, Ulmus major.

39. Honey Locust, Geditschia triacanthus.

40. Balsam Poplar, Populus balsamifera.

41. Yellow Birch, Betula lutea.

42. Downy Lime, Tilia pubescens.

43. Grey Oak, Quercus ambigua.

44. Hackmatack, Larix Americana.

45. Washington Tliorn, Crategus poplifolio.

46. Thorny Locust, Geditschia horrida.

47. Choke Chcriy, Prunus serotina.

48. Red Ash, Fraxinus tormentosa.

49. Swamp Magnolia, Magnolia glauca.

50. AVhite Pine, Pinus strobus.

•51. Flat Cedar, Thuja occidentalis.

52. Rock Oak, Quercus prinus monticola.

53. Red Bay, Laurus Caroliniensis.

54. Black Walnut, Juglans nigra.

55. Yellow Locust, Robinia pseudo acacia,

56. Shining Willow, Salix lucida.

57. Red Mulbcri'v, Morus rubra.

58. White Hickory, Juglans am.nra.

59. Mountain Maple, Acer montanum

60. Dogwood, Cornus Florida.

CRITIQUE ON THE APRIL HORTICULTURIST.

Spice Wood, Laurus benzoni.

Hackbeny, Celtus crassifolia.

American Strawberry, Euoaymus Ame-
ricana.
CA- Ttose Locust, Robinia viscosa.
05. 'White Birch, Betula popolifolia.
Bfi. Swamp Oak, Quercus prinu.i discolor.

67. Trodraro medecine. [?]

68. Hornbeam, Carpinus .Americana.
09. Black Poplar, Populus Hudsonica.

70. Sloe, Virburnum lentago.

71. Curled Maple, .Acer rubrum.

72. White Cedar, Cupressus thyoides.
7o. Wild Plum Prunus domestica.

74. Moose Wood, Acer striatum.

75. Scrub Oak, Quercus cafesbei.

76. Red Beech, Fagus ferruginea.

77. Red Clierrj^, Cerasus borealis.

78. Tree Whortleberry, Faccirmm arborcum.

79. Leather Wood, Direa palustris.

80. Water Oak, Quercus aquatica.

81. Bald Willow, Salix?

82. Bird Eye Cherry, Cerasus podus.

83. Balsam Fir, Abies balsamifera.

84. Black Sumach, Rhus copallinum.

85.
86.

89.

90.

91.

92.

93.

94.

95.

96.

97.

98.

99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.

Common Laurel, Kalmia latifolia
Bastard Hickory, Juglans myristicrafor-

mis.
Black Chestnut, Castanea, var.
Butternut, Juglans cathartica.
Small Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus

chinquapin.
Birds Eye Wild Cherry.
Black Birch, Betula ceuta.
Pepperidge, Nyssa multijlora.
Black Ash, Fraxinus samtucifolia.
Rose Willow, Salix.
Mountain Pepperidge, Nyssa capilata.
Black Willow, Salix nigra.
Juniper, Juniperus communis.
Ash Leaved Maple, Acer negundo.
Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus palustris
Pin Oak, Quercus palustris.
Canoe Birch, Betula papyracea.
Water Hickory, Juglans aquatica.
Mochernut, Juglans tomentosa.
Witch Hazel, Hamamilis Virginica.
Red Birch, Betula rubra.
Prickly ash, Zanthoxylium/raxinum.
White Spruce, Abies alba

CRITIQUE ON THE APRIL HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREY.S.

On the Improveinent of the Vegetable Races. — We are altogether in the novitiate as yet
in the United States, so far as much progress in this re.spect is concerned. What with
getting a living, clearing up the forests, subduing the land, getting avenues to market, and
looking out for the main chance, we have had but little time to look into the great secret
store-houses of nature, and closely examine her beautiful and elaborate processes of im-
provement. What we have discovered in this line, has been chiefly blundered into by ac-
cident; and if we have had any men among us who occasionally devoted any amount of mind
to investigation, and published their results to the world, it has been in the ephemeral pa-
pers of the day, and in the usual skimble-skamble reading of such as ought to have been
instructed by it, the essential benefit has been lost. But thanks to the late encourage-
ment of books and publications set apart to subjects of vegetable physiology'', growth of
plants, new varieties of fruits, &c., &c., we may now begin to date some real progress in
this line. Every thinking mind will subscribe most cordially to the sentiments of the
article in question, which is truth, concisely, cogently, and plainly set forth.

You remark: " we are not going to be led into a physiological digression on the subject
of the inextinguishable rights of a superior organization in certain men and races of men,
&c." Very well, Mr. Editor, you may not, but /am. And you no doubt perfectly agree
with me, as every body else will, who has the candor to confess it. There is as much

^^''S —

CRITIQUE ON THE APRIL HORTICULTURIST.

difference in the breed of folks, as there is in the breed of pigs and chickens, or in the dif-
ferent varieties of vegetables. Look at the despotisms of the old world, where men are
divided into castes, or from the force of circumstances, obliged to move for generation
after generation, in one continued sphere of thought and action, from father to son, inter-
minably on, and see how men, under such circumstances, are born and made to differ, al-
though of one original stock. Look how particular traits of talent run in different fami-
lies for many generations, even in this country; and if, after a while bred out by inter-
mixture with blood of a different " gift," the peculiar /acuZft/ will occasionally creep out,
and act with its ancient energy and aptness. So in personal appearances and peculiarities.
I consider that our " democratic" tendencies are fast infusing the levelling system
among us, either up or down, as the case may be; but as we become better physiologists
in the animal world, as well as in the vegetable, we shall fully understand it. I am aware
that I am travelling somewhat out of the record, but the idea is suggestive, and it will do
no harm to direct attention to it, even in these pages.

The largest Dessert Pear. — Sure enough; and so much the worse. Here is a great,
overgrown, coarse, spongy fruit, with not a quarter the virtues in taste of one only half
its size, of the same kind. If the " Boston folks," give premiums to such specimens,
over the close, compact, well grown medium sized fruits of the same varieties, they cer-
tainly do a wrong thing. There is very little merit in such samples as these; for
the same averdupois weight of fruit, in double the number of well grown pears of half
the bulk of this specimen, is worth twice the money. A well grown Bartlett, weighing
ten or twelve ounces, is large enough for any pear, and a Dutches d'Angouleme need not be
larger than a pound, for all needful uses, and the development of its best properties. After
attaining a full mid-summer size, with fair growth, the best qualities of this fruit are per-
fected, and no one should strive for anything beyond.

Pear Blight in Illinois. — What a patient, indefatigable man. Professor Turner "is!
Why, one-quarter of the diflSculties he has to contend with, would wear out the patience
of half the modern Jobs in the universe. What with the curculio, the grape-rot and the
pear, apple, and quince blight, he must have a time of it! out of all which, I most hearti-
ly wish him a safe deliverance. His locality seems to be rife in such evils.

The whole pear-growing community are under great obligations to Prof T. for his plain
and truthful notes on the fire, or sun-blight. His points, no doubt, are well taken — for
that locality, if not for others. A specific may possibly be found for this terrible malady;
and if investigation will do it, he is the man to ascertain it. The cause of the disease —
for disease it is, no doubt — must first be ascertained. That accomplished, one half the
battle is won, and a reinedy will not be long in the discovery; but whether of easj' appli-
cation, is another question. As in the case of the curculio, it maj' be more expensive in
the application than the disease itself; but it will be a consolation, at least, to know that
we have a remedy.

As to the extirpation of the curculio by the frosts killing the fruit, I have my doubts.
If there is no fruit to sting, the curculio will live, and propagate his kind elsewhere. I
fear they will always be on hand whenever our trees are in bearing.

Hints on the Culture of Gooseberries. — A straight-forward, sensible article — to any
one who grows them. But for all edible purposes, a dozen hills of rhubarb are worth half
a hundred gooseberry bushes, when you consider the trouble of pruning the bush and
picking its berries. Yet, at the rate Mr. Thompson's bushes bear, and the price at which
he sells his fruit, they are an object to the humblest gardener, who is under great
tions for this plain and well illustrated communication.

A'otes on Country S^ats Near Boston.— I doubt whether your correspondent is correct
in saying that the houses are too small, or that the barns are too large. That is a very
strange fault to find with country seats generally; they are quite too often apt to differ
the other way. The chief fault, I apprehend, if fault there be, is, that the relative posi-
tion of the barn is not right, as to the house. Never recommend a man to build a large
house. The tendency is too much in that direction already, and where one builds too
small and compact, twenty build too large and too expensive. A man who sets out to find
fault with the country houses about Boston, may, no doubt, find abundant material for
his occupation; but I doubt whether there is a place in the world where, taken altogether,
so much good taste in the aggregate has been displayed, as in the neighborhood of that
city. The land is naturally poor, wretchedly so, compared with good American land. It is
rocky almost every where, swampy in places, and not over picturesque at the best; but there
are many sweet spots, which the ingenuity of man has moulded out of the most forbidding
materials. No, No. The Puritan blood of old Massachusetts has beat the whole Ameri-
can world in subduing a sterile soil, and smoothing away the rugged places; and instead
of finding fault with what they have done, the wonder is, that under such difficulties they
have accomplished half so much as is shown in their charming retreats, their suburban
houses, and beautiful grounds.

What would the Bostonians have done had they possessed the promontories on the Jer-
.«:ey side of the Hudson river, the pallisades, the highlands above, the grand belts of wood-
ed, and the fine swells of open land, along the river, through Rockland and Putnam, and
Orange and Dutchess, and Ulster counties, with their own spirit of improvement, and the
wealth of New-York to back up their suburban taste and enterprise.' Or about the more
level precincts of Philadelphia, even? A different sort of improvement would have been
made longer ago, and in somewhat better taste, I fancy, than exists in many instances.

The Hydraulic Ram. — An excellent notice of one of the most useful inventions of the
age. Every man who has a stream of water which he can make available, should at once
adopt it, where the stream lies too low to spout the water into his yards and buildings.
The agricultural stores all have them, cheap and good; and they are so simple in their
management, that no apology should be admitted for their absence, where needed.

The Orange Pear. — Tut, tut, gentlemen. This Orange Pear, if it has any merit, will
take care of itself. It u.sed to be a pretty good fruit over in Jersey, in old times; and I
should be sorry to learn that it had lost either its good manners, or good qualities in Buf-
falo. I've been thinking that some of these ipse-dixits of the apple conventions would fall
out one of these days. It always was, and I fancy it always will be the case, that posi-
tive gentlemen will be mistaken in their opinions once in a while. Let us have the pear
baked and preserved, the first " done brown," and the other " transparent;" and if you
will suffer me to be the judge, you shall have one honest judgment, to say the least of it.

Those Grand-Island orchards I should like to see. I hobble out to Niagara once in four
or five years, and if the swimming is good — for I dont suppose you have any ferries in that
wild country — I may try to get over there and take a look at them. I beg of you, both
Col. Hodge and Mr. Allen, not to be afraid of planting, for when our two belligerent
parties of the state get the enlarged Erie canal fairly dug out, the eastern markets will be
ready for them.

7 he Snake Plant of South America. — If this story be not a " Munchausen," I don't
know what is. It smacks too much of the " penny-a-liner," and Dickens, and "House
Words," for me to believe. There are, no doubt, plants in South America tha
le snake bites — or, perhaps, by taking them internally — ward off their poison

HINTS ON GROWING CALCEOLARIAS.

such we have in this country, which the Indians know all about; but the personal part
of the story is sheer gammon.

The Great Palm-house at Kew. — A pretty picture, and a great work of art. But I
cannot help thinking how many comfortable cottages for the shivering and destitute poor,
of which England is full, the building of this royal toy would have made, and how much
comfort the same outlay of money would have bestowed in some such way. The Palm is
a great, grand, and rare plant; and so are the pyramids great, grand, and rare structures;
yet I don't see why people might not as well go to Africa, or India, to see the one. as to
Egypt to see the other. It is a luxury of which I cannot well see the utility in so much
expense.

Thorough Draining the Soil. — Too valuable an article to be tucked away into the dou-
ble columns of the further end of the book. This experiment is a perfect one of the kind,
and an illustration of the benefits of thorough draining that must convince the most un-
believing in its efficacy. Where we have so great a field for the selection of soils at low
prices for agriculture, as in this country — much of which is of such composition that it
needs no such process to render it productive — its necessity is not so apparent; but wher-
ever soil is occupied, and at any price over fifty dollars an acre, which needs draining, and
it can be done for twenty-five or thirty dollars additional expense to the acre, there can
be no question of its economy.

For gardening purposes, on heavy soils, it is almost indispensible. To be sure, there
are few pieces of land that will warrant the expense of Mr. Livermore's lot, under his
process; yet even that, on so small premises, will pay. Field crops have been doubled
by the ordinary simple process of under-draining alone; and not only doubled, but the
crops made certain in all seasons. Drain tile is now getting so plenty and cheap, that
good lands can well afford it, and poor lands of the proper kind, and well situated, can
be made to pay richly for the improvement. Jeffreys.

PRACTICAL HINTS ON GROWING CALCEOLARIAS.

BY A WORKING GARDENER.

Among the many objects of delight, there are few more interesting to the cultivator of
plants, than the Calceolaria. I scarcely know what genus of plants is more interesting,
when we take into consideration their diversity of color, and the rich, vivid markings of
their corollas, and the airyness of their general appearance, when seen in full bloom. In
the rapid strides that horticultural science has made of late years in England, the culti-
vation of the Calceolaria has not been overlooked.

The original old yellow species was shrubby; then the herbaceous sorts were introduc-
ed, of which yellow was the pervading color of the flowers, and from the latter, through
incessant perseverance, have sprung all the numberless varieties that the most fantastical
taste can desire. From the herbaceous yellew species, we have now varieties with the
white, cream, purple, lemon, and chocolate grounds, with their unique spots of brown,
maroon, and white; and lastly, the hybridizer's art has so nicely controlled color, that he
has produced the varieties with stripes equal to that produced in the Carnation; nor is
this all — for he has also so modified the ^brm of the flower, that its original long, ribbed
oystershcll appearance, has been replaced by the globular form of the cherry, having
row throats, and highly colored caps.

HINTS ON GROWING CALCEOLARIAS.

Amateurs in general, consider the culture of this plant rather difficult. I have, myself,
seen number^ under what is termed cultivation, in most miserable condition, huddled up
together in small pots, struggling for existence, and placed so far from the glass that they
vainly sought to reach more light a long way off— their leaves like cork-screws, devoured
and distorted by the green fly. The buyer gets a set of these plants— pays a pretty good
price for them — gets them home in the fall of the year, and they remain, most probably
in the same pots, till they flower, producing a stem like a screw, with two or three stunt-
ed flowers to crown its miserable appearance; and should the cause be inquired into, the
reply is, " the climate don't suit them;" a few hot days in this stunted condition, expos-
ed, perhaps, to the direct burning rays of their life destroyer, Sol, and lo! they are gone
as the gourd of sacred history.

This is the way that more than half the Calceolarias are grown — destroying the repu-
tation of the parties who sell, by ijot answering the high description given, and the total-
ly disappointing the purchaser. As for myself, I am not aware of a class of plants more
easily grown with a little care, under the following provisions. Remember, in the first
place, that Calceolarias require no more heat than a cabbage, and that the green fly, or
aphis, is their deadliest enemy. If allowed to remain a day, they suck out the juices of
the leaves, and the consequence is, the foliage contracts, curls, and twists up, and when
that takes place, all the fumigation and care you could afterwards bestow, would be use-
less I invariably consider a plant half dead, when I see its foliage curled by aphis.
Guard against this insect, and you have achieved the great imagined difficulty in the cul-
ture of the Calceolaria. The remainder is simple and eas}^ and as follows:

I commence with seedlings, and if proper attention is paid to crossing, there is always
.something interesting and amusing in their development. In fertilizing flowers for seed,
select those of the half shrubby varieties — they will stand the hot summer better; use no
flowers but such as are good in form; never cross a blotch with a spotted variety, or a
striped with a spotted one, if you wish to improve your sorts, as the progeny will gene-
rally be nothing more than a jumbled up mixture.

Keep spots, blotches, stripes, and self-colored varieties, crossed respectively in their
own class, and after a little practice in this art, you can form a pretty correct idea at the
time j'ou are fertilizing, of the ultimate results of your labor.

In raising seedling Calceolarias, you should sow your seed early in August, in broad
pans or boxes of sandy earth, covering it but verj"- slightly, and remember never to allow
the surfoce of the soil to become dry. Cover it over thinly with moss, or some such ma-
terial, as will prevent quick evaporation. There is generally a great difflcultj complained
of in getting the seed up. It is generally sown and watered — and watered again when
dry — and so on, and probably never comes up at all. The simple fact is, the seed when
first damp begins to germinate, and if it is then allowed to become dry, it is, of course,
killed in the germ. Keeping it constantly damp will obviate this.

As soon as the young plants make their appearance, they require transplanting into pans
or boxes of richer soil, and placing in cold frames close to the glass. When they are suf-
ficiently advanced in growth, pot off into three inch pots — keep them cool and near the
glass. Repot the young plants always (by turning out the ball,) as soon as you perceive
the roots touching the side of the pot; do this irrespective of any prescribed month, until
3'ou have them in the sized pot you wish them to flower in. I generally flower them in
nine inch pots. If you use rich, open loam, with plenty of well decomposed cow manure,
the plants good drainage and plenty of water, j'ou will be able to see the true
of your seedlings. Act as above laid down, and the leaves of your seedlin

HLNTS ON GROWING CALCEOLARIAS.

measure something like twelve inches long, with a corresponding amount of flower. When
the bloom is over, those you esteem worthy of propagation may be readily increased in
the following manner. Take some old frames, select a north aspect, and place the back
of your frame to the north; put in drainage, and fill up the frame with good, rich, open
compost. Then plant out your Calceolarias, giving them a good watering; shade and keep
them close for a day or so, to induce them to root. In this situation, if attended to, they
will produce a multiplicity of cuttings. To be successful in striking, requires a little care-
fulness. Four inch pots, well drained and filled with sand, are the best for this purpose.
The cuttings should be taken off four or five joints long, placed around the sides of the
pot, and well watered.

Take a little box, a yard square and nine inches deep, glazed air tight, placed over an
excavated piece of ground of the same dimensions; place the cutting pots on the ground,
cover up with your box, and tread the soil tight round the sides. In this simple manner
I have struck eight thousand between August and November. The cuttings are never al-
lowed to flag for want of water, or j'ou maj' as well throw them away at once. In three
Aveeks they will be ready to pot ofi". I seldom take the box off" before the expiration of
that time, unless they appear to be very dry. When struck, pot off" singly in three inch
pots.

The next process is the sytem by which to produce a specimen plant. If you do not
require your best selected seedlings for propagation, after they are out of flower, and pre-
fer growing them as specimens for the ensuing year, my process is as follows : When out
of flower — cut down, select a north aspect, and plunge up to the rims of the pots; early
in September, partially disroot, re- pot, and place them in a close frame; keep them there
until you perceive indications of growth; then give air, syringe frequently with water
slightly colored with soap; continue potting and re-potting, as directed for the seedlings,
and at every potting laj' the growing branches regularly all round the pot, and fasten them
in their positions with hook pegs. The last potting should be early in February. I then
generally use a pot from fifteen to eighteen inches diameter, (what some of our friends
about Albany call hogsheads,) pot with rich, open soil, and neatly and regularly peg the
shoots down over the suiface, and as they continue to grow, continue to peg down; they
readil}' emit new roots from the shoots as the}' are laid down, and will produce a great
number of shoots; and iiU that are not required should be taken off', which will materially
strengthen the selected branches for flowering. Towards the end of March they will
throw up their flower stems, which will require to be supported, and properly arranged
with small sticks, so that the plant will form a globular mass of well arranged flowers.

Amateurs M'ho feel an interest in the cultivation of the Calceolaria, by following this
sim{)le treatment, as laid down, will produce a plant when in flower, that will measure
four feet diameter, with something like a hundred, or a hundred and twent}'' flower stems
to one plant. But I would here remind amateurs, that he who waters without ascertain-
ing if it is required, or lets his plants remain pot bound, or potting them '■'■when he has
time,'' or permits them to be devoured with aphis, must never e.\'i>ect to realize such a
specimen as above described. A Working Gardener.

May 4, 185i

[A good practical article — by one whose beautifully grown plants we have, if we mistake
not, seen more than once. Very few of our floral leaders in this country know the cuii-
ous beauty of the new hybrid Calceolarias, and those who will follow the directions given
correspondent, will find themselves amply rewarded. Ed.]

THE ACACIA DEALBATA— HARDY IN FRANCE.

THE ACACIA DEALBATA— HARDY IN FRANCE.

BY BAPTISTE DESPORTES, ANGERS, FRANCE.

French horticulture, always seeking to increase our enjoyments, has accomplished a
valuable result for the ornament of our parks and landscape gardens. After several years
of experiment, it has succeeded in the open air culture of the Acacia (or Mimosa) dcal-
bata.

This tree, so well known in all green-houses, a native of Van Dieman's Island, was first
introduced into England in 1818, and into France in 1824. It has proved since then, every
year, the greatest ornament of the green-house and the conservatory, growing so luxuri-
antly, that in a few years it reached the roof, whatever may have been its height else-
where.

Few green-houses are high enough to allow it to accomplish the development of which
it is susceptible; and such is the vigor of its growth, that very often it forces itself through
the roof, struggling to attain that freedom of development that nature has granted it.
There is something so wonderfully beautiful in its perfect inflorescence, that few persons
familiar with good exotic collections, have not frequently paid a just tribute of admiration
to this remarkable tree. What can be more graceful than its smooth branches, of a beau-
tiful glaucous green, clad with its delicate persistent foliage of the same color, its myri-
ads of gay, golden flowers, lighter than down, and seeking to envelop it with a floating
cloud, gilded by the first beams of the morning. No description can do justice to the
lightness, the elegance, and the grace of this truly lovely tree.

Mr. Andre Leroy, whose taste in horticulture is universally known, could not behold
this tree, upon which nature seems to delight to lavish her gifts, without regretting that it
should not be able to attain all its proportions in his extensive nurseries, so as to embel-
lish with its masses of beauty, the numerous parks and plantations which he forms every
year. Being desirous to know to what extent it could endure the rigor of the winter, he
planted several in the open air, which not only resisted without injur}', the most intense
cold known in the south of France, but which soon established a growth such as we were
not acquainted with in any other tree.

Several of these Acacias, planted three years since, merely against a wall, with a north-
ern exposure, are now sixteen feet high; their branches nearly six feet long; the flowers
which cover them are so abundant, and so finely relieved against the back-ground of glau-
cous foliage, that they resemble a large golden sheaf of the most graceful and elegant form.
Others, planted at the same time, and entirely in the open air, that is to say, without any
protection, are not at all inferior to the first, in luxuriance and vigor of growth.

The first tree of this kind planted in the open air at Angers, is now eight or nine years
old, and more than twenty -six feet high; its branches are nearly eight feet in length, and
extend in every direction, bending under the astonishing mass of its flowers. It is not
possible to do justice to the beauty and the brilliancy of the bloom of this tree; and who-
ever has not seen it in all its splendor, can form but a very imperfect idea of it.

One remarkable fact about this Acacia is, that it continues to grow all the year round,
and even during the winter months, the vegetation scarcely seems to be arrested. The
flower-buds begin to appear at the end of summer; they remain in perfect preservation
until the first fine days of spring; and towards the end of March, when the gardens bc-
throw off" their winter garb, the tree rapidly bursts into its greatest beauty,
gers, which seems the chosen country of Flora, and for that reason, doubtless, has

EVERGREENS— THEIR USE AND CULTURE.

been called "the Nursery of France," is situated between the 47th and 48th degrees of
north latitude; the temperature is tolerably uniform, although the centigrade thermome-
ter sometimes falls there below 12*, (5° above zero of Fahrenheit;) but there are none of
those sudden changes which are so injurious to vegetation, in disorganizing the tissues.
The severe frosts occur generally in December and January, and a thaw almost always
takes place during a cloudy and foggy season, owing, no doubt, to the influence of the
four rivers which surround Angers, and whose fogs counteract, by intercepting them, the
rays of the sun. Owing to these favorable circumstances, we are able to cultivate in the
open air, so great a number of plants, such as Camellias, and evergreen Magnolias, which
do not succeed so well even in countries farther south than the city of Angers. Besides
the above mentioned frosts, they also occur in March and April, of three, four, and five
degrees, and sometimes more; these, although less severe than those of winter, are, how-
ever, much more injurious, because they occur at a season when vegetation is already un-
der way, and when all the sap-vessels are much more sensitive to atmospheric influences.

The soil of Angers and its environs is argillaceous, resting upon a stratum of silicious
rock of great depth, but permeable to water; it is easily warmed; the deposit of vegeta-
ble earth varies from eighteen to twenty-four inches in thickness.

I have entered into all these details of the nature of the climate and soil, in order to
give a clear idea of the circumstances, in the midst of which the open air cultivation of
this Acacia is accomplished; a tree which, for a long time, it was not thought possible to
cultivate except in the hot-house or conservatory.

AYhen I take into consideration the vast extent of the territory of the United States of
America — when I recall the luxuriant and varied vegetation covering the different portions
of that western soil, and which I was never weary of admiring when I had the happiness
of visiting it, I do not doubt that the southern and temperate latitudes are as favorable as
our own, and that the open air cultivation of this superb Acacia may be equally successful,
which will add still more to the natural riches of those pretty country seats, whose beauty
is only equalled by the vegetation that surrounds them.

I shall be happy, if, in introducing to the readers of that excellent Journal, the Horti-
culturist, so beautiful an acquisition to horticulture, I might be able to induce some of
those similarly located as to climate, to attempt experiments, the success of which will re-
pay them for their efforts. Baptiste Dksportes,

Nurseryman at Angers, (France.)

[We hope some of our readers in the southern states will profit by M. Desportes' valua-
ble hints. No doubt this, and other Acacias, would be found perfectly hardy as far north
as Columbia, in South Carolina.]

EVEUGPvEENS— THEIR USE AND CULTURE.

BY .IAS. RICHARDSON, Jr., DEDHAM, MASS.

We have often thought of painting, as a lesson and study for our friends in various parts
of the land, who have the good fortune to reside in the country — two pictures; the one
representing a house pleasantly situated, but wholly without shrubbery, lawns, or shade
trees, bare, naked, and dreary as Sahara; the other, its counterpart, depicting the same
house, charmingly environed by green and velvety lawns, with blooming shrubbery
shade trees, and groups of beautiful evergreens. And, we cannot but believe, that

EVERGREENS— THEIR USE AND CULTURE.

latter picture would so much surpass the former in its attractiveness, as to have a very
striking effect upon evcrj' beholder, and help to bring about a great and delightful change
in the appearance of country seats, farms, and villages. It is true, that the old destruc-
tive system of cutting down and burning up everything in the shape of a shade tree, —
thanks to the efforts of yourself, jMr. Editor, and other philanthropists like you — has for-
tunately been banished from the civilised parts of the country, and that there is a grow-
ing interest in planting the graceful Elm, magnificent Maple, and other noble natives of
the forest, around our houses, and along the lines of our streets, at least — and that men
of real taste and intelligence are doing something more than merely setting out long, stiff,
formal roivs of shades; but still, the soul as well as sense, is continually pained at sight
of bleak, bare hills, and stark-naked, staring houses, baking in the summer's sun, or
shivering in the freezing blast of winter. Indeed, though we have in our northern states,
six to eight months of winter — as witness the season now so grudgingly passing away —
yet, in all our rural embellishments, we have scarely given a thought to the improvement
and adornment of the wintry landscape. And, notwithstanding that many of the most
beautiful evergreens in the world are indigenous to the soil, there is hardly an instance
where they have been employed to any extent among us. When we reflect that the grace-
ful, feathery Hemlock, the fiinged and sombre Black Spruce, and the sun-shiny Yellow
Spruce — (which, when well cultivated and flourishing, can scarcely be distinguished from
his more fashionable cousin of Norway) — the stately spires of Fir, — the grand and no-
ble White Pine — the curious and beautiful Holly — the pyramidal Arborvitte — the rich
green of the low growing Yew — the splendid Rhododendron, and the Magnificent Moun-
tain Laurel, are all found, growing in wild luxuriance, even within the borders of "the
old Bay State," we shall see how unnecessar}' it is to go abroad for beautiful evergreens,
and wonder that these native resources for adorning our grounds and villages, and espe-
cially for embellishing the wintry scene, should have been so utterly neglected.

Use gives fitness and propriety, and hence use is an element of beauty. And a fine ev-
ergreen tree, like all things else in nature, is not only a beautiful object in itself, but the
idea of cooling shade in the summer solstice, and protection and defence againt the incle-
ment blasts of winter — the idea of use adds a new charm, and has the effect to enhance
the pleasure one experiences at contemplating a luxuriant group of such trees. When the
hills, and fields, and plains, are stripped of their leafy verdure, and all is bleak and bare,
or covered as far as the eye can see, with a dreary expanse of cold and drifting snow,
what a relief to the wearied vision, what a charming and beautiful eflect does a line or
group of living verdure, here and there, give to the wintry and desolate scene. We were
strongly impressed with this fact, in visiting, during the last winter, a beautiful New-Eng-
land village, in which some of the earliest inhabitants had the wisdom and good taste,
years ago, to plant, here and there, groups of such trees; and we remarked, that they not
onlj'^ relieved and beautified the dreary sameness of the snow-clad scene, but that they
seemed even to give a positive warmth and comfort. And we have no doubt, that on pla-
ces exposed to the cold winds, they would contribute very much, not onl}^ to shelter hu-
man dwellings with their denizens, from the severity of their winter assaults, but that
planted on the north side, and thus not in the way of the sun-shine, they would form
quite an effectual barrier against the severe boreal blasts, afford a protection to fruit trees,
and even to tender shrubbery, and really prevent the frost from striking down deep into
the soil. Even setting aside all considerations of beauty, we would advise the planting of
and screens of evergreens, for the sole purpose of protecting gardens, orchard
ound itself, from freezing winds. Many a choice exotic shrub, and tender del

EVERGREENS— THEIR USE AND CULTURE.

plant, might live and thrive under the fostering shelter of a group of evergreens, that
otherwise could not survive the cold of our northern seasons.

In the grouping of trees in planting, nature, as in ever3thing else, should be our teach-
er, and our model. Nothing appears more awkward, and displeasing to the ej-e of taste,
than a stiff, straight row of deciduous or evergreen trees, standing in one rigid, uncompro-
mising line, like so many petrified grenadiers. If we turn our eyes to the fields and the
meadows, we shall observe the wild trees and shrubbery gathering themselves into charm-
ing companies, or single spreading trees, dotting irregularly here and there, the emerald
carpet of waving grass. And if we would produce an effect, cither lovely or picturesque,
we must follow beautiful nature, avoid all stiff, straiglit lines, all precise regularity and
uniformity, and dispose our trees in graceful groups, with here and there a single tree of
fine form and habit, resting its rich den.se foliage upon the green lawn. Evergreens have
a very natural and pleasing effect, planted upon a slope, or steep bank — especiall}^ if there
be mossy rocks— different shades of green being mingled by way of contrast; or, if we
wish to give the appearance of distance, to place those with lighter hue and finer foliage
in the back ground, with those of more sombre colors, such as the Fir and Black Spruce,
and the Pines with coarser foliage, in front. This, tliongh diffcult to manage, has the ef-
fect of perspective. Larches maj' be combined to advantage with the evergreens in the
back ground. A collection of beautiful evergreens, tastefullj' arranged, with an underwood
or bordering of Rhododendron, Kalmia, and our rich, green, trailing Yew, is one of the
most charming pictures that can meet the eye, in winter especially. There are certain
trees, however, we confess, that lose much of their beauty by being crowded in Mith oth-
ers, and only appear to their best advantage when .set alone. This is particularly true of
the Hemlock, and the Black and Norway Spruces, and the Aborvita?; at least they should
form the outside of a group, while the stiif, ungraceful Fir, gives the finest effect by thrust-
ing its tall spires through the masses of softer foliage, by which it should be surrounded.
Evergreens, however, when set alone, should be allowed to grow naturally, with their
lower branches leaning upon the lawn. Indeed, nothing is in worse taste than an ever-
green with its branches lopped off half way up. It is but half a tree. It resembles a
wretched man, who has undergone some surgical operation that has taken his arms off to
his shoulders; and we should as soon think of shaving off the wavy, silken tresses of a
fjiir girl — Chinese fashion — up to the crown of her head, as of mangling in this wa}' a
beautiful tree. The Black Spruce, "with its thick-tufted, and dense foliage, of sombre deep
sea-green, the Norway, with its fringed branches of bright gold-bronzy hue, and the
graceful feathery Hemlock, are objects of unwearied delight, wlien thus treated. If the
upper branches tend, when 3'oung, to overshadow the lower, they maj' be easily clipped,
so that those below may never suffer from the exclusion of sunlight and air.

Culture. — The great objection that we meet with in urging our friends to j^lant ever-
greens to adorn the wintr^^ landscape, is, " That it is so hard to make evergreens live."
As we were admiring, the other daj^, two beautiful specimens of the Black Spruce, said the
lady of the house to us, " When they were given to me, I merely made a little hole just
large enough to crowd the roots in, and stuck them down, and they have grown finely."
We expressed, to her great surprise, our regrets that they lived at all. They ought to
have died. Whenever a tree is just " stuck doAvn" in that way, without any care or love
— with such a perfect indifference as to whether it lives or dies — I am always glad, from
the principle of the thing, to have it give up the ghost. But care in planting, is not the
thing to be considered, if you would have your evergreens live and thrive. It is of
y necessity, that the roots, ivhils out of ground, should be kept moist — that they

EVEUGREENS— THEIR USE AND CULTURE.

never for a moment even, should become dried during the process of transplanting. To
this end they must not bo exposed to sun or wind. If this rule is observed, in ninety-
nine cases out of a hundred, your trees will live. We have taken pains to test this in va-
rious ways. A few summers ago, early in the season, we set out a long screen of Arbor-
vilae, taken up and sent us from the woods of Maine. Our good Uncle, a skilful horti-
culturist, said that we should lose a very large percentage of them; our " minister"
uliio au fait in such matters, prophecied their speedy death; our neighbors declared they
couldn't live. "We were careful to have them taken up with the sod on, in a damp stormy
week. Six of them we set aside in a tub of water. Some three or four we left exposed
to a drying wind, though the day was cloudy. AYe did not cut or trim them in the least,
and out of two hundred and ten trees, we only lost foui — 'the four we had left exposed.
The six we had placed in the water were neglected for three weeks or more, till, finally, we
carelessly planted them, with little thoughts of their surviving, though in a disadvanta-
geous situation. They all lived. Again: in planting some fifty Norway Spruces, from
four and a half to six feet high, we were careful to have them brought us in a moist day.
The sun, however, came out, before we had finished setting them, and one of the best of
the lot was somehow or other overlooked, and allowed to remain a number of hours with
the roots exposed to the sun. It died; but all the rest have done well. We might give
other illustrations, but we proceed to the second point; which is, that the trees should bo
carefully planted. The best manure for evergreens is peat earth, or vegetable mould,
mixed with ashes, and allowed to remain if possible, through one winter to be decomposed,
and then mixed with part sand or sandy loam. We tread down a layer of sods in a trench
— dug deep to withstand drouths — then throw in, Avith our first layer of peat earth com-
post, a quantity of stones, large and small, to retain coolness and moisture, of which ever-
greens generally are so fond. We then mix the top loam with the compost, in finishing
uj) the operation of planting, throwing in enough Avater with the earth to have it settle
around the moist roots.

Thirdly. It is important that transplanted evergreens, to grow and flourish, should be
kept wet and cool. To this end we must mulch; and, for evergreens we prefer fine hub
chips, saw dust, or spent tan, (though for fruit trees meadow hay is better,) as with a
little ashes, they make a good manure for the next year. Always select small young trees,
before those that are large, especially before those that are old and stunted in their growth ;
they thrive much better; and large trees in the process of rooting are likely to lose their
foliage, and much of their beautiful spray and branches, and thus become unsightly, scrag-
gy, and desolate looking objects enough. The best time for transplanting evergreens is
in the May or early June storms; they may, however, be taken up and do well at any
time of year, if these precautions are taken — although the very best season is just asthe
buds are swelling to burst, and before the}^ have started and grown so as to wilt in the
hot sun.

Of the varieties of evergreens, their different characteristics, of the beauty and extent
of the native kinds, we hope soon to apeak further, as well as of the effect of their judi-
cious grouping, in a future article. The evergreens, indeed, that are indigenous to our
own soil — if there were no exquisitely feathery and graceful Deodars — no rich green,
strange, coral-like Araucarias, so long and so difficult to acclimate, — no dark sombre
Yews, — no solemn, grand " Cedar of Libanus," no fringed spiuce of Norway, — would be
all sufficient to cheer and warm and enliven the wintry scene. The thick verdue of the
w Spruce with its lively hue, seems to shed sunshine around in the gloomiest day
hat border or shrubbery is more rich or charming, than a grand group of Ka

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

latifolias 'with its glossy Camellia like leaf, and glorions wealth of noble and stately
flowers. But our space forbids us to indulge in further description now.

James RicnARDS02sr, Jr

Deilham, May, 1852

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

BY JAMES GRIGOR, NORWICH, ENGLAND.*

Tree planting in general has been actively prosecuted of late years; but there is one
section of arboriculture which has not, in my opinion, been carried to that degree of per-
fection of which it is susceptible. I refer to Sacred and Classical planting, or the congre-
gating together of such trees as are interesting purely on account of the almost holy as-
sociations which they invariably awaken. To some, this subject ma)^ appear to be but of
trifling import; to others, I am happy to sa}', the idea is fraught with an importance which
the uninitiated have little conception of

To underrate any description of planting is by no means the object of this paper. Such
an attempt would meet with little sympathy in a country which in pure love for the syl-
van features of nature takes precedence of all the nations of the world. Yet, although
the ligneous productions of the earth, wherever found, are highly prized in this country,
there aie unquestionably some which, by association alone, are wrapped up in a more in-
teresting garb than others. It is true the trees of America, Australia, and India, are,
equally with those of Palestine and Greece, " tabernacula quae fixit Dominus," — "the
tents which the Lord hath spread;" yet, who hears in any of them those whisperings of
an antiquity loved and dwelt upon? Those countries may boast of their eternal forests,
but still they are unconsecrated. The American and Australian ligneous floras are espe-
cially devoid of any accompaniment derived from fame. The arts and sciences have as
yot no temples there which will be thought of in after ages, and, consequentl}^, no link
has been formed with existing objects or individuals. Poetry in those countries has not
yet taken up those images presented by their magnificent sylva, and set them to the end
of time in verse. Their forests, therefore, indicate only the changes in the vegetable
world everywhere going on — a gradual approach to maturity — that maturity gigantic and
long-lived — and then a like gradual descent to decay and death. Hence it is that the hum-
ble thyme plant, not a foot high, nourishing the apiaries of Ilymettus, lives in the recol-
lection of mankind, whilst the loftiest Platanus on the Ohio awakens no retrospective sen-
timent whatever.

In these matter-of-fact days, it will be a.sked, of what use is biblical and classical plant-
ing,'' To this question it might be suflicient to refer to the numerous and earnest pages
that have been devoted by natural historians to such plants referred to in sacred and clas-
sical works, as are now of dubious identification; for example, the Mustard tree, the Hys-
sop, and the Lily of the valley; but it may be stated at once that planting such trees forms
a pure source of pleasure, inasmuch as it leads back the mind to some of the holiest and
best days of the world, and serves invariably to suggest some of the finest passages of its
history. To youth, especially, such trees form the best means for awakening the lights
of antiquity; all its greatest actions, all its holiest and sweetest spots, live in such pro-
ductions, and are thus easily impressed on the mind. In biblical times, we find the pa-
s expressing themselves in earnest language with reference to trees as ornamen

* London Horlicullural Magazine.

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

their last resting-place. Thus, " Let us have the field, and the cave which is therein;
and all the trees that are in the fidd, and that are in the borders round about; and let
them be made sure for a possession to us." In classic Greece, whether on her hills, be-
side her streams or mossy fountains, trees had a prominence and importance such as thej''
never had since. In that countr}', nature was not only allowed to make herself heard and
seen, but she was energetically encouraged. Her umbrageous valleys and odoriferous up-
lands were filled with gods. Woodland temples rose on all hands. Every leaf which
expanded itself was appropriated to religion; so that, independent of her usual verdant
covering, she wore here a rich mythological tissue. Hence it was that a wreath of an
evergreen formed the noblest reward that could be conferred on the most distinguished
citizens. That circumstance alone will give all " possible eternitie" to the laurel.

One of the first trees in sacied association is the Cedar, a native of a loft}^ ridge of
mountains in Syria. In winter Lebanon is always clad with snow, which, towards the
north-east, where it is sheltered from the sea breezes and sunshine, remains sometimes
during the whole year. The tree is therefore perfectly hardy in the climate of England,
and is, of course, appropriate for that description of planting now under review. Perhaps
the most promising )^oung plantations of this tree in Britain are those of Sir George Mac-
pherson Grant, of Ballindalloch, in the north of Scotland. The cedars are planted on
the sides of sand}"- hills, which before were partially covered with trees sufficient to cause
shelter, but not so close as to interfere with the proper development of the cedars. This,
in my opinion, is the best way to get up a crop of this tree; for it is naturall}^ disposed
to become merely a spreading bush, without any stem; but when the chief supply of air
is overhead, it naturally forms a good leading shoot. Technically, it requires to be drawn
up. A new and grand feature in scenery is sure to be the result of an elevated plantation
of this tree in maturit}'.

Gazing upon this object, the reflections which it excites are numerous: It was seen
from Jerusalem, casting a " weight of glory" over the lofty mountains which environed
that city like a magnificent rampart. It grew on that site whence the eye commanded a
spectacle more glorious, perhaps, than was ever enjoyed from any other spot on the globe,
embracing a view almost without interruption from the waters of the Mediterranean to
the confines of the Persian Gulph. It was peculiarly the tree of Palestine. It was the
belief, that God loved it more than any other tree. It was seen on all the hills of the
holy cit}'', — planted extensively by Solomon around his seat there, and personal!}^ recom-
mended by him, as a most desirable ornament throughout Judea. Figuratively, this plant
seems to have formed the general standard of excellence, — the Hebrew poets having had
continual recourse to it as a fitting source of illustration. Had the graces of the church
to be described, it was by a reference to Lebanon and its cedars; — the prosperity of the
righteous, it was by a metaphor borrowed from this tree — " He shall grow as the cedar
of Lebanon." Whatever was comely and majestic in the human countenance, or what-
ever commanded the love and reverence of the beholder, was aptly illustrated by this
celebi-ated object. To see Lebanon and its cedars was, in ancient times, accounted a great
privilege; and the anxious desire with which Moses and the people of Isreal, whilst jour-
neying in Egypt, looked forward to this favored part of the Land of Promise, ma}' be
gathered from the earnest language of the patriarch: — " I pray thee," he saj's, "let me
go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, thatgoodl}' mountain, and Lebanon."

In its living state, the cedar, no doubt, conferred a very peculiar and striking character
scenery of the east; its depth of green, and the disposition of its branches, r
for glory and beauty" unequalled amongst all the objects of the vegetable

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

dom. Mechanicall}^ considered, it was equally sought after and prized. Jupiter's sceptre
was attributed either to the cedar or cj-press, a symbol of the eternity of his etnpire, be-
cause the tree was considered free from corruption. In the temple of Apollo atUlica, the
wood of this tree was found nearly 2,000 years old. Sesostris, king of Egypt, built a
vessel of 280 cubits, gilded without and within, with the cedar wood. It is highly pro-
bable, too, that king Solomon, who " made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is be-
side Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea," drew largely upon Lebanon for such an under-
taking; but whilst there is some doubt on this point, it is certain that the timber employ-
ed in building the sumptuous Temple and palace of Jerusalem was of this tree, and of the
growth of Lebanon. " All was cedar, — there was no stone seen." It appears, further,
that the infatuated idolater chose this wood for forming his favorite images; for it is re-
corded, that in a Spanish oratorj-, consecrated to Diana, some centuries before the destruc-
tion of Troy, beams and figures of this wood were found of great antiquity. In the fa-
mous Ephesian temple, the statue of the goddess, " whom all Asia and the world wor-
shipped," was reputed to be of this material, as was the most of the timber-work of that
glorious structure. The idol, too, " which fell down from Jupiter," so closely consulted
by those at Ephesus, was fashioned of the same wood; and it is probable that the most
of the " graven images" of all idolatrous nations were of cedar, because in ancient times
it was not only greatly prized for its beauty , but invested with imperishable qualities. Such
are some of the traits of the cedar, one of the grandest ligneous products of either hemis-
phere, and far excelling others in sacred historical remembrance. It rightfully takes its place
on the tops of mountains, and associates, naturally, with no trees except its own kindred —
the pines and firs. Though generally dwarfed and stunted in this country, by being
placed in situations and soils unfavorable to the development of its unrivalled character,
it may be seen in a few instances exhibiting something of that extraordinary beauty which
distinguished it in the days of Solomon, and rendered it the boast of Syria.

Cavillers there are who insist that the cedar of the Bible cannot be that of Mount Le-
banon, as the tree cannot be considered very lofty. Let all such get a sight of a tree of
this sort, growing at the seat of Robert Marsham, Esq., Stratton Strawless, Norfolk, a
noble, upright specimen, with a branchless trunk of about fortj^ feet.

Next in importance is the Oak. It will not be neceseary to dwell at any length on this
tree, as its associations both sacred and classical are well known to every one. The ob-
ject of this paper is to offer, if possible, new and striking features. It is scarcely to be
wondered at that this grand object bearing, when in perfection, such an immense burden
of boughs and spray, with a tufted, irregular, and consequently picturesque outline, should
have been selected as an object worthy of so much veneration. A chain of exalted re-
membrance is linked to it in the mind of all those who have read any classical author; and
in the bible there are several incidents connected with it, sufficient to hand it down as a
venerated object to the latest ages of the world. The patriarch Abraham spread his tent
under the oak of Mamre, and formed a grove of this tree for the accommodation of his
family and friends, where they might rest their weary limbs and drooping bodies in the
heat of the da}'. Under an oak Joshua set up the tabernacle of the Lord, that the con-
gregation might with comfort perform the public services of religion. How highly the
descendants of Jacob valued those oaks which grew on Bashan may be gathered from a
remark in the book of Ezekiel with reference to Tyre — " of the oaks of Bashan have they
made thine oars." Throughout the east it was customary to bury the dead under an oak,
that the relations might sit over the grave screened from the fierce heat of the
imperial plant, even

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTLNG.

' Jove's own tree,
Tliul liokis tlie wootis in awl'ul sovreigiily,"

was well known all over Greece, and forms the basis of many a Hellenic legend. Accord-
ing to some, Jupiter's might was derived from the oak; and with a disinterestedness wor-
thy of imitation, he no sooner felt its power within him, than this father of gods and men
set himself to the task of teaching mankind to live upon acorns, so that the}- might parti-
cipate in his puissance. The temple and oracle of this god in Dodona, the most ancient in
all Greece, was surrounded by oaks, which, with the ground in the neighborhood, was
endued with a prophetic spirit. The oaks, therefore, became endowed with this gift, and
delivered oracles. So far as the classic page is concerned, the voice ol antiquity directs us
to no tree more gencrall}' than the oak. It grew chiefly and in great abundance on the
slopes and heights of Hellas, introduced, it is true, near to residences, for the sake of its
umbrageous and cool arches in summer time; but still in its greatest perfection in the
magnificent solitudes far from the busy hum of men. The slate of art, of poetry, and
elegance in Athens might have been pretty correctly ascertained from a simple fact con-
nected with this object — the intense, yet discriminating delight with which the people
looked upon the beauties of the oak in its numerous varieties, during its gorgeous autum-
nal appearance. Notwithstanding our advance in civilization and refinement, and love for
sylvan imager^', it is questionable whether we are yet up to the mark of that taste which
the Athenians exhibited in all that relates to trees and planting.

The Mulberry is genei*ally reckoned as a biblical tree, but it is very doubtful if it has
really a right to be so included. Loudon, without inquiring whether our translators were
right in rendering the original term baca, at once concludes that ihe tree is twice mention-
ed in the sacred writings. Ilasselquist states, that the mulberry- scarcely ever grows in
Judea, very little in Galilee, though abounding in Syria and in the mountains of Lebanon.
In Chronicles, the term bccaim is rendered pear trees, and Aquila and the Vulgate have it in
the same way. Parkhurst gives it as his opinion that baca means a kind of large shrub
from M'hich is distilled an odoriferous gum, and in this opinion he is strengthened by the
fact that the Arabs have a shrub corresponding with this description, which they likewise
call baca. Its other associations rest on a clearer foundation. Pyramus, who lived in
Babylon, became enamoured of Thisbe, a very beautiful virgin of that city. The flame
was mutual, but their parents forbade marriage, so that the lovers regularly interchanged
sentiments through an aperture in a wall which separated their houses. They agreed to
meet at a given time at the tomb of Niuus, which was overshadowed by a white mulberry
tree, and without the walls of Babylon. Thisbe was first there, but the unlooked for ar-
rival of a lioness frightened her away; and as she fled she dropped her veil, which the
lioness found and left covered with blood. The lover soon after arrived, and having found
Thisbe's veil bloody, concluded that she had been torn to pieces by wild beasts. He in-
stantly stabbed himself. When she had so far recovered, Thisbe returned, and when she
saw the dying Pyramus, she fell upon the sword with which he destroyed himself. The
mulberry tree was stained with the blood of the lovers, and ever afterwards bore fruit of
that color.

Standard mulberries should invariably have a strong stake set up beside them to keep
them in an upright position, and this should be continued until the tree is at least twenty
years of age. The prevailing characteristic of mulberry trees throughout England, when
left entirely to nature, is, that they are one-sided and top-heavy, requiring props to sup-
port them. This defect might be easily remedied by applying the aid alluded to. The
trees should be planted in sheltered situations, in rich trenched soil, kept up by frequent
manurings. When so treated the fruit is large and juicy.

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

The Pomegranate (^Punica Granatum,') Pliuy informs us, was first found near Car-
thage. It is the malus punica of the Romans, and the rimon of the Hebrews, probably
from rania, to project, from the strong projection or reflexion of light from the star-like
crown of the fruit which bears the upper part of the calyx. The high estimation in which
this tree was held in the land of Isreal may be inferred from the fact, that it was one of
the three kinds of fruit brought from Eschol to Moses and the congregation in the wilder-
ness; and from its being distinguished by the rebellious sojourners as one of the most
delicious luxuries they enjoyed in Egypt. No circumstance more clearly evinces the value
which the eastern nations put upon this fruit than the choice which king Solomon makes
of it to represent certain graces of the church — " Thy temples are like a piece of pome-
granate within thy locks." The ornaments placed in the net work over the crowns which
were on the top of the two brazen pillars of Solomon's temple were carvings of this fruit,
as were also those decorations ordered to be fixed on the skirt of Aaron's robe. Greece
was full of it. That district known as the land of Pindar, Hesoid, and Plutarch, was in
particular noted for rich crops of this fruit. Agatharchides relates the following anecdote
connected with this tree : A dispute arising between the Athenians and Boeotians, respect-
ing a spot called Side, situated on the borders, Epaminondas, in order to decide the ques-
tion, took out a pomegranate from under his robe, and demanded of the Arthenians what
they called it. " Rhoa," they replied. "Very good," said Epaminondas; " but we
call it Side, and, as the place derives its name from the fruit which grows there in abun-
dance, it is clear the land must belong to us." And it was decided in favor of the Boeo-
tians. In fine seasons it produces its fruit of the full size in this country when trained
against a wall.

The fig tree is frequently mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, and is common throughout
Palestine and the east generally. Amongst the ancient Hebrews it was known as thaena,
signifying the tree of grief, probably from the leaf causing inflammation when applied to
the bod3^ It was of this tree that our first parents, immediately after the fall, twisted
for themselves girdles or aprons. Throughout the Holy Land the failure or destruction
of the fig tree was accounted one of the greatest public or private calamities. Hence it is
said, " Although the fig tree shall not blossom, &c., yet I will rejoice in the Lord." In
ancient Greece this fruit tree was well known and extensively cultivated. It was the
pride of Attica. According to the traditions of the Athenians, figs first grew on a spot
not far distant from the city on the road to Eleusis, thence called Hiera Suke, " the sacred
fig tree." So much prized was the fruit here produced, that the inhabitants were forbid-
den to export them. This law, however, was often contravened, and the informers against
the delinquents were called sycophants, or " revealers of figs;" a word which has since
been in use to characterise mean-souled, dastardly persons, such as informers generally
are. Naxos, a celebrated country in the ^gean sea, was celebrated for its fig trees, which
were especially cherished by Bacchus, who was the chief god of the island. Here this
divinity obtained the title of Meilicliios, " the gracious," because he taught them the use
of this fruit. In the processions of this god the fig was carried next to the vine. Through-
out Sussex the fig is i»lanted as a standard; and it is in this character that it can be best
introduced in a classical group with others.

To the Olive tree the Sacred AVritings abound in references; it has been from the earliest
ages the emblem of peace, and the bounteous gift of heaven. In the garden of the Horti-
cultural Society at Chiswick, and in several parts of Devonshire, it grows as a standard,
rvives the severest winter. In other counties, therefore, it may be made to flour-
th the aid of shelter. This tree rose plentifully all over Judea, and so viewed, ex

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

cites a crowd of interesting reflections in every well disposed mind. Thus it is often
figuratively used in the poetical diction of the east. Speaking of the righteous man, it is
said: — " His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the olive tree."

The most distinguished, and to many, the most endearing reflection, suggested by this
tree, arises from its giving the name to that Mount, (the Mount of Olives,) so famous in
tlie history of the Saviour. This mountain lay a little out of the city of Jerusalem, to-
wards the east, commanding a full view of the metropolis, from which it was separated by
the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the brook Kedron. To it the Redeemer of the world was
wont to retire in the evening, after he had spent a laborious day in teaching the multitudes
that attended His ministry in Jerusalem; from it, He gazed upon the city, wept over it,
and predicted its final overthrow. In the garden, which lay at the bottom of this hill,
He commenced the scene of His last suflferings; and from the highest or central elevation,
He ascended into Heaven. The olive crowns the top of the hill till this daj^; and from
its being so remarkably long lived, it is thought by many, that the vicissitudes of eigh-
teen hundred years have not yet swept away the identical objects under which our Re-
deemer wandered. To many superficial readers of the Bible, and especially to those who
rest implicitly on our translation of it, the olive tree forms a stumbling-block not easily
removed. The plant, as is generally known, does not produce leaves of a deep green color,
though properly enough classed amongst our evergreens. The leaves resemble those of
the willow, are of a light, or yellowish green, and sometimes rusty underneath, and do not
equal the expectations of travellers. Thus Mr. Sharpe, while in the East, observes : " The
fields are in a manner covered with olive trees; but the tree does not answer the charac-
ter I conceived of it: the royal Psalmist, and some of the sacred writers, speak with rap-
ture of the green olive tree, so that I expected a beautiful green; and I confess I was
wretchedly disappointed to find its hue resembling that of our hedges when they are
covered with dust. The olive tree may possibly delight in Judea, but undoubtedly will
disgust a man accustomed to English verdure." Now, it so happens, that the word trans-
lated green, means vigor, or freshness; and every one must know that exuberant vegeta-
tion is not necessarily of a green color, but frequently of a red or pinkish tinge. In Dan-
iel, the seventj' translators render the same word flourisliing : for it is absurd to suppose
that when King Nebuchadnezzar said, — "I was at rest in my house, and green in my pa-
lace," (as it is in the Hebrew,) he referred to color. The passage in the Bible, therefore,
should be rendered: — " I am like a vigorous olive tree in the house of God." Rich har-
vests of this tice waved over the plains of Greece; and it is yet an inhabitant of that high-
ly favored country. It presents nothing magnificent — nothing solemn, for it never ex-
ceeds fifty feet in height; yet its loveliness, and sunniness, amply compensate for its shrub-
like size. A warm, dry air seems to suit it best. Hence it was found in greatest perfec-
tion in Attica and Cilicia. In those countries, where regularly propagated for its oil, it was
the practice to plant the trees thirty feet apart, so as to allow the air to circulate fieely
about them on all sides. This tree forms a favorite haunt of singing birds, having a thin
shade, sufficient to shelter them from excessive heat, yet not excluding much light.

The Almond, mentioned in the Holy Writ, was by the Hebrews called shakad, signify-
ing to watch, or awake, because after the rigors of winter, it is one of the first to hail the
coming of spring. This idea seems to be referred to in the vision which Jeremiah the
prophet had. " The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou.-*
And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me. Thou hast well
for I will hasten My word to perform it;" or rather, " I am hastening or wa
my word to fulfil it." The rod of Aaron was of the Almond tree, as were a

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

rods wliich the princes of Israel bore. The tree has an interesting history in Greek my
thology. Demophoon, the son of Theseus and Phaedra, on his return from the Trojan
war, visited Thrace, where he was tenderly received and treated by Phyllis, a beautiful
queen, whose charms were not unappreciated by him. He retired to Athens, of which he
was king, promising to return to Thrace at the end of a month. At the expiration of the
time, the queen wandered daily on the sea-shore looking out for her lover, and when at
last winter came and he returned not, in an agony of despair, she fell dead by the sea-side,
and was immediately changed by the pitying gods into an almond tree. Her lover soon
after returned, and hearing what had taken place, flew to the tree and clasped it in his
arms, when the love of Phyllus, unable even then to restrain itself, caused the tree, though
in winter, to burst forth into blossoms. The beauty of this tree when in flower, at a time
when others have not begun to bud, renders it a most desirable object near to residences.
It is the first to interrupt the reign of winter, and consequently the earliest forerunner of
the coming spring.

The Apple tree is mentioned in Holy Writ; but I am inclined to believe that our apple,
{Pyrus malus,) is not the tree alluded to in the Sacred text. In Canaan, and the sur-
rounding country, it is almost worthless, and is by no means entitled to the praise bestow-
ed on that tree by the Spirit of inspiration. The inhabitants of Egypt and Palestine im-
port their apples from Damascus, their own orchards producing no fruit fit for use. It is
inipossibh;, therefore, that a tree whose fruit was represented to be most delicious and
comforting, could be found in the " crab, or wilding," whose fruit, according to Plin}',
liad "many a foul word and shrewd curse given it," on account of its sourness. Besides,
the apple of the Scripture is classed with the vine and fig, palm and pomegranate, as fur-
nishing a grateful repast, and the failure of which was reckoned a serious calamity, — an
unquestionable proof, that we must look elsewhere for the real apple of the Holy Land.
In Patrick's Commentary, it is thought that the word Thepucheem, translated apples, de-
notes any species of fruit emitting a fragrant odor; but this definition is too vague to be
useful. The term occurs in six passages of Scripture, and in them all it is given as an
appropriate title to one of the noblest trees in the garden of Nature. " As the apple tree
among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons; Isat down under hissha-
dow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste." Again : — " Stay me with
flagons, comfort me with apples, for lam sick of love." "A word fitly spoken, is like
apples of gold in pictures of silver." Now, when it is known that trees of the citrus fam-
ily flourished in Judea several centuries before the birth of Christ, and when it is recol-
lected how appropriate the passages quoted become, when applied to the citron or orange,
there is little doubt of their referring to the genus just mentioned. Flouishing under ori-
ental skies, the citron becomes a large and beautiful tree, having a perennial verdure, and
perfuming the air with exquisite odor. It is with peculiar propriety, therefore, that the
spou.se exclaimed : — "As the citron or orange tree among the trees of the wood, so is my
Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit
was sweet to my taste." Those who are desirous of trying orange and citron trees in
England, may take courage from the fact that they grow to a large size, with a slight
protection during severe winters, at Salcombe, near Kingsbridge, in Devonshire; and at
Dartmouth, Luscombe, and Kitley. I am inclined to think that if spaces were cleaied in
plantations, with an open space to the south, these trees might be planted in such places
with every prospect of success. In severe weather, the tops and stems might be thatched
dead branches, and their roots covered with dry litter, and also thatched. Tl
uit which King Juba desci'ibes as the apple of the Ilesperides, by which name

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

known throughout Africa. The most ancient Greek writer who describes this tree is
Theophrastus, who says it was grafted on the common apple to produce bh\ck citrons, and
on the mulberry, for the sake of getting the fruit of a reddish color. Such things are quite
impossible; all statements like these tend onl}"^ to Aveaken the testimony of this great na-
turalist in other matters, and show clearly how closely the earliest efforts in history are
allied to the works of the mythologists. This tree thrives remarkably well in Lower
Egypt; and in the Garden of Ileliopolis, where it shades the Temple of the Sun, it appears
in matchless beauty. It is questionable whether the citron was known to the ancient in-
habitants of Ilellas; for Antiphanes observes in his Boetian,that it had only been recently
introduced into Attica: —

" A. 'Twould be absurd to speak of what's to eat,

As if you thought of such things ; but, fair maid,
Take of these apples.
B. Oil I how beautiful I

A. Tliey are, indeed, since hither they but lately
Have come from the great king.

B. By I'hosphoros!

I could have thought them from the Hesperian bowers.
Where th' apples are of gold.

A. There are but three !

B. The beautiful is nowhere plentiful."'

Viewed in connection with the present subject, the Vine forms a most important tree.
No effort of mine can add anything to the delight with which this well known plant is
looked upon b}' all nations. The classics seem to have written under its shade: their pa-
ges e.xhale the sweet odor of its fruit. It is freqncntl}^ mentioned in the Old and New
Testaments. It was known to the inhabitants of Judea, both in its wild and cultivated
forms, though the former, in all probability, was not, strictly speaking, a vine. It was
certainly not the Vltis Labrusca, or Fox Grape of Botanists. In the vales near Jordan,
not far distant from Jericho and the Dead Sea, is found growing in great abundance, the
vine of Sodom, which produces fruit as bitter as gall, and according to Bishop Lowth, as
deadly as the poison of a serpent. This deleterious grape is alluded to bj^ Moses in terms
fully bearing out this description: "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the
fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter, their wine is
the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." The tree, however, referred to so
often in the Bible and in Classic Song, is the grapevine, ( Vitis vinifera,) well known
throughout all the temperate zones of the Old World, as an exuberant climber, and pro-
ducing the noblest and most delicious of beverages. Thus, in contradistinction to the spu-
rious plant, our Saviour, in the Gospel of John, says, " I am the true Vine, and my Fa-
ther is the Husbandman." And again, in the triumphal Song of David on the plagues
which desolated Egypt, and procured the liberation of his ancestors, he says: " He des-
troyed their vines with hail, and their Sycamore trees with frost." Of all the grapes pro-
duced in the East, those of Canaan were considered to be the finest. Dandini, an Italian
traveller, and accustomed of course, to see grapes in great perfection, was surprised at the
extraordinary^ size of those produced in the vineyards at Lebanon, which were of the size
of prunes, and of the most delicious taste. In the book of Numbers, it is stated that a
bunch gathered in the valley of Eschol required two men to carry it some distance, a fact
which has been recently' confirmed, if any proof had been needed, by Doubdon, who met
with very extraordinary vines near to Bethlehem. Persia seems entitled to the honor of
birth to this plant; thence it appears to have found its way into Judea, Greece, and
and soon after into Ital}-, Spain, France and Britain. It is, however, contended by

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

Theopompos, that it was the inhabitants of Chios, an island in the ^gean sea, who first
found it, and cultivated it, transmitting it to the other Greeks. This point must forever
remain in uncertainty, for as Homer refers to the vineyards of his heroes, the natural con-
clusion is, that it was plentiful in Greece before the historical era. Throughout that coun-
try, sandy swells or eminences facing the morning sun, were fixed upon as the best sites
for this plant, and to this day, south-eastern declivities are preferred to any other aspect.
It is worthy of remembrance, perhaps, that the first instructions in the art of pruning the
vine, so as to induce it to bear more plentifully, was borrowed from an ass browsing upon
it, and for this hint a marble statue was erected in honor of this quadruped in the mari-
time town of Nauplia. The vine was sacred to Bacchus, and throughout Greece, when
the labors of the vintage were concluded, scenes of Bacchic enthusiasm and excess were
yearljr enjoyed bj'- the youthful rustics engaged in that glorious harvest. The references
to the vine in the classics, are endless; and he who has the leisure and inclination to search
for them, will not long look in vain. I have seen the vine planted in England near to Elm
trees, on which it found a suitable space to spread its branches; and I recollect in the gar-
den of the late Mr. Loudon, at Bayswater, several vines were so planted, which bore re-
markably well. It is necessary that the branches of the elm should be thinned sufficient-
ly to admit light and air, otherwise the grapes will not ripen. In this form it had better
be introduced in a collection of sacred and classical plants, choosing the English elm,
( Ulmus campcstris,^ as its support, as that tree was also known to the Greeks.

The Juniper is twice mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. Commentators are in great
doubt and uncertainty regarding the tree to which the inspired writers allude, arising from
the somewhat absurd idea of keeping the English juniper continually before their eyes. It
would, indeed, be hard to fancy that the prophet Elijah found a refreshing shade under
a shrub a few feet in height, without any pretensions whatever to the character of being
umbrageous. The difficulty, however, is quite uncalled for; and the fact that our divines
are so much divided concerning this tree, proves how necessary it is that those who pro-
fess to illustrate the Scriptures, should have an intimate acquaintance with natural history,
or at least the aid of those who know something of that subject. In all probability, the
juniper of the Bible is the Jimiperwi drupacea, a native of Mount Casius, in Syria, and
identical with those seen by Bellonius on Mount Taurus — trees which reach the height of
a cypress, with a broader head, and therefore more likely to be chosen for shade and shel-
ter. It appears the juniper was resorted to in the days of Job for food; and it is so far
corroborative of the supposition hazarded, to know, that at the present day, the inhabi-
tants of the mountains above referred to, eat the fruit of the J. drupacea, which is of the
size and shape of an Olive. Be this as it may, there is not the slightest occasion to seek a
substitute for the juniper of Holy Writ, in the Genista, or Spanish broom.

The Myrtle has a clearer genealogy, and comes down to us as pure and odoriferous as
it grew in the gardens of Cimon, Pericles, and Epicurus. Those were the chief patrons of
Flora; they had the myrtle planted in great profusion on mounds, freely exposed to the
breeze, so that when the plants were in flower, the winds came laden with an odor rival-
ling that of the rose. This shrub is Grecian all over; whether we look at its form, the
size, shape, and color of its leaf, its exquisite fragrance, or the form, color, and scent of its
flowers, the classic stamp is upon it. This favorite denizen of Hellenic lands, was dearly
loved by the Greek; in his eye it was instinct with divinity, and wherever he saw it, his
fancy represented to him a most beautiful maiden of Attica, fairer than all her country-
women. The tree was peculiarly sacred to Venus; her temples were invariably si-
with it; and under the favorite name of Myrtilla, she was adorned throughout G

SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING.

Full of the traditions of his country, and accustomed to hear the Myrtle associated so
constantly with such traditions, it is not to be wondered at that this plant was adopted by
him as the sine qua non to temples, gardens, streams, and splashing fountains. In the
festival of Europa, at Corinth, a myrtle crown, said to be ten yards in circumference, was
borne in procession through the cit}^. The priests of Aphrodite shaded their foreheads
with wreaths of myrtle, and the statue of that matchless goddess herself was often crown-
ed with a circlet of the same plant. It was worn by the Athenian magistrates, as well as
by all those who had gained bloodless triumphs. It was the reward of victors in the
Olympic games; and at Rome the ladies put the leaves into their baths, fiincyingthat this
plant of Venus must be favorable to beauty. The general selection of the Myrtle was well
made; for it is questionable whether any other would have stood the test of being used
in such multifarious wa^'s, and especially as ornaments to the masterpieces both of nature
and art. In all classical groups this tree should have a prominent place; and in order to
encourage such planters, I may mention that young plants nine inches high stood out in
my nursery last winter uninjured. The cause of its succeeding so indifferentlj'^ as an open
air plant, in Britain, is certainly on account of its being by most nurserymen kept in doors
during cold weather, and treated as a green-house plant; whereas it is clearl}^ capable of
accommodating itself to this climate, and growing wherever the Arburtus will thrive.
The allusions to this plant in the bible are few. Referring to the eflfect of the Gospel, or
the reign of Christ on the state of the world and the dispositions of mankind, it is said:
" Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up
the myrtle tree."

In the Gospels of Matthew, IMark, and John, the Hyssop is mentioned. It grows on
the mountains around the city of Jerusalem; and as it is plentiful in Calvary, it is proba-
ble that it was a handful of this herb that was plucki;d, imbued with vinegar, and applied
to the parched lips of the dying Saviour.

The Box tree is another biblical tree, but the sacred allusions to it are slight. In the
Augustan era the Roman villas were profusely adorned with this tree clipped into a va-
riety of figures. In Greece it appears to have been kept rather in the back-ground.

The Pine and Fir are also mentioned in the sacred text, but the references to them are
not sufficiently clear to warrant any identification.

I close the biblical list of ligneous plants suited to the climate of Britain with the Rose.
Great diversity of opinion exists among the learned in relation to the true meaning of the
term hab^tzelsth, in our version of the bible translated Rose. The Seventy interpreters,
with Jerome, render it " the flower of the fields." Others think the Asphodel is meant,
or some other kindred bulbous-rooted plant, and in support of such supposition, the ren-
dering of the term is so far favorable — habab, he loved; and hatzel, a bulb or onion. At
any rate, there is not the slightest doubt that the Rose was known and appreciated in bib-
lical times, though there is some ground for supposing that the species of our genus (.^o.sa)
are not referred to in the passages of Scripture.

POMOLOGICAL CONGRESS.

THE NEXT POMOLOGICAL CONGRESS.

Dk. Brinckle of Philadelphia, the President of the American Pomological Congress, has
given public notice that the next meeting of this body, will be held in Philadelphia on the
thirteenth day of September next. (See circular, among Society notices for this month.)

This will be the third session of the Congress of Fruit Growers — the first having been
held at New-York, and the second at Cincinnati; and there are several reasons whj' we
are led to believe that it will be the largest and most interesting meeting of the kind yet
assembled. In the first place, Philadelphia, being in the heart of the middle states, is more
centrally situated than any other place that could be selected. In point of climate and
variety of horticultural nroducts, that city stands midway between the north and the
south, between New-England and the valley of the Mississippi. She stands in the very
centre of the gr cut peach district, and we notice with pleasure, that the time of meeting
has been fixed earlier than usual, partl}^ no doubt, with a view to a more extended exhi-
bition of this most delicious of all fruits. Perhaps it is still rather late, but we hope by
the aid of ice houses and fruit preservers, it will not be found materially so. Baltimore
and "Washington can, as we know from the evidences of our own senses, show specimens
of this noble fruit that will make northern pomologists feel a sinking of the heart, and the
ea.ctern shores of Marjdand — from all that we learn, can produce samples of pears that
will awaken the competition of the well tried pomologists of Massachusetts.

As Philadelphia is pre-eminently the focus of beautiful plants, and as the Congress will
meet in the Chinese Museuin building, which is the flimiliar exhibition ground of the Penn-
sylvania Horticultural Society, we may expect to have the cornucopia of Pomona grace-
fully festooned by the loveliest garlands of Flora. There can be no doubt that, altogether,
the meeting will be one of no ordinary attraction to all the devotees of Horticulture.

And having said this for the merely superficial interest of the meeting, let us glance at
the deeper meaning, and more intrinsic value of this biennial gathering of the fruit grow-
ers of the whole Union.

Any body may learn horticulture on his own account, without going to school, or tak-
ing lessons from masters. Most persons, in fact do so — practicing in their own gardens,
in the traditional waj- handed down from father to son — from one generation to the suc-
ceeding one. The}' may even, b}' the aid of books and practice together, acquire a very
high degree of knowledge in the matter. This is being sdf-tnaght in the art; and with
man)' pleasures, there are, of course, many drawbacks and errors in this mode of acquir-
ing information.

Horticultural societies, and journals of horticulture, may be considered the common-
schools of the art — where, by the help of practice at home, prizes and competition in j)ub-
lic, and stated rehearsals of all the best talent exercised on the soil, the competitors are
stimulated to new exertion, and the taste of the local neighborliood is carried forward and
raised to a higher level.

A national congress of cultivatois, like this Pomological Congress, takes a still higher
ground, and may fairly be considered as the University of horticulturists for tl^ coantry
at large. It is, in the first place, composed mostly of picked men, sent as delegates b)' all
the horticultural and agricultural societies over the whole country. They are men of the
widest and most thorough experience in the respective districts to which they belong
bring with them the ripest knowledge, gathered in the field, orchards, and gardens,
r respective states. The}' exhibit specimens of the products of our widely divcrsi-

- g^^:

POMOLOGICAL CONGRESS.

fied soil and climate, to show what each state can produce, both naturally, and by the aid
of high culture, and a more beautiful and interesting display, it is not easy to find in any
country.

But the interest of the thing does not — as in most horticultural societies — the common
schools of horticulture — stop here. Tn foct, it just commences where those of the socie-
ties end. It commences by the discussion — free to all interested in such topics — of the
various subjects within the scope of the congress, such as the culture of fruits generally,
the comparative merits of different varieties in various parts of the whole Union, the
unanimous or partial approval of some varieties — the unanimous or partial condemna-
tion of others; interspersed with lively descriptions of various modes of cultivating, and
different degrees of success or failure, all which have the deepest interest for every man
who owns a patch of ground which he either cultivates, or hopes to cultivate. When we
add to this, that most of the speeches are made by men who are really the 3^eomanry of
the country, who, though they deal in few flowers of rhetoric, illustrate their strong po-
sitions by " showing their hands" with good fruits in them, as the best proof of what
they and mother earth can do; men whose opinions may lastingly damn or establish the
character of a pear, but who, at least, never " pair off," (like their namesakes in the
capitol,) to avoid giving their honest opinions.

Judging from the previous sessions of the Pomological Congress, we have no fear of
want of either interest or numbers at Philadelphia. All that we fear is, that the members
will come with plenty of ideas — but ideas badly arranged and digested. As it is true
that the great majority of delegates sent there, are men who are full of experience, and
precisely that experience which it is desirable to get out of them for the good of the pub-
lic, it is no less true, according to our observation, that they are not men in the habi( of
condensing their thoughts, or so arranging their ideas, as to present their experience in the
shortest and clearest manner. This is all from the want of the habit of turning the sub-
ject over in their own minds, and so putting it in order, that they can most clearly impart
their knowledge and experience to others. It is also true, that manj^ whose dut}^ it is to
report to the Congress on the condition of the fruit culture of their own district, neglect
to prepare or arrange anj' materials till the ver^'^ week of the meeting, or perhaps till the
very day when it takes place. Hence, much of the general value of the comparative re-
sults are lost to the assembled bod3', because thej?^ cannot be digested and prepared by the
chairman till the meeting is over. We state these facts now, for the purpose of urging
them upon the attention of the chairmen in the different states, and begging them to make
memoranda and collect materials for their reports from this moment — that of the ripen-
ing of the earliest cherry to the time of the meeting itself.

Now that the fruit growing of the country is no longer a pleasant pastime merely —
but produces many millions of profit to the country at large, it is worth while for the
leading cultivators to lemember that their biennial Congress, which, as we have said, is
our horticultural university is about to assemble this season, and every one interested is
expected to do his duty in the furtherance of all the interests which it seeks to advance.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Snmrstir IJntirrs.

An English National School House. —
[See Frontispiece.] Our engraving of this
month, shows one of the National School Hou-
ses atTamon, lately erected at the cost of about
£1 ,000. It is interesting chiefly as a study of
the quiet domestic character which the English
give to this species of building. One can easily
believe that something of home affections and
love for good order and neatness, would natu-
rally grow up in the mind of every pupil edu-
cated in such a school.

The first thing that strikes an American eye is
the " very humble" appearance of the building,
arising from the lowness of the walls. But this
is, internally, amplj' made up by the great
height of the roof — the whole space being open,
and the under side of the timbers and wood-
work of the roof being exposed to view. This
gives a lofty and spacious appearance to the in-
terior, and an abundant supply of fresh air —
connected, as the space is, with every means for
ventilation.

This style of building will hardly be followed
exactly in this country, but there are many de-
tails, and some hints in composition about this
domestic style, that are well wortliy of study by
those designing, or about erecting buildings of
this class.

Fuchsias. — The skill of the gardener in pro-
ducing new varieties, is nowhere more delight-
fully shown than in the new Fuchsiys of the last
three or four seasons. The utmost delicacy and
brilliancy of color, the finest foliage and habit
of growth, and the most exquisite gracefulness
and perfection of form in the flowers, are unit-
ed in the new Fuchsias — which we notice in our
advertising columns of last month, several of
our leading growers now offer at very moderate
prices. It is unfortunate for the Fuchsia, as a
popular flower, that it will not bear our bright
sun, and dry air, and hence is of no value as an
out-of-door plant. But to all who have green-
houses, it is an invaluable treasure, during all
the summer months, when those said green-
houses were formerly the most shabby of all

aces; for the stages now covered with Fuch-
which being dormant during winter, may

be kept in a warm pit,) the house is, indeed,
more attractive from June to September, than
even in winter.

A great deal has been written about the cul-
ture of the Fuchsia, but it may be simplified
within a very brief compass; for soil, take two-
thirds leaf mould from the woods, one-third
fine sand; for atmosphere, syringe the plants
every way plentifully, for they love dampness,
and dull the lights with a thin wash of whiting,
or something equivalent, to' guard against ex-
cessive sun-light. "We know an amateur who
grows them very successfully in a small house
covered with cheap muslin frames — the whole
structure, 30 feet long, not costing as many dol-
lars— and preserving the plants in a pit in win-
ter. Fuchsias demand some care certainly, but
there are few plants that so well reward ama-
teurs, as these lovely specimens of nature's
jewelry.

Vines for Verandas. — A question very
often asked, is, what arethe best vines for veran-
das? Some of those usually employed for this
purpose, are. though beautiful in themselves,
very objectionable on account of insects. The
common sweet scented honeysuckle is an exam-
ple of this kind. Among hardy plants that
are woody, and therefore permanent, there are
few more satisfactory than the Prairie Roses.
Their remarkable vigor, their habit of retaining
the freshness of their foliage all the season, and
and the wealth of beautiful flowers they bear
during this month, united to their perfect hardi-
ness and adaptation to almost every soil, renders
them deservedly great favorites. Among the
best of them are the following: Linnean Hill
Beauty, light rosy blush; Triumphant , ]iye\j
red; Baltimore Belle, white; Qzicen of the
Prairies, rosy red; all very double and profuse
bloomers. These prairie roses grow with such
great luxuriance, that they will, in rich soil,
entirely cover the columns of a veranda, or
piazza, the second season. A friend of ours
renders them much more ornamental than usual
by budding Madam Duprez, Mrs. Bosanquet,
Aimee Vibert, and other free growing
blooming roses upon the long shoots, thu

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ing tlie climbers to put on, partially, the dress
of the Bourbon roses, and flower more or less
all the season.

Among the hardy clean woody permanent
climbers — there are none more beautiful than
the Chinese Wistaria — with its superb masses
of fresh gray or lilac flowers in May. The yel-
low trumpet Honeysuckle — with blossoms the
most delicate straw color, all the season, is not
half so often seen as it deserves; the Chinese
Honeysuckle, with delieiously scented parti-
colored blossoms and sub-evergreen foliage, is
particularly well suited to verandas with a north-
ern aspect; the Dutchman's Pipe, with a mag-
nificently large dark green foliage, is perfectly
hardy, and the most picturesque of climbers,
for situations where a bold effect is desired.

These are the best of the permanent vwody
vines for verandas. For those who have bare
columns at this season, and wish to cover them
at once, we recommend the following Summer
climbers — to last only the season, and which will
grow from 8 to 15 feet high and flower profuse-
ly. Cobea scandens — very rapid grower, large
purplish bell shaped flowers. Maurandias —
pink, purple, and white, three sorts all ex-
ceedingly pretty, growing 10 feet high. Lophos-
permums — pink, or pale purple, two sorts, 15
feet high. Solanum jasminoides — delicate
white flowers, blooms very freely, 12 feet. Ipo-
mea Learii — a rich blue convolvulus, 20 feet
high. Pergularia odoratissima — profusion of
fragrant white flowers, 15 feet high. These can
be had in pots at most of the Florists, and it is
not yet too late to turn them out for the sum-
mer— especially if the soil is made light and
rich. Among the prettiest annual vines, are
the Canary bird flower ( Tropeolum canariense,)
and the Cypress vine.

QciNCES LOVE Salt.— The quince tree seems
to have a constitutional fondness for salt. We
have never seen such superb specimens of this
fruit, and such a general luxuriance of the trees,
as at Newport, R. I. — on the sea coast. A gen-
tleman who noticed this fact, several years ago.
told us lately that he had profited by the hint,
in giving to each of his trees a top-dressing of
two (quarts of coarse salt every spring. By
ng the salt over the surface it dissolves
and does no harm whatever to the roots,

but makes both foliage and fruit much more

healthy.

Burnt Bones for the Pear Tree. — We can
bear testimony to the value of the bone-black
of sugar refineries as a special manure for the
pear tree. A peck mixed in the soil of a hole
three feet in diameter, in which the tree is plant-
ed, gives great depth of verdure, and augments
both the size and flavor of the fruit. It is pro-
bable that the new native phosphate now futmd
in New-Jersey and Lake Champlain, will be
eagerly sought after by pear cultivators as being
the food of pears — par excellence.

Notes from Lake Ontario. — Many persons
in your city, or farther seaward, suppose the
region of the great Lake Ontario, one, if not
inhospitable in soil, very severe in its climate,
because it verges toward Canada. But it is
quite otherwise. Often, while Utica and Roch-
ester, and even Albany, are under the incubus
of intense cold, or severe frosts, the lake shore
hei'e is in the enjoyment of comparatively mo-
derate weather. This spring has been cold, and
vegetation is backward : but within a few days
the weather has been delightfully tempered with
warm sunshine, and genial spring showers.

Oswego is situated directly on the lake shore,
divided by a rapid river. The city itself, slopes
on each side to the river, and furnishes innume-
rable jiositions where the most pictures(iue sites
for dwellings or gardens are found. Shade
trees abound , the city ordinances requiring them
to be placed along the streets, by the owners of
the contiguous property. Horticulture receives
much attention — and some of the private
grounds here are celebrated for good taste in
arrangement, and for the delicious fruits, and
exquisite flowers they produce. The ladies of
this city devote themselves with much zeal, to
matters of rural embellishment, and many of
them are largely in advance of the other sex in
their devotion to pomology, and the beauties of
the floral kingdom. The soil and climate are
admirably adapted for most kinds of delicious
fruits, especially pears, plums, cherries, and
peaches. Oswego is the paradise of roses. Near-
ly every variety is cultivated here. Li no place,
Philadelphia excepted, have I ever seen such
gorgeous and attractive horticultural exhibi
tions. It may gratify you to know that
tire fruit crop in this region promises ar

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

vest, the trees now beginning to show their blos-
soms in profusion.

A lady friend, who is eminent here for her good
taste, and varied knowledge, on the subject of
horticulture, has two favorite pear trees in her
garden, which yielded delicons fruit last year,
which have no perceptible bark for two or three
feet from the ground — ^nothing but the naked
wood presenting itself to the eye or the knife.
Can you inform her wliat gives vitality to the
tree, or how the sap circulates? [See Liud-
ley's Horticulture. En.]

How can a liard-jian hill, wliich slides badly
in wet weather, be covered with verdure? A
friend has a noble stone residence on the high
bluff of the lake, and the bank slides and makes
an unsightly and rough aspect in front of his
elegant mansion? Is there anything that will
vegetate there, and keep the surface fresh, and
from sliding? [Plant it thickly with young
Buckthorns. Ed.] "W. A. Osvjego, May 14.

Cracked Pkars. — On the premises of Mr.
S. WiLHELM in Easton. Pa., I saw an old pear
tree ; it was the Early Madeleine, the first branch-
es of which were about 20 feet or more from
the ground, and at a distance of about 15 feet
from this tree, stood a young "White Doyenne,
about 9 or 10 years old, full of cracked fruit.
A scion from this ti'ee was set on a small branch
of the old pear tree, being on the north side and
perfectly shaded by the branches and foliage
immediately above it.

This scion, which bad grown there four or five
years, was laden with the most perfect fruit,
which ripened about si.x weeks later than that
of the young tree, wherefi'om the scion was
taken. B. Nazareth, Pa.

The last Winter. — The long cold, worst
winter that '•' the oldest inhabitant" ever knew
has at last passed away, and spring, smiling and
gay, with warm sunshines, genial showers, tlie
rich song of birds, has come to gladden tlie
hearts of all animate creation.

" Winter is passed and gone." It was a long
winter and a cold one. November, often noted
for its fine sunny days, was cold and frosty.
Winter early threw her snowy mantle over the
earth. December came with greater strength
of cold, and January was the perfection of frosti-
ness. For many successive nights the mercury

shrunk below zero, nor did midday tend to
draw it far from its hiding place. " The thaw,"
considered so necessary an accompaniment of
the month, came, but the chilly north wind soon
blighted its noblest efibrts. February too, the
shortest month of all the year, but lengthened
now, that timid damsels might have time to
choose before they Avoed, was more renowned for
its length, from its even, unmitigated coldness.
The lowest the mercury fell with us was 10°
below zero, while in common winters from 17°
to 20" below is nothing new, at least for a few
mornings.

Fruit trees and fruit buds have suffered but
slightly from the effects of the winter. The
cherry is in full and vigorous bloom . The peach ,
plum, pear, and apple ijromise well.

Delicate wooded plants come out fair, with
less injury than usual. May it not, from the
results of last winter, be fairly inferred, that
a fluctuating temperature is more fatal to plants
than an even one, though it be long continued
cold. W. Bacon. Richmond, Mass., May,
1852.

Dr. Talk's Native Grape. — A reference
to page 444 of the Horticulturist for October
last, will remind your readers that I had some-
thing to saj' about the grape. My remarks
amounted to this — that I had raised in 1845,
several seedlings, a cross between the Black
Hamburgh and the Isabella, and that at the
time I wrote you, these had " borne the fro.sts
of four winters." I sent you a bunch of the
fruit, (it was not a good sample,) of whicli you
remarked, " the bunch resembles that of the
Isabella — the grapes being hung somewha,t
loosely upon it. But the berries are round , black-
er than the Isabella, and totally distinct in flavor
from our native grapes — resembling the dark
colored foreign grajjcs." Toiir notice, as far as
it went, was flattering, and soon brought me
numerous ai)plications for " vines or cuttings,"
but I had neither to dispose of at any price.

In the November number, page 51G, Mr,
CnoRLTON, of Staten Island, informed you of
the interest he felt in reading of my success,
and remarked, that " too much praise cannot
be given to that gentleman, (myself,) for his
enterprising experiment, but it appears to me
that he has gone the wrong way to work
which Mr. Chorlton meant to say, that I

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

have fertilized with the pollen of the Ilanibiirgh,
and not with that of the Isabella. The inference
no one can mistake. My seedlings partaking
so mncli more " the constitution and habit of
the mother," are not as likely to prove vigorous
and hardy as they would have been with the
Isabella on the maternal side. " Physiological
theory teaches"' well, but " practical experience
proves" /ic?" sometimes to be in the wrong. The
question to be tested is — are the seedlings of
my raising, and of which I gave you some ac-
count in September last, as hardy as the Isa-
bella vine? Putting aside all physiological
theory, I appeal to the past severe winter for an
answer. This test, in addition to the four pre-
vious seasons of cold, has tried my vines to my
entire satisfaction, and it has demonstrated that
their constitution is " as liardy, if not more so,
than the Isabella." They need no eulogy from
me beyond a declaration of the fact, that they
have not received the least injury from their
entire exi)0sure to an unusual degree of frost.
Mr. Chorlton may, by going the right way to
work, fiir exceed my efforts in experimenting,
and he may rest assured of my best wishes for
his success, but until something better is an-
nounced, I hold my seedlings to be superior to
every other grape grown in the open air in any
part of the U. States. In all the essential qualities
of a first rate table grape, it is I venture to say
without a rival, and, notwithstanding the mis-
fortune of having gone to work the ■'' wrong
way," it will be yet some time before its equal
will appear. This may be saying a great deal,
and I may be thought i)artial to my new grape,
but as I am no speculator in humbugs, and
don't particularly care to cater a la Barnum
to the follies and cheats of the prevailing mania
in almost everything, I can leave my grape to
the ordeal of its own merits, and the test of
time. Nothing would have been easier than to
have propagated a considerable stock /or sale,
but I have so far destroyed all the cuttings, and
resisted very many exquisite hints, about giving
or selling a single eye. If living and able to do
so, I intend exhibiting the fruit in Boston this
coming fall; then, its taste can be commented
on. and a comparison instituted with the Diana
and some others that I have read of I shall
ive proof of its excellence," though
sure of '• startliii'i; the countrv with the

intelligence of my having ten, twenty, orahun-
dred thousand plants" to sell. I aim at estab-
lishing the reputation of my grape on some bet-
ter evidence than the usual form of horticul-
tural charlatanism. "When I have done so, (if
I ever do,) I shall then take into consideration
the benefits I may justly claim as the result of
my effort to improve a valuable and delicious
fruit. Respectfully yours, Wm. W. Valk, M.
D. Flushing, L. I., May 5, 1852.

[for the HOHTICULTLRIST.]

The Gardener's Mission.

BY REV. JAMES RICHARDSOX, JR.

Oil ! tell n? not, that Puradise

Bloomed in the distant p;ist,
Eiu Culture o'er tlie darkened world

Her radiant light had casll

Oh I ta'k not ol" a Golilen Age

In centuries dim and old,
Before creatis-e Art begun

Her wonders to untold 1

No I Paradise is yet to come!

And in the (uiuie years,
With unimaynied glories ciowned,

'J'lie Golden Age appears.

The heaven-taught gardener's wondrous skill
Shall wreath the Earth with flowers.

While new and luscious fruits sliail grow
Throughout her Eden boweis.

The world was but a wilderness,

Till Art's celestial birth
Spread culture, like a robe of light,

O'er all the joyful Earth.

AVild grasses waved their scanty store

Over the unlilled plain,
That now, with lile and bounty tilled,

Bend down their ripened grain.

The wild-wood briar waited long

l'"or love, that should disclose.
By Art's sweet power, from meagre buds

The full and blushing rose.

Sour grew the rough and stinted crab

Within the thorn tree's shade,
"Where now, aiaid the glancing leaves,

Tiirough Culture's magic aid —

Swells fortli the Apple's glowing cheek,

With juices ricli and rare,
And hangs, wilh melting nectar filled.

The templing golden Pear.

And. in the Future's brightening years,

I'jngression's law divine,
riil'oldiiig siill. with still nev\' charms,

Shall make the landscape shine.

So that the day shall never dawn.

In which still lairer flowers
And fruits more lu>ciou< shall not come,

'J'o bless tills world of ours.
Tiicn ro-y Hope, wilh heaven-eyed Fiaith,

Siiall cheir our labors wise,
T,ll this once rough dark wilderne.ss

Shall clumv'e ti'i I'aradise.
Deilham. Muss . Ma>/, ]-.5-i.

YioLLOw liosF.s. — You will oblige one of
constant readers, by giving in the next nu

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

of the Horticulturist, a description of the Per-
sian yellow rosC; and stating what are the points
of difference between that and the yellow Har-
rison. A rose was sent me more than a year
since, by the name of Persian yellow, that is
vastly inferior both in shape and fullness to a
yclluw Harri-son, that I have had for some years.
Last fall I made the place where it was set, ex-
tremely rich with stable manure, and the bush
has grown luxuriantly, but there is very little
improvement in the blossom since last year.
The color, so far as I see. is just the same with
the yellow Harrison. I want to know whether
there is but little difference between the two
roses, or whether I have been cheated in my
purchase. M. A. Chapel Hill, N. C, May, '52.
The Persian yellow rose is verj' distinct from
the Harrison yellow. The former is a cupped,
double rose, beautifully formed, and a third
larger than the latter. The Harrison rose is
semi-double and expands so as to be nearly fiat
■when full blowri. The Harrison has an upright,
and Persian yellow a spreading, rather drooping
habit. The Persian yellow is a very beautiful
free flowering variety, of a pure deep chrome
yellow. From j'our description of your plant,
you have read the Harrison instead of the Per-
sian vellow. Ed.

Analysis of the Strawberry. — In the last
number of the Horticulturist, I see an analysis
of the strawberrj', by myself, in M'hich there is
an error of importance, the correction of which
I wish you to publish. It is this. It reads Per-
phosphate of Lime — where it should read Lime.
Tlie same error has been published in several
papers, and an error even more material, has
been made (in publishing my analysis of the
sweet potatoe,) by some of the papers. They
have Phosphate of Lime, of Magnesia, of Pot-
ash, where they should have only Lime, Magne-
sia, Potash. I suppose that in the first place I
may have caused the error, in the manner in
M'hich I made out my statement of these analy-
ses, by placing the words Lime, Magnesia, Pot-
ash, under the words Phosjjhate of Iron. They
inferred that Phosphate of Lime, Magnesia and
Potash was meant, and so substituted the word
Phosjibate. Eespectfully. Billius Kirtland.
Poland. 0. May 13, 18.52.

troversy as to the fact of wheat turning to cheat
or chess, which as far as I am hiformed is yet
imdecided.

It has come under the observation of several
farmers, that wheat that has been pastured late
is more apt to have a larger proportion of cheat
amongst it than that which has not been pastured.
This circumstance has suggested the idea that,
where the main stalk of wheat has been de-
stroyed, that the side shoots produce a grain
differing from the parent grain. In proof of this
I would instance the cabbage: where the head
has been removed, the sprouts from the stalks
produce a seed, which will not again produce
cabbage — but still retaining much of the nature
of cabbage. I do not know whether the atten-
tion of those writers on the subject has been
turned to this fact, but it appears to me to be a
strong case in point. Very respectfully, A
Subscriber. Lexington, Ky., May 1, 1852.

EAT AND Chess. — There has been a con-

Pears on Quince Stocks. — In a late di.scus-
sion on fruits, which took place at the agricul-
tural meeting at the State House in Boston,
Col. Wilder made some interesting remarks on
this subject which we reprint:

Much attention lias been given of late years
to the cultivation of the pear on the quince
stock, and in relation to which I have been re-
quested to give the results of my e.\))ericnce.
As a general rule, no tree will succeed for any
great length of time where it is grafted on any
other than its own species. There are, however,
exceptions to this rule, and among them, some
varieties of the pear, which grow vigorously,
bear abundantly, and which seem to be even
better adapted to the quince, than to their own
root.

An impression has extensively prevailed un-
favorable to the cultivation of the pear on the
quince. This has arisen princijially from an im-
proper selection of kinds, or from injudicious
cultivation. There are, however, three con-
siderations which are absolutely necessary to
success, viz., a deep, rich soil, — the planting of
the quince stock entirely below the surface of
the ground, — and a systematic and scientific
course of pruning, as the tree progresses in
growth.

Objections to this species of cultivation have
been made from the belief that the quince was
a .short-lived tree, and that the crop must ne-
cessarily be small from what are termed dwarf
trees. Such, however, has not been my expe-
rience. On the contrary, I have pear trees on
the quince root which are twenty-live years old,
and which produce aninially a barrel or more
of fruit each, and for aught that I can see, they
are destined to survive as long as any that I

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

possess on the pear root. Tliesc may, and pro-
bably have in some instances, thrown out roots
from the pear stock, but whether this be so, or
not, instances are not rare wliere such trees
have attained in France the age of more than a
liundred years, and we know ofa(]uince tree in
Massacliusetts which is 40 years old, and which
has produced 10 bushels of iVuit in a season.

The pear, when grown on the (luince, should
always be trained in the pyramidal form. These
may be planted in much closer order than when
grown as standards. We have known them to
succeed well where grown at the distance of 6
feet apart in the rows and 12 feet between ihe
rows. In this way Mr. Rivers, tiie great Eng-
lish cultivator, yjlanted 2500 Louise Bonne de
Jerseys and 1500 Glout Morceaus for the Lon-
don market. We consider 12 feet apart, each
way. a liberal distance. This would give 302
trees to the acre, and we are clearly of the
opinion, that soil and selection of varieties being
right, no crop whatever would be more profita-
ble. Such a plantation, with proper care
would yield, in the fifth year, from 75 to 100
bushels of fine fruit. As to profit, this will not
appear as an exaggeration, when it is known
that Glout Morceau pears, a variety which suc-
ceeds admirably on the quince, have sold during
the winter readily at one to two dollars per dozen,
in our market.

We name as varieties which succeed well
on the qiunce the following, and to which might
be added many more :

Louise Bonne de .Jersey.
Vicar of Wuikfiftki.
Duclie«s (I'Angouleine.
Glout Morceau.
Ptisse Colmar.
Urbauiste.

Belle et Bonne.
Beurre tl'Anjou.
Beurre Diel.
Easter Beurre.
Beurre d'Aniaulis.

Glover's Models of Fruits. — Mr. Townend
Glover, of FLshkill Landing, N. Y., has lately
exhibited, at the Horticultural Hall, in this
city, a collection of his model fruits. These
models, produced by a process of which Mr.
Glover is the inventor, are exact representa-
tions. They are also imperishable — as much so
as marble itself. They are, therefore, liighly
valuable in furnishing correct ideas of the va-
rious kinds of fruits, being in this respect much
superior to drawings or paintings. The collec-
tion he has here exhibited, embraces about 1500
specimens, comprising tlie most esteemed varie-
ties of apples, pears, plums, cherries, strawber-
ries, gooseberries, 8tc. They have received the
highest enconiums from the most distinguished
connoisseurs in horticulture, and we are glad to
learn that an extensive collection has been or-
dered by the Massachusetts Horticultural So-
ciety. No better means can be devised by such
associations for promoting the objects they have
in view. The New- York State Agricultural
Society has procured a cabinet of fruit models,
and also a cabinet comprising the most common
f the insects injurious to fruits, of which Mr.
produces exact imitations showing them

in their various stages, together with parts of
the fruit, wood, or foliage on which they are
to be found. So perfectly accurate are these
artificial insects, tliat the distinguished ento-
mologist. Dr. Goadby, when looking at the col-
lection at Albany, asked whether they were
real insects, or imitations. The deception in
regard to the fruit is so complete, that children
have frequently brought them to their teeth be-
fore discovering their mistake. ^Veare plea.sed
that Mr. Glover's labors in this business are be-
giiniing to be appreciated, and trust that he
will receive the reward which hisingenuit}-, and
the benefits of his discovery, so justly merit. —
Boston Cultivator.

Culture of Tomatoes. — I wish to say a ^nw
words about growing tomatoes, which I think
would be worth publishing, if it has not appear-
ed before this from some other source We
hear people talk about planting tt)matoes in
sandy ground, that is not very rich, for the rea-
.son that they run all to vines and produce no
fruit. Now my plan is to plant the seed in good
rich ground, and allow them to grow until they
have made two, three, or four shoots from the
stalk — after wliich, i)rune all the side shoots
that come out, and follow this plan all through
the season, every three or four days, and let
the vines grow the full length, never pinching
off the ends. In this way I can raise earlier
and better tomatoes than by any other plan,
and also a great many more of them. It is
necessary to stake the vines up to keep them
off the ground, and they will then grow from
seven to nine feet long, with large bunches of
tomatoes at the ends of the vines. Some of my
neighbors have tried this plan and pronounce
it far sui>erior to every other. J. W. Clute.
Schenectady, April 22, 1852.

To Keep Bugs from Vines. — I have tried
ashes, plaster, lime, road dust and tobacco juice,
with some success, but a spoiled clam, the clean-
ings of a wool carding machine, or a lock of
wool soaked in fresh oil, placed near the root
of the vine, I never knew fail — these also pro-
mote the growth of the vine. The bugs are
attracted by the smell of the vine, but do not
like tainted fish. Piiineas Pratt. Deep
River, Ct.

Destroying Mildew. — Marshall P. Wil-
der, in a communication to the Journal of Agri-
culture, speaking of mildew on grapes, green-
house plants, and elsewhere, says, " We have
for more than fifteen years u.sed sulphur for this
purpose, and in no instance has it failed to effect
a speedy cure. We have known instances
where mildew, in the sjiace of a few days, would
spread its sporules over a large rose-house, de-
stroying nearly all the foliage of the plants, and
this, by the use of sulphur s])read on the walks
and over the plants, was extirpated in a shor
period."

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Sliisnifrs tn (tnrrrspniiknk

Geafting. — B. (Rushville,0.) All the va-
rieties of iiorse chestnut may either be grafted
or budded on the Ohio Buckeye. The Spruce
of your forests is not a very good stock fin-
working other evergreens upon. The retail
price of the Landscape Gardening is $3.00, of the
Cottage Residences $2.00.

Summer Treatment of Green-house
Plants. — .4 Lover of Flowers. In order to get
a fine bloom from your plants in winter, j'ou
should not allow them to run into rank growth
in summer. Do not plunge the pots in the bor-
ders, but choose a half shaded spot on the north
side of a hedge, paling fence, or low building;
the ground firm, and lay three inches of hard
coal ashes over it. On this place the pots with
room enough for each plant on every side. If
the plants are pinched for room, you may shift
them into larger pots before hand. Prune the
heads of all into good shape, except such plants
as have already set their flower buds for next
winter, as the Camellia. If the pots are half
sunk in coal ashes, (keeping 2 inches of it un-
der them,) it will keep them all the cooler.
Water regularly every evening, and in the morn-
ing, when the weather is hot and dry. The roots
will not run through in the coal ashes, as they
do in the soil, and if you give the plants proper
attention to watering, j'ou will find they are in
excellent flowering condition in autumn, not
having exhausted themselves by creeping
through the pots, and having their best roots
broken at the lifting season. Before they go
into the house in autumn, the roots should be
examined — those that want fresh potting should
have it, and the others must have the surface
of the soil renewed. The greatest error that all
novices make in cultivating green-house plants,
is in putting them in improper soil. The best
and safest compost for all plants, where you are
your own gardener, is two-thirds leaf mould,
(entirely decayed leaves, to be found in the
woods,) and one-third fine sand. Anything
will grow in this, and a great many things will
not grow without it.

Names or Fruits.' — ^ New- York Subscriber.
Colmar d'Aremberg, and Bcurre d'Aremberg,
o very distinct fruits. The serrated leav-
ly York; is one of the finest early peach-

es, higher flavored than the other variety with
glanded leaves.

Bedding Plants. — j1. P. (Trenton, N. J.)
You make your beds too rich for the Scarlet
Geraniums, and therefore they run to leaf.
They want the full sunshine, and a light, deep
soil, not rich. Hydrangeas make a splendid
bed, and may be kept there all winter by cov-
ering them with tan, and then turning a box
over the tan to keep it dry. The White Salvia
patens is for sale by all the leading florists.

Insects on the Vine. — Dr. Bute, (Naza-
reth, Pa.) The gray insect you describe is the
vine-hopper. Provide yourself with one of
Brown's Patent Fumigators. (to be had at Bu-
ist's, Seedsman, Philadelphia,) and passa stream
of tobacco smoke under the foliage of every
\ine in your vinery — afterwards filling the house
W'ith smoke, and shutting it up all night. If
the day is damp, the application will be more
effectual; two or three operations of this kind
will rid you of this pest. The cause of the rot
on the hardy vines is not fully known. It is
possibly a fungus — the seeds of which float in the
air. In a vineyard of an acre which we have,
we have found that carefully picking out all the
diseased berries, as fast as the rot makes its ap-
pearance, entirely puts a stop to it here, but it
might not where it is very prevalent.

Rose Slugs. — Eliza, (Brooklyn, N. Y.) A
decoction of tobacco, about the color of weak
black tea, thrown on the under side of the leaves
of j'our roses, will destroy the slugs. Repeat
it twice, just at sunset, and you will get rid
of them — otherwise they entirely devour the

leaves, leaving only the skeleton.

.»

iOntirrs nf Inrirtirs.

American Pomological Congress.

Ill compliiiiice witli a resolulioii passed by the American
Pomological Coiiu^ress:, during its session nt Cincinnati,
in Ocloher, IS.'jO, it becomes my duty publicly to an-
nounce tlial tlie next session will be held at tliecily of Phi-
ladelphia, rn Monday, the ]3(/( day of September, ]8.5'2.
The Congress will assemble at 1(1 o'clock. A. ,\I , in the
Chinese Sluseum Building, .South Ninth-street, below
Chesnmt.

Tne Pomological. Horticultural, and Agricultural .~'oci-
eties throughout the I'niied .Sla'es and Canada, are invited
to send such number of delegates as l hey may deem expedi-
ent. And the deleg.ates are requested to bring with them
specimens of the Fruits of their respeclivedi^iricts.

Packages, and Boxes of Fruit for the Congress, may
be direcled to the care of Thomas P. .James, Esq , No.
212 .Market-street, Philadelphia, should the owners be una
ble to give tlieir personal attendance.

The various .Stale Fruit Committees enumerated
subjoined list, 'will, on or before the day of meeliii:
mil their several reports to A. J. Downing, Esq

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

biirffh, general Chairman of ihe whole. The Cliairmaii
ol euch .'<lale Coinmiuee is aulhoriscil, whtru vacaiiciLS
occur, lo fill up the iiutriber of liisCoininitlee lo live iiiein-
l^eis. w. D. BKINKLE, M. D., Presitleni.

Pliiladclphia, May 1, 1&.52.

LIST OF STATE FRUIT COMMITTEES.

Massachusetts, Robert Manning, Salein.
Vermout, C. Goodrich, lliirlnigtoii.
ATaine, Henry Liiile, Bangor.
Connecticut, V. Al. JJow, iVew-IIaveu.
New- York, B. Hodge, Buffalo.

A. t^aul, Newhurgh.
New-Jersey, Thomas Hancock, Burlington.
Pennsylvania, Tliomas P. James, Pliiladclpliia.
Oliio, A. .Mcintosh, Clevehind.

Prof. J. P. Kntland, Cleveland.
t)r. John A. Warder, Cinciiniati.
Dr. S. A. Barker, McConnelsville.
Rev. C. .Springer, Meadow Farm.
KeiUucky, Lawrence Young, Louisville.
H. P. Byram, Louisville.
Mason Brown, Frankfort.
H. F. Duncan, Lexington.
P. Bianehaid, MaysviUe.
Virginia, Yardley 'I'aylor, Loudon.
Delaware, Edward Tainall, jun., Wilmington
South Carolina, J G. Drayton, Charleston.

William ."Summer, Poniaria.
Georgia, Dr. Camak, Athens.
Dr. Ward. Athens.
Johnson J. Harris, MilledgeviUe.

D. Green. JMacon.
Richard Peters, Atalanta.

Louisiana, James Evans, New-Orleans.
Tennessee, L. P. YandcU.
Mississippi, M. W. Pliillips, Edwards.
Missouri, Thomas Allen, .St. Louis.
James Sigersoii.

E. /Iblioit.

Indiana, James Blake, Indianapolis.

J. Bell. New-Albany.

Scott, jMadison.

Illinois, Dr. J. A. Keiniicolt, Northfield.

Prof J. B. Turner, Jacksonville.

!^. Francis.

Edfoii Harkne-s.

C. R. Overman.
Michigan, J. C. Holmes, Detroit.
W. H. Scott, Adrian.
A. T. Prouly, Kalamazoo.
Wisconsin, F. R. Pha?iiix. Delavan.
Iowa, Henry Avery, Burlington.
Canada West, James Dougal, Amhersthurgh.
District of Coiurnbiu, Joshua Pierce, AVasliinglon.
New-Hampshire. J. Hill, Concord.

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

The staled meeting of this associalion was held in the
Chinese Saloon. Philadelphia, on Tuesday evening'. May
IS, lfc52. E. W. Keyser, V. P., in tlie chair. The dis-
play was excellent. The tables ihioughllieir entire length
were loaded with beautilul plants, some Iruils, and re-
markably well grown forced vegetables. The collection
of plants from Dr. Jas. Rush's green-houses, was truly
line, consisting of very large Orange Trees, Acacias,
Azaleas. Fuchsias, Cinerarias, etr. The table from John
Lambert's contained beautiful Pelargoniums, Roses, Cine-
rarias, and other plains. The collection from Caleb Cope's
houses was liandsome, and embraced a number of choice
Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Cacti, and a variety of others.
From Robert Buisl's were, as on former occjisioiis. many
new plants, and shown for the first lime, of which were
Hibbertia Cimninghamii, Zieria trifoliala, Hoya Cuii-
ninghamii; Eutaxia pungens, Epacris Copelandii, and
E. laevigata— also. Azaleas. Spircas, Lichenalias, Eri-
cas, a collection of Tulips, .several seedling Lilacs
and a seedling Horse chestnut. By Benjamin Gulliss were
fine Roses, Pelargoniums, Cinerarias, fine Verbenas, etc.
By Robert Cornelius' gar(!eiier, \ cry beautiful Roses. By
Gerhard .''chmitz, seedling Tulips, choice specimens, well
broken and of much merit. By J. J. Jinnings, many
choice Tulips. A\'m. Hobson exhibited a new and uii-

described Boraginaceous plant in flower, from California.
The Boucpiels came liom C. Cope's grounils and .loseph
.'<. Lovering's, .'inil Ba<Kels of indigenous flowers were
shown by Thos. Meehan and Robert Kilvinglon.

The fruit exhibited was (rom C. Cojie's to'reiiig houses,
ami consisted of a dish of hue Hovey's Seedling Straw-
berries, another of B ack Alicanl grapes, a lew ripe cher-
ries, and a vine filled with Black ilaiiiburgh Grapes.

The exhibition of vegelables diil much crcdil to l he con-
tributors. The collection of forced specimens from Thos.
Me"hran. gardener to Joseph .S. Lovering, was a superb
disjilay, comprising some '10 lo 5(1 heads ol the finest Cauli-
flowers ever shown before the .Society — three varieties of
Cucumbers, two kinds of Lettuce, five of R;. dishes, string
Beans, early York Cabbage, etc. A\'illiiim Hobson ex-
hibiled very large Rhubarb of his Seedimg and Victoria
varieties. Henry Cooper and .Samuel Cooper, superior
Rhubarb, and James i\l. I'age large and fine asparagus.
On motion adjourned. Tiios. P. James, Rec. Secretary.

National Agricultural Convention.

AVhereas the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, at
its lueeting held in Bosion, January 14, In52, requested
its President lo enter into correspondence with the Presi-
dents of State and other Agrieuhural Associations oji the
expediency of calling a Natio.nal Agricultukal Cok-
VENTiox : — and whereas the PeniLslyvania Slate Agricul-
tural .Society, al its meeting at Harrisburgh on the 20th
of the same month ; and the Maryland Stale Agricultural
Society, at lis meeting in Baltimore, on the 4lh of Februa-
ry, adopted similar lesolutions, and recommended lliefor
mation of a National Agricultural Society ; — ;ind whereas
the New- York, Ohio and other Stale Societies, through
their Presidenis or by published Resolves, have expressed
■similar views in relation to tlie necessity of a closer bond of
union between all such insl ilnl ions tliroiighout our country:

Therel'ore, the undersigned, believing from these indi-
cations thai the lime has arrived lor a confederation of
local AgriculUiral ."societies in the Uiiiled ."stales, and in
conformity with a Re.solutionof the Pennsylvania Society,
authorizing Ihe Presidents of the lliree firsl luimed A.sso-
cialions to designate time and place, — do liereby invite
Delegations lo niecl in Convention in the city of Washing-
ton, on the 24th day of June next, at 10 o'clock, A. M.

The objccis of this Comeiiiion are lo organize a Na-
tional Agricultiral Society, to which the various
Agricultural Societies may be auxiliary ; to consult togeth-
er upon ihe general good, and to establish, by this Socie-
ty, or such i.lher means as the Convenlion may devise, a
more cordial and widely extended intercourse between
agriculturists in our own counliy and in other lands, to
create aildilional facilities for the acquisition and dilfusioii
of knowledge, by books, journals, seeds and other objects
of interest to ihe Aniericoii fanner and gaidener; audio
act on such olher matters perlaining lo the advancement
of agi icullure as the wistlom of the Convention may judge
appropriate.

For these purposes the undersigned earnestly solicit
delegations from the various Stale, or other oiganizalions,
for ihp promotion of agriculture in the several Slates and
Territories; and where such organizalions do not exist,
delegations from snch dislricls,consisling in all cases ol'such
number of persons as may be deemed expedient lo ai)point.

As it has been considered desiralile lo name an earlier
day for this Convention than was at first expected, this
circular is issued before the concurrence of Ihe several
State Agricultural Societies could be oblained. Their
respective Pi essidenls are therefore requested to add their
names to this call, and lo give immediate publicity to the
same through the pajiers and periodicals of the day.

A large and general attendance is confidently anticipated.

Societies will please transmit al an early date a list of
the delegales they have appointed, to Daxiel Lee, M.
D.. Agricullural IJeparlmenl, I'alcnl Office. Washington.

The above call is signed by Marshall P. AVilder. Prest.
Mass. Board of Agr— Frederick Walls. Prest. Penn S.
Ag. Soc— Chas. B. Calvert, Aid. do.— Ilemy AVager. N.
Y. do. — Thomas Slocks, South. Cen. Ag. Soc. — Arthur
Walls. Ohio S. B. of Ag. — James Tallmadge, Am. In.,
N. Y.— John C, Gray. M"ass. Soc. Prom. Ag— Joseph A
Wright, hid. .S. Ag. Soc. — Geo. A. Nesmilh, N.
Frederick Holbrook, Vl. do.— Josiah Chap n, R
for the Encouragenieiil of Domeslic Industry.

m^'-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Genesee Valley Hort. Society, Rochester.

This Society lield its first exhibition on the llthof May.
It consisted principally, of plants from green-houses and
nurseries, the season liuing' too l)aokward for many other
productions. Hyacinths of unusual size and beauty were
shown, showing that cullure is only necessary to perfect
this earl)' and beautiful flower.

Ellwanger &, Bakry exhibited fine specimens of
Rhododendron Catawbiensi, CinerariaSj (including some
fine seedlings,) Azaleas, Trcpeoluni incolorum grandiflo-
rum, six varieties Crown Imperials, thirty varieties Hya-
cinths, &c. &c.

Charles A. Ryan, Rochester and Charlotte Plankroad
Nurseries, exhibited large specimens of Spirea prunifolia
fliore pleno, Petunia Prince of Wales, &c. Extra fine
Roses, La Reine, Madam Bosanquel, Pactolus, Grandiflo-
ra, Hermosa, &;c. Verbenas, Reine d'Jour, Defiance,
Anacreon, Hcc. Cinerarias, Beauty of Newington, Ceru-
lea perfecia, &c., and a large collection of Hyacinths,
Narcissus, and Crown Imperials.

His Spirea prunillora was in beautiful flower, and is
perfectly hardy hi our cliinate^and liis Petunias were
very large in blossom, and perfect.

Verbenas he had of different sorts, growing in rude
boxes, and their brilliant colors were well blended.

John Donnelan, of Himford's Landing, exhibited the
finest Petunia.s — the largest and most splendid flowers ever
shown here of that kind. Large White, Bianca, Baron
Prevo.st, Enchantress; as also 10 varieties of Verbenas,
with Roses, Pelargoniums and Carnations, besides two
beautiful hand bouquets, of choice flowers, made up by
Mrs. Robert Donnelan.

A. Frost & Co., exhibited fine specimens of Japonica
Cryploineria, and .standard Roses.

John Donnelan exhibited well grown Palestine Let-
tuce, Rose and Yellew Turnip Radishes, and a new vari-
ety lately from China, besides Giant Rhubarb, tender and
long, and Asparagus.

C. F. Grossman exhibted Victoria Rhubarb, Asparagus,
Early short and long Green Cucumbers, and Cabbage
Head Lettuce.

Mr. C. F. Van Doorn, (artist,) exhibited a collection of
fruits painted in oil, giving failhful pictures of the North-
ern Spy, Red Canada, and Baldwin Apples. They were
much admired.

Specimens in perfect keeping, were shown of the North-
ern Spy Apple, by J. H. Watts, which vied strongly in
fragrance with the flowers in the Hall.

Exhibitions are to held iVequ.ntly, and that for Roses
takes place l!)th June.

Under the auspices of the recently elected President,
Mr. P. Barry, the .Society will prove an important aux-
iliary in increasing the interest already taken in the pro-
duction of Flowers and Fruits. J. H. \\'atts. Rochester,
May 1.3, 16.52.

The officers of this Society for the present year are as
follows. V. Parry, of Rochester, President. Matthew G.
Warner, o'f Rochester, John J. Thomas, of Macedoii,
Henry P. Norton, of Brockport, R. G. Pardee, of Palmy-
ra, and John Donnelan, of Greece, Vice-Presidents. Le-
ander Wetherel of Rochester, Corresponding Secretary.
Joseph A. Easlman, of Rochester, Recording Secretary.
James H. Watts, of Rochester, Treasurer.

Hartford County Hort. Society.

The annual meeting of the Hartford County Horticul-
tural Society, wa.< held on the 3d iiist , and the following
officers were chosen for the ensuing year, Aired Smith
Esq., the President, declining a re-election:

President — Wm. W. Turner.

Vice-Presidents — ricnry Alygalt, John S. Buller, M. D.

Rec. Secretary — Guidon W. Hu.<sell.

Cor. .Secretary— Thomas R. Dutton.

Treasurer — lOrastus Smith.

Audiloi— II. L. Bidwell.

Standing Committee— W. W. Turner, Dr. H. A. Grant.
P. D. Stillman, Joseph Winship. George Beach, jr., Dr!
J. S. Comslock. Dr. Gurdon W. Russell, J. H. Goodwin,
rry, E. A. Whitney, H. L. Hidwell. Charless L.
Henry Affleck, Wm. (> Comstock, Farncis Gil-
W. Stanley, Daniel S. Dewey,
voted to continue the weekly exhibitions on Sa-

turday, which have been very well attended, and arrange
mcnts are in contemplation for a show of green house
plantsin May, and for a large exhibition of fruits and
flowers in September.

New-York Horticultural Society,

Semi-nnuual exhibition, to be held at Metropolitan Hall,
Broadway, on AVedne-sday, Thursday, and Friday, June
9th, 10th, and lllh, 18.52.

Regulations. — The exhibition will open to the public at
1 o'clock, P. M. All articles for competiliou must be
brought in by half past 10. Those arriving after this hour,
will be received for exhibition only.

Competitors must hand a list of their articles to the Re-
cording Seci etary. Where this rule is not complied with,
premiums will be withlield. Articles should in all cases,
if possible, be properly named.

Articles which are entered for competition inmass will
not be allowed to compete separately at the same exhibi-
tion; neither will the same article be allowed to compete
111 more than one class.

No article will be allowed to be removed from the room
before the close of the exhibition, without the permission
of the Committee.

AVhere premiums are offered for named varieties, the
varieties must be dissimilar.

Seedling Plants must be the growth of the person present-
ing them, and should, if possible, be exhibited on their
original stocks. No Seedling can be put in competition a
second time for the .Seedling' prize.

All plants must have been hi possession of theexhibiter
at least one month.

The exhibder's name will not be allowed on any article
until after the Judges have rendered their decision.

The Committee will remove all ordinary specimens from
the table.

All articles not removed by 12 o'clock of the day afler
the exhitntion, will be considered at the disposal of the
Committee.

Dishes and Glasses will be furnished by the Society
where required.

The Medals of the Society will probably be ready in
June, and will be given instead of money premiums of
equivalent value, when desired.

It will greatly promote the objects of the Society, if the
Fruits. FIo^vers and Vegetables are accompanied by brief
observations on the peculiar mode of cultivation, together
with any other remarks of utility.

Montreal Horticultural Society.

President — Hugh Allen, Esq.

Vice-Presidents- Hon. J usi ice Day, Hon. .Justice Mc-
Cord, Hon. A. N. Moriii, M. P. P., Rev. Mr. ViUe-
neuve.

Treasurer — John Frothingham.

Secretary — William Brown, of Cote de Nicge Nurse-
ries, Moiiiresil.

Directors— Rt. Rev. Dr. Fulford, j\Ir. SherifT Boston, S.
T. Lyman, J. J. Day, Jno. Torrance, E. Muir, Jas Fer-
rier. Jr., Geo. Siiepherd, Richard Spriggings, J. E. Guil-
bault; Charles Hugal, James Cooper, Geo. Garth.

Eome Horticulural Society.

The following are the officers of the Rome Ilorlicultu-
ral Society, recently elected :

Presi eiit— Alvah Mudge.

Vice-President — Elon Comstock.

.'Secretary — C. P. Grosvenor.

Treasuaer— J. A. Dudley.

Trustees — J. Siryker, Hervey Brayton, Jay Hathaway,
Benjainin Ijeonard, Edward Huntington.

Horticultural Society of Pittsburgh.

The following gentleman are elected officers of this So-
ciety fiir the ensuing year; John Chislett, President; John
Murdock, Jr., Vice-Presideni ; A. Hers|)erger, Treasu-
rer; Henry Woods. Secretary; A. Camiibell, A. H. Mc-
Quewan, James Windkop, John I,owen. C. L. Goehring,
Clias. Lockharl. T. J. Bingham, James iMurdock James
McKaiii. W. H.' AVilliams, AV. P. Marshall, and S. N.
AVickcrsham, Executive Committee.

Kiosques or Summer Houses.

lion, .lulv, I3V3.

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

I3niu tn ^'^nplflriiB \\i €m\i far ^cMnnting.

W 0 W to popularize that taste for rural beauty, which gives to every beloved home in

the country its greatest outward charm, and to the country itself its highest at-
traction, is a question which must often occur to many of our readers. A traveller
never journeys through England without lavishing all the epithets of admiration on the
rural beauty of that gardenesque country ; and his praises are as justly due to the
way-side cottages of the humble laborers, (whose pecuniary condition of life is far be-
low that of our numerous small house-holders,) as to the great palaces and villas.
Perhaps the loveliest and most fascinating of the " cottage homes," of which Mrs.
Hemans has so touchingly sung, are the clergymen's dwellings in that country; dwel-
lings for the most part, of very moderate size, and no greater cost than are common in
all the most thriving and populous parts of the Union — but which, owing to the love
of horticulture, and the taste for something above the merely useful, which characteri-
ses their owners, as a class, are, for the most part, radiant with the bloom and embel-
lishment of the loveliest flowers and shrubs.

The contrast with the comparatively naked and neglected country dwellings that are
the average rural tenements of our country at large, is very striking. Undoubtedly,
this is, in part, owing to the fact that it takes a longer time, as Lord Bacon said a
century ago, " to garden finely than to build stately." But the newness of our civiliza-
tion is not sufficient apology. If so, we should be spared the exhibition of gay carpets,
fine mirrors and furniture in the "front parlor," of many a mechanic's, working-man's
and farmer's comfortable dwelling, where the " bare and laid" have pretty nearly su-
preme control in the " front yard."

What we lack, perhaps, more than all, is, not the capacity to perceive and enjoy
the beauty of ornamental trees and shrubs — the rural embellishment alike of the cottage
and the villa, but we are deficient in the knowledge, and the opportunity of knowing
beautiful human habitations are made by a little taste, time, and means, expen
this way.

July 1, 1852.

No. VII.

THE TASTE FOR PLANTING.

Abroad, it is clearly seen, that the taste has descended from the palace of the noble,
and the public parks and gardens of the nation, to the hut of the simple peasant ; but
here, while our institutions have wisely prevented the perpetuation of accumulated es-
tates, that would speedily find their expression in all the luxury of rural taste, we have
not yet risen to that general diffusion of culture and competence which may one day
give to the many, what in the old world belongs mainly to the favored few. In some
localities, where that point has in some measure been arrived at already, the result that
we anticipate, has in a good degree, already been attained. And there are, probably,
more pretty rural homes within ten miles of Boston, owned by those who live in them,
and have made them, than ever sprung up in so short a space of time, in any part of
the world. The taste once formed there, it has become contagious, and is diffusing
itself among all conditions of men, and gradually elevating and making beautiful, the
whole neighborhood of that populous city.

In the country at large, however, even now, there cannot be said to be anything
like a general taste for gardening, or for embellishing the houses of the people. We
are too much occupied with making a great deal, to have reached that point when
a man or a people thinks it wiser to understand how to enjoy a little well, than to ex-
haust both mind and body in getting an indefinite mo7-e. And there are also many who
would gladly do something to give a sentiment to their houses, but are ignorant both
of the materials and the way to set about it. Accordingly, they plant odoro2is Ailan-
thuses and filthy poplars, to the neglect of graceful elms and salubrious maples.

The influence of commercial gardens on the neighborhood where they are situated,
is one of the best proofs of the growth of taste — that our people have no obtuseness
of faculty, as to what is beautiful, but only lack information and example to embellish
with the heartiest good will. Take Eochester, N. Y.. for instance — which, at the pre-
sent moment, has perhaps the largest and most active nurseries in the Union. We are
confident that the aggregate planting of fruits and ornamental trees, within fifty miles of
Rochester, during the last ten years, has been twice as much as has taken place, in
the same time, in any three of the southern states. Philadelphia has long been fa-
mous for her exotic gardens, and now even the little yard plats of the city dwellings,
ai'e filled with roses, jasmines, Lagestroemias, and the like. Such facts as these plainly
prove to us, that only give our people a knowledge of the beauty of fine trees and
plants, and the method of cultivating them, and there is no sluggishness or inaptitude
on the subject in the public mind.

In looking about for the readiest method of diffusing a knowledge of beautiful trees
and plants, and thereby bettering our homes and our country, several means suggest
themselves, which are worthy of attention.

The first of these is, by ivhat private individuals may do.

There is scarcely a single fine private garden in the country, which does not possess
plants that are perhaps more or less coveted — or would at least be greatly prized by
neighbors who do not possess, and perhaps cannot easily procure them. Many own-
such places, cheerfully give away to their neighbors, any spare plants that
possess ; but the majority decline, for the most part, to give away plants

THE TASTE FOR PLANTING.

because the indiscriminate practice subjects them to numerous and troublesome de
mands upon both the time and generosity of even the most liberally disposed. But
every gentleman who employs a gardener, could well aiFord to allow that gardener to
spend a couple of days in a season, in propagating some one or two really valuable
trees, shrubs, or plants, that would be a decided acquisition to the gardens of his
neighborhood. One or two specimens of such tree or plant, thus raised in abundance,
might be distributed freely during the planting season, or during a given week of the
same, to all who would engage to plant and take care of the same in their own grounds;
and thus this tree or plant would soon become widely distributed about the whole ad-
jacent country. Another season, still another desirable tree or plant might be taken in
hand, and when ready for home planting, might be scattered broadcast among those who
desire to possess it, and so the labor of love might go on as convenience dictated, till
the greater part of the gardens, however small, within a considerable circumference,
would contain at least several of the most valuable, useful, and ornamental trees and
shrubs for the climate.

The second means is, by what the nurserymen may do.

We are very well aware that the first thought which will cross the minds of a selfish
and narrow minded nurseryman, (if any such read the foregoing paragraph,) is that
such a course of gratutious distribution of good plants, on the part of private persons,
will speedily ruin his business. But he was never more greatly mistaken, as both
observation and reason will convince him. Who are the nurseryman's best customers?
That class of men who have long owned a garden, whether it be half a rood or many
acres, who have never planted trees — or, if any, have but those not worth planting?
Not at all. His best customers are those who have formed a taste for trees by plant-
ing them, and who, having got a taste for improving, are seldom idle in the matter, and
keep pretty regular accounts with the dealers in trees. If you cannot get a person
who thinks he has but little time or taste for improving his place to buy trees, and he
will accept a plant, or a fruit tree, or a sh^de tree, now and then, from a neighbor
whom he knows to be " curious in such things" — by all means, we say to the nursery-
man, encourage him to plant at any rate and all rates.

If that man's tree turns out to his satisfaction, he is an amateur, one only begin-
ning to pick the shell, to be sure — but an amateur full fledged by-and-bye. If he
once gets a taste for gardening downright — if the flavor of his own Rareripes touch his
palate but once, as something quite different from what he has always, like a contented,
ignorant donkey, bought in the market — if his Malmaison rose, radiant with the senti-
ment of the best of French women, and the loveliness of intrinsic bud-beauty once
touches his hitherto dull eyes, so that the scales of his blindness to the fact that one rose
" difl"ers from another," fall ofi" forever — then we say thereafter, he is one of the nurse-
ryman's best customers. Begging is both too slow and too dependent a position for
him, and his garden soon fills up by ransacking the nurserymen's catalogues, and it
is more likely to be swamped by the myriad of things which he would think very
much alike, (if he had not bought them by different appellations,) than by any
ty spaces waiting for the liberality of more enterprising cultivators

THE TASTE FOR PLANTING.

And thus, if the nurseryman can satisfy himself with our reasoning that he ought
not object to the amateur's becoming a gratuitous distributor of certain plants, we
would persuade him for much the same reason, to follow the example himself. No
person can propagate a tree or plant with so little cost, and so much ease, as one whose
business it is to do so. And we may add, no one is more likely to know the really
desirable varieties of trees or plants, than he is. No one so well knows as himself,
that the newest things — most zealously sought after at high prices — are by no means
those which will give the most permanent satisfaction in a family garden. And ac-
cordingly, it is almost always the older and well-tried standard trees and plants — those
that the nurseryman can best afford to spare, those that he can grow most cheaply, —
that he would best serve the diffusion of popular taste by distributing gratis. We
think it would be best for all parties if the variety were very limited — and we doubt
whether the distribution of two valuable hardy trees or climbers for five years, or till
they became so common all over the surroundings as to make a distinct feature of em-
bellishment, would not be more serviceable than disseminating a larger number of
species. It may appear to some of our commercial readers, an odd recommenda-
tion to urge them to give away precisely that which it is their business to sell — but we
are not talking at random, when we say most confidently, that such a course, steadily
pursued by amateurs and nurserymen throughout the country, for ten years, would
increase the taste for planting, and the demand for trees, five hundred fold.

The third means is by lohat the Horticultural Societies may do.

We believe there are now about forty Horticultural Societies in North America.
Hitherto they have contented themselves, year after year, with giving pretty much the
same old schedule of premiums for the best cherries, cabbages, and carnations, all over
the country — till the stimulus begins to wear out — somewhat like the effects of opium
or tobacco, on confirmed habitues. Let them adopt our scheme of popularising the taste
for horticulture, by giving premiums of certain select small assortments of standard
fruit trees, ornamental trees, shrubs, and vines, (purchased by the society of the nur-
serymen,) to the cultivators of such small gardens — suburban door-yards — or cottage
enclosures, within a distance of ten miles round, as the inspecting committee shall de-
cide to be best worthy, by their air of neatness, order and attention, of such premiums.
In this way, the valuable plants will fall into the right hands ; the vender of trees and
plants will be directly the gainer, and the stimulus given to cottage gardens, and the
spread of the popular taste, will be immediate and decided.

" Tall oaks from little acorns grow" — is a remakably trite aphorism, but one, the
truth of which no one who knows the aptitude of our people, or our intrinsic love of
refinement and elegance, will under-rate or gain-say. If, by such simple means as we
have here pointed out, our great farm on this side of the Atlantic, with the water privi-
lege of both oceans, could be made to wear a little less the air of Canada-thistle-dom,
and show a little more sign of blossoming like the rose, we should look upon it as a step
so much nearer the millennium. In Saxony, the traveller beholds with no less sur
prise and delight, on the road between Wiessenfels and Halle, quantities of the
beautiful and rare shrubs and flowers, growing along the foot-paths, and by the

BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES.

of the hedges which line the public promenades. The custom prevails there, among
private individuals who have beautiful gardens, of annually planting some of their sur-
plus materiel along these public promenandes, for the enjoyment of those who have no
gardens. And the custom is met in the same beautiful spirit by the people at large ;
for in the main, those embellishments that turn the highway into pleasure grounds, are
respected, and grow and bloom as if within the enclosures.

Does not this argue a civilization among these " down- trodden nations" of Central
Europe, that would not be unwelcome in this, our land of equal rights and free schools?

FIRE BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES

BY A. H. ERNST, CINCINNATI.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: Pardon me for again touching a subject on which
there has been so much speculation, without reall}' advancing new facts, or shedding ad-
ditional light to aid in removing the mist in which it seems enveloped.

I am led to the subject at this time to correct an error into which Prof. Turner of III.,
has fallen, in his article in your last number, (June.) I do not mean to review or criti-
cise the consistency of his writings on this subject, but leave that for him to do at his
leisure. I shall confine myself to bis last mistake, in supposing that he had discovered a
nno insect, which he thinks is the cause of the mischief. He .seems truly alarmed at the
discovery and the prospect before him. I do not wonder that he is, for if his suspicions
were well founded, it would indeed present a hapless despair, which he might well de-
nominate the " Pear Devil." Well, for one of a partial and fanciful turn of mind this
is certainly a subject on which to display its powers of imagination. lie seems really in
an unhappy state of mind, and one might almost infer that he is a believer in total de-
pravity, and the idea that all animate and inanimate matter is but one mass of "living
atoms," preying on each other's miseries; the only remedy for which is to purge or poi-
son them to death. I hope on a little further acquaintance with the new (to him) form
of blight, he will not find it so bad; and that there is still much to comfort and reward
him for his labor.

Let us then come to matter of fi\ct, and see how that stands. That he discovered the
existence of insects new to him, and described them as he saw them, I presume no one
would have required the confirmatory statement of a witness. But, that they have es-
caped the observation of others, or that they are the cause of the blight, is quite a different
matter. If Prof. T. will turn to "Harris' Treatise on Insects," under the head of
" Bark-lice," he will find a full description of the scale insect which he found on the
branches of his trees. They are of very common occurrence among young fruit trees,
especially in the nursery, and yet this is not the place we find the blight, of which we are
speaking. I have seen young trees here, and at the north, where blight is but little known,
literally covered with them, and though injurious to the growth and health of the plant,
I have never seen the evidence of their connection with blight. The little fellows which
resemble the " sow bug," which he saw "running about between thefibres of the bark,"
were long since introduced to the members of our Hort. Society, in their researcl
common with others which are usually found about the vitiated parts of blight. I

BLIGHT IN PEAR TREES.

understand if Prof. T. means to convey the idea that all the insects he saw in connection
with the blight, are the emanations of the eggs under the scales on the branches of the
trees. I wish he had been less ambiguous about it.

I have had occasion to deplore the destruction of my trees, giving me much reason for
close and critical observation, to detect, if possible, the cause, and a remedy for its destruc-
tive effects. I have not been idle in improving the opportunities thus afforded. A part
of these researches the public are already in possession of through your Journal, vol. 2, p.
328 and 436, and others. I have seen no reason for abandoning the views there presented,
but subsequent observations have confirmed their soundness. It is not my purpose to re-
iterate them here; those who feel an interest in them can refer to them; nor do I hope to
add much that is new»

It is of little consequence to the public, or ourselves, whether there is one or twenty
sorts of blight, so long as we are grovelling in the dark about the first principles of its
origin. My e.xperience has entirely removed from my mind the idea that the blight is
caused by insects, and equally satisfied my judgment of its real cause. This T do not he-
sitate to say, is altogether external — originating with the rapid changes of heat and cold,
stimulating and suddenly checking the active motions of vegetation; and that insects have
no more to do in producing it, than they have in causing bilious fever in the human sys-
tem, though death may ensue, and insects, in either case, be attracted by the disease, and
the abnormal condition thus produced.

I take it there is a strong analogy between vegetable and animal life and existence. That
neither the one or the other can be transported from clime to clime, and subjected to un-
used fare, without endangering health; or can a system of crossing, having in view a diffe-
rent object than that of hardiness and long life, be pursued without the strong probability
of sacrificing the one at the expense of the other. This is trul}' our position, whether ap-
plied to the pear, cherry, rose, or other exotic. We have contented ourselves with im-
porting from other countries their enfeebled stocks. These will suffer just in proportion
to their capabilities to resist the new influences under which they are brought. It matters
not whether it be the frost of winter, or the scorching rays of a mid-summer's sun, or
both combined; it is still blight, and conclusively proves the want of hardiness in the tree
or plant, for our climate. It does not help us, that we import our seed, and from this
produce some new and good sorts — they are as liable to be constitutionally defective, as if
grown in Belgium or France, and then imported; it still remains the same enfeebled pro-
geny.

A query may here arise, what shall we do.'' Shall we give them up in despair? By no
means. We must begin at home; we must select our seed from trees, the structure of
whose wood has given evidence of its power to resist this atmospheric influence. We
have such — the Seckel, with many others of inferior fruit, but perfectly hardy trees,
which my long and severe trial has proven. These we must fertilize with each other, and
from their seed j)roduce a new race of superior fruit, and hardiness of tree. Let us, then,
not set down in hopeless despair, but go cheerfully to the work, enjoying a bright future
as though it were present.

Hoping that what I have said in reference to the Professor's mistake, will not be constru
ed as disrespectful, I remain ver}' respectfully yours, A. H. Ernst.

Spritig-Gardtn, Cincinnati, Junt 12, lb52.

THE SEASONS IN MAINE

NOTES ON THE SEASONS IN MAINE.

BY \VM. AVILLIS, PORTLAND, ME.

Mr. Downing — You have desired information respecting the effects of the late severe
winter upon various orders of vegetation in different parts of the country, and as I think
the suggestion a most valuable one, I send you a contribution touching our locality.

Portland is in north latitude 43°, 39', 52"; west longitude 70*, 13' 34", and 542 miles
north-east from Washington. The last winter was one of the most severe "we have had
for many years; in December the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer fell on the 10th
to 10* below zero, and averaged for the month from 10* below to 40 above zero, and on
five different days it fell below zero, viz: on the first to 6* below — 2d, 1* — 10th, 10* —
11th 6* — 14th, 3*. The average temperature was nine degrees colder than in December,
1850, and the coldest month for the last 31 years, except that in 1831 and in 1835. In Janu-
ary the mercury fell below zero on six different days, viz : on the 16th, 10* — 17th, 1* — 18th,
4°— 19th, 4°— 20th, 16*— 22d, 7*. The average temperature for the month was 174*,
being two degrees colder than the average for the last 37 years. In February the mercu-
ry fell below zero on three different days, viz: on the 19th, to 8* — 20th, 7° — 21st, 3*, the
average temperature for the month being 23 degrees, by three observations a day, and two
degrees warmer than the general average for the last 32 years; the range being from 8*
below, to 42° above zero. The average for the three winter months was 19"*, being three
degrees colder than the general average for the last 32 years, and as cold as any winter
since 1820. The thermometer was noted at sunrise, noon, and 8 P. M. During the last
37 years, the lowest points in the months of January, at which it has been registered at
this place, are as follows, viz :

1&21,

16deg.

13

13

1833,

18.3,5,

1839,

1844,

15deg.

13

16

14

184S,

14de

16"22,

If 27

1&51,

1852,

l"}

16

1830,

18

For every one of the 37 years, the mercury in January fell below zero, varying from
one to eighteen degrees, except the years 1825 and 1841.

Under the influence of this severe winter, which lingered far into the lap of spring, and
from the sad forebodings expressed in various quarters, we had reason to expect a desolate
account from our shrubs and fruit trees; but to our agreeable surprise, all our fruit trees,
earlier than usual, began to exhibit signs of vitality, and are now covered with bloom. I
have now on my grounds in full blossom, of Pears, the Bartlett, the good Louise of Jer-
sey, the Vicar of Winkfield, the Melting Autumn, (^Fondante d'Automne,') Duchess of
Angouleme, Summer Dean, (Doyenne d'Ete,) &c.; of Cherries, the Flesh Colored Bigar-
reau, the Honey, and several of the hearts; of Plums, Smith's Orleans, Prince's Gage,
Green Gage, and several others; they promise fine crops — never looked better, and are a
few days earlier than the usual time for blossoming. Of a dozen budded French roses,
imported last spring, including the Giant of Battles, Persian Yellow, and several mosses,
I did not lose one, although they were not protected, except by a thick covering of coarse
manure about their roots; a fine Isabella grape, and several Sweet Water's against a brick
wall, with no other covering than this manure about the roots, bore the season remarka-
bly well, and are now starting out strongly, and hi good health, and with a prospect of
the usual crop. I never lay down or cover my grape-vines, and have never experienced
any inconvenience or loss from this neglect, the vines usually bearing well, being trained

THE SEASONS IN MAINE.

to brick walls facing south-east and south-west, in the open air. My Osage Orange hedge
does not appear to have suifered in the least, and is now putting out its buds. I planted
the seeds of this hedge in the spring of 1849, and it is now in a flourishing condition;
about six inches of the extremities is killed every winter, but the growth exceeds this
every season, and it is now more than three feet high, thick, and well set. A plant of the
"Weigela Rosea, which I set out last spring, did not suffer in the least, although it was un-
protected, except about the roots; it is now alive, and pushing out its foliage, even to the
extremities. Nor did the peach tree suffer; I have one now full of blossoms, and promis-
ing well, and also an Apricot, although we make no calculation on either of these kinds
of fruit, seldom having any ripen here; owing asmuch, perhaps, to our vicinity to thesea,
and the prevalence of sea winds during the summer, as to our latitude. We are more
than half the compass open to the sea, from the north-east to the south-west, and the sea
winds come in from the south nearly every day of summer, except when it is varied by
the still cooler breeze of the east. "We do not here exclaim with the poet, " 0, for a bee-
ker full of the warm south, the true, the blissful hypocrene." Our warmest wind in
spring and summer is the due west.

I have been surprised, and perhaps it will surprise you, to perceive, on a comparison of
the seasons for a century and a quarter back, which I am able to do from the journals of
our two earliest clergymen. Smith and Deane, the great regularity and uniformity which
have attended the opening and blossoming season of the year. Deane, our venerable
pastor for fifty years, Avas the author of the first work on agriculture published in this
country, styled " The New-England Farmer, or Georgical Dictionary," published in 1790;
a new edition of which, with modern improvement, was issued a few years ago, under the
supervision of Mr. Fessenden, editor of the "New-England Farmer," an able and po-
pular periodical.

It is a common impression that the seasons have undergone some change within the past
century — and that whether from improved cultivation, or change in climate, or other un-
definable cause, they are earlier now, and more genial than formerly. This is a mistake;
for by recurrence to our ancient records, we do not find that tlie pear, the plum, or the
cherry put forth their beautiful blossoms any earlier, or any different among us now, than
they did when our city was but a poor fishing village, straggling along on the margin of
Casco river on one side, and skirted by the forest on the other. The progress of wealth
and refinement have had no effect on them.

In 1726, April 27, the venerable Smith remarks, " people generally planting; this month
has been wet and uncomfortable; 'tis generally thought in these parts to be a backward
spring. May 20, the peach and apple trees but now begin to blossom." " 1751, May 8,
our English cherries did but to-day begin to bloom. 17, they are now in all their gayety
of bloom." " 1756, May 11, our Heart cherry trees, pear and plums, are blossoming.
19, they are all in their bloom." " July 18, we have had the greatest abundance of cher-
ries that ever we had, perhaps twenty or thirty bushels." " 1759, May 16, the cherry
trees are blooming." " 1760, May 10, the Heart cherry trees begin to blossom, earlier
than last year, and then earlier than usual." " 1764, May 25, the cherry trees are in full
bloom." "1765, May 14, the cherry blows." " 1766, May 16, our cherry trees begin
to blossom." " 1767, May 22, the Heart cherries are in blow." " 1768, May 13, cold
still, and the spring unusually backward. 21, thermometer up to 76"; but P. M. sunk
20 degrees; the cherry and damson trees begin to blow." It is a little remarkable, that

1849, on the same day, 70 years afterwards, the mercury in the morning stood at
fell before seven in the evening, to 46", showing a remarkable coincidence

THE SEASONS IN MAINE.

changes are constantly occurring here, the effect, in part, of our sea winds. Again refer
ring to our venerable Annalist, he says; " 1770, May 5, English cherries begin to blow."
" 1771, May 6, the spring is thought to be very forward: May 20, the Heart cherries are
all in blossom." Now note how little our feelings and resolutions are to be relied on in
these matters; in 17G8, he says tlie spring was unusually backward, and yet the cherry
and damson trees began to blow May 21; while in 1771, he says the spring is thought to
be very forward, and yet the heart cherries blossomed but one day sooner; and so in 1773,
hesaj'S, " May 1, the spring is thought to be a month forwarder than usual," and adds,
May 12, the Heart cherry and pear trees in blow, and the common cherry and plum trees
just upon it. June 15, strawberries plenty." This is at least half a month earlier than
the ordinary time for strawberries here at the present day. " 1776, May 8, the ground
has frozen for three nights back;" and yet he says in June, "hot summer; and in Sep-
tember, "a great product of Indian corn." Another of the seasons that greivously dis-
appoint croakers, occurred in 1777. Mr. Smith says, " May 15, it is agreed to be the
coldest weather, and most backward spring that ever was. June 30, cold, very cold,
nothing ever like it through the whole spring, and yet everything is flourishing, perhaps
never more so." And to crown all, he adds, Sept. 2, " the earth is burdened with its
fruits." What an encouragement is this to a cheerful trust in Providence, who doeth all
things well; and what a stern rebuke to the everlasting spirit of fault-finding, which goes
on from year to year, in the face of the most cheering facts and results, grumbling and
fretting, and vexing itself, until it falls into an untimely grave, never bearing the blossoms
and fruit buds of a cheerful and confiding trust in a Being that has assured us that seed
time and harvest shall not ftul. " I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba,
and cry all is barren."

A few more extracts, that we may follow down the scries of years, and confirm the po-
sition assumed, of the remarkable uniformity of the seasons. •' 1779, May 18, the cher-
ries and plums begin to blow. June 23, at the best." " 1785, May 19, the spring is
backward, cold and wet; 30, a hot da}"^, which causes the cherry and plum trees to begin
to blossom." Now see the result of the backward spring. " Jul}' 31, everything is very
flourishing, never a better prospect. August 20, happy season."

We have thus run through Mr. Smith's diary of the seasons, dipping here and there,
to give a taste of its qualit}', " dulies est dissifcre in loco." Dr. Deank's journal in-
creases the evidence, from which we will add a few notices, although, as the lawyers say,
the evidence is merely accumulative. " 1798, May 10, pear and plum trees full of blos-
soms; 22, apple in full blossom." " 1803, pear blossomed May 21, apple !May 26." Ano-
ther journal adds, "1810, May 14, pear and plum trees blossomed." 1816, May 21
pear trees, currants, and gooseberries are in blow."

Now, passing over the intermediate years, which flow on with a current little varying
from the past, we come to the present time, for the purpose of exhibiting the comparison,
and will put the facts in the form of a table, showing the period of blossoming of the trees
and vines therein mentioned.

Year. Strawberry. Cherry. Peach. Plum. Pear.

J848, May 6 May 13 May 19 May 18 May 16

1849, do 13 do 19 do 19 do 20 do 21

1851, do 13 do 16 do 17 do IS do 17

1852, do 15 do IS do 19 do IS do 20

This year, the four days of May, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth, the weather was re
markably warm. The mercury rose on the 6th, to 77° — on the 7th, to 83° — 8th, to 80

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

and 9th, to 75"; it then fell off, and has ranged at a low temperature since, falling as low-
as 40 and not rising above 65.

These records, passing over a century and a quarter, show the regularity with which
nature moves in her plans for the supply of the material wants of man, notwithstanding
he is ever complaining of the manner in Avhich she does her work for his benefit and de-
light. She goes on uniformly and calmly, in her beneficent labor, spreading her beauti-
ful flowers where no mortal eye ever falls upon them, and then maturing the fruit which
is to afford him nourishment and gratify his sense — -not essentially impeded by what man
chooses to call a backward spring, nor overflattercd by a sunbeam or an occasional zephyr,
so as to lose the great balance which keeps all things moving well. How few days sepa-
rate the earliest from the latest period on which she puts on her gay and delightsome appa-
rel of flowers, the preceding record clearly reveals; still fewer is the difference between
those in which she pours into our lap the ripened harvest. When the whether in spring
continues cool, the secret roots and vessels of plants are gathering strength and resources
to supply the exhausting processes by which the flowers, and fruits and seeds, are matur-
ed; while on the contrary, an early and unseasonable warmth calls upon them for an ex-
hausting effort, before they are prepared to encounter it. Wm. Willis.

Portland, Me.. May, 22, 1952.

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

BY PROFESSOR TURNER, JACKSONVILLE, ILL.

The leaven of the necessity for education among the industrial classes, begins to work,
we are happy to perceive, in many parts of the country. Massachusetts is likely to be the
first to set an Agricultural School on a comprehensive scale, in operation — but we see in-
dications of marked interest in half a dozen other states. At a Farmers' Convention in
Illinois, our correspondent Professor Turner, of that State, submitted a plan for such an
educational institution, which has since been published in pamphlet form. We think the
importance of the subject one that will be sufficient apology for allowing the Professor to
be heard by a large audience. It is not often that the weak points of an ordinary collegi-
ate education, are so clearly exposed, and the necessity of working-men's universities so
plainly demonstrated. Ed.

Plan for the State University. — There should be connected with such an insti-
tution, in this state, a sufficient quantity of land, of variable soil and aspect, for all its
needful annual experiments and processes in the great interests of agriculture and horti-
culture.

Buildings of appropriate size and construction for all its ordinary and special uses; a
complete philosophical, chemical, anatomical, and industrial apparatus; a general cabinet,
embracing everything that relates to, illustrates or facilitates any one of the industrial
arts; especially all sorts of animals, birds, reptiles, insects, trees, shrubs and plants found
in this state, and the adjacent states.

Instruction should be constantly given in the anatomy and physiology, the nature, in-
stincts, and habits of all animals, insects, trees, and plants; their laws of propagation,
primogeniture, growth and decay, disease and health, life and death; on the nature, com
position, adaptation and regeneration of soils; on the nature, strength, durability
servation, perfection, composition, cost, use and manufacture of all materials of ar

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

trade; on political, financial, domestic, and manual economy, (or the saving of labor of
the hand,) in all industrial processes; on the true principles of national, constitutional,
and civil law; and the true theorj' and art of governing and controlling, or directing the
labor of men in the state, the family, shop and farm; on the laws of vicinage, of the laws
of courtesy and comit}'^ between neighbors as such, and on the principles of health and dis-
ease in the human subject, so far, at least, as is needful for household safety; on the laws
of trade and commerce, ethical, conventional and practical; on book-keeping and accounts;
and, in short, in all those studies and sciences, of whatever sort, which tend to throw
light upon any art or eniplo3'ment, which any student may desire to master; or upon any
duty he may be called to perform; or which may tend to secure his moral, civil, social,
and industrial perfection, as a man.

No species of knowledge should be excluded, practical or theoretical; unless, indeed,
those specimens of " organized ignorance" found in the creed of party politicians and sec-
tarian ecclesiastics, should be mistaken by some for a species of knowledge.

Whether a distinct classical department should be added, or not, would depend on ex-
pediency. It might be deemed best to leave that department to existing colleges, as their
more appropriate work, and to form some practical and economical connection with them
for that purpose: or it might be best to attach a classical department in due time, to
tlie institution itself.

To facilitate the increase and practical application and diffusion of knowledge, the pro-
fessors should conduct, each in his own department, a continued series of annual experi-
ments.

For example, let twenty or more acres of each variety of grain, (each accurately mea-
sured,) be annuall}' sown, with some practical variation on each acre, as regards the qua-
lity and preparation of the soil; the kind and quantity of seed; the time and mode of sow-
ing or planting; the time, and modes, and processes of cultivation and harvesting, and an
accurate account kept of all costs, labor, &c., and of the final results. Let analogous ex-
periments be tried on all the varied products of the farm, the fruit-yard, the nursery, and
the garden; on all modes of crossing, rearing, and fattening domestic animala, under va-
rious degrees of warmth and of light, with and without shelter; on green, dry, raw,
ground, and cooked food, cold and warm; on the nature, causes, and cure, of their vari-
ous diseases, both of those on the premises, and of those brought in from abroad, and ad-
vice given, and annual reports made on those and all similar topics. Let the professors of
physiology and entomology be ever abroad at the proper seasons, with the needful appa-
ratus for seeing all things visible and invisible, and scrutinizing the latent causes of all
those blights, blasts, rots, rusts and mildews which so often destroy the choicest products
of industry, and thereby impair the health, wealth, and comfort of millions of our fellow
men. Let the professor of chemistry carefully analyze the vaiious soils and products of
the state, retain specimens, give instruction, and report on their various qualities, adapta-
tions, and deficiencies.

Let similar experiments be made in all other interests of agriculture, and mechanic or
chemical art, mining, merchandize, and transportation by water Jhd by land, and daily
practical and experimental instruction given to each student in attendance, in his own
chosen sphere of research, or labor in life. Especially let the comparative merits of all
labor-saving tools, instruments, machines, engines, and processes, be thoroughl}- and prac-
tically tested and explained, so that their benefits might be at once enjoyed, or the expense
of their cost avoided b}"^ the unskilful and unwar\'.

It is believed by manj^ intelligent men, that from one-thiid to one-half the annu

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

ducts of this state are annually lost from ignorance on the above topics. And it can
scarcely be doubted, that in a few years the entire cost of the whole Institution would be
annually saved to the state, in the above interests alone, aside from all its other benefits,
intellectual, moral, social and pecuniary.

The Apparatus required for such a work is obvious. There should be grounds devot-
ed to a botanical and common garden; to orchards and fruit-yards; to appropriate lawns
and promenades, in which the beautiful art of landscape gardening could be appropriately
applied and illustrated; to all varieties of pasture, meadow, and tillage needful for the
successful prosecution of the needful annual experiments. And on these grounds should
be collected and exhibited a sample of every variety of domestic animal, and of every tree,
plant, and vegetable that can minister to the health, wealth, or taste and comfort of the
people of the state; their nature, habits, merits, production, improvement, culture, dis-
eases, and accidents, thoroughly scrutinized, tested, and made known to the students, and
to the people of the state.

There should also be erected, a sufficient number of buildings and out-buildings for all
the purposes above indicated, and a Repository, in which all the ordinary tools and im-
plements of the institution should be kept; and models of all other useful implements and
machines from time to time collected, and tested, as they are proffered to public use. At
first it would be for the interest of inventors and venders, to make such deposits. But,
should similar institutions be adopted in other states, the general government ought to
create in each state a general patent office, attached to the Universities, similar to the ex-
isting deposits at Washington, thus rendering this department of mechanical art and skill
more accessible to the great mass of the people of the Union.

I should have said, also, that a suitable industrial library should be at once procured,
did not all the world know such a thing to be impossible, and that one of the first and
most.important duties of the professors of such institutions, will be to begin to create, at
this late hour, a proper practical literature, and series of text books for the industrial
classes.

As regards the Professors, they should, of course, not only be men of the most emi-
nent practical ability in their several departments, but their connection with the institu-
tion should be rendered so fixed and stable, as to enable them to carry through such de-
signs as thej'^ may form, or all the peculiar benefits of the system would be lost.

Instruction, by lectures and otherwise, should be given mostly in the colder months of
the year, leaving the professors to prosecute their investigations, and the students their
necessary labor, either at home or on the premises, during the warmer months.

The institution should be open to all classes of students above a fixed age, and for any
length of time, whether three months or seven years, and each taught in those peculiar
branches of art which he wishes to pursue, and to any extent, more or less. And all
should pay their tuition and board bills, in whole or in part, either in money or necessa-
ry work on the premises — regard being had to the ability of each.

Among those who labor, medals and testimonials of merit should be given to those who
perform their tasks A|ith most promptitude, energy, care, and skill; and all who prove
indolent or ungovernable, excluded at first from all part in labor, and speedil}', if not
thoroughly reformed, from the institution itself, and here again let the law of nature in-
stead of the law of rakes and dandies be regarded, and the true impression ever made on
the mind of all around, that work alone is honorable, and indolence certain disgrace
ruin,
some convenient season of the year, the commencement, or Annual Fair

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

University, should be holden through a succession of days. On this occasion the doors
of the institution, with all its treasures of art and resources of knowledge, should be
thrown open to all classes, and as many other objects of agricultural or mechanical skill,
gathered from the whole state, as possible, and presented by the people for inspection and
premium on the best of each kind; judgment being rendered, in all cases, by a committee
wholly disconnected with the institution. On this occasion, all the professors, and as
many of the pupils as are sufficiently advanced, should be constantly engaged in lecturing
and explaining the divers objects and interests of their departments. In short, this oc-
casion should be made the great annual Gala-Day of the Institution, and of all the in-
dustrial classes, and all other classes in the state, for the exhibition of their products and
their skill, and for the vigorous and powerful diffusion of practical knowledge in their
ranks, and a more intense enthusiasm in its extension and pursuit.

As matters now are, the world has never adopted any efficient means for the application
and diffusion of even the practical knowledge which does exist. True, we have fairly got
the primer, the spelling book, and the newspaper abroad in the world, and we think that
we have done wonders; and so, comparatively, we have. But if this is a wonder, there
are still not only wonders, but, to most minds, inconceivable miracles, from new and un-
known worlds of light, soon to break forth upon the industrial mind of the world.

Here, then, is a general, though very incomplete, outline of what such an institution
should endeavor to become. Let the reader contemplate it as it will appear when genera-
tions have perfected it, in all its magnificence and glory; in its means of good to man, to
all men of all classes : in its power to evolve and diffuse practical knowledge and skill,
true taste, love of industry, and sound morality — not only through its apparatus, e.\peri-
nients, instructions, and annual lectures and reports, but through its thousands of gradu-
ates, in every pursuit in life, teaching and lecturing in all our towns and villages, and
then let him seriously ask himself, is not such an object worthy of at least an effort, and
worthy of a state which God himself, in the very act of creation, designed to be the first
agricultural and commercial stAte on the face of the globe?

Who should set the world so glorious an example of educating their sons worthily of
their heritage, their duty, and their destiny, if not the people of such a state? In our
countr}'^ we have no aristocracy, with the inalienable wealth of ages, and constant leisure
and means to perform all manner of useful experiments for their own amusement > but we
must create our nobility for this purpose, as we elect our rulers, from our own ranks, to
aid and serve, not to domineer over and control us. And this done, we will not only beat
England, and beat the world in yachts and locks and reapers, but in all else that contri-
butes to the well being and true glory of man.

I maintain that, if ever}^ farmer's and mechanic's son in this state could now visit such
an institution but for a single day in the year, it would do him more good in arousing and
directing the dormant energies of mind, than all the cost incurred, and far more good than
many a six months of professed study of things he never need and never wants to know.

As things now are, our best farmers and mechanics, by their own native force of mind,
by the slow process of individual experience, come to know, at forty, what they might
have been taught in six months at twenty, while a still greater number of the less fortu-
nate or less gifted, stumble on through life, almost as ignorant of every true principle of
their art as when they begun. A man of real skill is amazed at the slovenly ignorance
and waste he everywhere discovers, on all parts of their premises; and still more to hear
them boast of their ignorance of all " book farming," and maintain that " their ch
can do as well as they have done;" and itcertainly would be a great pity if they could

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

The patrons of our University would be found in the former, not in the latter class
The man whose highest conception of earthly bliss is a log-hut, in an uninclosed yard,
where pigs of two species are allowed equal rights, unless the four legged tribe chance to
get the upper hand, will be found no patron of Industrial Universities. Why should he
be? He knows it all already.

Their is another class of untaught farmers who devote all their capital and hired labor
to the culture, on a large scale, of some single product, which always pa3'S well when so
produced on a fresh soil, even in the most unskilful hands. Now, such men often increase
rapidly in wealth, but it is not by their skill in agriculture, for they have none; their
skill consists in the management of capital and labor, and, deprive them of these, and con-
fine them to the varied culture of a small farm, and they Avould starve in five years, where
a true farmer would amass a small fortune. This class are, however, generally, the fast
friends of education, though many a looker on will cite them as instances of the useless-
ness of acquired skill in farming, whereas they should cite them only as a sample of the
resistless power of capital even in comparatively unskilful hands.

Such institutions are the only possible remedy for a caste education, legislation, and
literature. If any one class provide for their own liberal education, in the state, as they
should do, while another class neglect this, it is as inevitable as the law of gravitation,
that they should form a ruling caste or class by themselves, and wield their power more
or less for their own exclusive interests and the interests of their friends.

If the industrial were the only educated class in the state, the caste power in their
hands would be as much stronger than it now is, as their numbers are greater. But now
industrial education has been wholly neglected, and the various industrial classes left still
ignorant of matters of the greatest moment pertaining to their vital interests, while the
professions have been studied till trifles and fooleries have been magnified into matters of
immense importance, and tornadoes of windy words and barrels of innocent ink shed over
them in vain.

This, too, is the inevitable result of trying to crowd all^beral, practical education into
one narrow sphere of human life. It crowds their ranks with men totally unfit by nature
for professional service. Many of these, under a more congenial culture, might have be-
come, instead of the starving scavengers of a learned profession, the honored members of
an industrial one. Their love of knowledge was indeed amiable and highly commendable;
but the necessity which drove them from their natural sphere in life, in order to obtain it,
is truly deplorable.

But such a system of general education as we now propose, would (in ways too nume-
rous now to mention) tend to increase the respectability, power, numbers, and resources
of the true professional class.

Nor are the advantages of the mental and moral discipline of the student to be over-
looked; indeed, I should have set them down as most important of all, had I not been
distinctly aware that such an opinion is a most deadly heresy; and I tremble at the thought
of being arraigned before the tribunal of all the monks and ecclesiastics of the old world,
and no small number of their progeny in the new.

It is deemed highly important that all in the professional classes should become writers
and talkers; hence they are so incessantly drilled in all the forms of language, dead and
living, though it has become quite doubtful whether, even in their case such a course is
most beneficial, except in the single case of the professors of literature and theology, with
whom these languages form the foundation of their professions and the indispensable
struments of their future art in life.

PLAN FOR INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITIES.

No inconsiderable share, however, of the mental discipline that is attributed to this pe
culiar course of dut}^ arises from daily intercourse, for years, with minds of the first or-
der in their teachers and comrades, and would be produced under any other course, if the
parties had remained harmoniously together. On the other hand, a classical teacher, who
has no original, spontaneous power of thought, and knows nothing but Latin and Greek,
however perfectly, is enough to stultify a whole generation of boys and make them all
pedantic fools like himself. The idea of infusing mind, or creating, or even materially in-
creasing it by the daily inculcation of unintelligible words — all this awful wringing to get
blood out of a turnep — will, at any rate, never succeed except in the hands of the emi-
nently wise and prudent, who have had long experience in the process; the plain, blunt
sense of the unsophisticated will never realise cost in the operation. There are, moreover,
probably, few men who do not already talk more, in proportion to what they really know,
than they ought to. This chronic diarrhoea of exhortation, which the social atmosphere
of the age tends to engender, tends far less to public health than many suppose. The his-
tory of the Quakers shows that more sound sense, a purer morality, and a more elevated
practical piety can exist, and does exist, entirely without it, than is commonly found with
it.

At all events, we find as society becomes less conservative and pedantic, and more truly
and practically enlightened, a growing tendency of all other classes, except the literary
and clerical, to omit this supposed linguistic discipline, and apply themselves directly to
the more immediate duties of their calling; and aside from some little inconvenience at
first, in being outside of caste, that they do not succeed quite as well in advancing their
own interests in life, and the true interests of society, there is no sufficient proof.

Indeed, I think the exclusive and extravagant claims set up for ancient lore, as a means
of disciplining the reasoning powers, simply ridiculous when examined in the light of those
ancient worthies who produced that literature, or the modern ones who have been most
devoted to its pursuit, in this countrj' and in Europe. If it produces infallible practical
reasoners, we have a great many thousand infallible antagonistic truths, and ten thousand
conflicting paths of right, interest, duty, and salvation. If any man will just be at the
trouble to open his eyes and his ears, he can perceive at a glance, how much this evasive
discipline really does, and has done, for the reasoning faculty of man, and how much for
the power of sophistical cant, and stereotyped nonsense; so that if obvious facts, instead
of verbose declamation, are to have any weight in the case, I am willing to join issue with
the opposers of the proposed scheme, even on the bare ground of its superior adaptation
to develop the mental powers of its pupils.

The most natural and effectual mental discipline possible for any man, arises from set-
ting him to earnest and constant thought about the things he daily does, sees, and hand-
les, and all their connected relations and interests. The final object to be attained, with
the industrial class, is to make them thinking laborers, while of the professional class we
should desire to make laborious thinkers : the production of goods to feed and adorn the
body being the final end of one class of pursuits, and the production of thought to do the
same for the mind, the end of the other. But neither mind nor body can feed on the of-
fals of preceding generations. And this constantly recurring necessity of reproduction,
leaves an equally honorable, though somewhat different career of labor and duty open to
both; and, it is readily admitted, should and must vary their modes of education and
preparation accordingly.

may do for the man of books to plunge at once amid the catacombs of buried nations
anguages, to soar away to Greece or Rome, or Nova-Zembla, Kamskatka, an

BIRDS, INSECTS, &c.

fixed stars, before he knows how to plant his own beans, or harness his own horse, or can
tell whether the functions of his own body are performed by a heart, stomach and lungs,
or with a gizard and gills.

But for the man of work thus to bolt away at once from himself and all his pursuits in
after life, contravenes the plainest principles of nature and common sense. No wonder
such educators have ever deemed the liberal culture of the industrial classes an impossibi-
lity, for they have never tried, nor even conceived of an}^ other way of educating them,
except that by which they are rendered totally unfit for their several callings in after life.
How absurd would it seem to set a clergyman to plowing and studying the depredations
of blights, insects, the growing of crops, &c., &c., in order to give him habits of thought
and mental discipline for the pulpit; yet, this is not half as ridiculous, in reality, as the
reverse absurdity of attempting to educate the man of work in unknown tongues, abstract
problems and theories, and metaphysical figments and quibbles.

Some, doubtless, will regard the themes of such a course of education as too sensuous and
gross to be at the basis of a pure and elevated mental culture. But the themes themselves
cover all possible knowledge of all modes and phases of science, abstract, mixed, and prac-
tical. In short, the field embraces all that God has made, and all that human art has
done, and if the created Universe of God, and the highest art of man, are too gross for
our refined uses, it is a pity the " morning stars and the sons of God," did not find it out
as soon as the blunder was made. But, in my opinion, these topics are of quite as much
consequence to the well-being of man, and the healthful development of mind, as the con-
coction of the final nostrum in medicine, or the ultimate figment in theology and law, or
conjectures about the galaxy or the Greek accent; unless, indeed, the pedantic profession-
al trifles of one man in a thousand, are of more consequence than the daily vital interests
of all the rest of mankind.

But can such an institution be created and endowed? Doubtless it can be done, and
done at once, if the industrial classes so decide. The fund given to this state by the ge-
neral government, expressly for this purpose, is amply sufficient, without a dollar from
any other source; and it is a mean, if not an illegal perversion of this fund, to use it for
any other purpose. It was given to the people, tlie whole people of this state — not for a
class, a party, or sect, or conglomeration of sects; not for common schools, or family
schools, or classical schools; but for " An University," or seminary of a high order, in
which should, of course, be taught all those things which every class of citizens most de-
sire to learn — their own duty and business for life. This, and this alone, is an University
in the true, original sense of the term. And if an institution which teaches all that is
needful only for the three professions of law, divinity, and medicine, is, therefore, an Uni-
versity, surely one which teaches all that is needful for all the varied professions of human
life, is far more deserving of the name and the endowments of an University.

BIKDS, INSECTS, AND OTHER MATTERS.

BY J. C. H., SYRACUSE.

No method has proved effectual, [against the Curculio,] but placing the trees in the
midst of the pig and poultry yiird — and, notwithstanding the numerous remedies thathave
been proposed in our pages since the coiumencement of this work, this proves the only one
iis not failed oftcnei' than it has succeeded."
or our own part, we fully believe that it is the gradual decrease of small bi

BIRDS, INSECTS, &c.

part from the destruction of the forests, but mainly from the absence of laws against the
vagabond race of unfledged sportsmen, who shoot sparrows when they ought to be plant-
ing corn — that this inordinate increase of insects is to be attributed." [From the leader
in Hort.for July, 1851.]

Mr. Editor — I select the two passages from our pomological scripture, for the purpose
of showing the limited operation of the remedy applauded in the one, and of protesting
against the injustice of the conclusions involved in the other.

It may do very well for the plum cultivator, who has ample room and verge enough, to
set apart a portion of his grounds for an extensive pig-sty — who has the means to furnish
it with tenants and to support them — whose taste and circumstances admit of the raising of
pork and poultry — and whose plum planting is yet to be begun — to adopt the " only reme-
dy that has not failed more frequently than it has succeeded," against the operations of
the curculio. But unfortunately for the success of this beneficent plan, it is of the most
circumscribed applicability. The great mass of plum growers live in towns and villages,
occupying lots ranging in extent from one-eighth to one whole acre, and whose trees, in
the garden, or front yard, or wherever else on their limited premises they can find room
to '* tuck" them, are already grown — circumstances which render the recommendation of
the union of plum orchards and piggeries more easily smiled at than carried out. Yet it is
for this class of cultivators, above all others, that an universal remedy against the curcu-
lio is demanded. The retired citizen, passing the time pleasantly under the delusion that
he has become an agriculturist by virtue of his " park" of a few acres, and the extensive
cultivator for the stalls, from whence the citizen retired, can afford to protect their fruit
by whatever appliances, and at whatever cost; but even they in most instances, are una-
ble to call into requisition the services of hens or hogs, because their parks and planta-
tions were not originally planned for hen-yards and hog-pens, their fruit trees having been
scattered through their grounds wherever fanc}' or convenience directed. It is plain to see
then, that father TnoMAS' prescription of a mallet and sheet, will not suddenly be super-
seded by this contrivance, and that the hens will abide by their dunghill, the swine con-
tinue to riot in the congenial thoroughfares of the metropolis, and the fallen fruit be left to
be gathered and destroyed by human agency, or not at all.

Somehow, writers upon the curculio seem universally to be possessed of a most amia-
ble insanity. They invest the victims of that little pest with unbounded resources. Their
grounds are always broad enough for ' orchards,' — the one devoted to plums being already
set apart, and filled with full grown trees, nothing of course wanting to convert it into an
immense piggery, but forty or fifty rods of fence, which, to be in keeping with the grand
conception, shall cost from ten to twenty dollars per rod, herds of swine and flocks of
fowls being always at hand to stock it. This is the peculiar vagary of one. Another, in
his benevolent hallucination, dispensing with pigs and poultry, prescribes pavements.
Though the largeness of comprehension which distinguishes the former philanthropist, can-
not be claimed for this, yet his scheme involves bricks, stone quarries, and deposites in
bank ad libitum, if not ad infinitum, and provides a separate domain for the usual variety
of the lesser fruits, flower beds, and vegetables, each class of which, by the necessities of
real life, must occupy a portion of the space which he so liberally dedicates to pave-
ments. But neither of these tantalizing lunatics has the disease in its most desparate form.

The distempered reason of the third, requires the luckless plum grower to be the pro-
prietor of whole ranges of well occupied stables, cart loads of whose seething product are
pplied to his trees, morning and evening — twice a day, I think, sir? — warm,
Itice; his trees, of course, being a long drive down the park, else the remedy to

BIRDS, INSECTS, &.c,

the invader of the orchard, will be more effectual against the indweller of the mansion
Now, sir, though all very pleasant, this is all very absurd. It has no adaptability, even in
a much mitigated form from that in which I have presented it, to the existing condition
of things; nor can it now have. One man in a thousand may be able to adopt either sug-
gestion; but the circumstances of the other nine hundred and ninety-nine, render it utter-
ly impracticable. What we want, then, is some remedy of universal application, — some-
thing within the reach of all — and let the one thousandth individual, the man of money,
take care of himself.

The main cause of the destruction of small birds, which, in the latter of the extracts
quoted, you ascribe to " unfledged sportmen who shoot sparrows," &c., is wider of the
mark than are the youngsters themselves, even in their most random shots. If it be true
that there is any great decrease of small birds, which a familiar acquaintance with them
for more than thirty years would lead me to gainsay, the cause alledged is not adequate
to the result. I have been an * unfledged sportsman' myself. I was born one. I have
passed through, in my experience, the whole range of * light artillery,' so terrible to your
imagination, from the quill pop-gun to the beautifully telling eloquence of a twin-tubed
'Joe Manton;' and, boy or man, I can truly say I never yet met with a disposition, even
in the most thoughtless, to squander his ambition upon game so insignificant as the class
of birds whose fancied destruction you so feelingly deplore. The instinct of economy, if
not of scorn, or a feeling of humanity, would forbid it. What though a ' sparrow' may
sometimes fall to the ground at a long shot, ' by way of improvement,' can such occasion-
al instances be claimed to cause their decrease to so lamentable an extent as to demand for
their protection an invocation to law-makers! What though our cities may turn out a
few aspiring young Winkles on a pleasant summer's afternoon, who, with immense pre-
paration, sally into the remote wilderness of the suburbs, and wake the echoes with a
reckless disregard of powder and shot, is their destructiveness by any means commensu-
rate with the noise they make? I trow not. Their intended victim, unharmed and unter-
rified, flies chirruping to the next bush in very mocker}^ of their aim to bag him. It is
easier to denounce the boys for wholesale destruction of small birds, than it is to convict
them of it, and as popular sympathy is against them, the denunciation as easily passes
unquestioned for fact.

The other cause of the decrease of the number of small birds, and consequent increase
of insects, — the destruction of our forests, — I believe to be equally groundless. The effect
of this destruction is simply to bring in new species of each, and probably quite as many
birds, and no more insects than existed before. The robin, the blue-bird, the chipping
bird, the swallow, the marten, the wren, the ground sparrow, the oriole, and the many
others which enliven our farms and residences, are not found in the forests. They follow
in the track of civilization and appear with man and orchards. Alas, too, and so do
canker-worms, caterpillars, and curculio. If it is correct, then, to say that the destruc-
tion of the forests causes an inordinate increase of insects, it is to the extent only that
beech and maples give way to apple and plum trees, and leave destroyers of fruit in place
of others that preyed upon the trees of the forest.

And now one word as to the utility of birds. It is a common belief that they are great
benefactors of man in the destruction of pestiferous insects. To this belief I am an in-
exorable infidel. Who over saw one of the whole race touch the caterpillar, which, at
this seasan, infests our orchards; or that other kindred nuisance, which, later in the sea-
ppears on all trees indiscriminately, often wholly enveloping them in its m
ork; or the slimy slug; or a single living atom of the endless legion of plant 1

APPLES AT THE SOUTH.

the turnep flea; or the striped cucumber bug; or that most vile of all disgusting creatures,
the large black pumpkin bug; or, finall}', the curculio? What one of the whole feathered
race was ever known to harm a hair on the head of any one of these eternally recurring
abominations? My own attention has for years been directed to this discovery, and that
one among them all which is entitled to our gratitude, even to this extent, remains a rara
avis still, and Barnum can find another "Nightingale," sooner than add this marvel to
his collection. But, sir, individual instances of this kind amount to nothing, if you can
prove a thousand of them. Show me that entire species of bird, the whole end and aim
of whose existence is to war exclusively upon one of the above races of insects, and, for
the good-will they manifest, I will join you in prayers for legal enactments for their pro-
tection, if need be; though my faith in the extermination of the vermin, as the conse-
quence of their enmity, would not be of that buoyant nature effectual to sustain one's
head above water, when the remembrance should come over me that angle worms are still
plent}', in spite of the determined persistence of the whole generation of robins in the ap-
parently single purpo.se to gormandize them all. Nevertheless, sir, the birds find in me
a zealous protector, and they Arnotc it. In m}^ own little domain, they are almost as fear-
less of me and mine, as are the chickens themselves. The pugnacious little wren takes up
his habitation in a nook over the fiont door, and assumes all the bustling importance of
one well to do in the world, scolding tremendously at all in-comers and out-goers, by vir-
tue, to be sure, of his being the lawfully taxable proprietor of the premises; the robin
hurries down from the tree to pick up the worm I toss him in compensation for the Jenny
Lind touches he half strangles himself in trying to imitate, and feeds confidingly within a
few feet of me in the garden; while I am fairly obliged to walk around the little chipping
bird at the kitchen door, to avoid treading on him, so tame have they all become in conse-
quence of gentle deportment towards them. Birds appreciate kindness quickly, and seem
even to comprehend the pleasant words that are spoken to them. Though I owe them
nothing for preserving my plums and cherries, yet woe to the urchin that molests them
within the boundaries of my principality. Their cheerful companionship, their graceful
sportings, their varied attempts to express their joy fulness in song, from the ludicrous en-
thusiasm with which one note is continually cachinated, to very tolerable approaches to
successful modulation, give them social claims upon me which compensate a thousand fold
for all they destroy, and all they do not. J. C. H.

Syracuse, June 1, 1S52.

[J. C. H. is a heretic — an unbeliever in all written creeds — but he offers no suggestions
from his own store-house of experiences. Since he repudiates the alphabet that others
have found tolerably useful, is he not bound to give his own system of short-hand? Ed.]

APPLES AT THE SOUTH.

BY WM. A. WHITE, ATHENS, GA.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Your list of Fruits for the South, in a recent Jlorticulturist, has
induced me to send you the following rough notes upon our apples, as they maybe of some
interest to those of )'our readers dwelling in about the same latitude, viz: 33°, 58'
soil is a stiff red claj"^, formed of decomposed granite — and our elevation 780
the sea. The surface soil is generally pretty free from stone, and by culture

APPLES AT THE SOUTH.

manuring, becomes a dark loam. Its proportion of lime is scarcely appreciable, by ana-
lysis not over one-tenth of one per cent. It is of but moderate fertility, and is naturally
pretty well timbered with pine, chestnut, tulip tree, sweet gum, and several species of
oak.

With us, the apple is, I think, comparatively with most sections, a difficult fruit to cul-
tivate. A full grown, healthy apple tree, one which is entirely free from disease, is, in
this section, a rarity. Occasionally, they suddenly " die and leave no sign" at all — ap-
pear thriving as usual in autumn, and in spring are dead, with no assignable cause. Some
die gradually, like a peach tree with the yellows, exhibiting for a long time a kind of ge-
neral debility, which I know not to what to attribute, unless to the too intense action
of the sun upon the soil and roots — or perhaps to the deficiency of lime in the soil. We
have also the bark louse, and the borer and the caterpillar, but these are no worse than
with you. Again, many of our trees have the bark of the trunk blistered, and soon de-
cay, where they are exposed to the raj^s of the early afternoon sun. Then, worse than
all, is that pestilent fellow, the wooly aphis, rightly named the American blight. Here,
I believe, he is indigenous, as he is found on the wild crab, as well as on the cultivated va-
rieties, and in situations where one would hardly think he had been introduced. He must
be a vigilant watcher, the branches of whose trees this aphis does not " pull the wool
over," or cover their roots with the warts produced by his minute lacerations.

Now, these are serious difficulties in the way of the fruit grower, but still the worst of
them may be overcome. Bark lice, caterpillars, and borers, a little care in season will
destroy as effectually here as anywhere. The sun-burned trunk can be prevented by plant-
ing maiden trees, (one year's growth from the bud,) and shortening them in, so, when
planted, that branches may be thrown out near the earth. The thick foliage will thus
shield the trunk from the sun, and also keeping the roots shaded, will do much to correct
the debility we have before noticed. The lime, or whatever other constituents the soil may
lack, can from time to time be also supplied, at no very serious trouble or expense.

The aphis is more troublesome. If they are on a single tree of the garden, the wind will
soon convey them, enveloped in their down, from one end to the other. Each tree, before
planting, must be thoroughly worked, and its roots soaked in strong soap suds from the
laundry. You will thus be free from the rascal to begin with. But this is not all. Vigi-
lant attention is afterwards required. Every place where they appear, before they have
time to seek the roots of the tree, must be coated with a paint composed of soap suds,
thickened to the right consistence for application, with quick lime. This is an effectual
remedy, and besides a beneficial application to the tree.

In selecting varieties for cultivation here, as it is a matter of some difficulty to raise a
good supply of apples at all, the apple being a northern fruit, we are obliged to guard
against over refinement. In regard to a fruit, it is not our first question, is it of the very
highest quality? but, is the tree sufficiently hardy and productive to bear fruit at all?
Will it produce enough to be worth cultivating? When we find a tree to be hardy, and at
least moderately productive, it is then quite early enough to inquire which of those, hav-
ing these indispensable good qualities, and ripening at the same season, are of the highest
flavor for the desert or kitchen, and from these to make our selection.

As the peach and pear, are both more easily cultivated than the apple in this section, to
say nothing of figs, grapes, &c., which a little care may place abundantly on every table,
a very large list of summer apples is not desirable. Of these we have enough kinds alrea-
We need good autumn and winter varieties, and for these we must look at home, as
fine northern winter apples have usually ripened and decayed, the few years they

APPLES AT THE SOUTH.

have been cultivated, before middle of September, at a time when peaches and pears, and
other fruits are so abundant, that we care little for the choicest apples. We come now to
the description.

1. Early May. — Fruit — quite small, roundish,
sometimes slightly oblong; skin — thin, yellowish
green when ripe, with occasionally a brownish check
towards the sun; stem — short, in a shallow cavity;
calyx — small, closed, and set in a shallow basin ; flesh
— yellowish white, tender, of a mild acid, and rather
pleasant flavor; begins to ripen from the 15th to the
20th of May. Earliest of apples, which is its only
merit. The fruit is generally smaller than the draw-
ing.

2. Early Harvest. — This fine early fruit is a poor
bearer on young trees, but on large, well grown trees, EaHy May Apple.
it is, if anything, too productive. It is always of good quality, unless injured by over-
bearing. For description see " Fruits and Fruit Trees of America." Ripens here about
the 25th of May, and continues some time. Indispensable.

2. Red Jane. — Fruit — medium
size, generally somewhat oblong, oc-
casionally flat, and always irregular;
skin — smooth, green in the shade,
but changes rapidly at maturity, to
a fine dark crimson; stem — one and
a half to three-fourths of an inch
long, inserted in a moderately deep
cavity ; calyx — set in a shallow ba-
sin; flesh — white, very tender, mel-
low and digestible, fine grained,
slightly acid, moderately juicy, but
not rich; a good apple, and compa-
ratively a hardj' tree. Remarkable
for diversity of shape on the same
tree, varying from conical to quite
flat, and is easily distinguished from
all others, by turning within three

Red June.

days of ripening, from a dull green to a rich crimson, and as it ripens very gradually, the
contrast of colors on the same branch is quite striking. A full grown tree will often show
not over a dozen or two of the crimson fruit, the rest being perfectly green. Seeds often
white when the fi nit is pefectly ripe. A verj^ productive and pleasant apple for the des-
sert— lacks acid for culinary purposes. Tree bears young; attains a good size, and is a
constant bearer. Ripens here first of June, or a little after.

4. Striped June. — Size — medium, not quite so large as Red June; form — roundish,
sometimes a little conical; skin — thin, ground greenish yellow, very much striped with
red, frequently russet about the stem; stem — short, medium thickness; cavity — small;
— medium size, in a shallow basin; flesh — white, more juicy and acid than the fore-
better for kitchen; not rich, but pleasant. Ripens with the Red June, but is easily

APPLES AT THE SOUTH

distinguished by its duller red color,
and also by being distinctly striped,
while the Red June is a complete
blaze of crimson. Not so good for
dessert, but a good bearer, and a na-
tive. Ripens first of June.

5. Sinclair's Yellow. — This name
■vre give an apple received from Sin-
clair's nurserj', at Baltimore, and
which proves one of the best. Fruit
— small to medium, flat or roundish;
skin — smooth, of fine orange color,
darkened in the sun; flesh — pale yel-
low, with a rich sub-acid flavor.
A gnod bearer, and excellent for both
the table and kitchen. Indispensa
ble. Ripe June 15th.

6. 3faiden's Blush.-(^Soe "Fruits

Striped June.

and Fruit Trees of America." Perliaps our best foreign variety. A fine nardy tree,
bears abundantly, e.xcellent for drying and culinary uses, and good for dessert. Ripens
gradually from the first of July, and lasts into August.

7. Horse jlppU. — This name is given to a class of apples, the different sorts of which,
resembling each other in appearance and flavor, but which differ a good deal in quality-
All are excellent culinary fruits, lasting a long time, and the best of them aregood dessert
apples. This apple is propagated with considerable certainty from seed, M'hich has proba-
bl}' caused the different varieties of the same apple. Size — medium to large, roundish,
narrowing to the eye, sometimes conical, and somewhat ii'regular: skin — thick greenish
yellow in the shade, but a rich dark orange, or blush towards the sun — often marked
with a few russet lijics or flecks about the stem; stem — short, rather large, sunk in a
shallow cavity — calj'x in a narrow basin; core — large, hollow; seeds — few; flesh — yellow,
firm, coarse grained, Mith a rich acid flavor. Well ripened, it is a good table apple,
always excellent for cooking. Ripens the last of July, but like your Holland Pippin,
fit for cooking a long while before. Continues in use a long time. One of the most pro-
ductive, valuable, and hardy trees we have, but should be propagated only from the best
varieties. One of tliem in this section, is called the Oidfield Apple.

8. Male. Carh. — (See Downing.) This succeeds the Maiden's Blush and Horse Apple,
and proves a good and hardy vaiiet}^ Tree very productive, and almost as well adapted
to the climate as the Horse Apple itself. Fruit of excellent qualit}"^, ripens the last of
August and into September.

9. Carthouse or Gilpin. — (See Downing.) Ripens a little later than the foregoing, and
a fine fruit for this climate, quality good, tree quite a good bearer, lasts until the middle
of September, and sometimes later with care.

Apples that are of as good quality and immediately succeed the Gilpin are very desira-
ble. The latter will keep as long as any northern variety we have tried. From the n)id-
dle of September until November, I do not know of any good and productive table apple."?.
Some tolerable undescribed and unnamed native fruits, come into the market that Avill do
the kitchen, but no good table fruits. As most other fruits are gone, wh
ches ripen so late not being of the best quality, Grapes (Scuppernong) not

ON THE THEORY OF PRUNING.

much after the first of October, when pears and figs are by no means plenty, a few va
rieties of good apples would be very acceptable. The next good apple begins to ripen
about the first of November, viz:

10. Buff or Granny Buff. — Fruit — of the largest size, irregular roundish, flattened
and slightly angular in form. Skin — thick, ground color yellow, but striped and over-
spread with red, very dark next the sun, marked with a lew greenish russet spots. Stem
three-quarters of an inch long in a medium cavity. Calyx in a large irregular basin.
Flesh — yellowish, and when well ripened tender and excellent, but sometimes quite the
reverse; lacks richness and aciditj'j season November to March; indispensable.

11. Virginia Greening. — Already described in proceedings of Congress of Fruit
Growers at New-York. A good fruit, keeps all winter; indispensable; a better keeper
than the Buff.

12. IVaddeVs Hall. — An oblong fruit of medium size, very fragrant— striped with red;
of fair quality, bears young, and decidedly the latest keeping apple we have.

13. Green Mountain Pippin. — A fine early winter apple of excellent quality, large
size, roundish, green, and very juicy; comes into use with the Buff and a better fruit.

The above list I think will be found reliable. There are others which I have hopes will
be worthy of adding to the list, such as Limberting, Jackson, Father Abram, Rawle's
Jennett, Gravenstein, Meigs, (a celebrated long keeper,) Prjj^or's Red; but I have not yet
seen the fruit. I purchased in a market wagon from North Carolina in the month of No-
vember, two years since, some fine Rhode Island Greenings, and I have strong hopes that
this too may be added to the list.

I have seen fruit here of American Summer Pearmain, Sweet Bough, Alexander, Bald-
win, Danvers Winter Sweet, Newtown Pippin, Boston Russelt, Spitzenberg, and many
others; but they are in some one or more particulars, so much inferior to those described,
some of them rotting before they ripen, others unproductive — that at present I do not
think any of them deserve to be added to the list. The early apples from the north do
far the best.

You will observe that there is not a single sweet apple in the list. I am trying the
Ladies Sweeting, but I do not know of a single sweet apple of the many brought in, that
has hitherto proved at all satisfactorj'. I am told that there is a good native autumn va-
riety, but have not met with it.

Should j'ou desire, I shall be happy to give you a few notes on our other fruits, particu-
larly the pear, which is here raised, I think, with more ease than the apple. Yours very
respectfully, William N. White.

Athens, Ga., May 31, 1852.

[We are greatly indebted to our correspondent for the foregoing — one of the best com-
munications on fruit culture we have ever received from the south. More of the same qua-
lity will be most welcome. Ed.]

CLOSING REMARKS ON THE THEORY OF PRUNING.

BY L. YOUNG, LOUISVILLE, KY.

Dear Sir — I shall close the crude and desultory remarks upon the subject at the head
article, which were at first proposed by a few conmients upon certain of the
in the arts of pruning and training, which in a former number I have styled

ON THE THEORY OF PRUNING.

litants of the wood-producing force, applicable in the hands of the cultivator as remedies,
where unproductiveness results from over-luxuriance — or, as preventives in cases where
in a state of fruitfulness the habit of a tree or plant indicates a tendency to the produc-
tion of too much wood-growth. These processes are:

1. Sterling supplies of food.

2. Neglected cultivation.

3. Retarding the circulation.

4. Breaking the circuit of circulation.

The first of these processes comprises the two very common expedients now practiced
to superinduce a state of fruitfulness — root-pruning, and dwarf-pruning. Every tree re-
ceives at the extreme points of its rootlets, its supplies of food, which there enter into the
circulation by reason of the mysterious attraction of the thicker sap within, for the thin-
ner fluids without, (by endosrnose ;) and nothing is plainer than the fact that, other things
being equal, the size and vigor of trees and plants, are to each other in proportion to their
number of spongioles, and the space they pervade. It is impossible, therefore, to dimin-
ish the number of these rootlets, or the area over which they range, without lessening
also, the amount of food carried into their general circulation, and by consequence, the
share of each bud. The effect of this operation is very generally understood and appre-
ciated, and also its application as a means of superinducing fruitfulness. Mutilation of
the roots, (and root-pruning is only mutilation, nothing more nor less,) lies at the founda-
tion of that very salutary rule, heading back the branches when large trees are transplant-
ed. In this case the demand for food is reduced until the enfeebled condition of the root-
lets can meet the requisition.

Most fruit trees, and many plants, are liable to a catastrophe which might be termed,
not inaptly, accidental root-pruning. I refer to that strangulation or suffocation of the
rootlets resulting from seething and baking rains, sometimes experienced in hot seasons.
A visitation of this kind often seems to arrest the circulation, and to bring on a premature
decline and fell of the leaf. The cherry, apricot, and plum, are most liable to this affec-
tion. Sometimes, however, the apple and pear are not exempt. I have, myself, witness-
ed instances in which the Rousselette de Rheims, after making shoots four to six feet in
length, in the early part of the season, and losing its leaves in July or August, has form-
ed sessile fruit buds throughout the whole extent of such branches, producing thereon a
wreath of fruits in the following season. I do not mean to say the fruitlets would be with-
out peduncles, but the clusters without spurs — which is their usual appendage.

Dwarfing fruit trees, by propagating them upon small growing stocks, is only another
method of stinting supplies of food. In this case we avoid the necessity of resorting to
artificial means to diminish the system of roots, by making choice of stocks whose roots
are naturally small — and it appears to me that the whole claim of this practice to favora-
ble regard, rests upon the following considerations only, and not upon any mysterious
agency exerted by the stock upon the habits of the graft. 1st. It enables the amateur to
cultivate a large number of varieties within a small compass. 2d. Fruits upon dwarf
trees, like clusters of the grape upon branches from which the wood-producing force has
been removed by amputation, have control of the circulation, and for this reason, larger
and finer than upon trees where the wood growth is more active. 3d. Dwarfing simpli-
fies fruit culture — the whole business of cultivation is to stimulate — the balance of power
is at all times against wood-growth. One must cultivate and manure; must thin and
shorten in. An ordinary fruit tree, when inserted upon a dwarf stock, is not unlike the
fox in the fable, at the feast of the storks — its food has to be reached through such dimin-

^

FRUIT GROWING AT THE SOUTH.

utive tubes, (" such long, narrow necked vessels,") that there is no clanger of growing to
excess.

Neglected cultivation, although enumerated in the books as a means of inducing fruit-
fulness, does not deserve favor, and should always give place in the orchard culture of
standards upon their own stocks, to retarding the circulation, by bending down the bran-
ches. I believe with Jeffries, that precosity should never be encouraged, but believe this
method of hastening the bearing state to be attended with fewer evil consequences than
almost any other. Suppose the top of a young tree to consist of a few straight switches —
these, if bent to a horizontal position, will form fruit buds at the points in a year or two,
whilst dormant, or adventitious buds, will put forth at the bases of such switches, and re-
fill the center with upright wood growth, the tree forming a head as rapidly, and often
with more symmetry, than though the branches had not been bent.

Breaking the circuit of circulation is effected by wringing the branches. This wrino-in"-,
when not so thorough as to produce the death of the parts cut off by the ring, not only
induces fruitfulness, but adds, very often, brilliancy to the hues of colored fruits. Pinch-
ing, or cutting off tender shoots, and heading-back branches in full leaf, are operations of
a nature very similar to wringing— in many such cases the circuit of circulation is inter-
rupted for a time, and the roots, after undergoing the labor of sending up the material
which has formed the amputated branches, never can receive an equivalent — since, by the
act of amputation, the organs which should have digested this equivalent of food are de-
stroyed. It is this debilitating tendency in the practice of stripping off the leaves and
growing branches, which renders the operation of shortening-in, in the month of August,
conducive to fruitfulness — a result exactly opposite to that of the same operation, if ap-
plied in Februar}^ or March.

In conclusion, T may remark, that although in these numbers I may have failed to sug-
gest anything new or useful to the readers of your very popular Journal— still, I think
they will have been laid under obligations, even for my errors, if they shall induce the
modest, but well informed author of the " Fruit Garden" to redeem his pledge, and
spread out in your columns the fruits of his extensive reading, and valuable practical ex-
perience, upon this more than interesting subject. L. Young.

Louisville, Ky., 1852.

FRUIT GROWING AT THE SOUTH.

BY R. G. PARDEE, PALMYRA, N. Y.

On the 20th inst. it was my privilege to pay a brief visit to the fine estate of that en-
terprising and successful cultivator, Dr. John H. Bayne, of Prince Edward county, Ma-
ryland.

For many years, he has, by a thorough course of observation and experiment, cultivat-
ed a portion of his beautiful grounds, and attained to great skill in almost all departments.

The location is a favorable one for rewarding his efforts, it being only some eight miles
from Washington, D. C, which furnishes one of the finest markets in the country. The
situation is picturesque and delightful, comprising a variety of scenery — hills and valleys,
with all the varieties of soil, from a sandy loam to a coarse gravel and clay.

Some of his lands, which two years ago were worn out and barren commons, I now
found laden with the richest fruits. Over fifteen thousand fruit trees, in the finest con-

CULTURE OF GRAPE-VINES.

dition, and comprising the greatest variety, may be seen at Dr. Batne's, of which some
8,000 are peach trees, which exhibit a vigorous growth and health which would do honor
to Delaware, or Western New-York. His crop of peaches this year must be immense,
and his income from them very large.

I noticed, also, a very large stock of pears, comprising a great variety. The pear blight
has done him great damage in the low grounds and hill sides, while all on the crown of
the hills have for years e.scaped.

The cherry trees seem to be in fine growth and bearing, but I do not think that the no-
blest of all our fruits, the apple, in all its fine varieties, has yet received that peculiar care
in this region, we are accustomed to give it in this vicinity.

The strawberry is most successfully cultivated here, and proves to be a fine source of
revenue. Dr. B. has several acres in bearing, comprising the Early Virginia, the Large
Early Scarlet, Princess Alice Maud, [and this sort is very fine about Washington. Ed.]
and Ilovey's Seedling.

The first named is cultivated mainly because it is the earliest, but is evidentl}^ very dif-
ferent and inferior to the large Early Scarlet which is a little later. The Alice Maud is a
great favorite in this region, being almost as earl}'' as the preceding kinds, and much lar-
ger and more productive; for the late varieties, Hovey's Seedling is preferred.

It is a great object in that region to obtain the earliest variety, for on the 17th May, in
Washington, strawberries brought 01 per quart. Four daj's later they had fallen to 50
cents, and four days later still, the price had receded to 25 cents.

I noticed in all that region, the almost universal error prevalent in the cultivation of this
fine fruit, viz: an over-feeding of the vines, but a scanty supply of the essential elements
which go to compose the fruit, which, if judiciously applied, I am persuaded, would very
generally double the strawberry crop, at a trifling expense.

I was particularly interested to observe the manner by which Doctor B. succeeds in
bringing the earliest strawberries into market. He selects a coarse, gravel soil side-hill,
with a full exposure to the south, and then shelters the field from chill winds, by fences
on the rear, and often intermediate, not far distant, closely filled in with evergreen boughs.

A great variety and quantity of vegetables are here produced, among which were 30,000
cabbages, just coming into head, and for which an offer of five dollars per hundred had
just been refused, for the whole lot on the ground.

I was surprised to learn that these cabbages were sown last September, and had stood out
unprotected and uninjured last winter, where the thermometer touched 8° below zero, (the
coldest winter for twenty years.) This was the lowest point the thermometer reached with
us last winter. Tea and Noisette Roses I also saw at Dr. Batne's, growing finely, which
had remained out unprotected — while with us, if the thermometer reached to zero, we
should hardly have saved a plant. Why is this? Is it because our atmosphere is more
humid? R. G. Pardee.

Palmyra, May 15, 1S52

MEMORANDA ON THE CULTURE OF GRAPE-VINES.

BY H. G., BOSTON.

Mk. Editor — The following memoranda of the crop of grapes in a cold house, with a
roof, may be interesting to 3'our correspondent, H. B., and other cultivators
The season here is about a fortnight later than at Staten-Island.

CULTURE OF GRAPE-VINES.

1842, August 16, Pitniastons ripe.
Sept. 4, Black Ilamburghs, ripe.

1843, June 1, vines in bloom.
August 15, cut two bunches.

17, " ten

18 and 20, cut thirteen bunches.
26 and 27, " thirty-three.
15 to September 5, two hundred and forty.
Sept. 5 to Oct. 7, six or seven hundred.
After Oct. 7, six or seven hundred — the whole crop being fifteen hundred and
thirty-six bunches, on one hundred vines planted out in 1840, in outside border.

The following hints may be u.seful to those who are their own architects and gardeners:

1. Build with as much glass, and as little material that will condense moisture, as pos-
sible.

2. Place house east and west, and glaze ends as well as roof, and let it be exposed on all
sides to sun and light.

As this last direction differs from some opinions expressed in the Horticulturist, I give
the following reasons for it. I found a house so placed to answer perfectly well, and not
to have any inconvenience from too much heat on the south, or too little on the north side.
In some seasons, all the light and heat that can be obtained, is not too much to ripen the
wood thoroughly; and although I do not know that a house running north and south will
not answer perfectly well, yet I have some doubt whether the wood and fruit buds will
ripen as perfectly every year, as in one running east and west.

Hints for management. — 1. Uncover vines as early as they are perfectly safe from any
sudden check, or in this climate, about the first of May.

2. Force the growth as much as possible, by opening the house late and closing it
early, and giving but little air until the grapes begin to color. The degree of heat which
the vine will bear in our bright climate, is generally under-rated.

3. Keep the shoots constantly stopped a joint or two above the fruit,

4. Prune as soon as possible after wood is ripe, so that the wounds may heal before win-
ter. With attention to these few rules, a crop even of the Alexandria Muscat, (one of the
grapes not easily raised in England without fire,) may be secured every year in this cli-
mate, in a cold house; and any heating apparatus iseiitirel}'^ unnecessary, unless you wish
fruit before the middle of August.

Mr. Knight, in a paper read to the Horticultural Society, May, 1816, explains rery
full}' the forcing by closed houses, and sun heat. This article is well worth republishino-,
as it is especially applicable to this climate, where as j'our correspondent on the culture
of the Victoria Regia observes, a much greater degree of heat can be kept up, than in Eno--
land. I think it not impossible that grapes could be ripened in Ward's cases, in our
summer weather. I have kept a house closed for some time, I tbhik two or three weeks,
without injur}' to fruit or vines, in mid-summer. H. C.

Boston.

[As we recognise in the above, the pen of " one who knows," we take the occasion to
add that our preference for a north and south Vine for a viner}', must be taken as applica-
ble to the climate of this country generally — of wliich the middle states must be taken as
the average. The climate of Boston, (and New-England generally,) is much cooler in

er than that of Philadelphia — and therefore, so much less identical with that
countr}' generally. Ed.]

ZAUSCHNERIA CALIFORNICA.

ZAUSCHNERIA CALIFORNICA.

[FROM THE LONDON HORT. MAGAZINE]

Zauschneria Californica, Presl (Californian Zauschneria.) — Onagracese § Epilobese.

To the indifferent observer, there is not much resemblance between the Evening Prim-
rose and the Fuchsia; and yet, in fact, their structure so closely corresponds, that they
are ranged in the same natural family, —
that of Onagrace^. The resemblance, it
is true, is not so much in outward aspect
as in their internal structure, which, if
examined, will be found to present many
points of accordance. The Zauschneria,
however, to some extent, links them to-
gether even in outward aspect; the gene-
ral habit and appearance of this plant is
such as would be readily identified in ge-
ral character, by a slightly practiced eye,
with some of the forms of (Enothera, and
the blossoms are not unlike those of the
Fuchsia.

It will be seen that the number four, or
some multiple of four, prevails in the flo-
ral parts of all these plants; thus, the
calyx has four lobes, whether it be the
colored calyx of the Fuchsia, or the green
calyx of the Evening Primrose; the pe-
tals, also, are four in either case. In some
plants the order of the stamens are four,
in a few instances half four, and in the
Fuchsia, and many others, twice four;
the stigma is more often four-lobed, and in one species of Fuchsia these lobes are so appa-
rent, that it has in consequence, been named tetradactyla, or four-fingered. Where this
kind of structure is present, the plants are said to be tetramerous, from the Greek tetra,
which signifies four. Among exogenous plants, this tetramerous structure is not by any
means so common as the pentamerous, in which the number five rules in some or all of
the floral organs; while, on the other hand, among endogens, the parts are usually arrang-
ed by threes.

This Zauschneria has been for some time known and regarded as a desideratum for our
gardens. It has lately been obtained from the California fields, by Mr. Hartweg, the col-
lector for the Horticnltural Society of London, and proves to be, as was expected, a plant
of considerable beauty, and therefore a very interesting and valuable addition to our col-
lections. It is an herbaceous perennial, and quite hardy if planted in a situation where
it is not exposed to much damp about the roots in the winter season. Its habit is branch-
ing and bushy, and as it grows about three feet high, it forms, from its size, an object of
some attraction, e.sipecially as the blossoms are of large size, and very numerously produc-
The stems are furnished with ovate leaves, which are slightly toothed on the margin,
ttached without any intermediate stalk, or, as it called sessile. These stems become

PEACH TREES AT THE SOUTH.

much branched, and every one of the branches produces from the axils of the leaves to
wards its apex, one blossom, which assumes a nearly horizontal position, is about an inch
and a half in length, and is of a bright scarlet color. The calyx is tubular, with a four-
cleft apex, the sepals being rather narrow and sharp pointed, and the tube itself marked
with four stout ribs; the corolla consists of four petals, which are universally heart-shap-
ed, and spread out nearly or quite flat; the stamens, which are eight in number, and the
stigma which is four lobed, are all red, and project considerably beyond the corolla. It
will thus be seen, that although in many respects approaching near to a Fuchsia in ap-
pearance, it is, in fact, very distinct from that, and all other flowers at present cultivated
in our gardens, and will probably become highly prized as an ornamental species.

Mr. Hartweg found it "in fields about Santa Cruz, in California," from whence seeds
were sent, and received in England, in May, 1847. Sown in May, the seeds produced
plants which, though of perennial duration, blossomed by the month of September. Pro-
bably when established, it will be found to produce its blossoms throughout the summer sea-
son.

The cultivation of this plant is state.d in the Journal of the Horticultural Society, to
be extremely simple. " The plant grows freely in good garden soil, and is easily increas-
ed by cuttings or seeds." A warm dry situation would be the most likely to ensure
success in its cultivation.

[This pretty plant is quite hardy in our garden. Ed. Hort.]

NORTHERN PEACH TREES AT THE SOUTH.

BY EDWIN J. SCOTT, COLUMBIA, S. C.

The following remarks on northern fruit trees, from a correspondent in South Carolina,
deserve an insertion as a rejoinder to contrary statements from other experienced south-
ern cultivators. The question is an interesting one, and can only be settled by more tes-
timony, which we hope our southern readers will furnish. Ed.

Dear Sir — You have published one or two communications in the Horticulturist, from
Mr., Harwell, of Mobile, stating that northern peach trees had entirely failed to bear in
that vicinity for some years, and giving as the supposed reason, the strange fact that they
bloomed a month or six weeks after the native trees, and that, consequently, the fruit
was killed by late frosts in the spring. This writer seems to conclude that we ought
to depend entirely on southern trees for fruit.

Now, my experience has brought me to a different conclusion, and as there is beginning
to be considerable interest lelt among us in relation to the culture of fruit, it ma^^ not be
amiss to give that experience, and thus prevent others from being misled by those, and
similar publications.

The wise remark of a wise man, that " a great deal may be said on both sides," seems
particularly applicable in this case.

I shall confine myself strictly to what has occurred within my own knowledge — deem-
ing abstract reasoning on this point as worse than useless — it being always easy enough to
find reasons for any fact when once it has been established. Long and learned disquisi-
lave been published, to show that, according to scientific principles, northern
fitted by nature for a southern climate. That they will succeed in Columbia (

PEACH TREES AT THE SOUTH.

ever they may do in Mobile) I have proved beyond doubt, by repeated experiments with
in the last ten j'ears.

The first that I planted were purchased in 1842. As soon as they came into bearing, I
was so pleased with the fruit as to order more. Finding them to do well, I have planted
more or less every year since, budding and grafting from them as my leisure would allow,
and selling thousands just as received from New Jersey.

My trees have not failed to bear every year since they became old enough, although in
some very unfavorable seasons the crop has not been large. But Columbia is so happily
adapted to the production of peaches, that we rarely ever miss a crop — most generally
having so many as to break down the trees, and diminish the size of the fruit. In this
respect I see no difference between my northern and native trees.

Last year, notwithstanding repeated thinnings, my northern and other trees nearly all
broke with fruit, after having borne an abundant crop the year before; and yet this spring
they were overloaded again, till the very severe weather of the 19th and 20lhult. thinned
some of them out rather too much. Still there is a pretty fair crop left.

Those persons to whom I have sold trees generally make the same complaint, viz: that
they bear not too few, but too many.

Since the appearance of Mr. Harwell's piece in the Horticulturist last spring and this,
I have paid particular attention to the flowering of my northern and native trees, without
discovering any difference as to time, although they stand side by side. He says that in
Mobile the peach trees from the north bloom about the first of April — some six weeks
after those raised there. If they could be thus retarded here it would be their highest
recommendation, for then the crop would not fail more than one year in twenty through-
out the state — the late frosts here doing all the damage, and very seldom coming later
than the 10th or 15th of April, which would correspond with the 1st in Mobile. My
peaches when killed this year on the 19th of March, were about the size of a garden pea,
having the remains of the flower wrapped around the fruit. They would have escaped
of course, if they had not bloomed till the first or 15th of April.

If we could have any assurance that trees from the north would always arrive in good
condition, there would be no necessity for propagating them here, except certain choice
kinds, of which we have several not known or cultivated by their nurserymen; for many
of their peaches, especially the earlier varieties, are unsurpassed in quality, while the im-
mense quantities produced in some of the northern and middle states for sale has reduced
their prices very low.

But there is the risk of having unhealthy trees sent, of their drying out from bad pack-
ing, or a long voyage, and still more of their freezing on the way. From these several
causes many are lost every winter, and they are the only real objections to buying or
planting northern trees. The foregoing remarks apply to peaches only.

As to pear, plum, and cherry trees, we are dependent for the present almost altogether
on the north, there being no choice varieties among us but what have been brought from
abroad. Of course they can be propagated here, but it requires time. Out of Columbia I
know of no one engaged in raising them for sale in the state. Edwin J. Scott.

CRITIQUE ON THE MAY HORTICULTURIST.

CRITIQUE ON THE MAY HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREYS.

Brown Houses and Lightning Bods. — A man travelling in Yankee land, or 'iTork state,
as he works into the suburbs of the cities, and through the villages, finds nothing more com-
mon than pretending S7iU;^' colored hou.ses — not " rappee," which is a reasonably decent
color, by the way — but of the genuine " Maccaboy," or over-burnt coffee color; and ten
to one, the same thing bristling with lightning rods, like the bayonets in a stack of militia
muskets on a " training day." I once counted no less than twelve of these useless things
on one house and its attachments. " If you want to buin your house," said an old expe-
rienced builder to me one day, " put a lightning rod on to it, and you will succeed." I
b'ilieve in a majority of cases, a building is better without than with them, and more par-
ticularly if there be high trees in the vicinity.

As to the color of houses and out-buildings, there is no governing the " fashion" that
may prevail. Up to within ten years ago, white was the prevailing color of the good hou-
ses. Yellow or straw color, was used somewhat; and for farm houses, anything short of
a first class establishment, was either a Venitian Red or a Spanish Brown, if painted at
all. But somebody — no matter who, made a dash out of rule; smeared a house or two
with the vile pigment called " Victoria Brown," and since then it has been the color, par
excellence, for everybody's house, except now and then a man who had an idea of his own,
and thought he knew better than to stain his house with the vile compound. I trust some
of your readers will heed this article, and try to influence a better taste in his own neigh-
borhood.

The Victoria Regia. — It is a gratifying feature in American experiment, that where
pains be taken, and a corresponding expense be indulged, our gardeners equal, if they do
not excel, in the luxuriance of display, and the delicacy in flavor of their productions, the
corresponding examples in England, the landof all perfection in developing the most success-
ful results in almost everything which they, the English, undertake. Artificial heat and
ventilation there supplies the advantages of sunshine and air to an otherwise over-loaded
atmosphere of cloud and vapor, and the more gorgeous and luxuriant plants of the vegeta-
ble world are exhibited in all their native grandeur and magnificence. Thus the English
succeed in producing many articles of luxury to them, which our most negligent people
often have in profusion in their ill-worked gardens.

The journal — (for it is truly a journal — the stated accounts which Mr. Mkeiian has giv-
en of the progress of this noble flower of Mr. Copk's,) of the Victoria Regia under Ameri-
can cultivation, is full of instruction to all interested in the progress of floriculture in the
United States, and Mr. Cope is entitled to the gratitude of every lover of this most agree-
able branch of gardening, for his liberality and public spirit in introducing its cultivation
among us.

The Theory of Pruning. — Much ^ood sense, and sound observation, is embodied in
this article. Mr. Young is a close observer, and talks like one who has given nice prac-
tice to the development of his theor)'. Every fruit-grower should carefully examine this
paper, and he cannot but receive benefit in its suggestions.

Horticultural Notes from Michigan. — Mr. Adair has most opportunely opened a new
country for our investigation — Michigan — a state from which your readers have not
long time heard. One hundred and twenty-eight bushels of pears on a single tree,

CRITIQUE ON THE MAY HORTICULTURIST.

season ! "Well, Detroit " may walk up to the head." Why cannot Mr. Adair get some
of the soil analyzed, in which the luxuriant old pear trees grow, and see what it is com-
posed of? It would be gratifying to our pomologists to know. Still the fact of the anti-
quity of the trees, and their height and ciicumference, is not to be .doubted any more than
that they have always stood there, for all that any living man knows to the contrary. And
that the trees have been entirely neglected in their cultivation from infancy, is quite as
probable — for who ever knew a French habitan, or Corcur da 'bois, as that distant coun-
try was for two centuries inhabited with, to take care of any thing beyond his beaver
traps or fishing tackle?

When your new grafts on the old trees begin to bear, will you, Mr. Adair, be so kind
as to send to this paper, an account of the fruits produced. It will be an interesting sub-
ject. May we not, now the ice is out of Detroit river, again hear from that favored re-
gion ?

2^he Orange Pear once more. — When those two bellicose gentlemen get the Orange
Pear controversy down to a tangible point, I may have a word to say about it. Meantime
the world may learn something of the qualities which constitute a good table, and a good
cooking fruit, as distinguished from each other; for now, I venture to say, not one in ten
of our house-keepers, know the difference, although they have cooked fruit for fift3'^ years
of their lives, and will put one thing into the stew-pan, or the oven, as soon as they will
the other, and wonder, in both the cooking and the taste, what should make the difference
between them. These subjects should be better understood than they are.

As to the excellence of the Porter Apple, Mr. Allen has not a whit over-rated it. The
longer he tries it, the more confirmed will he be in its good qualities.

Warming and Ventilating Houses. — Read this over and again, every one who is build-
ing a house, and all who contemplate introducing stoves and warming apparatus of any
kind, into those already occupied. No more important subject can occupy your atten-
tion.

Messina, a Country Seat on the Hudson. — I never passed up or down the Hudson on
a pleasant day, and gazed on the magnificence of its scenery, and the grand old home-
steads of its ancient land-holders, but I found myself mentally breaking into the soul-
stirring lyric of Lord Byron, in Don Juan:

•' The mouulaiiis look on Marathon—
And Marathon looks on tlie sea;"

with the transposition of a word or two, so graphically does the description apply to these
noble houses. Nor can Childe Harold's glowing Rhapsody to the Rhine, exceed in truth
what may as well be said of the scenery along the Hudson:

" The caslled crag of Drachenfols

Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine,
Wliose breast of waters broadly swells

Bolween llie banks that bear the vine,
And liills all rich with Mossomed trees,

And fields which promise corn and wine,
And scattered cities crowning these,

Whose lar white walls along ihem shine.

* # *

The river nobly foams and flows.

The charm of this enchanted ground,
And all ils llionsand turns disclose

Some fresher beauty varying round."

fifty years from this, what river in the universe will equal the Hudson, in ils features
ountain, wood, and park, and lawn, and house and water, every where scattered

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

along its borders, and each enjoying its own peculiar point of sight and beauty? And yet,
most of the foreign tourists, who come here to make books about us and our country,
cannot discover anything remarkable in the scenery of the Hudson !

Messina is a grand house, — dignified, rich, and spacious; worth a score of the modern
Gothic and castellated gimcracks now getting to be so common, and built at a cost of
double the money. I wish j'ou had inserted the ground plan and in-door accommodation
as well, and then we could get a full idea of its character.

j^ppk tree Borers. — It is next to impossible to find the whereabouts of this destructive
insect by inserting a wire into the tree, by reason of its tortuous track inside the bark.
The worm does not go straight into the trunk from its entrance. Sometimes it will turn
up, or down, and progressing half an inch or more, will turn and wind half way round it
through the sap wood, and then work up or down again, as the case may be. There is
no so effectual way as to take a sharp pointed jack-knife, and cut at once into the tree at
its entrance, and follow the miscreant till you find him. It is sometimes a severe opera-
tion to the tree, I confess, but not fatal, and far better than to permit him to continue his
ravages. This is an effectual cure. The soap and tobacco may reach him, or it may not.
As a wash, however, it is good for the tree; and if it hit the grub it will destroy him. I
have sometimes followed him with my knife, for an inch or two, through a compact mass
of borings, which he had left in his rear, in which no wire could penetrate. In fact you
can be sure of nothing, short of a thorough search with the knife. Jeffreys.

lU HI Bin 3.

Rural Architecture; being a complete description of Parm-houses, Cottages, and out-
buildings. By Lewis F. Allen. New-York: Saxton, 1 vol. 384 p.p. 12 mo.
When a plain practical farmer undertakes to write a book on architecture, no one will ex-
pect his book to smack of Vitruvius or Palladio, any more than one would expect a
good house painter to turn out Vandykes and Raphaels. Accordingly, any one who
looks for very correct and studied architecture in Mr. Allen's excellent book will be dis-
appointed— since not one of the buildings represented in the volume would bear criticism
by the laws of beauty and proportion, which govern, or are supposed to govern, architec-
ture as a fine art.

Having said this, we are bound to add that the author entirely disclaims being an ar-
chitect, and begins his preface b}'' an apology for "attempting a work on a subject of
which he is not a professional master, either in design or execution."

On the other hand, we take great pleasure in saying that Mr. Allen has not written a
book like many books that are now inflicted upon the public, for either money or
fame, but because he had something to say. If he is not an architect, he is a sagacious
clear headed, American farmer, who knows, perhaps, better than most architects,
what sort of comforts and conveniences farmers want — and how to get at such a house,
and such barns and out-buildings as are really practicable, and adapted to the cir-
cumstances of an American farmer's life. Accordingly, every page is full of instruction
for those of the farming class who are about building, and instruction not drawn from
— but from actual experience — the experience of a man who lives, eats, drinks, and
like a farmer, and who makes all about him fall into its right place, and obey that

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

master spirit which marks the difference between the chaos of the sluggard, and the order
of the true husbandman.

Very few persons live upon a farm five years, without wishing to build something, if it
is only a piggery; but the misfortune of farmers as a class, has hitherto been, that for
the most part they " build as their fathers builded" — they take no pains to see what any
one with more knowledge or thought than themselves may have done; unlike mechanics
and manufacturers they seek none of the new improvements, and consequently, but for
Yankee plough makers, and inventors of all sorts, who wont let the farm escape them
althogether, they echo the song of the fishes who heard the sermon of Saint Anthony:

" Much delighted were they,
But preferred the old way."

Mr. Allen is none of this antideluvian race of farmers. He is for making the most of
farmers and farming — looking upon it as the occupation of occupations, and its followers
as men who ought live with less ostentation and more substantial comfort, than any other.
Ilis remarks on this topic are all in the right spirit, and though not original with him, it
is most gratifying to see by his utterance of them, the farming class and its wants vindi-
cated by a champion from among themselves. We have always noticed that in this coun-
try, any reform, to be salutary and progressive, must originate among the very men who
are in need of it; and architects may publish designs for farm houses for centuries, if far-
mers do not feel the need of any improvement; it is no better than preaching in English to
our Rocky Mountain Indians.

Hence, we look upon it as the great merit of Mr. Allen's book, that it will cause in
the farming class a desire for improvement, by placing before them plans of dwellings and
farm buildings adapted to their wants, and by treating of these wants in a way that they
can easily understand. Put a plain farmer in direct connection with an architect who
considers high art as the first end of his artistic existence, and the two parties will most
probably so completely misunderstand each other, as to do each other harm instead of
good. And besides this, American farmers, as a class, are not in want of the aid of pro-
fessional architects. Their homes would be qui^e spoiled to our own taste, if treated ac-
cording to any severe rules of art. We are most delighted with that farm house which is
most simply and directly expressive of a comfortable, substantial, rural life — with little
decorations except those of trees and vines, and characterised, inside and outside, by the
simplest good taste, and most direct expression of harmony, with the simple natural life
of the agriculturist in the midst of his fields. When we said that Mr. Allen's book had
very little architecture in it, we should not be understood to find fault with it on this ac-
count. K farmers can, by means of such works as this, be led to think for themselves on
the subject it treats of, and commence by raising their homes in the scale of comfort, utility
and convenience, and the charm of looking like farmer's houses, we shall feel confident that
beauty of form and expression will speedily follow.

The plans of farm-dwellings in this volume, are valuable mainly for the excellent com-
mon sense they show, and the knowledge of the wants of the farmer's every day life.
We are confident that an hour's study of them by any farmer about to build, will mate-
rially change and improve all his crude notions, and put him in the way of contriving,
with the aid of his carpenter, a very satisfactory home for himself. There is very little
aim at either elegance or beauty in the interior arrangement — but for the most part the
buildings do not demand it, and greater beauty of plan could not be achieved without
a neglect of the more obvious and necessary attributes and conveniences demanded
the minor conveniences of the form-house, wood-house, wash-house, piggery, stables

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

have not only been well considered, but their arrangement is generally such as to command
the greatest convenience and least loss of time and labor. The advantage of Mr. Allen's
plans for farm-houses, over most of those that have been published in the Agricultural
Journals, is very striking.

As regards the exterior of the designs, we are not so well satisfied. There is a want of
substaiice in the construction of the verandas, gables, and eaves, that conveys a flimsy ap-
pearance to a farm-house, which is quite contrary to the expression it should have. We very
well know that the reason of this is that they are, for the most part, wooden buildings —
and that cheapness leads our carpenters to build any thing of wood as light as possible.
Having constructed several wooden buildings on a somewhat contrary principle — making
all the thin lines twice as thick as usual, with the greatest improvement in appearance and
expression, we cannot but feel that cheap carpentry will always have a tendency to de-
grade the character of all our rural dwellings, so long as they are of wood. While wood
is cheaper than brick or stone, of course we must submit to this state of things — and it
is not, perhaps, unfitting to the still unsettled condition of our new country, that its first
dwellings should be of wood. But we miss in all our wooden farm-houses, that substan-
tial, solid, real look, that harmonizes so well both with rural life and pastoral scenery,
and which is always felt on seeing farm-houses well built of honest solid stone or brick.
Any one who has seen English form-houses, or some of the best specimens in Pennsylva-
nia, will at once understand what we mean.* It is the difference between froth and es-
sence— between flimsy make-shift and genuine fact. But this is, (at least in the country)
our wooden age, and Mr. Allen, as well as the majority of us, must accept it as such,
and build and live, for the time and generation, in wooden houses. But we would counsel
the farmers who can afford it, to give their wooden houses some appearance of solidity.
Let them thicken the eaves, make the veranda posts solid and heavy, and have no light
fancy work — and so eschew all those ghostly scantling apparitions of dwellings that rise up
under the saw and chisel of very cheap contracts all over the country.

Mr. Allen touches upon every thing that relates to the inside and outside of the house
or the farm, and if his straight forward, pithy remarks, will only be taken for their full
value, by the wives and daughters of the class to which he belongs, we shall speedily look
for a new and more healthy pulsation in the social heart of the masses of the people.
Having been preaching the same kind of doctrine for some time past ourselves, we need
not say that we most cordially agree with all our author says in the following remarks on
" house and cottage furniture:"

" House and Cottage Furniture. — This is a subject so thoroughly discussed in the
books, of late, that anything which may here be said, would avail but little, inasmuch as
as our opinions might be looked upon as " old-fashioned," " out of date," and " of no
account whatever," — for wonderfully modern notions in room-furnishing have crept into
the farm house, as well as into town houses. Indeed, we confess to altoge'her ancient
opinions in regard to househould furniture, and contend, that, with a few exceptions,
" modern degeneracy" has reached the utmost stretch of absurdit}', in house-furnishing,
to which the ingenuity of man can arrive. Fashions in furniture change about as often as
the cut of a lady's dress, or the shape of her bonnet, and pretty much from the same
source, too — the fancy shops of Pare, once, in good old English, Paris, the capital city of
France. A farmer, rich or poor, may spend half his annual income, every year of his
life, in taking down old, and putting up new furniture, and be kept uncomfortable all the

* The common prejudice against the old stone or brick houses, on account of their dampness, is of no moment in a
house, the walls of which are firred off.

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

time; when, if he will, after a quiet, good tempered talk with his better half, agree with
her upon the list of necessary articles to make them really comfortable ; and then a cata-
logue of what shall comprise the luxurious part of their furnishings, which, when provi-
ded, they will fixedly make up their mind to keep, and be content with, they will remain
entirely free from one great source of " the ills which flesh is heir to."

" It is nleasant to see a youngcouple setting out in their housekeeping life, well provided
with convenient and properly selected furniture, appropriate to all the uses of the family;
and then to keep, and use it, and enjoy it, like contented, sensible people; adding to it,
now and then, as its wear, or the increasing wants of their family may require. Old fa-
miliar things, to which we have long been accustomed, and habituated, make up a round
share of our actual enjoyment. A family addicted to constant change in their household
furniture, attached to nothing, content with nothing, and looking with anxiety to the
next change of fashion which shall introduce something new into the house, can take no
sort of comfort, let their circumstances be ever so affluent. It is a kind of dissipation in
which some otherwise worthy people are prone to indulge, but altogether pernicious in the
indulgence. It detracts, also, from the apparent respectability of a family to find nothing
old about them — as if they themselves were of yesterday, and newly dusted out of a
modern shop-keeper's stock in trade. The furniture of a house ought to look as though
the family within it once had a grandfathei' — and as if old things had some veneration
from those who had long enjoyed their service.

" We are not about to dictate, of what fashion household furniture should be, when se-
lected, any further than that of a plain, substantial, and commodious fashion, and that it
should comport, so far as those requirements in it will admit, with the approved modes
of the day. But we are free to say, that in these times the extreme of absurdity, and
unfitness for use is more the fashion than anything else. What so useless as the modern
French chairs, standing on legs like pipe-stems, garote-ing j'our back like a rheumatism,
and frail as the legs of a spider beneath you, as you sit in it; and atribeof equally worth-
less incumbrances, which absorb your money in their cost, and detract from your comfort,
instead of adding to it, when you have got them; or a bedstead so high that you must
have a ladder to climb into it, or so low as to scarcely keep you above the level of the
floor, when lying on it. No; give us the substantial, the easy, the free, and enjoyable
articles, and the rest may go to tickle the fancy of those who have a taste for them. Nor
do these flashy furnishings add to one's rank in society, or to the good opinion of those
whose consideration is most valuable. Look into the houses of those people who are the
really substantial and worthy of the land. There will be found little of such frippery
with them. Old furniture, well preserved, useful in everything, mark the well-ordered
arrangement of their rooms, and give an air of quietude, of comfort, and of hospitality
to their apartments. Children cling to such objects in after life, as heir-looms of aflection
and parental regard.

"Although we decline to give specific directions about what varieties of furniture should
constitute the furnishings of a house, or to illustrate its style or fashion by drawings, and
content ourselves with the single remark, that it should, in all cases, be strong, plain, and
durable — no sham, nor ostentation about it — and such as is made for use ; mere trinkets
stuck about the room, on center tables, in corners, or on the mantel-piece, are the foolish-
est things imaginable. They are costly; they require a world of care, to keep them in
condition; and then, with all this care, they are good for nothing, in any sensible use
have frequently been into a country house, where we anticipated better things
being introduced into the "parlor," actually found everything in the furniture

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

dainty and '' prinked up," that we were afraid to sit down on the frail things stuck
around by way of seats, for fear of breaking them; and everything about it looked so
gingerly and inhospitable, that we felt an absolute relief when we could fairly get out of
it, and take a place by the wide old fireplace, in the common living room, comfortably en-
sconced in a good old easy, high-backed, split-bottomed chair — there was positive comfort
in that, when in the "parlor" there was nothing but restraint and discomfort. No;
leave all this vanity to town-folk, who have nothing better — or who, at least, think they
have — to amuse themselves with: it has no fitness for a country dwelling, whatever. All
this kind of frippery smacks of the boarding school, the pirouette, and the dancing mas-
ter, and is out of character for the farm, or the sensible retirement of the country.

" In connection with the subject of furniture, a remark may be made on the room ar-
rangement of the house, which might, perhaps, have been more fittingly made when dis-
cussing that subject, in the designs of our houses. Some people have a marvellous pro-
pensity for introducing into tlicir houses a a suite of rooms, connected by wide folding-
doors, which must always be opened into each other, furnished just alike, and devoted to
extraordinary occasions; thus absolutely sinking the best rooms in the house, for display
half a dozen times in the year, and at the sacrifice of the every day comfort of the family.
This is nothing but a bastard taste, of the most worthless kind, introduced from the city
— the propriety of which, for city life, need not here be discussed. The presence of such
arrangement, in a country house, is fatal to everything like domestic enjoyment, and al-
ways followed by great expense and inconvenience. No room, in any house, should be
too good for occupation by the family themselves — not every day, and common place —
but occupation at any and all times, when convenience or pleasure demand it. If a large
room be required, let the single room itself be large; not sacrifice an extra room to the
occasional extension of the choicer one, as in the use of folding-doors must be done. This
" parlor" maj' be better furnished — and so it should be — than any other room in the house.
Its carpet should be not too good to tread, or stand upon, or for the children to roll and
tumble upon, provided their shoes and clothes be clean. Let the happy little fellows roll and
tumble on it, to their heart's content, when their mother or elder sisters are with them —
for it ma}^ be, perhaps, the most joyous, and most innocent pleasure of their lives, poor
things! The hearth rug should be in keeping with the carpet, also, and no floor-cloth
should be necessary to cover it, for fear of soiling; but everything free and easy, with a
comfortable, inviting, hospitable look about it.

" Go into the houses of our great men — such as live in the countrj' — whom God made
great, not money — and see how theij live. We speak not of statesmen and politicians
alone, but great merchants, great scholars, great divines, great mechanics, and all men
who, in mind and attainments, are head and shoulders above their class in any of the
walks of life, and you find no starch or flummery about them. AVe once went out to the
country house — he lived there all the time for that matter — of a distinguished banker of
one of our great cities, to dine, and spend the day with him. lie had a small farm at-
tached to his dwelling, where he kept his horses and cows, his pigs, and his poultry. He
had a large, plain two-story cottage house, with a piazza running on three sides of it,
from which a beautiful view of the neighboring city, and water, and land, was seen in
nearly all directions. He M'as an educated man. His father had been a statesman of
distinguished ability and station at home, and a diplomatist abroad, and himself educated
in the highest circle of business, and of societj^. His wife, too, was the daughter of a
distinguished city merchant, quite his equal in all the accomplishments of life. H
wealth was competent; he was the manager of millions of the Avealth of others; and

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

station in society was of the highest. Yet, with all this claim to pretension, his house
did not cost him eight thousand dollars — and he built it by " days-work," too, so as to
have it faithfully done: and the furniture in it aside from library, paintings, and statuary,
never cost him three thousand. Every room it. it was a plain one, not more highly finish-
ed than many a farmer's house can afford. The furniture of every kind was plain, saving,
perhaps, the old family plate, and such as he had added to it, which was all substantial
and made for use. The younger children — and of these, younger and older, he had seve-
ral— we found happy, healthy, cheerful, and frolicking on the carpets; and their worthy
mother, in the plainest, yet altogether appropriate garb, was sitting among them, at her
family sewing, and kindly welcomed us as we took our seats in front of the open, glowing
fireplace. "Why, sir," we exclaimed, rubbing our hands in the comfortable glow of
warmth which the fire had given — for it was a cold December day — " you are quite plain,
as well as wonderfully comfortable, in your country house — quite diiferent from your
former city residence!" " To be sure we are," was the reply; " we stood it as long as

we could, amid the starch and the gimcracks of street, where we rarely had a day

to ourselves, and the children could never go into the streets but they must be tagged and
tasselled, in their dress, into all sorts of discomfort, merely for the sake of appearance.
So, after standing it as long as we could, my wife and I determined we would try the
country, for a while, and see what we could make of it. We kept our town-house, into
which we returned for a winter or two; but gave it up for a permanent residence here,
with which we are perfectly content. We see here all the friends we want to see; we all
enjoy ourselves, and the children are healthy and happy." And this is but a specimen
of thousands of families in the enjoyment of country life, including the families of men
in the hishest station, and possessed of sufficient wealth.

" Why, then, should the farmer ape the fashion, and the frivolity of the butterflies of
town life, or permit his fimily to do it? It is the sheerest possible folly in him to do so.
Yet, it is a folly into which many are imperceptibly gliding, and which, if not reformed,
will ultimately lead to great discomfort to themselves, and rain to their families. Let
thoughtless people do as they choose. Pay no attention to their extravagance; but watch
them for a dozen years, and see how they come out in their fiishionable career; and ob-
serve the fate of their families, as they get " established" in the like kind of life. He
who keeps aloof from such temptation, will then have no cause to regret that he has main-
tained his own steady course of living, and taught his sons and daughters that a due at-
tention to their own comfort, with economical habits in everything relating to house-keep-
ing, will be to their lasting benefit in future."

Another point in which we join hands entirely with the author, is his dislike of close
stoves, which seem to have crept into farmer's houses, even of the best description, to steal
away both health and cheerfulness from the family circle. We have but little respect for
those housewives or their daughters, who tell us it " is so much less trouble" to use a
close stove, when we know that this grudgery of trouble lays the foundation of innume-
rable diseases, and costs ten times its value in doctor's bills. Though we observe that in
compliance with the building fashion of the day, Mr. Allen has omitted all open fire-pla-
ces in his bed-rooms, and only shown flues for stove-pipes, he protests against the stove
poison in the following frank and straight forward manner:

" The general introduction of cooking stoves, and other stoves and apparatus for warm-
ing houses, within the last twenty years, which we acknowledge to be a great acquisition
in comfort as well as in convenience and economy, has been carried to an extrem
only in shutting up and shutting out the time honored open fireplace and its broad h

FOREIGN AND mSCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

stone, with their hallowed associations, but also in prejudice to the health of those who
so indiscriminately use them, regardless of other arrangements which ought to go with
them. A farm house should never be built without an ample, open fireplace in its kitchen,
and other principally occupied rooms; and in all rooms where stoves are placed, and fires
are dailj'- required, the open Franklin should take place of the close or air-tigiii, stove, un-
less extraordinary ventilation to such rooms be adopted also. The great charm of the
farmer's winter evening is the open fireside, with its cheerful blaze and glowing embersj
not wastefully expended, but giving out that genial warmth and comfort which, to those
who are accustomed to its enjoyment, is a pleasure not made up by any invention what-
ever; and although the cooking stove or range be required — which, in addition to the fire-
place, we would always recommend, to lighten female labor — it can be so arranged as not
to interfere with the enjoyment or convenience of the open fire."

One of the most valuable parts of the book is the latter half, in which all the out-build-
ings of the farm— bee-house, piggery, poultry-houses, dairy buildings— as well as domes-
tic animals of all kinds, are briefly and practically treated of. Here Mr. Allen is com-
pletely at home, and his remarks will be texts for those who are beginners in those mat-
ters. Altogether, we look upon his volume as one of the most valuable contributions to the
country library yet made by an American farmer. It is a good harbinger of that general
enlightenment of our great industrial class, that we so fully believe to await the American
agriculturists.

/nrrign nnli Bistrllnnratts Sntitri

Liquid M'anure.— There is nothing in the
able Report of the Board of Health, of more
horticultural importance than the evidence col-
lected on the mode of applying liquid manure.
Not that it contains any tiling new u{)on the sub-
ject, but because what it does contain is well
put, and ably illustrated. Our own columns
bear ample testimony to the difficulty of im-
pressing upon the minds of gardeners the ex-
treme importance of employing such fluids in a
state of great dilution; for, notwithstanding our
repeated warnings, and the wise practice of their
neighbors, men are still to be found so unintel-
ligent as to insist upon using strong liquid ma-
nure. " How strong may I make it?" says one
correspondent. "Of what use is it, if it be weak?"
writes another. " Why can't I i)ut on plenty at
once, instead of being always at it?" demands
a third. In vain we advise, in vain point out
reasons; we find the same class of questions in-
cessantly repeated. Let us hope that the fol-
lowing quotation from the Report before us will
assist in dispersing the mistiness which still ho-
vers over some portions of the horticultural
mind :

" Sir Joseph Paxton collects at Chatsworth
the manure water from water-closets, horse-
dung linings, and various other sources, into
large covered tanks; the waste also from a small
is emptied into one of these, bj' which
means the solution becomes very thin. The li-

quid so collected passes almost immediately in-
to a state of incipient or partial decomposition,
and thus becomes fit for the food of vegetation ;
when drawn off for use, if is always greatly di-
luted with water, and never supplied except
when the plants are in a state of activity and
growth ; otherwise he considers the eflects
would in many cases be prejudicial, rather than
otherwise. It is used by him liberally to vine
borders, peach trees, melons, cucumbers, pines
and other fruits, with the most powerful and sa-
tisfactory results; in fact, the use of plant food
in a liquid state, if properly prepared and ad-
ministered, supersedes in a great degree, the ne-
cessity for manure in a solid form ; and the pro-
duce in favor of the liquid greatly preponde-
rates, being both larger in quantity and weight,
richer in color, and superior in flavor.

"These advantages, however, could not be
secured with certainty, unless the solution were
so prepared as to suit the habits and require-
ments of the various plants to which it is sup-
plied. This preparation is of two kinds: — first,
by diluting the liquid sufficiently with waterto
prevent the spongioles of roots becoming glut-
ted with too great a supply of food ; and, sec-
ondly, rendering it of a proper temperature by
the addition of hot water. Pines require the
li(iuid at about a heat of 80° Fahr., and other
plants in proportion ; fruit trees, and other open
air product.";, however, do not necessarily re-

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

quire the addition of hot water to the same ex-
tent as in-door produce, but are, notwithstand-
ing, much benefitted by receiving it in a mode-
rately warm state. Wherever a steam engine
is employed. Sir Joseph Paxton's practice of
artificially warming the liquid manure, might
be easily adopted, by allowing some of the waste
steam to blow through the tank or pipe. Ex-
perience has, however, amply shown, that for
ordinary crops, sewerage in its usual state is the
most valuable manure that has yet been intro-
duced.

" By attention chiefly to the proper adminis-
tration of liquid food, and other suitable appli-
ances, the Pine-apple, a plant formerly consi-
dered of so slow a growth as to require three
years before it could produce full sized fruit,
has, by Sir Joseph, been so hastened in its
growth, as to yield, within an average of fifteen
months, a fiir greater supply of finer fruit than
was formerly produced by three years' expense
and labor. From every day's experience, an
instance or two out of a multitude might be ci-
ted by way of illustrating that even a much
shorter period than fifteen months, is not unfre-
quently sufiicient to accomplish all that could
be desired. An ordinary sucker of a Provi-
dence Pine was detached from the old stock
during the month of March , and was planted
out in a prepared bed of soil in a pit, and in the
following August it produced a ripe, well-grown
fruit, weighing 8 lbs. Two suckers, also, of a
Cayenne Pine were sejiarated and planted out
in April, and in the following September one
of them produced a fruit weighing 7^ pounds,
and the other one 8 pounds. A large pit of
Cayenne suckers of various sizes, were planted
out in a pit last spring, and in the autumn, the
fruit, when ripened , gave an average of one
pound in weight, fur every month the plants had
grown. These were not isolated or oxtraordi-
nar}' instances of early production, but the com-
mon and natural result of this system of culture,
which stimulates to extraordinary growth, and
the most perfect development. The effects of
liquid manure, when applied to the roots of
vines in pots, and on rafters, and to cucumbers
and melons, are equally apparent ; the leaves
assume a rich deep color, become large and
spreading, the growth is rapid and healthy, and
the produce is invariably fine, plump, and be-
comes quickly matured."

In all this statement there is nothing except
what every intelligent gardener can confirm ;
especially those parts printed in italics. The
whole art of liquid manuring, is, in fact, com-
prehended in the foregoing extract.

Let the manure be extremely weak ; it is idle
to ask how weak ; liquid manure owes its value
to matters that may be applied with considera-
ble latitude; for they are not absolute poisons,
like arsenic and corrosive sublimate, but only
dangerous when in a state of concentration.
Gas water illustrates this suflHciently well; pom-
it over a plant in the caustic state in which it
comes from gas works, and it takes off every

leaf, if nothing worse ensues. Mix it with half
water — still it burns ; double the quantity once
more — it may still burn, or discolor foliage
somewhat; and if it does not, much of what
falls upon a plant is necessarily lost. But add
a tumbler of gas-water to a bucket full of pure
water, no injury whatever ensues; add two tum-
bles full, and still the effect is salubrious, not
injurious. Hence it appears to be immaterial
whether the proportion is the hundredth or the
two hundredth of the fertilising material . Ma-
nuring is, in fact, a rude operation in which con-
siderable latitude is allowable. The danger of
error lies on the side of strength, not of weak-
ness. To use liquid manure very weak, and
A'Cry often, is, in fact, to imitate nature, than
whom we cannot take a safer guide. This is
shown by the carbonate of ammonia carried to
plants in rain, which is not understood to con-
tain, under ordinary circumstances, more than
one grain of ammonia in one pound of water ;
so that in order to form a liquid manure of the
strength of rain water, one pound of the carbo-
nate of ammonia would have to be diluted with
about 7,000 pounds weight of water, or mure
than three tons. Let us not be misunderstood.
We do not mean to say that any such dilution
as this is absolutely necessary ; we only point to
the very significant fact, that in the operations
of nature, dilution is enormously beyond what
cultivators usually dream of.

Let such manure he applied only u-hen plants
are in a growing state. In addition to Sir Jo-
seph Paxton's evidence, and to the general no-
toriety of this rule, may be usefully added a
statement made by Mr. Mitchell, Lord Elles-
mere's gardener, and quoted by the Board of
Health. This experienced cultivator says —

" That he has never seen any manure produce
so good a crop of strawberries as the liquid (i.
e. town or sewer manure.) has this year done
at the Worsley Hall gardens. Manure, he adds,
' often causes a crop of strawberries to be lost,
by forcing the growth of leaves. Liquid may
be applied just when the plants are forming
their Jlower biids,AXii\ the strength of the manure
is spent in producing fruit, not leaves. When
the plants were bearing, it could be seen to a
plant how far the irrigation had extended."

Indeed, it should be ovious. that since liquid
manure owes its value to itsbeing in the state in
which plants can immediately consume it, to
administer it when they are incapable of con-
suming it, that is to say, when they are not
growing, is most absurd. This is, however, a
point concerning which more requires to be said
than we can to day find room for. Lindley —
Gard. Chronicle.

Chinese Plants. — At last the mystery of the
Yellow Camellia is solved, and we may final-
ly make up our minds that De Candolle's
theory of colors is valueless. It was an inge-
nious idea to divide all i)lants between one or
the other of two series; the xanthic, or yell
species, never jiassing into blues; and the
anic or blue species never passing into

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

But the exceptions prove too many for tlie rnle ;
and we must not be startled at a blue dahlia,
although the Dahlia is xanthic, since we have a
yellow Gunii-'llia, although the Camellia is cyanic.
Mr. Fortune, in his very instructive work on
the tea countries of China, just published, saw
this remarkable variety, of which he gives the
following account:

"Those who have read my 'Wanderings in
China' may remember a story I told of my en-
deavors to find a yellow Camellia, — how I of-
fered live dollars for one — how a Chinaman .soon
found two instead of one — and how he got the
money and I got taken in.

'■ In one of tliese nurseries, however, I found
a yellow Camellia, and it was in bloom when I
bought it. It is certainly a most curious plant,
although not very handsome. The flowers be-
long to the Anemone or AVarratah class ; the
outer petals are of a French white, and the in-
ner ones are of a primrose yellow. It ajjpears
to be a very distinct species in foliage, and may
probably turn out more hardy than any of its
race."

To all lovers of horticulture, the work from
which this is an extract, is indispensable, for it
abounds in interesting details respecting, not
merely the novelties met Avith by the enterpris-
ing traveller, but many of the now common fa-
vorites in our gardens. The passages which re-
late to some of them cannot be brought too
soon under the notice of our readers.

Of the Funereal Cyjiress he gives the follow-
ing account :

" The most beautiful tree found in this dis-
trict is a species of weeping Cyjjress, which I
had never met with in any other part of China,
and which was quite new to me. It was during
one of my daily rambles that I saw the first
specimen. About half a mile distant from
where I was, I observed a noble looking Fir tree,
about 60 feet in height, havinga stem as straight
as the Norfolk Island Pine, and weeping branch-
es like the Willow of St. Helena. Its branches
grew at first at right angles to the main stem,
then described a graceful curve upwards, and
bent again at their points. From these main
branches others long and slender hung down
perpendicularly, and gave the whole tree a
weeping and graceful form, It reminded me
of some of those large and gorgeous chandeliers,
sometimes seen In theatres and public halls in
Europe."

The gardeners at Shanghae seem to set an
example of skill which some of our own people
would do well to imitate. In the midst of win-
ter, in as bad a climate as that of London, the
flower shops were gaily filled:

" I was not previously aware that tlic practice
of forcing flowers was common in China. Many
plants of Magnolia purpurea were in full flower ;
as were also many kinds of double-blossomed
Peaches, the pretty little Prunus sinensis alba,

d a variety of Camellias. But what struck
most remarkable was the facility with
the Moutan Paeony had been brought

into full bloom. Several varieties of this plant
were in full flower; and at this season of the
year, when everything out of doors was cold
and dreary, they hadumo.st lively efiiect. Their
blooms were tied up, to keep them from ex-
panding too rapidly. All these things had been
brought from the celebrated city of Soo-chow-
foo, the great emporium of Chinese fashion and
luxury.

" /< may be thought that the Chinese have
glass houses, hot water pipes, and all those fine
things which assist gardeners and amateurs in
Europe. Nothing of the kind; they do all
these things ia their houses and sheds, with com-
mon charcoal fires, and a quanldy of straw
to stop up the crevices in the doors and win-
dows.

•' At this season of the year the ' Kum-quat'
(Citrus japonica,) which is extensivelj' grown
in pots, is literally covered with its small, oval,
orange colored fruit. This as well as various
other species of the orange is mixed with the
forced flowers, and together produce an excel-
lent effect. I think if the ' Kum-quat' was bet-
ter known at home it would be highly prized
for decorative purposes during the winter
months. It is much more hardy than any other
of its tribe; it produces its flowers and fruit in
great abundance, and it would doubtless prove
a plant of easy cultivation. In order, however,
to succeed with it as well as the Chinese do, one
little fact should be kept in view, namely, that
all the plants of the Orange tribe which bear
fruit in a small state are grafted."

Of the management of the Chrysanthemum
we have excellent ])ractical details:

•' The method of cultivating the Chrysanthe-
mum in Cliina is as follows : — Cuttings are struck
every year from the young shoots, in the same
manner as we do in England. AVhen they are
rooted they are potted off" at once into the pots
in which they are to grow and bloom; that is,
they are grown upon what would be called by
our gardeners ' the one shift system.'

" The soil u.sed in potting is of a very rich
description. About Canton it is generally ob-
tained, in the first instance, from the bottom of
lakes or ponds, where the Nelumbium or Wa-
ter Lily grows. It is then laid up to dry and
pulverise for some months, Avhen it is mixed
with old night-soil taken from the mantire-tanks
found in every garden. A heap of this kind,
after being laid up for some time and frequently
turned over, is in a fit state for potting the Chry-
santhemum. Manure water, taken also from
the tanks, is liberally supplied during the grow-
ing .season, and its effects are visible in luxuriant
dark-green loaves whicli cover the plants.

" In forming the plants into nice compact
bushes, which, with due deference to Chinese
taste, I think much prettier than animals and
' seven-storied pagodas,' their system is as fol-
lows: The i)lants are trained each with a single
stem ; this is forced to serd out numerous la
terals near its base, and these are tied d
a neat and regular manner with strin

FOREIGN ANB MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

thread. By having the plants clothed with
branches in this waj', and bj' keeping the leaves
in a green and healtliy state, the specimens never
liave that bare and broom-headed appearance
which they often present in England when they
are taken into the green-house in winter.

" About Shanghae and Ning-po the Chrysan-
tliemum is still better managed than it is near
Canton ; but the success which attends it may
be attributed, partlj^ at least, to the more fa-
vorable nature of the climate, the plant being
indigenous to the central or more nortliern parts
of the empire. The system of cultivation is
nearly the same — the main points attended to
being those which have been noticed, namely,
clioosing a rich soil, planting at once into large
pots, training to a single stem, and inducing it
to send out numerous laterals, and giving libe-
ral supplies of manure water during the growing
season. The Chinese are fond of liaving very
large blooms, and, in order to obtain these, they
generally pick oft' all the small flower buds."

Here is a grai)hic descrijjtion of a Cryptome-
ria, from which we may judge what it ought to
become among our.selves:—

" Never in my life had I seen such a view as
this, so grand, so sublime. High ranges of
mountains were towering on my right and on
my left, while before me. as far as the eye could
reach, the whole country seemed broken up in-
to mountains and hills of all heights, with peaks
of every form.

While gazing with wonder and admiration on
the scene, my attention was arrested by a soli-
tary Pine tree of great size, standing about a
hundred yards from the gateway. No otlier
trees of any size were near it. Its solitary posi-
tion near the pass, and its great height and
beautiful symmetry, made it appear a most
striking object. ' AVhat could it be? was it new,
or did we already possess it in England?' I
must confess that for a few seconds I had
eyes for notliing else. Chairs, coolies, and
mountains were all forgotten, and I believe, had
the guard of Celestials attempted to prevent me
from going into Fokien, the only boon I should
asked at their hands would have been to be al-
lowed to go and inspect this noble Pine.

The Chinese guard, liowever, had not the
slightest intention of interfering with my move-
ments, and, as the tree was on the roadside, I
soon came up to it, and found it to be the Japan
Cedar (Cryi)tomeria japonica,) a ti-ee which I
had already introduced into England , and which,
even in a young state, had been greatly admired
there. I had never before seen such a noble
specimen, and. although I would rather it had
been something new, I yet felt proud of having
been the means of introducing into Europe a
tree of such size, symmetry, and beauty. It
was at least 120 feet in height,— it might be
nmch more. — as straight as a larch, and had its
lower branches droo]iing to the ground. It had
been 'lopped,' like other Chinese trees, and
idently ])reserved with great care My
inamen looked upon it with great admiration,

and informed me it was the only specimen of the
kind in this part of the country, and that it had
been planted by some former emperor when he
crossed the mountains."

Cunninghamia lanceolata would seem to be
a much finer thing than in this country it is be-
lieved to be:

" The sides of the mountainshere were cloth-
ed with dense woods of the lance-leaved Pine
(Cumiinghamia lanceolata.) This was the first
time I had seen this Fir tree of sufficient size
to render it of value for its timber. Many of
the specimens were at least 80 feet in height,
and perfectl}- straight. There was a richness
too in the aj)pearance of its foliage which I had
never seen befoie; sometimes it was tif a deep
green color, while at others it was of a bluish
tint. There are, doubtless, many varieties of
this tree amongst these hills."

But we must close our extracts from Mr.
Fortune's book. Upon the main object of it,
namely, the character of the Tea countries of
China, and the Tea plantations of India, and
upon the able manner in which the author exe-
cuted a delicate and somewhat dangerous task,
we shall have something to say next week. —
Gard. Chronicle.

Rhapsodies about Roses. — ■

Old EiiglaiicVs emblem is the Rose ;

There is no other flower
With half the graces that adorn

This heauly of llie l)0\verl
And England's dau-jhters are as fair

As any bud that blows!
■What son of hers that hath not loved

Some bonny English Rose !

I blush, almost as deep a crimson as '• Geant
des Batailles, H. P.," when I confess that for
a quarter of a century I walked ■' this goodly
frame, the earth," with about as much appre-
ciation of the beauties of Flora as a hii)i)opota-
mus. If in childhood I had some respect for
the Cowslip, it was only in anticipation of its
sparkling wine ; and no sooner was I promoted
to port, than I coldly abandoned my former
friend to its graminivorous synonyme. Pomona
was the goddess of my youth; and the sacrifices
which I made unto her (upon the altar of our
family medicine chest) were great mdeed. " 0
dura puerorum ilia .'" it makes me sliuddcr to
recall how I cranched those huge green Goose-
berries! Mine early manhood bronghtno change,
though oft I gave my guineas for bouquets;
and, when there was a show at Chiswick, wore
raiment which defied the showers, and laughed
expense to scorn. There might have been, so
beautiful was my apparel, a special i)rize for
"gent's best primrose kids," and a Banksian
medal, as big as a warming pan, for the neatest,
glos.siest pair of patent morning boots! " Ac-
coutred as I was," have I many a time strolled
through those tented gardens, and never (for I
will make a clean brea.st of it) never looked at
a flower. Those Pinks. Carnations, Roses, and
Tulips, which require the protection of
net, monopolised my admiring gaze,

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

sought for " Heartsease" within my breast, but
found, (oh, dash my " Bachelor's Buttons!")
nothing but " Love-Lies- Bleeding!" "Have
you seen the beautiful Polly- Anthusi" I was
asked one day by a friend. " No," I replied,
'■ do point her out ; and may I beg you to in-
troduce me?" Of course, he never forgot it,
and had great subsequent fun at my expense in
inquiring " if I wished an introduction to Mary-
Gold, or Hannah-Ga.\\K, or jVis«-Embryanthe-
mum, or /o/in-Quil, or J?i7/-Bergia." * *
Thus " sans eyes, sans nose," (floriculturally)
did I missi)end five-and-twenty years. Then I
was converted, and thus, one evening, —

" 'T was ill the prime of sumner lime,
All evening calm and cool,"

I wandered to my favorite garden chair, with a
cigar de la-premiere qualite, to digest my din-
ner and tlie last new novel. There was, I re-
member in both, a considerable proi)ortion of
calfs head ; and altogether, having left Oxford,
and not being particularly in love at the time,
I felt, what the author of the novel aforesaid
would term, '^ triste" and '• e/iHwie," doubtful
of the veracity of the poet who wrote about
"Home, sweet home," and, like Goldsmith's
" Traveller,"—

"Remote, unfriended, melanclioly, jioto."

In such a mood, and resting my eyes for a mo
ment from the wearisome trash, so liberally ad*
ministered to the public at half-a-guinea a vo-
lume, something flashed before them, and I saw
— A Rose! It glowed with such an intensity
of vivid crimson ; it shot such sparks of fire
from its brilliantly scarlet centre, that I believe
it was a special missionary from Flora, and that
such a bloom of Rose " D'Aguesseau, Gallica,"
was never seen before nor since. Away went
the cigar, and the still more weedy novel, and
I stooped over the flower with all the love and
enthusiasm of a neophyte. Mr. Vincent Crumm-
ies could not have felt more admiration when he
first saw the future Jlrs. C, as '• she stood up-
on her head on the butt-end of a spear, sur-
rounded by blazing fireworks!" • • • •
But, seriou.sly, and passing "from gay to grav^,
from lively to severe," I count that hour among
the happiest of my life, for I date therefrom so
many of its purest jjleasures ; and then first I
experienced that indescribable but intense feel-
ing of reverential joy, v.-hich the true florist
knows when he " looks through nature up to
nature's God," and "admiring, cannot but
adore." * • » The next evening found me
seated as before, but my book was " Rivers on
the Rose." S. R. H.—Gard. Chronicle.

Dnmrstir IJntirrs.

KiosQUEs OR Summer Houses. —(SeeFrontis-
piece.) — Having given iii other numbers, sketch-
es of summer houses, or covered garden seats,
in rustic work — as the least expensive and most
ajjpropriate for themajority of situations, where
such structures are needed in grounds, we pre-
sent in our Frontispiece this month, a couple of
sketches of Kioscjues, from oriental gardens.
In the warm climates of the East, the delight
of gardens seems to be enjoyed more by looking
at them from summer houses, than rambling
about in them, and examing them in detail.
Accordingly there is a great deal of fancy and
considerable taste exercised in the East in these
buildings — usually of wood, built in light and
pleasing forms. The roof may be covered with
canvass, stretched over a wooden frame; when
well painted, this forms the most durable cover-
ing. Its surface being smoother than one of
wood, it may be made tirnanienlal by being
prettily tinted in subdued and delicate shades.
Summer houses, in a somewliat finished and
ate style, like these, are better suited for
more ornate grounds of a country residence.

wliere there is a considerable degree of finish
and keeping, than rustic arbors and summer
houses. In long walks, structures of this kind
afford more agreeable resting places, and, when
erected in any fine points of vicAV, they serve
the double purpose of calling the attention to
the best position for seeing it, and affording
shade and rest while enjoying the out-stretched
landscape. In all buildings of this kind, the
design should be rather simple than complex,
and the roof-outline is one which should receive
most attention — particularly if the building is
seen from any distance. These two sketches
of oriental kiosques, may serve as useful hints
to our readers, about constructing such decora-
tions in their grounds.

Sepdling ForkignGrape. — TTe received on
the 12111 of June, in excellent order, from -Iohn
FisK Allen, Esq., of Salem, Mass., some fine
samples of forced grapes, and among the rest a
new seedling originated by him. This seedling
a cross between the Grizzly Frontignan
Verdelto, is very rich in flavor, resemblin

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

most nearly the Grizzly Frontignan — but quite
distinct from that variety. The cluster is not
large — but compact and well formed — the ber-
ries round, of medium size, white, tinged with
gray-rose. Its fine flavor will be appreciated by
those who like the Muscat flavor, and if this new
sort, which has not yet been fairly tested, ful-
fills the promise it holds out, it will, we think,
be found a decided acquisition fur the vinery.

The Black Hamburghs which accompanied
the above, were very finely colored, and of the
finest possible flavor.

Green Crops as Manure. — We believe the
majority of agricultural writers agree upon the
advantage of ploughing-in green crops as ma-
nure on exhausted lands, and it has long been
practiced as one of the cheapest and best modes,
under given circumstances, of accomplishing that
result.

We have been not a little surprised, there-
fore, to find in an agricultural address delivered
by Mr. Gowan, of Mt. Airy, near Philadelphia,
such views as the following;

" There is another remark, however it may
conflict with pre-conceived opinion, or establish-
ed usage, which a sense of duty compels me to
make; and that is, of all the time-wasting, land-
cheating practices, none is more to be deijrecat-
ed than that of turning-in green crops, as a
succedaneum for manure. In whatever place
tliis is practiced, however strong the land may
be at the start, the system, if persevered in,
must inevitably bring the land, its owners, and
the country, into a state of poverty. No good
husbandman would think of pursuing such a
course. Think of the time lost in preparing the
ground for a crop, seeding it, and then, instead
of allowing it to mature, to be gathered to the
barn, ploughing it under, to serve as manure to
the land on which it was raised. Manure, in-
deed! To call the acidulated water, which the
decomposition of partly grown clover, buck-
wheat, &c., ])roduces, manure, would be a mis-
nomer—the calling ofa thing by the wrong name.
* * * If the turning-in, year after year,
scant crops of clover and the like, be i)ers"isted
in, the land so treated must, in a brief period,
become not only destitute of vegetable mold,
but of every other organic ingredient necessary
to fertility."

If Mr. GowANgoes on at this rate, he will de-
monstrate that there is no warmth begotten by
sunshine! Does Mr. G. happen to have heard
that one of the premium f:irms in the state of
ork— that of I\Ir. D. D. T. More, of
vlict — 185 acres, was purchased by Mr.

M. five years ago, and was, according to the af-
fidavits made to the society, so poor at that
time, that the only crop Mr. M. could then raise
on it was white 6«ans, and that without capital,
and simply by good management, Mr. M. has
not only brought this farm to the highest condi-
tion, but made it produce a net frofit of $2,678
per year. How was this poor worn-out farm
restored? We give Mr. More's own words:
" I found the best mode of improving my land
was by ploughing under green clover, the
growth of the clover being aided by a liberal
apph'cation of plaster — say 250 lbs. to the acre."
Having had a glimpse of Mr. More's farm,
and being able to certify from that glimpse, that
he is a master farmer, and no quack, we com-
mend his practice to Mr. Gowan, confident that
Mr. More's practice, well understood and prac-
ticed by American '• skinners," would fill their
pockets with •' yellow boys," rather than their
soil with "acidulated water."

British Qi'een Strawberries. — Much the
finest flavored and most beautiful large straw-
berries, that we haveseengrownin this country,
are some of this variety, niised this season by
our neighbor, Dr. Hull of Newburgh. The
color is darker, and they appear to have
attained a perfection of quality never reached
in England — where this superb sort is so justly
popular. The crop is also one that would satis-
fy Mr. LoNGWORTH — much as he has abused
the staminates for their barrenness. We will
give some account of Dr. Hull's culture of this
delicious amateui 's variety in our next.

Gooseberries with Tan-bark. — Dear Sir:
You have said much about the benefits of cover-
ing strawberry beds with tan-bark. I liave
made an experiment M'ith mulching gooseberry
beds with the same substance, and so far as one
year's experience is worth anything, I am well
satisfied with it. The great difficulty with the
gooseberry here, seems to be with the heat and
want of moisture. My bushes are planted in
quarters 8^ feet apart each waj- — trained to
single stems. I have hitherto lost quite half
the crop by mildew. Early last November, af-
ter pruning the plants and dressing the borders
— digging in plenty of stable manure. I hauled
several loads of tan with my team, and
it, uniformly, all over the bed, G inches

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

There it remained all winter, and still remains.
The foliage of the buslies is more licalthy tlian
I ever saw it before — tlie fruit is almost entirely
clear and very large and promising. If this is
worth publishing, it is at your service. A. C.
New-York, June 10, 1852.

Pbar Blight. — Mr. Ernst's views (given in
another part of this number,) and our own, on
the subject of pear blight, are substantially the
same, and we therefore look to Prof. Turner
for further proofs of the insect origin of the
disease. Any one who will compare the health
and hardiness of the pear tree on the eastern
shore of Maryland — where the climate is ex-
tremely uniform as compared with the western
states, will find satisfactory reasons for tlie great
prevalence of blight at the west — a country with
over fertile soil and the greatest extremes of
temperature.

Our own opinion, expressed before, is that
the pear tree will never be thoroughly ac-
climated in the west, till a race of seedlings
is originated in the valley of the Mississippi —
which seedlings, by the very circumstance of
their origin, are as much better adapted to those
rich bottoms and prairies as the Hoosiers and
Buckeyes are better adapted than Torkshire-
men or the natives of Bordeaux.

Sale of Fine Blooded Cattle — On refer-
ring to our advertising colums, our readers will
observe that Mr. Lewis F. Allen, of Black-
Rock, is to have a sale of his high bred cattle
in August next. This is by far the largest
herd of blood stock ever offered in the United
States; and from Mr. Allen's long experience
in breeding, and good taste in selection, we have
no doubt the most fastidious admirers of fine
cattle will find something in this herd to meet
their tastes, as well as to gratify their demands
in the dairy qualities of the cows.

No creature can be more ornamental in a park,
lawn, or pasture, than a high-bred, beautiful,
and useful cow; and no country place of any
pretension to character, should be without one
or more of them. The sale is to take place in
this immediate vicinity, and it will be a rare ob-
ject of attraction to all who love to look at fine
stock, and convenient of access to those who

purchase. *

Tea Rose. — Having recently become a

subscriber to the " Horticulturist," and per-
ceiving from its pages the uniform courtesy with
which you respond to the communications of
your correspondents, I have taken the liberty
of forwarding, by this mail, to your address,
a rooted cutting of a Seedling Tea Rose (from
" Paclole") requesting the favor of your opin-
ion of its merits after it has bloomed.

The flower is good medium size, not full
double (averaging about 30 petals,) neither is
it very handsome when fully blown — the flowers
being pendulous, and the petals like most others
of its class becoming more or less placid from
a full exposure to the scorching rays of our
summer sun. The opening or half expanded
bud, however, is remarkably beautiful, and in
a bouquet of my choicest roses, invariably at-
tracts attention, both on account of its graceful
form and striking color — the whole flower being
of a deeper and purer yellow, than any other
ever blooming rose, with which I am acquainted
— I may add that as the plant increases in size,
the flowers which are very flagrant, become
deeper in color and more double than when it
is smaller. The original plant is but two years
from the seed, and has proved a most abundant
bloomer — and one specimen in particular, budd-
ed last May, on a strong stock, three feet from
the ground, has assumed a beautiful weeping
habit, and is much admired.

Among my other seedlings is one of remar-
kable vigor, which shows an abundance of very
large and handsome buds, not one of which has
ever opened; the foot stalk withering just below
the bud, which promises, however, to be very
double, as I counted over 70 petals in tlie last
which dropped.

It was raised in very rich soil, and though I
have siuce removed it to a poorer spot, no im-
provement has, at least as yet, appeared. If
your experience can suggest any remedj', I
would be much gratified to hear from you
through the "Horticulturist;" also he pleased
to state whether yon liave received the plant
now sent.

I have named the yellow seedling, " Christi-
ana," and wish the name to be retained, if it
should ever be considered worthy of being pro-
pagated for sale.

This is the only cutting which I have
with, and the last till I have heard your

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

M. S. Kenansville, N. C, May 19,

The plant reached us in excellent order, and
is now growing in our garden. We fear the
failure to open the buds is a constitutional de-
fect in the A^riety, which will always remain so
— but it is possible that change of soil will modify
it. We will report our success to J. M. S. Ed.

JiMlm of Inririhi

Albany and Kenssalaer Hort. Society.

There was a fine display of fruits, vegetables, flowers,
and plants, at the Agricultural Rooms, on the 2i2d ull.
The fruits were confined, of course, to those of the sea-
son, such as Strawberries, Cherries, Gooseberries, Cur-
rants, iic. There were but two kinds of Cherries, the
Mayduke and Seedling, by Mr. Kirlland of Greenbush.
Of Strawberries, iMr. {{.exhibited 10 varieties: Mr. John
S. Gould, of this city, had 17 varieties, and Mr. C. P.
AVilliams 7.

Messrs. Jas. M'ilson, L. Menaiid, E. Corning, jr , Joel
Rathbone, Wm. Newcomb. V. P. DiHiw, C. P. Williams,
Mrs. Chaifield, Mrs. Van Namee, Pitlstown, Rensselaer
CO., and W. Janes, Bethlehem, exhibited some of the finest
specimens of green-house plants ever seen.

Messrs V. P. Douw, Jefferson Mayell, and Joel Rath-
bone exhibited some fine green peas. Mr. Douw had
four varieties of cauliflower. Messrs. Rathbone and
Douw of thi-s cily, and Miller of Hudson, exhibited cu-
cumbers of rare varieties. Messrs. Douw and Hutson
showed fine .specimens of lettuce, cabbage, and pie plant.

Altogether, the tiisplay reflected mucii credit upon all
the exhibitors. These exhibitions should enlist a more
general interest than seems to be awarded them. There
will be another exhibition in a fortnight, wheu we hope
theie will be a larger attendance of our citizens present.
—Atlas.

Pennsylvania Hort. Society.

The stated meeiing of this society was held in its hall
in Philadelphia, June 15, 1852. Dr. \V. D. Brinckle,V.
P., in the chair. The exhibition was excellent, consisting
of four large contributions of green house plains, an ex-
tensive display of strawberries and cherries; and two
long tables of forced vegetables. The collection of plants
from Caleb Cope's contained some thirty choice speci-
mens— a fine well grown .specimen of Cupheaplatycentra,
a large Agapanthus umbellatus, Lol>elia racemosa a new
plant, Gongora maculata. Fuchsias in variety, select Ver-
benas, Geraniums, etc. ; also another cut flower of the
famed Victoria regia, and many of the night blooming
Cereus. Frederick Ltniiig's— a fine plant of Allamanda
cathartica, Clerodendrum Devoniense, Cyrtoceras reflexa.
Begonias, Hydrangeas, Achimenes, Gloxinias in all about
two dozen specimens. Robert Buist's had many choice
fancy Geraniums, fine Fuchsias, Petunias, Jxora, Angelo-
nia, Roiideletia, together, nearly 20 plants. Peter Ra-
ab's table contained numerous seedling Verbenas, remar-
kably fine and choice. The Floral designs, baskets, and
bouquets by John Miller, gardener to J. S. Lovering,
Thomas Mcehan, gardener to C. Cope, Robert Kilvington
and others, were very showy. The Fruits, however,
were the attraction, and provokingly tempting — the dis-
play of .strawberries from Joseph S. Loveriiig'g has not
been surpassed on any former occasion, and were of the
Iowa, Burr's Pine, Keene's and Hovey's Seedlings; from
Gerhard Schmitz, another seedling of great merit, fine in
flavor, large in size and rich in depth of color, which he
has named the " Pennsylvania,"— from C. Cope's fine
Hovey's Cherries— from James Bissel, gardener to Jas.
Dundas, from Is:l.^c B. Baxter, Mrs. J. B. Smith, and T.
P. James, the May Duke, and Robert Cornelius the
Bleeding-Heart variety. The tables of vegetables were
Cope's and Robert Cornelius' gardens.

On motion ordered that seven delegates be appointed to
the "National Agricultural Coiiveiuion," about to con-
veiie at the city of Washington, and the chair appointed
David Landietli, Dr. Robert Hare, J. Price Wetheril, R. R.
Scott, Clayton B. Rogers, Thomas Hancock, and Thomas
Meehaii. Tho. P. James, Rec. Sec.

Buffalo Hort. Society.

April 6. — The New- York State Agricultural Society
having appointed a time for holding their Fair which
would conflict with the Society's annual exhibition, it was
determined to chmige the time of holding the latter to the
2d and 3d of September. Adjourned.

May 4. — Prizes were awarded to Mason and Lovering
for a display of pot plants, $3, and for lettuce, $1.

May 18. — Prizes were awarded.
For the best six varieties pansies to A. H. Bryant, $1 00
do three bunches asparagus, L. Eaton,. . 2 00
do 12 stalks rhubarb, Bryant A, Son 100

June 1. — Exhibited by Mrs. Vandeventer — apples.
Northern Spy. Mrs. L. Eaton, tulips— 10 varieties. Mis.
H, Shumway, Jonquils. Mason & Lovering, Cactus
Ackermania, T^piphyllum Jeiikinsonii, Cereus Speciosissi-
ma in pots. Tulips, 50 varieties. Two boquels of Roses,
Geraniums, Verbenas, Heliotropes, Euphorbias, *cc.

A. Bryant & Son — Tulips. 20 varieties — Paeonies, 4 va-
rieties, Spirea prunifolia, Lily of the Valley, Snowdrops,
Pyrus japouica, &c. Asparagus, 3 bunches— Rhubarb, 4
varieties.

The prize for the best 10 varieties Tulips, was divided
between Mrs. Eaton and Messrs. Mason and Lovering.

The secretary was directed to procure suitable signs to
be used on days of holding meetings and exhibitions.

The Northern Spy Apples shown by Mrs. Vandeventer
were tested, and found to be perfectly sound, full of rich-
ness, aroma, and high flavor — and the society was unan-
imous in esteeming it the very best late keeping apple.
Adjourned, John B. Eaton, Rec. Secretary.

Genesee Valley Hort. Society at Rochester.

The third weekly display of the Genesee Valley Horti-
cultural Society, tork place on the 29th of May. The va-
rieties of flowers increase with the advance of the season,
and a fine show was made.

Ellwaiiger fi Barry exhibited a large number of green-
house plants and cut flowers — ajnongthemO varieties Ciii-
nerarias, 7 of Calceolarias, 7 of Roses, 9 of Lilacs, 6 Ber-
berries, 5 .Spireas, 7 Paeonias, fine collections of Double,
Parrot, and Billoem Tulips, and a great variely of other
plants and flowers.

Frost & Co., fine selections of Hybrid Perpetuals, Noi-
sette and Clnna Roses, 20 varieties of Verbenas, ';ut flow-
ers, &c.

Wm. King — 50 varieties Tulips, 3(i of Pansies, 17 of
Calceolarias, Fuchsias, Cinnerarias. &c.

W^rn. Webster — Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Verbenas, 11
seedling Calceolarias, &c.

Mrs. John Williams exhibited 36 varieties of Tulips.

Mrs Jewell — 24 varieties Tulips.

John Donnellan — 24 varieties Tulips,

Ijcander Wetherill — 30 varieties Wild Flowers.

John Donnellan and C. F. Crossman, their usual varie-
ties of choice vegetables.

Moses Long, IVl. D., and Mr. Chitchell, had fine speci-
mens of late keeping apples.

Among the rare flosvers, none were more admired than
the Calceolarias and " Hovey's America" Verbena,
shown by Mr. AVebster. J. H. Watts, Seu'y.

Rochtster, June 5, 1852.

Oswego Hort. Society.

The annual meeiing of this society for the year l^SS,
was held on Wednesday evening Jan. 2il. The following
officers were duly elected for the ensuing year.

President— Hon. Enoch B. Talcott.

Viee-Presidenls— G.W.Burt. A.C.Mattoon, P. F. Par-
sons, H. Matthews, R. H, Martin.

Rec. Secretary — J. C Churchill.

Cor. Secretary — J, M, Casey,

liibrarian — Asa Parks,

Treasurer — S. H, Lalhrop.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Executive Committee — J. L. McWliorler, Jolin Still,
G. IMollisun, J. \V. Judson, and George Seeley.

J. M. Casey, Cor. Secretary.
Oswego, June 12, 1S5'2.

New- York Horticultural Society.

The first seini-aiiiiual exliibitiou of this Society look
place at xMetropolitau Hall, June 9, 10, and 11. A hasty
glance at the exhibition, the first day, enabled us to see
that It was by tar the best of the kiiul for many years in
New- York, and we argue good results from it for the fu-
ture success of the society. The display of plants in pots
was particularly good — llie geraniums -ind Verbenas benig
well grown. The '• observed of all observers," was the
Victoria regia, specimens sent by Mr. Cope of Philadel-
phia, and admirably displayed in a large tank or basin of
water occupying the centre of tlie exhibition room. Its
gigantic size was finely set olf by comparison with the
lovely white water lily of onr ponds, in full bloom, in the
same tank.

\Ve had hoped to receive a full account of the show
from the Secretary — but it has not reached us in time for
this number. The attendance of visitors was very large
and the exhibition went off with iriost encouraging eclat.

Louisville (Ky.) Hort. Society.

The Strawberry Show. — We called in at the store
of A. G. Munn & Co., on Saturday, to examine the dis-
play of Strawberries exhibited as the first weekly show
for the season, held nnder the auspices of the Kentucky
Horticultural Society. Tliere was quite a spirited compe-
tition amimg contributors, and in tlie exhibition some 12
or more varieties were represented. Onnsby Hile, Esq.,
displayed a basket of the Black Prince, which we thought
very fine. W. L. Green exhibited a beautifully colored
basket of what he termed Carolina Pines. Mr. James
Crr had the British Queen, and one other variety, both of
wliich appeared to be well grown. A. G. Munn, Esq.,
exhibited qnite a number of varieties, and among them
several that were superb. His Black Prince, Boston Pine
and Burrs' New Pnie, would have been hard to beat in
any Strawberry community. John Thatcher, Esq , also
exhibited a single plate of the Black Prince, not inferior
to any upon the society's tables in appearance, and we
rather thought the berries larger than those of any other
contributor of the same kind. Mr. Edward Wilson, as
usual represented Flora on this occasion, gracing the ta-
bles with a fine boquet of cut flowers. There was but
one contributor of vegetables, Mr. P. Birkenmayer. But
his display was highly creditable to his skill as a grower.
His specimens of asparagus were very large, and, al-
though we have seen heads of the caulitlnwer of greater
size than that exhibited by him, still we think the lastidi-
ous taste of Dr. Johnson himself, who tliought the cauli-
flower " the fairest of all flowers," could scarcely have
desired firmer or more compact heads, or heads more per-
fectly white. — Louisville Journal.

Bangor Horticultural Society.

At the annual meeting' of the Society, held on the 29lh
May, the following officers were elected, viz : —

President — Henry Little.

Vice-President — Cyrus Goss.

Secretary — Albert W. Paine.

Cor. Secretary— I. D. Bartlelt.

Treasurer — Albert W. Paine.

Executive Committee — John S. Ayer, B. F. Nourse,
and Albert Noyes.

Committee on Fruits — B. F. Nourse, Albert Emerson,
Albert Noyes, Waller Goodale. and J. W. Chapman.

On Ornamental Trees— 1. D. Bartlett, G. K. Jewell, and
J. S. Wheelwright.

On Vegetables— J. S. Sayward, Thos, Beacroft, J. W.
Carr, E. French, and C. B. Abbot.

On Flowers— I. D. Bartlelt, B. F. Nourse, and A. Noyes.

The Treasurer's report was offered and accepted, show
ing funds in the treasury to the amount of $190,03.

I. D. Bartlett was invited to deliver the annual address
at the next annual exhibition.

Voted, That the Society hold monthly exhibitions, at
the discretion of the Executive Committee, at such limes

and places as they may appoint, in addition to the annual
exliibition.

Voted. That the Executive Committee be authorized to
.solicit subscriptions lor the erection of a suitable Hall for
the use of the Society. Albert W. Paine, Sec'y.

%\imm ta CnrrrHpnnhntB.

Gr-^vfting Evergreens. — j1 Sub-<;criber,
(Newton, Mass.) The French nurserymen are
very successful in grafting evergreens, and prac-
tice it as follows-. " the proper time for grafting
pines, is when the young shoots have made
about three-quarters of their length, and are
still so herbaceous as to break like a shoot of
asparagus. The shoot of the stock is then bro-
ken off about two inches below its terminal bud ;
the leaves are stripped oft" from 20 to 24 lines
down from the extremity, leaving, however, two
pairs of leaves opposite and close to the upper
end of the shoot so headed back — which leaves
are of great importance for drawing up tlie sap.
The shoot or stock is then split to the depth of
two inches, with a very thin knife, between the
two pairs of leaves left ; the scion is then pre-
pared— the lower part being stripped of its
leaves to the length of two inches, and is then
cut to a wedge and inserted, in the ordinary
mode of cleft grafting. Tlie graft is tied with a
slip of woolen, and a cap of paper is fastened to
a stake, and firmly fl.xed over the whole graft,
to protect it from the sun and rain. At the end
of 15 days this cap is removed, and the ligature
at the end of a month." Some evergreens,
grafted in this way, malce a second growth of
five or si.x. inches the first year — but most sorts
do not start till the next year.

Books. — i/. M., (Pittsburgh, Pa.) The
work on Fruits will be entirely remodelled this
season, and all new varieties and improvements
added. /. (Baltimore.) Lindley's Horticul-
ture is precisely the book you need — no one who
will study the principles laid down in it, can be
an ignorant gardener.

He.*.ths. j1 Tyro, (New-Bedford.) The dif-
ficulty which many complain of in growing
heaths in tliis country, js in the hot and dry
summer climate. The roots of all heaths are
impatient of extreme dryness. The most suc-
cessful grower of heaths in America, is Mr.
Rreckenridge, the superintendent of tlie ex-
otic plants at Washington. He keeps his heaths

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

in summer, in a hot-bed frame, tlie glass raised
about six inches at the nortliend, and the trans-
parency dulled bj' a coat of whiting, or white-
wash, on the under side. In this way the heaths
are kept shaded — are not subject to be burned
up by the heat, being in a cool and uniform con-
dition of the atmosphere. His bloom of heaths
in February, is worth a journey to Washington
from any part of the Union, to see — and it
shows how an intelligent cultivator can modify
his practice so as to grow plants in a climate na-
turally very much against them.

Caterpillars — M. Miles, (Philadelphia.)
Tie a sponge on the end of a long rod or pole ;
fill a pail half full of soft-soap, with just water
enough to make it liquid ; dip the sponge in it,
and turn it around in the nest of the caterpil-
lars. It should be applied just after sundown,
and will finish the business of each nest very
speedily.

Budding Roses. — Esther, (Lancaster.)
Commence budding roses immediately. The
Prairie roses will take any of the everblooming
sorts — but the hardier kinds of Bourbons, such
as Madam Desprez, Gen. Dubourg, Souvenir
de Malmaison, &c., are the best. If the plants
are growing in a situation exposed to the sun,
you will have to tie some shade, in the shape
of matting, straw, or branches of evergreens,
over the budded portion in winter to prevent
injury by the sun. If growing on the north
side of a building or fence, it will not be neces-
sary. ^ Lady. If you wish continual bloom
on your monthly rose beds — never allow any
seeds to grow — cut off the hips as fast as they
form, and peg down any long shoots that run
up. This will force up new shoots, and along
with these new flowers. You can hardly make
the beds of everblooming roses too rich in this
climate, where fully exposed — the more growth,
the more bloom — especially if the soil is deep.

Transplanting. — A Vermont Subscriber.
You would have saved all your trees if you had
headed-them-in well when you planted them.
It is folly to expect to maintain a large head,
when the roots have been mutilated and cut
short. If it were made a rule in moving trees,

always to reduce the last j "'s growth to one
bud, half the failures in transplanting would not
occur — because the head and the roots would
be at once brought to something like a balance
of power. Shortening-in and mulching trans-
planted trees ought to be followed as established
practical rules, in this climate, in tra.splanting
every deciduous tree needing more care than a
willow.

Verbenas. — j1 Novice, (Bethlehem, Pa.)
Your young plants damp ofif in your pit in win-
ter, because they are not well rooted, and are
too tender in the stalks. If you strike cuttings
in July, instead of September, they will not
only get well rooted, but the stems will become
firm and woody, and will resist a good deal of
cold and damp without injury,

Apple-Orchards. — Jamestown. A jiaint of
Tery thin soft soap, is far better for the bark of
trees than whitewash, because it actually kills all
insects and their eggs in the crevices of the
bark, and because its good eff'ects continue
through the whole season instead of ending as
soon as it becomes dry.

Stanwick Nectarine. — G. E. French,
(Alexandria, La.) We believe the Messrs.
Parsons of Flushing, N. Y., are cultivating
this variety.

Cypress Vine. — Julia. (Northampton,
Mass.) Only one thing is needful to make this
annual vegetate freely, and so far as we know
nothing else will, viz: to soak the seeds over
night in milk — blood-warm when the seeds are
put in it. Warm water will not answer.

Apricots. — B. (Cincinnati.) Youwillnever
succeed with the trees planted in a warm south-
ern aspect. Plant others in a due north expo-
sure where they have no sun from 10 to 4 and
they will do finely. Buda and large Early are
the surest and best sorts.

Garden Walks. — The growth of weeds in
gravel walks has been securely prevented, by
forming a solid bottom beneath the gravel, of
marl and coarse gravel or small stones, rammed
down hard , and through which no weeds nor
grass can penetrate

-Ij^l^^

Churcli in the Lombard Style,

JOUMAL OF RURAL ART Ai\^D RURAL TASTE.

If^OWN with the Ailanthus !" is the cry we hear on all sides, town and country,
^ — now that this " tree of heaven," (as the catalogues used alluringly to call
it ,) has penetrated all parts of the union, and begins to show its true character.
Down with the Ailanthus I " Its blossoms smell so disagreeably that my family are
made ill by it," says an old resident on one of the squares in New- York, where it is
the only shade for fifty contiguous houses. " We must positively go to Newport, papa,
to escape these horrible Ailanthuses," exclaim numberless young ladies, who find that
even their best Jean Maria Farina, affords no permanent relief, since their front
parlors have become so celestially embowered. " The vile tree comes up all over
my garden," say fifty owners of suburban lots who have foolishly been tempted into
bordering the outside of their " yards" with it — having been told that it grows
so " surprising fast." " It has ruined my lawn for fifty feet all round each tree,"
say the country gentlemen, who, seduced by the oriental beauty of its foliage, have
also been busy for years dotting it in open places, here and there, in their pleasure
grounds. In some of the cities southward, the authorities, taking the matter more
seriously, have voted the entire downfall of the whole species, and the Herods who
wield the besom of sylvan destruction, have probably made a clean sweep of the first-born
of celestials, in more towns than one south of Mason and Dixon's line, this season.

Although we think there is picturesqueness in the free and luxuriant foliage of the
Ailanthus, we shall see its downfall without a word to save it. We look upon it as
an usurper in rather bad odor at home, which has come over to this land of liberty,
under the garb of utility* to make foul the air, with its pestilent breath, and devour
the soil, with its intermeddling roots — a tree that has the fair outside and the treacher-
ous heart of the Asiatics, and that has played us so many tricks, that we find we

* The Ailanthus ihough originally from China, was first introduced into this country from Europe, as the
Suniuc"— bul the mistake was soon discovered, and its rapid growth made it a favorite with planters.

Aug. 1, 1852.

Ko. VIII.

SHADE TREES IN CITIES.

have caught a Tartar which it requires something more than a Chinese wall to con
fine within limits.

Down with the Ailanthus ! therefore, we cry with the populace. But we have rea-
sons beside theirs, and now that the favorite has fallen out of favor with the sovereigns,
we may take the opportunity to preach a funeral sermon over its remains that shall
not, like so many funeral sermons, be a bath of oblivion-waters to wash out all memo-
ry of its vices. For if the Tartar is not laid violent hands upon, and kept under close
watch, even after the spirit has gone out of the old trunk, and the coroner is satisfied
that he has come to a violent end — lo, we shall have him upon us tenfold in the shape
of suckers innumerable — little Tartars that will beget a new dynasty, and overrun
our grounds and gardens again, without mercy.

The vices of the Ailanthus — the incurable vices of the by-gone favorite — then, are
two-fold. In the first place it smells horribly ^ both in leaf and flower — and instead of
sweetening and purifying the air, fills it with a heavy, sickening odor ;* in the second
place it Slickers abominably, and thereby over runs, appropriates and reduces to beg-
gary, all the soil of every open piece of ground where it is planted. These are the
mortifications which every body feels sooner or later, who has been seduced by the
luxuriant outstretched welcome of its smooth round arms, and the waving and beckoning
of its graceful plumes, into giving it a place in their home circle. For a few years,
while the tree is growing, it has, to be sure, a fair and specious look. You feel al-
most, as you look at its round trunk shooting up as straight, and almost as fast as a rock-
et, crowned by such a luxuriant tuft of verdure, that you have got a young palm tree be-
fore your door, that can whisper tales to you in the evening of that " Flowery Coun-
try" from whence you have borrowed it, and you swear to stand by it against all slan-
derous aspersions. But alas ! you are greener in your experience than the Tartar in
his leaves. A few years pass by ; the sapling becomes a tree — its blossoms fill the
air with something that looks like curry-powder, and smells like the plague. You
shut down the windows to keep out the unbalmy June air, if you live in town, and in-
vai-iably give a wide berth to the heavenly avenue, if you belong to the country.

But we confess openly, that our crowning objection to this petted Chinaman or Tar-
tar, who has played us so falsely, is a patriotic objection. It is that he has drawn
away our attention from our own more noble native American trees, to waste it on this
miserable pigtail of an Indiaman. What should we think of the Italians, if they
should forswear their own orange trees and figs, pomegranates and citrons, and plant
their streets and gardens with the poison sumac tree of our swamps ? And what must
at an European arboriculturist think, who travels in America, delighted and astonished
the beauty of our varied and exhaustless forests — the richest in the temperate zone, to
see that we neither value nor plant them, but fill our lawns and avenues with the
cast oiF nuisances of the gardens of Asia and Europe.

And while in the vein, we would include in the same category another less fashiona-
ble but still much petted foreigner that has settled among us with a good letter of cred-

Two acquaintances of ours, in a house in the upper pan of New- York, are regularly driven out by the Ailanthus
malaria every season.

it, but who deserves not his success. We mean the Abclc or Silver poplar. There is a
pleasant flutter in his silver lined leaves — but when the timber is a foot thick, you
shall find the air unpleasantly filled every spring, with the fine white down which flies
from the blossom, while the suckers which are thrown up from the roots of old Abeles
are a pest to all grounds and gardens, even worse than those of the Ailanthus. Down
with the Abeles !

Oh, that our tree planters, and they are an army of hundreds of thousands in this
country — ever increasing with the growth of good taste — oh ! that they knew and
could understand the surpassing beauty of our native shade trees. More than forty
species of Oak are there in North America, (Great Britain has only two species —
France only five,) and we are richer in Maples, Elms, and Ashes, than any country in
the old world. Tulip trees and Magnolias from America, are the exotic glories of the
princely grounds of Europe. Bat, (saving always the praiseworthy partiality in New-
England, for our Elms and Maples,) who plants an American tree — in America? And
who, on the contrary, that has planted shade trees at all in the United States, for the
last fifteen years, has not planted either Ailanthuses or Abele Poplars? We should
like to see that discreet, sagacious individual, who has escaped the national extasy for
foreign suckers. If he can be found, he is more deserving a gold medal from our
horticultural societies, than the grower of the most mammoth pumpkin, or elephan-
tine beet that will garnish the cornucopia of Pomona for 1852.

In this confession of our sins of commission in planting filthy suckers, and omission
in not planting clean natives — we must lay part of the burden at the door of the nur-
serymen. (It has been found a convenient practice — this shifting the responsibility —
ever since the first trouble about trees in the garden of Eden.)

"Well I then, if the nurserymen ivill raise Ailanthus and Abeles by the thousands,
(reply the planting community,) and telling us nothing about pestilential odors and
suckers, tell us a great deal about ' rapid growth, immediate effect — beauty of foliage
— rare foreign trees,' and the like, it is not surprising that we plant what turn out,
after twenty years trial, to be nuisances instead of embellishments. It is the busi-
ness of the nurseryman to supply planters with the best trees. If they supply us
with the worst, who sins the most, the buyer or the seller of such stuff? "

Softly, good friends. It is the hisiness of nurserymen to make a profit by raising
trees. If you will pay just as much for a poor tree, that can be raised in two years
from a sucker, as a valuable tree that requires four or five years, do you wonder that
the nurserymen will raise and sell you Ailanthuses instead of Oaks. It is the business
(duty, at least) of the planter, to know what he is about to plant, and though there are
many honest traders, it is a good maxim that the Turks have, " ask no one in the bazaar
to praise his own goods." To the eyes of the nurserymen a crop of Ailanthuses and
Abeles is " apasture in the valley of sweet waters." Butgo to an old homestead, where
they have become naturalized, and you will find that there is a bitter aftertaste about the
experience of the unfortunate possessor of these sylvan treasures of a far off country

may as well add for llie benefit of ilie novice, the advice to slum all trees lliat are universally propagated by
It is a worse iiilierimuce lor a tree tiiaii dninkeiiiiess for aoliild, and inoredilTicuUto eradicate. Even Allan
uses and Poplars /row seed liave lolerablyrespectable habits as regards radical things.

SHADE TREES IN CITIES.

The planting intelligence must therefore increase if we would fill our grounds and
shade our streets with really valuable, ornamental trees. The nurserymen wUl na-
turally raise what is in demand, and if but ten customers ofiFer in five years for the
Overcup Oak, while fifty come, of a day, for the Ailanthus — the latter will be cultiva-
ted as a matter of course.

The question immediately arises, what shall we use instead of the condemned trees?
What especially shall we use in the streets of cities ! Many — nay the majority of
shade trees — clean and beautiful in the country — are so infested with worms and in-
sects in towns as to be worse than useless. The Sycamore has failed, the Linden is
devoured, the Elm is preyed upon by insects. We have rushed into the arms of the
Tartar, partly out of fright, to escape the armies of caterpillars and cankerworms that
have taken possession of better trees !

Take refuge, friends, in the American Maples. Clean, sweet, cool, and umbrage-
ous, are the Maples ; and, much vaunted as Ailanthuses and Poplars are, for their
lightning growth, take our word for it that it is only a good go off" at the start. A
Maple at twenty years — or even at ten, if the soil is favorable, will be much the finer
and larger tree. No tree transplants more readily — none adapts itself more easily to
the soil, than the Maple. For light soils, and the milder parts of the Union, say the
middle and western states, the Silver Maple, with drooping branches, is at once the
best and the most graceful of street trees. For the north and east, the Soft Maple
and the Sugar Maple. If any one wishes to know the glory and beauty of the Sugar
Maple as a street tree, let him make a pilgrimage to Stockbridge, in Massachusetts !
If he desires to study the Silver Maple, there is no better school than Burlington, N.
J. These are two towns almost wholly planted with these American trees — the syl-
van adornings of wihch any " native" may well be proud. The inhabitants neither
have to abandon their front rooms from " the smell," nor lose the use of their back
yards by " the suckers." And whoever plants either of these three maples, may feel
sure that hetis earning the thanks instead of the reproaches of posterity.

The most beautiful and stately of all trees for an avenue — snd especially for an ave-
nue street in town — is an American tree that one rarely sees planted in America* —
never, that we remember, in any public street. We mean the Tulip Tree, or Lirio-
dendron. What can be more beautiful than its trunk — finely proportioned, and smooth
as as Grecian column ? What more artistic than its leaf, cut like an arabesque in a
Moorish palace — what more clean and lustrous than its tufts of foliage — dark green,
and rich as deepest emerald ? What more lily-like and specious than its blossoms —
golden and bronze shaded? and what fairer and more queenly than its whole
figure, stately and regal as that of Zenobia? For a park tree, to spread on every-
side, it is unrivalled, growing a hundred and thirty feet high, and spreading into
the finest symmetry of outline. t For a street tree, its columnar stem, beautiful
either with or without branches — with a low head or a high head — foliage over

* Though there are grand avenues of it in the royal parks of Germany — raised from American seeds,
t At Wakefield— the fine countrj' seal of the Fisher family, near Philadelphia, are several tulip trees on the lawn,
over 100 feet high, and tliree to six feet ui diameter.

SHADE TREES IN CITIES.

the second story or under it — is precisely what is most needed. A very spreading
tree, like the Elm, is always somewhat out of place in town, because its natural
habit is to extend itself laterally. A tree with the habit of the Tulip, lifts itself
into the finest pyramids of foliage, exactly suited to the usual width of town streets
— and thus embellishes and shades without darkening and encumbering them. Besides
this, the foliage of the Tulip tree is as clean and fresh at all times, as the bonnet of a
fair young quakeress, and no insect mars the purity of its rich foliage.

"We know very well that the Tulip tree is considered difficult to transplant. It is,
the gardeners will tell you, much easier to plant Ailanthuses, or, if you prefer. Ma-
ples. Exactly, so it is easier to walk than to dance — but as all people who wish to
be graceful in their gait learn to dance (if they can get an opportunity,) so all plan-
ters who wish a peculiarly elegant tree, will learn how to plant the Liriodendron.
In the first place the soil must belight and rich — better than is at all necessai-y for
the Maples — and if it camwt cannot be made light and rich, then the planter must
confine himself to Maples. Next, the tree must be transplanted just about the time
of commencing its growth in the spring, and the roots must be cut as little as pos-
sible, and not suffered to get dnj till replanted.

There is one point which, if attended to as it is in nurseries abroad, would render
the tulip tree as easily transplanted as a maple or a poplar. We mean the practice
of cutting round the tree every year in the nursery till it is removed. This developes
a ball of fibres, and so prepares the tree for the removal that it feels no shock at all.*
Nurserymen could well afford to grow Tulip trees to the size suitable for street plant-
ing, and have them twice cut or removed before hand, so as to enable them to war-
rant their growth in any good soil, for a dollar a piece. (And we believe the average
price at which the thousands of noisome Ailanthus that now infest our streets, have
been sold is above a dollar.) No buyer pays so much and so willingly, as the citizen
who has only one lot front, and five dollars each has been no uncommon price in New-
York for " trees of heaven."

After our nurserymen have practiced awhile this preparation of the Tulip trees for
the streets by previous removals, they will gradually find a demand for the finer oaks,
beeches, and other trees now considered difficult to transplant for the same cause — and
about which there is no difficulty at all, if this precaution is taken. Any body can
catch "suckers" in a still pond, but a trout must be tickled with dainty bait. Yet
true sportsmen do not, for this reason, prefer angling with worms about the margin of
stagnant pools, when they can whip the gold spangled beauties out of swift streams
with a little skill and preparation, and we trust that in future no true lover of trees
will plant " suckers" to torment his future days and sight, when he may, with a little
more pains, have the satisfaction of enjoying the shade of the freshest and comliest of
American forest trees.

* In many coiilinental nurseries, this an)iual preparation in the nursery, takes place until fruit trees of bearing size
can be removed without the slightest injury to the crop of the same year.

:6^

THE CURCULIO WARFARE.

THE CUKCULIO WARFARE— A SUCCESSFUL BATTLE.

BY WM. STOKES, WEST PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Dear Sir — In the September No. of the Horticulturist for 1851, you published an arti-
cle over the signature of Thomas W. Ludlow, Jr., entitled " The Curculio versus Lime
and Sulphur."

After reading Mr. Ludlow's account of his experiment, I concluded to try it myself
this spring, and am happy to be able to say, that at present there is every prospect of
its most perfect success.

I regretted that Mr. Ludlow was not more particular in reference to the quantity of
sulphur used, in proportion to the whitewash. I shall therefore give j^ou an account of
my experiment, which was as follows:

Immediately after the fall of the blossom, (May 18,) say when the fruit was about as
large as an ordinary pea, I observed very many of the plums were already stung by the
curculio; I therefore immediately procured a pailfuU of whitewash, (cold,) mixed much
thicker than is ordinaril}'^ used for white washing, and added a half pound of flour of
sulphur, (and in this proportion throughout the experiment.) I then used a common tin
garden pump for throwing the whitewash on to the trees, the nozzle of which was fully
three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and in consequence a great deal of material was wast-
ed in the application; this I repeated twice afterwards, at intervals of three or four days
each. Hereafter I shall procure a rose to fit the pump, similar to a watering pot rose, by
which I shall be able to cover the trees more perfectly, and at the same time prevent the
lime disfiguring other plants in the vicinity.

About this time last year, there was not a single plum left on either of my trees — now,
the}^ are quite as full as I could wish.

A number of my plums, this j'ear, have become semi-transparent, and fallen from the
trees from time to time, although not stung. Is this caused by an excess of lime? But
among all that have fallen that I have examined, I have found but one that had a worm
in it; the wounds caused by the sting of the curculio have healed over smoothl}^ and do
not penetrate more than a sixteenth of an inch.

Should this meet the eye of Mr. Ludlow, I would be glad to hear from him in reference
to his experiments this year, and particularly as to whether his fruit turned 3'ellow and
withered on the tree.

Some persons may be deterred from trying the lime and sulphur, on account of the un-
sightly appearance of the trees; to such I would suggest that a little green coloring mat-
ter might probably be added, without destroying the value of the compound.

I would also state in this connection, that m^'self and others have covered portions of
our trees with musquito netting, to keep the rascals out; in most instances the fruit is
badly bitten and destroj^ed, in others, where the netting was so close as to exclude him
altogether, the fruit is not stung, but so little is left upon the tree as to render the experi-
riment wortliless. Yours respectfully, Wm. Stokes.

West Philadelphia. July 8, 1852

NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY.

NOTES ON FORTY-FOUR VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES.

BY R. G. PARDEE, PALMYRA, N. Y.

"We are just closing another highly favorable season of that beautiful and delicious
fruit — the strawberry. The skies and the genial rains have been propitious indeed, and
in no previous season have my petted vines yielded larger or more abundant fruit. More
than twent}' varieties in my garden presented me with specimens measuring four, and
some six inches in circumference.

I particularly desired a favorable season, because I had quite a number of new varieties
to test side by side with other standard kinds — and in order thereunto, had planted in
the first place, on the 12th July last, a strong healthy plant of some thirty varieties, in-
terspersed with an occasional plant of New Pine, Hovey's, &c., on a long bed running
through a part of my garden — placing the plants about two feet apart. I then placed
a few hills of the same varieties in rows in other parts of the garden, while the old
plants, with a few runners attached, remained in masses around the original stools, so
that each variety had a triple trial. My garden, small as it is, comprises in different parts
of it, a light sandy loam, a coarse gravel loam, (where it is even stony,) and a stiff clay.
It has not been manured, or even trenched, within five years, with the exception of two
small beds as an experiment, which was no benefit — and yet in other soils I would ma-
nure freely, and trench deeply at right times, if needed, and most soils would need both.

I was careful to water and fertilize the plants on trial, alike in all respects, and for a
fertilizer this spring, I used one pound each of sulphate of potash, nitrate or carbonate of
soda, one-quarter pound sulphate of ammonia, together with say two pounds superphos-
phate of lime, and two pounds guano, in a solution with thirtj' gallons water — applied
once in ten days or two weeks, until in flower, as last year.

The whole were mulched with tan-bark on setting out, and all the plants flourished, un-
checked from any cause. Allow me to note some particulars of the different varieties.

1. Jiurr''s New Pinehas maintained with me its high reputation as a family fruit. All my
visitors have united with me in giving it the preference in flavor, over all others, not except-
ing Swainstone Seedling, British Queen, &c. It has also borne largely, and the fruit has
been good size, occasional specimens over four inches; besides we picked ripe fruit of this
variety June 6, which was three or four days earlier than the Large Early Scarlet, Alice
Maud, or any other variety in my grounds, and it supplied my table proportionably early,
and this too without any coaxing.

2. Hovey's Seedling has done nobly, having borne specimens of the largest fruit again
on my grounds, and it has also yielded good crops.

3. Black Prince has again borne finely, and exhibited beautiful specimens of large fruit.
Occasionally I have found a berr}'' which proved to be of the most exquisite flavor, but
the majority of them have remained watery, and deficient in flavor. The largest, finest
ones in appearance, were often the most deficient in flavor.

4. Jenny's Seedling has borne remarkably well for that variety, rather exceeding Ho-
ve3''s in quantity, and only slightly below it in size — while it has proved, when fully ripe,
to be of very high flavor — very juic}^ and sprightly.

5. Monroe Scarlet, one of Ellwanger & Bakry's seedlings, has this season proved
under three separate trials, the largest bearer on my grounds. The plant
bed produced eighty large size berries on five long foot stalks — the largest

NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY.

measuring four and three-fourth inches, but all were of fine size. The flavor was univor
sally pronounced good. I have an expectation this will prove a valuable variety. Last
year it bore well under unfavorable circumstances.

6. Climax Scarlet, another seedling as above, bore very well, and the berries were of
a higher flavor still, although fewer in number, and smaller in size.

7. Genesee Seedling, (s)* another of E. & B.'s new seedlings, produced fruit of great
beauty, but it did not with me equal in quantity, nor surpass in flavor, their Monroe
Scarlet.

8. Montevideo Pine,{s') one of Prince's seedlings, did not equal this year in size or fla-
vor, my expectations; perhaps it may do better another year.

9. Charlotte, another of Prince's, is one of fair size — a feir bearer on short foot stalks,
and of delicious flavor.

10. Lizzie Randolph, another of Prince's, is described in his catalogue as " averag-
ing larger than Hovey's, round and very productive;" all this it has actually done the
past season in my grounds, in all the three separate tests. Hovey's has given single spe-
cimens larger than Lizzie, and yet the average has been the other way; but on the point
of flavor, Lizzie is decidedly beloio Hovey.

11. 12 and 13. Prince's Primordean, (s) Estalle, and Cornucopia — neither have an-
swered the purpose at all this year. They may do better another year.

14. Primate (s) has done somewhat better.

15. Profuse Scarlet (s) has borne a good supply of fine flavored fruit, resembling the
Large Early Scarlet.

16. 17 and 18. Richardson Cambridge, (s) Early and Late, have all done very well :
the largest and highest flavored being the late. I am not quite satisfied that either of
these have any superior qualities over other varieties which excel in size or flavor. We
shall see.

19. Princess Alice Maud (s) has again borne tolerably early and well, and is also of
good size.

20. Lord Spencer, (s) notwithstanding its very agreeable flavor, has so degenerated in
size and productiveness, that I discard it.

21. Roseberry; (s) 22. Miller's Seedling; (s) 23. Wild Straioberry; (s ) 24. fVhite
Seedling; (s) 25. Stoddard's Seedling, (s) and some others, I discard for same reason.

26. Crimson Cone, (s)t although quite acid without sugar, yet its productiveness and
beauty render it quite desirable.

27. Large Early Scarlet (s) has borne larger and more fruit with me this season, than
ever before. It is a good staminate to fertilize others.

28. Boston Pine (s) has done nobly this season.

20. Royal Scarlet (s) has borne quite a fair number of clusters of beautiful fruit, but
alas, deficient in flavor, and is rejected.

30. Rival Hudson is one of the most productive market fruits.

31. Willey has borne next in quantity to Monroe Scarlet— yet I am not sure but it may
be a competitor for productiveness; although of only medium size, yet it bears often sixty
and seventy, and occasionally many more good berries, to a plant, and the fruit is of plea-
sant sprightly flavor, and hard for market.

32. Prince of Orleans, (s) bears very well under ordinary cultivation — only medium
size, tender, rather pleasant flavor, and bears longer than usual.

* All Ihe sorts marked (s) have xiaminale blossoms— those not marked have pistillate.
t Crimson Cone bears jns!(Ka(e flowers — probably an error. Ed.

NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY.

33. Swainstone Seedling (s) has borne freely, and is a very rich and aromatic fruit
yet not so agreeable flavor as some other varieties.

34. British Queen, (s) I am not yet able to bring up the size of this fine fruit to com-
pete with our English friends over the water — neither does it as yet bear well. I will try
to do better with it another year.

3.5. French Hautboy, (s) like common Hautboy, a profuse bearer, with its peculiar
flavor.

36, 37, 38 and 39, are McAvoy''s Superior, Longioorth's Prolific, (s) Moyamensing
Pine, and Walker's Ssedling; (s) have all borne fruit, enabling us repeatedly to test the
fine rich flavor of each. The plants are also very vigorous; but I must wait another sea-
son before I can learn much about them.

40. Mc^voy's Extra Red is very much in the same condition as the preceding, except
inferior in flavor.

41. Kitley's Goliah (s) — could not test even the flavor, but it is now in blossom.

42. Bicton Pine (s) has borne me a few very large and beautiful specimens, of rich
aromatic flavored fruit. It is the new strawberry from England; w/uie, with a delicate
blush on one cheek.

43. Crescent Seedling By a series of mishaps with this plant, I finally lost the whole
of four successive importations from New-Orleans, after a part had finely started to grow
here. The fifth order was more successful, and I have six or eight plants now growing
vigorously in my garden, and striking runners freely — but I received them in May, in
pots, and so am unable to report anj^ test of them, as I ardently hoped this season; next
season we will see if they continue to bear through July and August, as they do in New-
Orleans.

I have some other new kinds on trial, one of which has considerably excited my expec-
tations. I have abso some fine seedlings in bearing, decidedly diflerent from others, and
yet I cannot see as they excel the old standard varieties in any important sense, and there-
fore the}^ are unworthy of notice. If I had no strawberries, and wished to set out a bed
for family use, with my present knowledge, I would select one fifth of them each of No.
1, 2 and 5; one-tenth each of No. 26, 27, and 28. Then add, perhaps, five or ten plants
each of 3, 4, 10, 18 and 19, and of course try the new kinds, 36 to 43. For market I
would largely add No. 30 and 31.

I have thus endeavored to give you an impartial account as I am able to do, of my ob-
servations on most of the varieties in bearing in my garden the past season, and am un-
conscious of having been biased in any way, by fear or favor. If injustice has been done
to any one, I will cheerfully repair it, if another season's experience will furnish facts for
the basis.

Again permit me to assure your readers that another interesting season's observations
of the habits of the strawberry, has only confirmed me in the opinion that strawberries
can easily be raised with us at a cost of not exceeding six to eight shillings per bushel,
and the crop ought to be about as certain as a good farmer's crop of corn. Either are im-
patient of neglect, and both are alike certain to repay attention. The knowledge how to
raise either, is easily learned in both cases, and good soil will raise both. R. G. P.

Palmyra, July S, 1852.

ON THE CULTURE OF THE ACHIMENES.

BV ALPHA.*

Nearly all the varieties of this lovel}' genus deserve to be ranked with the most beau-
tiful and useful ornamental plants which our glass houses possess. Q'heir floMers, of
many delicate and pleasing shades of color, are produced in great abundance for months
in succession, and the plants themselves are mostly of compact growth and easy culture.
"While in a growing state, all the varieties require the assistance of a rather warm and
moist atmosphere, but during their flowering season, they may be removed to a cooler and
drier situation, such as a close green-house or conservator}', where they may be said to be
indispensable during the summer and autumn months.

As all the Achimenes increase rapidly by means of their scaly tubers, artificial propa-
gation is almost unnecessary, except in nurseries, where it is perfectly understood. I
shall, therefore, merely state that cuttings of the young wood, treated in the ordinary
way, and placed in a brisk bottom-heat, will root freely. Taking it for granted that there
is a supply of tubers at hand in early spring, the}' should be separated from the soil in
which they have been wintered, and planted in shallow pots or pans, (the latter are pre-
ferable,) well drained, and filled with light sandy soil to within two inches of the top.
The tubers should be laid I'ather thickly and regularly upon the surface, and covered with
mold to the depth of an inch, or as much Tnore as the pan will hold.

Water should be sparingly applied, only just sufficient should be given to keep the soil
in a moist state. If active growth is desired without loss of time, plunge the pots or pans
in a gentle bottom heat. AVhen the plants are about three inches high, they should be
carefull}' lifted from the soil, and potted in seven inch pots, placing twelve or more plants
in a pot, according to the sized specimens that may be wanted. After potting, place them
in a close and rather warm atmosphere, till they have become A\irly established; a tempe-
rature of G0° at night, allowing it to raise 10 or IS'' with sun heat in the day time, will
be found the most congenial to the plants at this stage of the growth. As soon as they
are established in their pots, air should be freely admitted on all favorable occasions, and
the plants kept near the glass. If all goes on well, they will soon fill the pots with roots,
when a final shift will be necessary. The size of the pots for this shift should be regulat-
ed by the size which it is desirable the plants should attain; ten inch pots will be suffi-
ciently large where moderate sized sjjecimens only are requii'ed: but for very large mass-
es, twelve or thirteen inch pots may be used. Some first rate cultivators prefer deep pans
for Achimenes, but these are better suited for plants to be flowered in a moist, warm house,
than for those intended to be removed to the green-house or conservatory, during the flow-
ering season. About twelve plants ma)' be placed in a ten inch pot. It will be necessary
to maintain a moist atmosphere, and keep the house rather close till the plants can lay
hold of the soil; and water must be carefull}' supplied during this time, but the syringe
may be used freely, if the weather happens to be bright. As soon as the plants start into
free growth, after potting, air may be more freely admitted, and a slight shade during the
forenoon of sunny days, will be found beneficial. Varieties of the habit of pedunculata,
should be stopped as soon as they are established in their flowering pots; and if it is in-
tended to train them in a formal manner, all the kinds should be staked before the shoots
have become entangled. The stakes should be cut off the height to which the vai
* From llie Loiuloii Ganleners' Clirouicle.

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

likely to attain. They should be so arranged as to form the frame work of a handsome
specimen, and the shoots should be kept carefullj^ tied as they advance in growth. When
it is supposed that the pots are filled with roots, an occasional watering with clear manure
water maj' be given. Indeed I regularly water my Achimenes with weak manure-water,
from the time they are well established in their flowering pots, till the blooming season is
over, and I think that the plants are greatly benefitted hy this treatment. If it is intend
ed to remove the plants to cooler quarters while they are in flower, they should be judi-
ciously and carefully prepared for the change, b}' giving more air, and gradually lowering
the night temperature as much as circumstances will allow. When removed, they should
be placed in the warmest part of the house to which they have been transferred, and
guarded from currents of cold air; but if they can be kept in an intermediate house, the
flowers will be larger, and the blooming season will be prolonged; still, a close kept con-
servatory will supply a suitable temperature, at least during summer and early autumn.

When they have done flowering the\' may be thrown to the rubbish-heap, merely pre-
serving about two pots of each variety for stock; these should be kept sparingly supplied
with water, and if they can be removed to a warm dry house, the ripening of the tubers
will be better secured than under other circumstances. Water must be altogether with-
held as soon as the leaves assume a sickly appearance, and when the tops die down, the
pots may be removed to any dr}' situation, where they will be free from frost, and where
the}' may remain till the tubers are wanted lor starting next spring.

For soil, take light sandj' turfy loam, peat, leaf-soil, and thoroughly decomposed cow-
dung, in about equal proportions, to which add as much sharp sand as will ensure a free
percolation of water through the whole materials. The loam and peat should be used in
a rather rough state; and the dung should be broken up and intimately mixed with the
sand before it is added to the compost. All the Achimenes are very impatient of stagnant
moisture at their root; therefore secure perfect drainage by using plenty of potsherd, or
lumps of charcoal; indeed, when pots are used, they may be one-third filled with drain-
ing materials. Alpha.

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

BV A. GERALD HULL, NEWBURGH, N. Y.

Professor Emmons, in his " Agriculture of New-York," makes this commentary: —
" The soil must possess all the inorganic substances, as well as organic, which are essen-
tial to the perfection of vegetables; if any one is "wanting it must be supplied."

This applies so forcibly to the strong common sense of every earnest cultivator in the
great vegetable domain, that he feels at once the apparent truth of a rule, which asserts
for its result the perfect development of every plant that is legitimately supplied, whether
by leaf or root, with its full measure of organic and inorganic nutrition. This rule in its
ultimates, I think, admits of exceptions.

Since Professor Mapks has advocated the use of tan-barks for a mulch for strawberries,
asserting that the tannic acid was specifically indicated as an organic conslituent of this
fruit, his opinion has been canvassed in a spirit of denial, satire and ridicule. Still it may
be true; and taking it for granted that the Professor's postulate is correct, the alleged ad-
ges of the tannic acid for the straw berr}' prove that its efficacy is in an anomalous
portion to that of the oilier recognized constituents of this fruit. Again, a refer-

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

ence to my remarks and experiments on the specific nutrition of strawberries, contained
in the last August number of the Horticulturist, will disclose further collateral evidence
of the caprices of plants in imbibing nutrition at proportional variance with their analy-
ses. These discrepancies from the general rule, and the desire to awaken inquiry and ex-
periment to the highest degree, in order to mature the finest fruit, have rendered me a lit-
tle presumptuous, perhaps, in suggesting another rule of specific nutrition:

That some fruits — whatever the organic or inorganic analysis of the plant, or of the
fruit, may disclose and seem to require — possess one or more special constituents, each
one of ivhichis demanded as an increased, correspondent, and specific nutrition, that bears
no proportion to that of the exact analysis.

It will be more satisfactory, in the consideration of this theme, to pursue the investiga-
tion in as radical and scientific form as possible, which will be best obtained by a survey
of the few exact organic and inorganic analyses which have been so far afforded.

Inorganic analysis. — I am indebted to Mr. George Ronalds for the following analysis
of the strawberry, made by Thomas Richardson, of England, quoted from page 318 of
the " Annual Report of the Progress of Chemistry and the allied sciences, 1847-48."

Fruit. Plant,

Potassa, 21.07 38.65

Soda, 27.01 9.27

Lime, 14.21 12.20

Magnesia, trace 5.85

Sulphuric acid, 3.15 5.89

Silicic acid, 12.05 2.58

Phosphoric acid, 8.-59 15.58

Phosphate of sesqui-oxide of iron, 11.12 8.65

Chloride of sodium, 2.78 1.23

100.00 100.00

Percentage of ash, 0.41 0.39

In the May number of the Horticulturist may be found the subsequent analysis of the
strawberry plant, hy Mr. BiLivs Kirtland, which is thus described. "One hundred
and sixteen grains of the ashes were taken, prepared from the leaves and stalks, immedi-
ately after they had borne a moderate crop of fruit."

Silica, 6.117 grains.

Charcoal and sand, 8.101 "

Perphospliate of iron, 1 . 515 "

Lime, 26.519 '•

Magnesia, 8.908 "

Sulphuric acid, 1.4G9 "

Phosphoric acid, 6.970 "

Chlorine, 708 '•'

Potash, 33.154 "

Soda, 2.790 "

Carbonic acid, ^ 23.008 "

Organic matter and loss, 1 . 739 "

116.000 grains.
In the two analyses of the plant, the analysts coincide in the proportion of the potash;
the discrepancy as to the other constituents is striking. In the analysis of the fruit, by
Richardson, the predominance of socZa will excite some surprise, although the potash

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

holds a second and very important position. At the same time the united analyses of plant
and fruit exhibit as the proportion of potash 59.72, and that of soda only 36.28.

Jlffirmative of the general rule. I stated last year, under the head of specific inorgan-
ic manures, that many stravvberr}^ plants apparentlj'' demand varied specific nutrition, as
much so as different families of trees. A large bed was prepared and divided into three
equal portions ; one containing pofas/i neutralized by muck; another ashes treated in the
same manner; and last phosphate of lime (bone dust.) Lines of the same plants extend-
ed across the three soils. Boston Pine, Crimson Cone, Iowa, Burr's Seedling, Columbus,
Rival Hudson, Late Prolific, Willey, British Queen, Myatt's Eliza, Victoria, Huntsman's
Pistillate, Scarlet Melting, Ohio Mammoth, and Scioto, displayed a sturdy growth through-
out this entire triple tract; at the same time they exhibited a positive preference for the
potash over the ashes; for the ashes over the bone dust. The section of the triple tract,
charged with potash, manifests an advantage this season much more conspicuous, the
plants and the fruits having gained at least one-fourth over their associates.

Exceptional to the general rule. Directly opposed to the preceding results, however.
Black Prince and Burr's New Pine became almost worthless in the same potash tract;
while runners of 1850, transferred from these same plants to the natural soil of my
grounds, well enriched with ordinary stable manure and street sweepings, have this year
produced specimens of fruit nearly if not quite equal to their best reputation. Buist's
Prize, also failed under potash nutrition, and developed the richest foliage and finest fruit
in the department of phosphate of lime (bone dust.) Hovey's Seedling failed in a tract
of phosphate of lime, yet rejoiced, with its luxuriant foliage and fruit, in a tract of soil
supplied with lime as its main element.

William Cullen Bryant, Esq., who is equally at home, either in his town editorial
chair, amid classic folios or political theses, or among strawberries or potatoes, at his cot-
tage, so pleasantly nestling in the groves of Roslyn, has garnered into his pomological
storehouse an extract which is quite pertinent at this moment :

Strawberries. — The following recipe for keeping old strawberry beds in bearing, is
from the Eriend's Review, a Philadelphia publication. AVhat proportion of its efficacy
depends on the frequent and regular watering, and what on the application of the nitre
and glauber's .salt seems uncertain:

" Those who know anything about the magnificent strawberries and the immense quan-
tity of them raised in a bed 30 feet by 40, for several years past, in the garden formerly
owned b}' me in King street, may like to know the process by which I cultivated them. I
applied about once a week, for three times, commencing when the green leaves first began
to start, and making the last application just before the plants were in full bloom, the
following preparation: of nitre, of potash, of glauber's salt, and sal soda, each, one
pound ; of niirate of ammonia one-quarter of a pound — dissolving in thirty gallons of rain or
river water. One-third was applied at a time; and when the weather was dry I applied
clear soft water between the times of using the preparation — as the gi-owth of the young
leaves is so rapid that unless well supplied with water the sun will scorch them. I used
a common watering pot and made the application towards evening. Managed in this way
there is never anj'^ necessit}^ of digging over the bed or setting it out anew. Beds of ten
years old are not only as good, but better than those two or three years old. But you
must be sure and keep the weeds out." — Evening Post.

Here it will be perceived that, of four equally proportioned ingredients, two are formed
of potash, i.e. potash and nitre (nitrate of potash;) and two of soda, i.e. glauber's salt
(sulphate of soda) and sal soda (carbonate of soda.)

Prof. J. F. W. Johnston, on page 328, of his "Agricultural Chemistry," in discoursing
of carbonate of potash and carbonate of soda, states: "Many experiments have
that both of these substances may be employed in the field with advantage to the

m

358 STRAAVBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

ing crop." " In gardening, they greatly hasten the growth and increase the produce of
the strawberry" — " Mr. Fleming, of Barochaii, has informed me that he found this to
be the case with the common potash; and Mr. Campbell, of Islay, with the common soda
of the shops. They should be applied early in the spring, and in the state of a very weak
solution.

These results confirm the experiments contained in Mr. Bryant's extract, if they did
not give rise to them. And, while engaged with Prof. Johnston on this subject, (page
329,) a very valuable practical conclusion may be derived to the amateur cultivator, as I
know by experience, touching the efficacy of the carbonates of potash and soda combined
with organic matter. " It is stated by Sprengel {^Lchre vom Danger, p. 402,] accord-
ingly, as the result of experiment, that they are most useful M'here vegetable matter is
plentiful, and that they ought to be employed more sparingly, and with some degree of
hesitation, where such organic matter is deficient."

Touching the liquid applications, indicated by Mr. Bryant and Prof. Johnston, I
ought to mention that Mr. Downing has been a long time an advocate of applying specific
nutrition in solution to all fruit bearing plants during the fruiting process. The attributes
are increased susceptibility to the plants at this period by which an appreciative receptivity
of their special constituents is most sensitively and successfully sustained. The preferred
times of application differ, the one preceding, the other attending the development of the
fruit; but this may engender no material variance as to result, although my own expe-
rience accords with the opinion of Mr. Downing.

Under the "affirmative" record, the results, derived from the varieties there enumerat-
ed, confirm in the main the truth and value of the general lule for uniform specific nutri-
tion. Potash, the major element of the analysis, holds the highest representation in the pro-
duction of plant and fruit; ashes (potash and lime — the latter also an important sub-
stance in the analysis) present the next claim ; and phosphate of lime (holding a questionable
or minor place in the analysis) produces the least satisfactor}' impression. Yet the care-
ful observer will perceive that the potash, alone, is quite equal to all the requirements of the
plant and fruit in the department of inorganic constituents, and even here enforces its
place as one of the special constituents, which is demanded as an increased, correspond-
ent, and specific nutrition that bears no proportion to that of the exact analysis.

In the experiments, quoted by Mr. Bryant, potash and soda were used in equal pro-
portions. The result offers "magnificent strawberries" in "immense quantity;" and,
what is of equal importance, perpetuity to the plants in the same bed; plants ten years
old being in better condition than those of two and three years. According to the analy-
sis 0^ fruit, by Richardson, the general rule of nutrition is more satisfactorilj' sustained
here than in the other instances; while his analysis of fruit and plant gives the preference
again to the potash, which, in the actual proportion applied to the plants, only equalled
that of the soda. Agricultural chemists, e.g. Prof. Johnston, there are, however, who
might be cited to demonstrate the special rank to which the potash is entitled from "the
more abundant presence of potash in the soil generally;" or from the probability of the
soda being the correlative of potash to the extent of supplying its place as a constituent
of nutrition; or from the soda and potash acting alike in preparing the food of the straw-
berry, by combining with and solving the vegetable matter of the soil. The experiments of
Messrs. Fleming and Campbell confirm the reciprocal quality of substitution of these
two alkalies for each other, either for direct or subsidiary nourishment of the strawberry,
"exceptional" instances illustrate the extraordinary caprices of the strawberry
and naturally awaken conjecture as to the cause. It is not probable, although the

different varieties belong to one family, that these exceptional members would, in their
analysis, exhibit different constituents which would harmonise with the prepared mineral
manure? Or, is it not more probable, that these recusant plants are endowed with interi-
or impulses, and secerning forces, by which, in accordance with the rule I have proposed,
they prefer one or more constituents in excess, and utterly disproportioned to the rest,
and thus elaborate through their elected media, their tempting and luscious products?

Organic analysis. — The only organic analysis I have at hand, I take from the " Voll-
standige Bibliothek oder Real Lexicon, Leipsic, 1836." It represents the strawberry
fruit to be organically composed of citric and malic acids, and a large proportion of mu-
cus sugar, (" schleimzucker," glucose or grape sugar, I presume.) No allusion is here
made to tannic acid; and I am not aware that there is any authority for sustaining the
idea that these three acids, and grape sugar, may be substituted for each other; or that
they have even the advantage of isomorphous bodies, admitting the questionable conjec-
ture to be correct, that isomorphic bodies may erect a specific dynamic influence, as uner-
ring in effect as their crystallization is uniform.

Tannic acid. — Professor Mapes — on making personal application to him respecting this
acid, courteously replied to me in substance: " that tannic acid is contained in the corti-
cal, or external surface of the fruit ; that, by subjecting a large quantity of these sur
faces to the appropriate chemical tests, he had detected the presence of this acid; that he
attributed the flavor and fragrance of the strawberry, which belongs to this surface, to
the specific property of this acid; and that he reiterated with confidence, his private and
public assertion, that tannic acid applied to strawberry plants, in the proportion of one
gallon of tan-liquid to one hundred gallons of water, made an evident and striking im-
provement in the size and flavor of the fruit." Here is a plain, straight forward state-
ment, savoring of sincerity and truthfulness. Why should the existence of tannic acid
in strawberries be questioned, then, until the cavillers offer, instead of words, their own
analysis, to counterpoise that of the Professor! Irrespective of the analysis, a few expe-
riments will be presented, which the reader is desired to scrutinize closely, and thence
deduce his own conclusions.

Tan-hark mulch. — Mr. Downing, among others in this vicinit}', has used the tan-bark
as a mulch, and invariably with a marked benefit to their strawberries, over those ordi-
narily treated. Mr. Charles Downing informed me that he ate strawberries twenty
years ago, taken from a tan-bark bed, that were then remarkable for their excellence. It
will be answered, ' it is without doubt true, but the enhanced value of the fruit should be
ascribed to the viulch, and not to the specific influence of the tannic acid.' I have proved
the mulching by hay, straw, muck, charcoal and iron cinders, and yet have found no result
equivalent to that of the tan-bark. My beds of British Queen, which I have heretofore
nursed with extreme care, were mulched last year with tan-bark, and have presented this
year an array of force and beauty quite equal to defy the sharp edge of the sternest skep-
ticism.

Experiments with tannic acid and other liquids. I selected three rows of each variety
of four different kinds of strawberries, which traverse my triple bed of inorganic manures,
and made my applications in the subjoined order. The liquids were applied from May 18th
to June 2.3d, twenty -five times, usually about sunset, the omissions being supplied by rain.

Rival Hudson.
Tannic acid — in the form of tan-bark liquor, one gallon to one hundred of water
1. ^ Citric acid — the exi)ressed juice of one lemon to fonr gallons of water.
Malic acid — one pint of cider to four gallons of water.

June 22d. The strawberries nourished by tannic aeid, exceeded the others in quantity
The fruit of the citric acid presented the largest average size. Three dishes of the fruit
were subjected to the judgment of two ladies, who declared the strawberries of the malic
acid to be the sweetest and highest flavored; those of the tannic acid ' next,' and those
of the citric acid comparatively ' tart.'

June 25th. Second picking. A gentleman essayed the three kinds, and his taste awar-
ded the first preference to the fruit of the tannic, the second to that of the malic acid.

Bdrr's New Pine.
C Tannic acid. — This and the subjoined acids were applied as described under Rival Hudson.

2. < Citric acid.
( Malic acid.

June 22d. The quantity, as with the previous fruit, favored the tannic acid. The citric
acid fruit ranked second as to quantity, and fiirst as to average size. The same ladies, in
tasting this fruit, again selected the malic acid specimens as the richest flavored, giving
the second choice to those of the tannic acid. June 25th. The quantity again sustained
the tannic acid. The same gentleman decided in favor of the tannic acid flavor, and pre-
ferred that of the malic next.

Burr's Old Seedling.
C Tannic acid — one gallon of tan-liquid to one hundred gallons of water.

3. } Manure water — the manure liquid of the barn-jard.
( Spring water — water from an adjacent pond.

June 22d. The measurent, also, of this fruit, gave the advantage in quantity to the tan-
nic acid, the second place to the spring water. The manure water produced the greatest
number of the largest berries.

July 3d. Three dishes of fruit were submitted to the gustatory judgment of Dr. James
Gilbert, of Savannah, and Mr. Robert Colgate, of New-York. The labels were pur-
posely removed, and the trials were made at two different periodsof the day. Their final
decision was " that the three specimens of fruit exhibited a marked and peculiar flavor,
sufficient to distinguish them apart; that tannic acid examples were the most luscious and
artificial; those of the spring were the next best and most natural; and those of the ma-
nure water were, also, more artificial, but not so palatable."

Columbus.
C Tannic acid — tan-bark liquid, diluted as before described,

4. < Poudrette water.
( Spring water.

June 22d. The tannic acid bed produced the greatest quantity. The spring water
specimens exceeded the others in average size.

July 5th. The tannic acid examples, again surpassed the others in quantity, the pou-
drette assuming the second position. Two gentlemen and a lady made trial of the berries
of this variety, and pronounced in favor of those nourished by tannic acid.

Specimens of the above named varieties of fruit have been sent to Mr. Downing — the
labels intentionally omitted — with a desire that he would arbitrate on their respective
claims, to which he kindly assented.

[We find on referring to our notes, made with Dr. Hull's numbered samples of Burr's
New Pine and Rival Hudson before us, the following: No. 1, highest and best flavor; No.
2, good but inferior; No. 3, less good — somewhat watery. Tliese now prove to have been
fed as follows: No. 1, tannic acid; 2, citric acid; 3, malic acid.

the other samples we found the sample "No. 1" (which now proves to ha
ulatcd by the tan liquor) uniformly the best. The others were variable, No. 3, (spr:

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

water,) having the least flavor, and in the case of Columbus — a scarlet strawberry of not
much flavor — the first was rendered somewhat bitter, which is now explained by the over-
watering* Ed.]

The experiments being completed, the organic analysis may now be opportunely recalled.
Citric and malic acids and mucus sugar are presented as the main constituents; and to
supply the requirements of the strawberry, according to the rule of Prof. Emmons, these
three of the organic substances liberally contributed, should be all sufficient to mature the
finest form of fruit. Still, Prof. M.\pes has presented the tannic acid as ano^Aer constitu-
ent. In order to test this predicate, and the comparative powers of the citric and malic
acids, I made the preceding experiments with scrupulous attention.

Citric acid. — Lemon juice was the most convenient representative of this acid, and
well diluted with water, exercised no deleterious influence on plant or fruit. In both in-
stances of Kival Hudson, and Burr's New Pine, it seemed to increase the size of the fruit,
and to increase its acidity.

Malic, acid. — The most convenient substitute for the pure acid was cidur, diluted with
water. In referring to Rival Hudson, and Burr's New Pine, the trials of taste rendered
a preference on the part of two witnesses for this acid, of another for the tannic, placing
the malic second. This reduces the contest to these two acids, which may possibly con-
tribute additional force to the value of the tannic. Thus, instead of pure malic acid,
cider was applied, "Cider," according to the analysis of Dr. J. II. Salisbury, " Pa-
tent Office Report, 1850-51 — jigricultare" — contains alcohol, sugar, gum or dextrine,
malic acid, and the phosphates and sulphates of the alkalies, with a little tannic and gal-
lic acids." Here arises an important querj' — how much of the flavor, allowed to the
malic acid, must be attributed to the tannic acid which the cider contained.''

Mucus sugar. — I regret extremely that I did not subject some of my plants to experi-
ments with this substance, which, however, I intend to do another season. Prof. Draper
states — " when a solution of grape sugar, containing lime, is kept for sometime, the alka-
line reaction of the lime, finally disappears through the formation of Glucic acid. It is
soluble, deliquescent, of a sour taste, and 3'ielding, for the most part, soluble salts." B}''
applying, repeatedly, a solution to the plants in a soil nourished by lime gZiidcaciti would
probably be formed, and how far it may hold an important relation to the nutrition of or
specific impression on the strawberry may then be determined.

It has also been stated that the value of the tannic acid application was dependant on
the liquid and not on the tan, and that simple water was equally efficacious. Therefore
manure water, poudrette water, and spring water, were essayed side and side, subject to
the same exposure in everj'^ respect, and the results were carefully watched and recorded.
The theory of the virtue of tannic acid was, in consequence, submitted to a careful, can-
did, and severe ordeal to determine the truth, and to furnish the best practical lesson for
the cultivation of strawberries.

Manure water berries, exceeded in average size in the trial of Burr's Old Seedling.
Spring water produced the greatest number of the largest fruit in the experiments with
the Columbus. Poudrette water fruit gained in quantity over the spring water. The
three substances held an inferior position to the tannic acid as to quantity.

Tannic acid — It must be conceded, allowing the previous recorded experiments, that a
free application of this acid has produced unequivocal efiects; that it has surpassed all the
competing substances in creating quantity, and imparting flavor

At the same time, the decision in regard to flavor may be liable to exceptions, as
ments are necessarily more or less capricious, owing to circumstances; some alway

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION

ferriiig sweet, others acid fruits, the sense of taste varying at one time from that at anoth
er, &c. Canvassing this topic with reference to accurate results, it must be admitted, if
the existence of tannic acid be granted, that it maintains but a very moderate quantita-
tive position as a constituent in the analysis of the fruit alone. If there be then, but a
trace of tannic acid in the strawberry, while the other constituents exist in a large pro-
portion, this, among the organic substances, is one which is demanded as an increased, cor-
respondent, and specific nutrition, that bears no proportion to that of the exact analysis^
A rule of action now naturally flows to the practical cultivator. In developing the
most valuable qualities of the strawberry, he may use all the constituents of the organic
and inorganic analyses, consulting his convenience and economy; but he caw perfect the
finest fruit in abundance and richness, by selecting potash from among the inorganic, and taii-
nic acid, from among the organic constituents of this delicious gift from the " Giver of
all good." A. G. H.

Ntwburgh, N. Y., July 15, 1852.

Remarks. — Dr. Hull's record of his careful experiments with special manures for the
strawberry, deserves the attention of cultivators. We may add, for the information of
those who know nothing of the soil, that it is naturally a heavy, and rather poor clayey
loam, on a gravelly subsoil — by no means calculated by its fertility and friability, to favor
the cultivator of delicate fruits; and notwithstanding this, the crop obtained by Dr.
Hull's various modes of culture, has been surprisingl}' large. The beds of most varie-
ties on a very large strawberry patch, were literally loaded with the finest fruit.

The nice cultivator will find a good deal in our correspondent's detail of experiments to
stimulate him to make extended experiments; but the practical results Jor general use,
which we deduce from the foregoing article, and our observation of the strawberries them-
selves, are these. 1st. The best preparation for strawberry beds is to have the soil well
trenched and manured with stable manure, mixed with a liberal supply of leached ashes
— that substance supplying both potash and soda in sufficient quantities, (fresh ashes has
more lime and far less potash — the latter being largely added by the soap boilers.) 2d.
The finest and most delicate of the Pine Strawberries — which usually fail in this climate,
may be grown perfectly by the aid of a good mulching of fresh tan-bark. 3d. Tan-liquor
diluted adds to the flavor of strawberries — but we are confident that whenyVes/t tan is
applied in the autumn as a covering to the beds, sufficient tannic acid finds its way into
the soil by means of the rains, to answer this purpose. Notwithstanding — as a straw
berry crop is always greatly increased in size and quantity by watering the plants, it is
better to water them with tan-liquor, one part to one hundred.

A great deal has been said and written by our horticultural friends at the west, about
the absolute worthlessness of all the large Pine Strawberries of Europe, such as British
Queen, Keen's Seedling, &c., — which bear mostly what are called staminate blossoms, as
being barren, and never yielding more than half a crop in the United States; and their
place has been in a good degree supplied with varieties of the scarlet, (native strawber-
ries, such as the Hudson, Towa, Willey, &c. — bearing pistillate blossoms, and producing
enormous crops with little care, in this climate.

And as most persons have found it difficult, from the greater heat of our climate burn-
ing up the plants, to cultivate the pine strawberries, and easy to cultivate the Scarlets,
the latter have pretty nearly supplanted the former in our gardens. Yet, in Europe,
where both grow equally well, no one thinks for a moment, of comparing the flavor of
wo, and we never saw Scarlet strawberries served at a good table in Euroiie — but
Pines. For our own part, we consider (comparatively) the Hudson strawberr

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

with which our markets are mostly filled, poor sour things, only fit for preserving — and such
fruits as Willc}-, Columbus, Iowa, Neck Pine, (no pine at all,) and most of the other
heav}' bearers that, as W9 understand, fill the great strawberry market of Cincinnati, are
no better.* They are when compared to fine flavored pine strawberries, what a sour
cooking apple is to the finest Newtown pippin — or the acid Malagatune peaches that fill
New-York markets to delicious Rareripes — or poor TenerifFe to the best pale Sherry. But
so long as we were denied by our climate the satisfaction of cultivating any others, we
were farced, of course, to be contented with sour Scarlets.

Dr. Hull's great success with the British Queen, the most productive and delicious of
the Pine strawberries (a fruit to be found at every private table and good hotel in the
north of Europe, averaging three to four inches in circumference,) has been so remarka-
ble, and the reason for it is so simple that we predict from it a revolution in strawberry
culture; and this result has been had too in the face of a very dry and exposed site — where
this same strawberry invariably pushes up in summer if cultivated in the common way.
And the whole secret of his success in growing this and the other most delicious pine
strawbeiries — such a Goliath — Schiller, Myatt's Eliza, &c. is nothing more than to make
the soil rich and keep the beds cool in summer and warm in icinter by a mulching of two
or three inches oj fresh tan-bark.

The adjoining cut is
an accurate repiesenta-
tion of Briti.sh Queen
Strawberries, taken
from Dr. Hull's beds,
and not selected but
chosen of the average
large size. The flavor
was higher, and the
color richer and darker
than any specimens
that we saw in England
in 1850— though fruit
nearly twice this size
is by means unusual
there. In our own
garden we had nearly
as good results with

less care, and this season, in order to satisfy ourselves that these sorts hitherto considered
too delicate for our hot climate, were really rendered hardy by the tan mulching, we
planted two beds, — mulched one and left the other bare, in the usual way. It is now
mid-summer — the mulched bed is very luxuriant and healthy; the unmulched shows the
usual half-burned and starved appearance, common to the European Pines in this climate.

As we know our friend Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, is the sworn foe of the stami-
nates or Pine strawberries — afflicted with utter want of faith in their power of giving a
crop, and the staunch friend of the pistillate Scarlets, knowing them to bear abundantly,
we requested our neighbor Dr. Hull to .set apart some average hills or patches in his beds
of British Queen, and keep an account of their prcduct for the benefit of such skeptics.

ey"s Seedling; and Bun's New Pine, nre exceptions — not Scarlets — but apparently a cross between .Scarlets
by far the best strawberries for lliis climate in general cultivation — but not equal in flavor to the true Pines.

British Queen Strawberries from Dr. HulVs beds.

FRUIT CULTURE IN UPPER GEORGIA.

The result was an average of 1C4 berries to each hill of 20 inches square — a result, con-
sidering the large size of the fruit, that we think will satisfy even our Cincinnati friends.

We predict an increased cultivation for the high flavored pine strawberries, and hope
for an abundant — particularly by amateurs of many of the Scarlet sorts. Market grow-
ers who can command good soil and plenty of tan-bark, will find one bushel of British
Queens or Goliaths will command more in the market than three bushels of Hudsons.
Their firmness renders them well adapted to carriage. We close this long article with a
note of Dr. Hull's, relating to his cultivation of this variety, which will commend itself
to amateurs. Ed.

British Queen. — Last autumn I applied a mulch of tan-bark, span-roof form, up to
the tops of the plants. Previously, poudrette and street sweepings were worked in freely
on either side of the rows. In the spring the tan-bark was levelled on either side of the
plants, which, protected from sun and cold, looked as vivid as in the autumn. Subse-
quently an additional coat of tan was applied about three inches thick. The runners were
allowed to grow pretty freely last season, for the benefit of my friends, which gave me
rows of plants sparsely scattered instead of hills at three feet distances. It then occurred
to me that this strawberry, under our scorching summer sun, might enjoy the protection
of partial shading of its own leaves Avith decided advantage to its fruit. I have been jus-
tified in the result, and however much I may have heretofore admired this fruit; I pro-
nounce it without hesitation, to be the finest staminate yet proved; and for beauty, size,
flavor, and productiveness, I prefer it to any pistillate 1 have seen or tasted among eighty
varieties of strawberries. The tannic acid liquid was occasionally applied to the plants
during their flowering and fruiting season. The fruit was among the earliest to ripen
and the latest to produce, being furnished nearly four weeks.

Product. — Six hills or sections of this strawberry — twenty inches in diameter, aiforded
forming, maturing, and ripe fruit, as follows: 1. 182; 2. 183; 3. 129; 4. 164; 5. 152;
6. 176; averaging 164 berries to each hill. A. G. II.

FRUIT CULTURE IN UPPER GEORGIA.

BY TESTIS.

The remarks of several correspondents in the July number of your paper, on the sub-
ject of Fruit Culture at the South, have induced me to throw together a few thoughts on
the subject, which are the result of my own experience and observation.

I have several times been surprised at the complaints made through your columns,
against fruit trees of northern growth or origin. I live between the 32d and 33d degrees
of north latitude, about sixty miles west of the city of Macon. My orchard comprises
about thirty of the most popular varieties of the peach and nectarine, and so far from
blooming out of season, or casting their fruit, I would gladly stipulate to have only a
third of the fruit on the trees, which is yearly set. The late frost this year destroyed so
much of the young fruit, that I supposed myself to be safe against the calamities of over-
bearing. Not so. A loud crash advertised us a few days ago of the fall of at least half
of one of my best peach trees, with its rich burden within a few days of perfect ripeness!
thefeiv varieties which seem to be exempt from this objection, is a native. It is
Columbia," (well known in northern nurseries,) obtained direct from Columbia

FRUIT CULTURE IN UPPER GEORGIA.

count}^ where it will be found in great perfection. The " Lemon Cling," also of southern
origin, docs not suffer so much — while " George 4th," " Newingtons," " Prentiss' Red
Cling," and others, break down. "Van Zandt's Superb" is in perfection with us now,
(July 10,) measuring from nine to eleven inches in circumference. I do not believe that
peaches will succeed at the south near the coast, and this may be one reason why they fail
in Mobile. I know a gentleman within a mile of the city of Savannah, who has a large
orchard, well stocked with fine varieties. His trees look remarkably well, and set fruit
abundantly in the spring, but he has never matured any of consequence. To the fine va-
rieties of foreign apples named bj'^ Mr. White, as succeeding well at the south, I would
add the " Red Astrachan" and " Boston Russet." A clerical friend residing near Griffin,
(about fifty miles north of this,) told me in 1849, when fresh from the Boston Fair, that
he could have beaten their finest Russets with fruit from his own trees. My trees are
young, but the *' Yellow Bellefleur" and Gravenstein promise well, in addition to some
others not generally known here.

As for Pears — judging from the favor in soil and climate, asked in your work on
"Fruits and Fruit Trees," for many varieties, and the perfection in which they are easily
produced here, I have arrived at the conclusion that our's is the better climate for this
fruit. The gentleman to whom I have alluded above, imported about seven years ago, the
following varieties of Pear, all on Quince roots. " Louise Bonne de Jersey," Beurre de
Amalis, Citron de Carmes, Passe Colmar, Easter Beurre, Beurre Diel, Glout Morceau,
Vicar of Winkfield, Doyenne Gris, and one other by mistake, Avithout a name. He plan-
ted thein in a close brown chestnut soil. He pruned the branches but little, and never
touched the roots. In five years the trees, (which were small when planted,) were in full
bearing, and with the exception of one, wlilch is diseased, they produce yearly as much
fine fruit as they can hold. But what will you think when I tell you that his " Easter
Beurre" is in perfection here earl}' in October! The Vicar of Winkfield" ripened earlier.
My own trees are all young. Among those in bearing are Dearborn's Seedling, Louise
Bonne de Jersey, Citron des Carmes, St. Gliislain, Julienne, Rushmore, Andrews, Beurre
de Cnpiamont, Compte de Lawry, Buffum, Seckel, Knight's Monarch, Bartlett, Femish
Beauty and Napoleon. Many of these are on quince roots.

I observe that your correspondent, Mr. Pardkk, distinguishes between the fertilizers
which produce the vine, and those which promote fruitfulness in the strawberry. I visit-
ed Doctor Bayne in October last, and procured, in his neighborhood, a few genuine plants
of Alice Maud Strawberry. I planted them out in November, and they have given me
nothing e.vcept most luxuriant vines. They were treated with guano and barn yard ma-
nure. Burr's Mammoth, planted at the same time, but not highly manured, has produced
fruit abundantly. Perhaps I have fallen into the ver}^ error to which your correspondent
alludes. "With other varieties I succeed well. Doctor Bayne's cabbages, of which he
speaks, had probably ceased to grow, before they were overtaken by the severe frost of
the last most extraordinary winter, and were indebted to that circumstance for their pre-
servation. The thermometer stood with us 20 degrees below the freezing point, and I lost
hundreds of cauliflowers and cabbages, all in a growing state, and either headed or head-
ing.

I had rose bushes, for the first time in my life, killed to the ground, and Lilliputian
Chr3'santhemuras, which I planted out in November. These plants were all in a growing
state, and I suppose on that account were killed. Evcrj^ Fig tree I own, embracing eight
or ten varieties, was killed to the ground, with the exception of a variety known he
the Celestial, but which I think is the Angelique. Almost ever}' peach tree was i

CRITIQUE ON THE JUNE HORTICULTURIST.

on the same side of the trunk. I cannot impute this to the sun of last summer, as some
which have suffered most were .shaded by branches reaching to the ground.

Two questions now, Mr. Editor, and I have done. What is the " sulphate of am-
monia?" Not a druggist in the little town in which I live, knows anything about it. I
should like to know by what name to order it, the form in which it comes, and its proba-
ble cost. [It is only to be had of the wholesale druggists in the cities. Ed.] How does
it happen that particular soils are recommended for some varieties of the Pear? Should
not the soil be adapted to the stock on which we work, rather than to the tree we aim to
produce! [Certainly, to the stock. Ed.] Our success with the pear on the quince in
heavy soils would indicate this. Testis.

July 10, 1852.

We are much obliged to our correspondent, in whom we recognize one of the best cul-
tivators at the South. It gives us a new feeling of the breadth of our country, to know
that before strawberries are ripe at the northern part of the Union, peaches are in perfec-
tion at the other. Our correspondent's trouble with his peaches — i.e., their breaking
down with the abundance of tine fruit, will please the fancy of some of our British read-
ers who find it hard enough to make the fruit hang on at all. Ed.

CRITIQUE ON THE JUNE HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREYS.

American versus British Horticulture. — Out of rule, Mr. Downixg. Don't you know
that our new " Code of Practice" has expunged the versus altogether from the title's of
causes? However, as you are not a lawyer, you will hardly be " thrown over the bar"
for wrong pleading or mal-practice, in the Court of Horticulture, unless it be for the very
truth-telling habit you sometimes indulge in, a specimen of which we have in this article.

If our people who require the services of foreign gardeners, would only do themselves
justice, one-half of the intoUerable exactions that are made upon their purses and their
patience, by sundry of those imported empirics, would be abated. Of " Native Ameri-
can" gardeners, we have none. Gardening is too " piddling" woik for them. "Cut and
burn" is the meaning of the word " improvement," over a great part of the United
States, while plant and prune may be the work of some less enterprising, and more pains-
taking ones than themselves.

Gardening and professional gardeners, are, in fact, subjects of modern introduction, to
any extent in the United States; and in but few of the states now, is professional garden-
ing considered of much account. The only '* gardener" I knew in my boyhood, was a
superannuated old negro, with white hair, and eyes so old that a little halo of gray encir-
cled their pupils; and this worthy old African, called Cudjoe, used to itinerate over the
neighborhood soon as the early spring broke out, and as he knew the difference in the soil and
locality of the dozen or twenty gardens, which he had for the last forty j'ears annually
made, he took the warmest and earliest places to begin with. His role of " doing up the
garden," consisted mainly of sowing a few lettuce seeds in an early border; an onion bed
laid out in " square," and a row or two of early peas. This being done, his labors were
dispensed with, except that the "young Missuses" might now and then want a pose}^ bed
their "four o 'clocks" and "Marigolds," when old Cudjoe's services might be spun
for another half day. After all they were pleasant times, and many snug gardens,

= — 6^^

CRITIQUE ON THE JUNE HORTICULTURIST.

stored with excellent vegetables, and decked with pretty flowers, succeeded the quiet la-
bors thus began b}'^ the harmless old negro.

Since then we have " progressed." Now we want extensive gardens, hot-beds, green-
houses, and all sorts of queer conceits reqniring the continued labors of skillful men —
the "continued labors" we get, as the collapsed condition of our purses testify; the
"skillful" part is altogether another matter. The simple truth is — I must blast it out —
we Americans do pay through the nose, most outrageously, in most cases, for our garden-
ing, and the majority of it villanously bad at that. I have tried many " gardeners," my-
self, and I never tried one who made great professions of what he had " done at 'ome,"
and had been in high practice there, but what vilely cheated me — that, probably, was my
" luck." Others, perhaps, found better; yet T have been most successful when I found
a plain, laboring man, who had been nothing but an " under laborer" in good gardens
abroad, and made little or no pretensions of skill, and was satisfied with moderate wages.
Among such, I have found now and then, a faithful, skillful man, who, in his plain and
quiet practice, knew more than a score of your vaporing, empty " professors."

Nor, so long as things go on as they do with our own people, do I see any help for these
difficulties. We must know something ourselves, and then, with such " help" as we can
get, rub along in a very plain way, and enjoy what we can of luxury in the enormous pro-
portionate expense which we pay for it. Let it be understood that my remarks are not
intended for all. We have many good gardeners among us — honest men, and skillful,
who are thoroughly taught, and practice on sound principles. Such men deserve and meet
with abundant encouagement, either in the employ of others, or when in business on their
own account. I wish a few more "professional" gardeners would read the Horticultu-
rist. It would be to their benefit.

Effect of the Severe Winter on rare Evergreens. — With all my heart I wish we had
more such men as Mr. Sargent. Men who will try things, and then, after trial, tell us
what they have amounted to. j\Iany a man of taste is disposed to try a new plant, or a
variety of plants in his grounds, but on thinking the subject all over, his fear of failure
overcomes his zeal, and he prudently buttons up his pocket and concludes to save his
money and his solicitude, rather than hazard both on a doubtful issue. These notes of
Mr. Sargent are particularly valuable for several reasons. Ilis position is a central one,
exposed to great vicissitudes of change in temperature. His soil not naturally inviting
and grateful to the evergreen family at large. His variety extraordinarily extensive for
this countr}' — and the past winter, from which his notes are drawn, the most severe of
modern date. These circumstances combine to make the notes of Mr. Sargent, with the
editorial memoranda accompanying them, of exceeding interest to all evergreen planters.

3Iicroscopic insects the cause of Pear Blight. — No, sir. We fear growers cannot ad-
mit that doctrine yet. The work of insects always gives token of mischief before the work
of death is done. The pear blight does no such thing. You may walk out among your
trees at evening, the branches fresh with the greenest leaves, and the young twigs in their
most succulent growth, and the next day noon will show you one of the same branches
withering, brown, and dead. That is^rc blight. We know not what strange anomalies
exist in Illinois, above and beyond our other states, but if report be true, the " old French
pear trees" of Kaskaskia, and other early settlements of that state, are now as fresh and
luxuriant as those of Detroit and the river Raisin. Let us wait a little and see what our
other pomologists have to say upon this neio theory of Prof. Turner.

Great variety of Native Woods. — It is amusing to an intelligent man who has much
intercourse with our landhojders and farmers, to note how little the most of them know

CRITIQUE ON THE JUNE HORTICULTURIST.

of the prodigious forest wealth with which the)^ are surrounded, even on the soil owned
by themselves. Go to a man living in our middle and western states, and ask him how
many varieties of wood grow upon his estate, and he will, in all honesty, tell you that he
has perhaps a dozen altogether, and these comprise such as he makes into his ox yokes,
whippletrees, sled crooks, hoops, handspikes, withes, whip-stocks, framing timber, boards,
rails, fence posts, and fire wood; and if there be any more varieties than these, they might
as well grow at the north pole as on his own territorj% so far as any interest which he
takes in them is concerned. Now, it appears that this little penisula of forty acres, on
examination, produces sixty species of native woods! What a wealth of tree vegetation
on so small a spot! And yet, this piece of ground is sterile, compared with many of
equal territory to be found in the United States.

" 0 1 would some power the giftie gie m,
To see o\iiselves as itherssee us,"

in the wealth of our extensive and luxuriant forests! Bartram, Michaux, and Nuttall,
with all their research, have not revealed the extent of our woodland treasures, and there
is yet a wide and a new field for the naturalist unexplained in the vast solitudes of Oregon,
New Mexico, and the Californias. Even the bleaker and inhospitable shores of Lake Su-
perior abound in woods new to our books, which may yet reveal to us productions of sur-
passing interest. It is gratifying to see, now and then, in your columns, our attention di-
rected to such rich and refreshing subjects.

Evergreens — their use and Culture. — If Mr. Richardson preaches as well as he writes,
his hearers are to be envied. There is a positive unction in this article that goes to the
understanding, if not to the heart, of every one interested in growing evergreens, or who
loves country life at all. Ilis treatment of this subject is thoroughly practical, and as
simple as practical; so plain, and seductive withall, that one can hardly resist the dis-
position to go forthwith into a sturd}'' plantation of firs and cedars.

I have thought a thousand times of the great additional good which our country clergy-
men could do, in the way of their " duty," if they would cultivate a love for horticul-
ture and planting, and preach that, on week days in their parochial visits among their peo
pie, as episodes interspersed among the " more important subjects" usually confided to
their charge. I have, in the course of my life, known some countr}^ clergymen, long resi-
dent among a rural population, who.se influence in such subjects have been most bene-
ficial and lasting. Beautifully shaded avenues, luxuriant court yards, delightful flowers,
grand overshadowing trees, blooming orchards, and rich gardens, have grown up under
their teaching, and the influences of their refined taste, equally with the pure morality
and sincere devotion which surrounded the altars of their own hallowed sanctuaiies. How
delightful and salutary the influence of such a man among an improving people, and how
many of the rural paradises of our country can point to the labors of a faithful pastor,
as one who taught them, both bj- precept and example, how to create the beaut}' and the
luxuriance with which the}'- are surrounded! The very subjects which so deeply interest
his calling — his early classic studies — his daily readings of volumes in which the most
exalted lessons of instruction are illustrated by reference to objects of surpassing inter-
est and beauty — his simple, natural, yet cultivated taste; all these draw his thoughts into
a deep love and attachment to the harmonies of creation, which, if he be a man fit for his
calling, cannot but tell out in such works of grace and embellishment. Labors like these,
constitute a marked feature in the " daily beauty" of a pastor's life, and more forcibly
ate that purity of purpose, and sanctity of example, which should, and do
familiar instances, signally distinguish the life of the country clergy.

CRITIQUE ON THE JUNE HORTICULTURIST.

I must even, while in the vein, refer to the many eminent men, scattered all over the
United States, distinguished in the several neighborhoods of their residence for their fine
taste in gardening and planting, as well as for their more popular attainments, who re-
ceived their school-boy education at their home firesides, and whose minds and tastes, were
formed under the teacliings of the devoted clergy of the rural parishes of our older states,
at whose " studies" they daily or weekly attended for years, while deprived of the ad-
vantages of public classical schools in their own secluded neighborhoods. Their restrict-
ed means did not permit them to enjoy — fortunately for their own success and fame in af-
ter life— the advantages of " academical" education; but with strong minds, sound
hearts, and determined purposes, they went forth into the world, from the wholesome
teachings of their parish "minister" to become, in due time, the strong men of our
country.

Tilings are not so now — and none the better that they are not. Were they so, we might
witness less brilliancy, but more integrity, honesty, strength and virtue. God bless the
country clergyman!

Sacred and Classical Planting.— 'No one can read this delightful essay, and meditate
upon it as he reads, Avithout breathing freer and deeper, and risnig up a wiser and a bet-
ter man. Our deepest associations of sublimity, grandeur, and beauty in natural objects,
are drawn from the writings of inspired men. The Pentateuch, the Prophecies, the La-
mentations, the Psalms, the historic records of the Old Testament, all abound with the
grandest, as well as most delightful illustrations of which the mind has ever conceived;
while the simple and touching narratives of the New Testament, abounding in similitudes
to natural objects, surpass in simplicity, in beauty, and directness, any uninspired book
of ancient or modern time. A thousand examples might be quoted in proof; and let him
who doubts— if haply, such there be— go search the Sacred volumes, and there ponder and
admiie.

The Next Pomological Congress.— Now that every fruit grower who has attended the
meetings of this body, has had his own particular hobby recognised and put into print, I
trust that some methodical system of action is to be adopted to govern their future pro-
ceedings. Various reports will probably be presented for examination; some pertinent to
the object, some the reverse— some pure grain, and much chafF. Let strong committees of
reference be selected, who can separate the one from the other, and report only what is va-
luable, and to the purpose. The varieties of fruits themselves, their best localities, soils,
positions, climates — all indeed, appertaining to them, should be discussed, considered and
settled, so far as they can be. Much has been already done — finished, indeed, so far as
the subject can admit of it, and new matter should now come up for consideration. Phi-
ladelphia is a most Oivorable point for the meeting, and large delegations from many of the
states will be in attendance.

Such gentlemen as have had experience in the previous meetings of this body, may give
to this convention great directness, and the results of their deliberations may be of exceed-
ing value. Let a plan eaily be adopted for publishing the gist of their labors in a book
form, which need not be expensive, and its treasury will be liberally repaid from the sales
which may be made of its copies. If this body is to be continued, and hold future annu-
al or biennial meetings, it should have its "Transactions," as much as any State Agri-
cultural Society; and if got up as they should be, the record will be indispensable to every
poinologist and nurseryman, in guiding his future practice.

English National School-house. — A quiet, quaint, homelike affair, which,
deep shade of ancient Elms, looks the very spirit of repose and meditation. But

ON PRUNING HARDY GRAPES.

are too many buttresses and leantos about it, to suit our " fast" notions in America, and
it will rarely, if ever, be copied out of England. Besides that, the gables should be more
deeply sheltered by the projecting eaves, indispensable to the due protection of the walls
in our climate. With such addition, it would be a fitting model for a country school house
in this country.

Dr. Valk's Native Grape. — The July Horticulturist having come to hand before this,
I shall reserve what I have to say on this grape, to coujjle it with the new seedling of Mr.
Allen, of Salem, Mass., and perhaps another new thing or two of the sort.

Glover's Models of Fruits. — In these beautiful and useful specimens is shown what a
gentleman of taste and leisure can do — partly for the amusement of his leisure hours, and
incidentally to furnish such

" Imperishable types of of evanescence"
to all who love to see their Aivorite fruits in perpetual color and bloom before them. Such
specimens should be in the possession of every society who have cognizance of fruits, and
Mr. G. is entitled to the lasting gratitude of every pomologist, for his ingenuity and pa-
tience in producing them. Jeffrets.

ON SUMMER PRUNING HARDY GRAPES.

BY C, LOUISVILLE, KY.

Dear Sir — In the August number of the Horticulturist for 1846, you present Doctor
Lindley's theory of pruning grape vines, and recommend as the result of your experience,
the omission of summer pruning — neither to remove the laterals, nor to stop the fruit
bearing branches, unless the vines be too thick, when you remove a portion of the branch-
es with the fruit entire. Has any recent experience induced you to modify or change the
opinion there expressed, respecting summer pruning in open culture? Your correspondent
" H. G.," in your last number, on the culture of grapes under glass, directs the shoots
to be " constantly stopped a joint or two above the fruit." This severe pruning is no
doubt required under glass.

Mr. Lawrence Young, a horticulturist of some experience, in the May number, page
208, speaks of severe summer pruning of the fruit bearing and lateral branches as the only
correct practice, acknowledged to be so by all Cultivators, and says that " every body does
or may know it to be the proper culture." The writer of this is not satisfied that the cul-
ture is correct, though he has given the subject attention during the last eight years.

One of our successful cultivators on a small scale, has grapevines in this city, twent}^-
seven years old, reared from cuttings by himself, which are planted seven feet apart,
trained to an upright trellis eight feet high; these vines are pruned in the spring, on the
renewal system, allowing three or four canes of the last year's growth to remain, which
are trained in short curves, at full length to the trellis; other branches he cuts down
to two eyes, to form bearing wood for the next year, then he permits them to grow in a
straight diagonal direction until they reach the top of the trellis, when he bends them
over and stops them after they have grown about eighteen inches in a downward direction
on the ooposite side. All the wood that has borne fruit is cut out the following spring.
The fruit bearing shoots from the wood of the previous season, are allowed to grow freely
they reach the top of the trellis, when they are stopped, the lateral shoots from
not stopped or cut ofi*.

THE GOLIATH STRAWBERRY.

The onl}'' summer pruning the vines receive is that above described, together with the
removal of a few leaves when they cause too dense a shade over the fruit. His Catawba
and Isabella vines, are confined in a space of six feet by eight feet high, and are every
season loaded with fruit, from within eighteen inches of the ground to the top of the
trellis. The berries are of good size, though the bunches are not quite so large, as may be
obtained when a Catawba vine is permitted to run twenty to thirty feet, and bear its fruit
on the end, as some amateurs here fancy to train their vines, the bare stems having the
appearance of old cordage hung about from prop to prop, with amass of verdure attached
to the end. In return for this unsightly mode of culture, they certainly do obtain a few
larger bunches of grapes, than I have seen produced in the open air under any other mode
of culture. You will oblige j'our correspondent, by saying whether the experience of the
past six years has changed the opinion of the mode of summer pruning, recommended in
your journal in August 1846. Respectfully, C.

Loiiistille, Ky., July'.). 1S5'2.

Our opinion relating to vines out of doors is substantially the same: that is to say, we
advise every leaf to be left, and only stop the fruit bearing branches when they become
so long as to become unmanageable — i.e. fill up the trellis or stake too much. The severe
.system of pruning out of door vines is both unnatural and unsuited to our climate. Un-
der glass the vine is placed under artificial conditions and may be successfully subjected
to various modes of pruning and culture.

In cultivating Isabellas and Catawbas for fruit (not wine) in the garden or field, two
things are most important. The first is to give the roots — to the very ends — in the au-
tumn, an immense top dressing of stable manure (digging it in well,) for no tree needs so
much animal matter as the grape; the second is to prune the vine very closely, careful-
ly and thoroughly in the early spring or at the close of winter. These two things will
always secure a fine crop of very large fruit. Summer pruning is only a secondary —
though still important matter. Ed.

THE GOLIATH STRAWBERRY.

Among the various new strawberries that have been tested for two years past, the Goli-
ath appears to be the finest of that class usually called Pine Strawberries.

We believe the Goliath is a German variety, introduced into this country by Messrs.
TnoMAS Hogg & Son, Yorkville Nurseries, New- York. At any rate, our first acquain-
tance with it was through some plants sent us by these experienced and skillful nursery-
men— who commended the sort to us as one which had acquired reputation on the conti-
nent, and promised well under their own cultivation.

The advantages of the Goliath over most of the Pine strawberries, appear to be its
greater hardiness and adaptation to our climate. We have found the plants to stand the
past severe winter well, without any protection, and to bear an abundant crop. Not-
withstanding this, we would recommend a mulching of tan-bark two inches deep, as cal-
culated to improve both the vigor of the plants, and the size of the fruit.

Our neighbor, Dr. IIui,L, (of whose success in strawberry culture we have repeatedly
spoken,) has grown the Goliath to very great perfection this season, and the sketch of a
of the fruit of this variety, which we give in the annexed figure, is one taken from
plants. The remarkably high vinous flavor of the Goliath, added to its hardiness and

ILLINOIS HORTICULTURE.

vigor, will, we think, cause it to be sought after by amateurs. It is superior for general
cultivation here, to any Pine we have tried, with the exception of the British Queen —
while it is hardier than the latter fine variety.

Description. — Fruit large, ovate, pretty regular and uniform in size, (not cockscomb
shaped;) surface of berry not highly polished; seeds only slightly imbedded; color, rich
red; flesh, solid, with a high vinous flavor; quality, first rate in all respects. Fruit stalk
tall, strong, unusuall}' hairy; calyx quite hairy. Leaves borne upright, on long, rather
slender stalks. Hardy, and bears abundantly. Ripens at middle season.

ILLINOIS HORTICULTURE— INSECTS— PROF. TURNER, etc.

BY DR. KEiNNICOTT, NORTIIFIELD, ILL.

Dear Sir — In 3'our July number, I find a letter from that excellent western pomologist
A. II. ER>fST, of Cincinnati — commenting on Prof. Turner's discovery of insects, sup-
posed to be the cause of blight in the pear, &c.

I had the pleasure of reading the Professor's June article, in his own house, at Jackson
and I also examined his apparently healthy remnants of a noble lot of pear trees
by the blight of preceding summers. He could show me no vestiges of his

tree fiends," though he thought that their presence could be detected by a blotched and
slightly diseased appearance of the foliage.

I would say, at the coniincncement, that I am skeptical on this subject of the insect
origin of blight, and believe with Mr. Ernst that we are to look to the sudden and ex-
treme changes of temperature, and perhaps other meteorological phenomena, for the im-
mediate or exciting cause. But I do not believe that the enfeebled constitution of foreign
trees is the only, or chief predisposing cause — for our native as well as foreign shrubs,
and hardy indigeneous trees are subject to its attacks.

There is, as yet, no blight in my vicinity this summer, except in the burr oak ( Quercus
macrocarpa') and it is due to the believers in the insect theory, that I state the fact of the
comparative absence of most kinds of injurious insects in the orchard and garden — the
scaly aphis excepted. We have had very few rose bugs even — not one where we formerly
had one hundred. And this was the case during my recent visit to central Illinois.

There was, however, plenty of blight about Springfield, and regions north, though none
that I saw in Prof. Turner's neighborhood. I therefore fear that his exemption is acci-
dental, rather than owing to his zealous manipulations and varied applications to the bark
of his trees.

Professor T. deserves great credit, nevertheless, for his untiring exertions in this con-
nection, and his very careful and expensive experiments. Profit to himself in this mat-
ter seems to be lost sight of, in his ardent determination to add something important to
the science of Horticulture. And yet. Prof. Turner is a money making man. He will
pardon me for this statement, because it is the best evidence that one can offer the world,
of any man's practical talent, sanit}', and sound orthodoxy. It is proof positive that
he is all right, thought it has been the fashion among " the Doctors" in Illinois, to style
the professor " a reckless innovator and a wild visionary" — especially in regard to "a
plan for an Industrial University for Illinois" — for noticing which, as you have done, we
of Suckerdom can never feel sufficiently grateful or thank you too much.

Now, whether Professor T. has made any new discovery in entomology or not, I cannot
say — for I have never studied this most important science, and though I sought it, have
not been able to procure a copy of Dr. Harris' Treatise on Insects; I trust, however,
that his new edition will be sufficiently large to enable western fruit growers, and the
many reading farmers who have recently inquired for it, to obtain copies. But friend
Ernst will permit me to assure him of one thing. Professor Turner's "miteof mould,"
which he presumes to be the nest of his " Pear Devil" is not the " bark louse." The
seal}' insect does not attack the pear tree — at least not here — though the apple is often
perfectly encrusted with these scabby little pests. The white scale insect is found on
stunted apples and pears too, but I saw no signs of them on the trees about Jackson-
ville.

Still it is possible that this insect and the nest seen by Prof. T. and Dr. Adams, are
well known to entomologists — for though the one is a very learned man, and a most pa-
tient and persevering observer, and the other one of the best chemists in the west, and a
man of great general scientific information — yet I am not aware that either makes pre-
tension to an intimate knowledge of entomologj^ — and I am compelled to doubt the deduc-
tions of Prof. T., while I admit them to be verj' plausible and even possible.

While writing (as my intended brief note has already grown to a letter,) permit me a
word about your able Illinois correspondent, and the rich central Illinois region, which I
remember that he has described, though he resides in its most fiivored spot.

Though an old correspondent I never met Prof. Turner before — and, as many of

ILLINOIS HORTICULTURE.

readers may have done, I had formed no correct idea of the man. T had been told that
he was a " hobby man," — "a visionary theorist," and all that sort of thing — and per-
haps some of your readers may have thought the same, for he never hides his opinions;
and their singular boldness, if not originalty, and his forcible manner of stathig them,
have startled his brethren, the school-men, and they are, consequently, more inclined to
fear than to love him, though he has really made an hundred friends to one enemy; and if
they would only read him right, and " the signs of the times" too, they would see in
him as great a friaud to relgious institutions, and polite letters, as to practical and scienti-
fic education.

J. B. Turner is a thoughtful man, but no " visionary" — an innovator — but no "level-
er." He is not even an enthusiast — but an earnest scholar — a learned and pious theo-
logian— strict in his example, and yet liberal in his views; and the most earnest and un-
selfish man I ever knew, in his desire to give the producing classes a libei'al education,
suited to their wants, and to the practical requirements of their several vocations.

I wish his detractors knew him as he is. I wish your readers could see his little place,
and his manangement of it. His implements and machines, most of them of his own inven-
tion or improvement, and the manner in which he uses them — and how much he makes of,
and how much he makes /rom, a few acres. They would then see that he is just the sort
of a man to write for the Horticulturist, and the man to evolve and develop great prac-
tical thoughts, and to sustain them.

Jacksonville is the city, par excellence, of public edifices, and the great state charities.
It is the classical town, and with many, the show town of Illinois; and it is a most love-
ly spot — though here, as elsewhere —

" God made the country — man made the town "
The country is rich and beautiful, beyond the power of words to describe. The red drift,
or diluvial soil, is astonishingly deep and productive, twenty successive crops of Indian
corn, (60 to 80 bushels to the acre,) having been taken from the same field, witJiout ma-
nure.

The face of the country is not broken, nor is it rolling, but just sufficintly sloping for
easy culture, with an occasional elevation to break the vastness of a prairie view, which
too often stretches away beyond sight, unrelieved hy hills or trees.

Here, however, are some "mounds," and a plenty of timber, bordering the still streams,
and clothing the range of elevated land which encircles the town, in the richest and most
graceful dress imaginable.

We have no picturesque spots to speak of, and few trees of the picturesque type, though
no country can surpass ours in the graceful school of trees, and in the gentle curves and
swelling outline of much of our prairie land — its vastness and sameness being at once its
principal beauty and defect. But about Jacksonville there is nothing like monotony — the
landscape is varied, and the variety of trees and their forms, and the changing face of the
general surface, are enough to prevent any idea of sameness.

Maples, Elms, and six noble sorts of Oak, make up the great mass of trees, and yet
there are so many others, especially of the smaller sorts, that a prairie " island," or a
" timber" border, resembles the show grounds of some old nurseries East, with specimens
of nearly every beautiful and graceful deciduous shrub and tree.

But enough of the country — except the Hedges, and not much of them. There are
hundreds of miles of new Madura, or Osage Orange hedges, through the whole of this
al Illinois region — and yet, I saw but one that would turn stock of all kinds, and
ad grown up too rapidly, and not thick enough at bottom for future use. Prof. T.

GREEN CROl'S FOR MANURE.

has some hedges commenced right — they turn chickens, and would ahnost turn a rat now
— and hereafter the}' bid fair to be as impenetrable as a brick wall, and as formidable as a
hedge of Cherokee rose, in Louisiana.

The great fault every where committed, is in not cutting back enough. The hedge
looks dense and formidable at two or three years old, and the proprietors " hate to mu-
tilate it." But they must cut and keep cutting, or they will never have a fence — that is
clear to me — and yet, except upon Prof. Tuhner's grounds, I did not see ten hedges that
had been half cut — nor three that had been cut enough. [Quite right — for the first three
years the only thing is to cut down the hedge, till it gets thick at the bottom. Ed.]

There were, as near as I can learn, about 30,000,000 of this hedge plant raised in Il-
linois, last season, and there will be perhaps fifty millions this — and these will make a
" right smart chance of fence, if well planted and severely cut back — but I fear ten planters
will curse the plant grower, where one will bless him; and all from their own neglect or
folly — for I know that most dealers in hedge plants are very particular in their directions
to " cut and keep on cutting." Almost every promising native or foreign plant has been
tried for hedging and all abandoned, or nearly so, except the Osage Orange; and I fear
the majority of the existing hedges of that will prove a failure, from the fact above stated,
and not from any fault as yet discovered, in the nature of the plant itself, or in our soil
or climate as regards its cultivation.

I noticed among trees that had been parts of a hedge once, the Honey Locust, ( Gledit-
schia,) and in Prof. Turner's grounds are several tall specimens of the thornless varie-
ty— a half picturesque and very desirable tree. I did not see it with the moon-beams
sifting through its feathery foliage, but the Professor described the sparkling shower of
light thus produced, as most delicious, and entirely unequalled in its singular appearance.
This variety should be oftener planted.

The architecture in Jacksonville, I ought to say before closing, is not of a high order.
Many faults, and some bad ones, in the old public edifices — but better taste, and more
knowledge, are shown in the new.

There are many new suburban cottages, a credit to the place. I asked the origin of so
much taste, and was told that all might be traced directly to your Cottage Residences
and the Horticulturist. A compliment to you, Mr. Editor, and well deserved. Truly
your friend, John A. Kennicott.

Tlie Grove, III., July 10, 1852.

♦♦■►

GREEN CROPS FOR MANURE.

BY JAMES GOWEN, MT. AIRY, nilLADELPHIA.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: On the score of sound practice in agriculture, rather
than of courtesy to me, I claim the privilege of saying a word in relation to the strictures
in your last number, upon my remarks on " Green Crops as a Manure." I do not com-
plain that you took occasion to animadvert upon anything thing you found worthy of not-
ing in my Agricultural Address at Lancaster, being well aware that it was perfectly at
your option to single out for comment, whatever you might deem objectionable. Ack-
nowledging, also, that T have no right to expect every one should concur in my views,
upon a matter as susceptible of a difference of opinion, as the condition of farms and the
position of farmers differ — the circumstances being the rule by which to determine the
cessity or propriety of turning in a crop to serve as manure

GREEN CROPS FOR MANURE.

In my address, in which the turning in of green crops was merely incidental, it could
not be expected that the special cases, justifying a resort to such manuring, could be enu-
merated— I could but deal with the subject in a broad and general sense, and from a long
and close observation on the practice of husbandry, a sense of duty constrained me to de-
nounce the custom of raising crops to be plowed under, as " time wasting and land cheat-
ing." No one, not even yourself, Mr. Editor, can have a higher appreciation of vegetable
mold than I have, and I challenge New-York, or any farm in Pennsylvania, to show bet-
ter sods on uplands, after having yielded for as many years, heavy crops of hay, than I
can now show upon my place; and may safely add, that I am yet to meet the man who
would rejoice more in having such a sod to turn under, when it becomes necessary to
break it up; but with all this appreciation, I would not rely upon it to bring me a crop of
grain, potatoes, &c., without the addition of what is known among farmers as "barn-
yard manure," notwithstanding such a sod would be richer and more enduring than the
" scant crops of partly grown clover, buckwheat, &c," which I pointed at as unworthy
the name of manure. Had these fields I have mown for some seven or eight years, been
laid down in 1833 and 4, with only clover or buckwheat, and the like, turned in, would
thej', as they did, have yielded forty to forty-five bushels of wheat to the acre, as first
crops, and cut ever since close on two tons of fine hay, on an average, to the acre?

Assuredly not. In the course of two or three years at farthest, the crop of clover grow-
ing, would be required to turn under, to serve as manure for a grain or some other crop,
involving prematurely the labor of breaking up, seeding, &c.; and what would be the
condition of the land, and the character of the crops, after another two or three years
shift under such a practice — I allude to such soils as we cultivate.^ It was in view of this
system that I said, " in whatever place it is practiced, however strong the land may be
at the start, the system, if persevered in, must inevitably bring the land, its owners, and
the country, into a state of poverty. No good husbandman would think of pursuing such
a course."

If the address had been fairly read, its general bearing and scope properly considered,
it might, perhaps, have saved you and others from drawing the inference, that I held clover
and other green crops worthless as fertilizers. I never so thought, nor did I intend to be
so understood. I knew clover would in some degree serve the purpose of manure, and so
would potatoes, wheat, rye, barley, &c. &c., but I knew also that these, as clover, would
be costly and but indifferent manures, compared to barn J^'lrd manure, peat, and putres-
cent substances, which if not used to enrich theland, would become pestilential nuisances;
for we must have cattle and other live stock — while offal and other offensive matter would
be constantly accumulating. Insisting, as I did, upon the crops going to the barn, to be
put to their proper use, and the offensive matters applied, as the3' should be, to the land;
and in this, who shall be so unthinking as to say, I was wrong? Moreover, I had been
grieved to perceive a germ of quackery springing up with our efforts at scientific agiicul-
ture, and while I attempted to awaken the good farmers of Lancaster to a proper spirit
of improvement, I took occasion, husbandman like, to caution them against nostrums and
humbug, urging a chief reliance upon the cheap and excellent manures so easily obtained
in and about their barn yard and premises.

To the question whether T have seen the statement of Mr. More, in regard to his pre-
mium farm — I answer that I have; and, instead of condemning his practice, have simply
to say, that had I been in his situation, I might, perhaps, have resorted to the same means,
recourse to for the improvement of his land. But did Mr. More depend solely
the turning in of green crops, pending the process of renovating it? I presume he

GREEN CROPS AS MANURE.

used other manures, which with gypsum, aiding in restoring his farm to good condition.
But this case, and and others I have heard of, do not affect the force of the injunction
against a persevering system of turning in grain crops as a substitute for manure. It may
be that this very land that Mr. More found so wretchedly impoverished, when he took
possession of it, owed much of its poverty to his predecessor having followed more closely
the appliances of clover, buckwheat, &c., by wa}'^ of manure than ^Ir. More did — one
thing at least is certain, and that is, the impoverishment was not owing to the former
owner or tenant having been too liberal in the application of barn yard manure.

Now the best way to test the soundness of my views, as to the system I so deprecated,
would be, for some one having a farm in such good condition as Mr. More's is now found
to be in, to follow the green crop system thoroughl}^ for five 3'ears, discarding the vulgar
practice, if you please, of husbanding barn yard and stable manure. To note the seasons
consumed in raising the crops to be turned under, to produce the " carbon," " oxygen,"
" nitrogen," &c. — the simon pure fertilizers required to grow the wheat, rye, corn, pota-
toes, &c. &c., for the barn — to keep an exact account of the value of the crops so housed,
together with the sum total of the expenses of the farm, and then to exhibit the net gain
in the "yellow boys" that are now jingled in " Mr. Gowen's" ears, to convince him
of the profits resulting from the turning in green crops instead of manure; and if such a
system, on such a farm, at the end of five years, leaves the purse w^ell filled and the land
in as high condition as at the beginning, I shall not only confess that I was wrong, but be
willing to pay a premium of half the value of the farm to the husbandman who had work-
ed such a miracle.

Let it be rembered that it was such land, as this, not worn out land that I had in view,
as may easily be perceived by my remarks, for how could the land be brought " into a
state of poverty," that had not been rich, but in poverty already.^ If, Mr. Editor, you
will take the trouble to again glance at the address, from which you have predicted that
if I go on at the rate you infer I am going, I will, as you say, " demonstrate that there
is no warmth begotten by sunshine," you will be led to believe at least, that I am in but
little danger of dealing in moonshine. Your obedient servant, James Gowen.

Mount Airy, Philadetpkia, July 19(/i, 1852.

Remarks. — We like the straight-forward spirit of Mr. Gowen's remarks, and find by
them, that in the main point at issue we are entirely agreed' That is to say, if Mr. Gow-
EN simply wishes to affirm that there is no comparison in the value of barn-yard manure
for keeping a farm in heart, and green crops, we say Amen, with all our heart. No per-
son has a firmer faith in the value of barn-yard manure, than ourself, as we believe that
with plenty of it, ar.d the knowledge how to use it, one might smile, even at the bottom
lands of the west. But, as Mr. Gowen will not deny, that the said bottom lands are the
most fertile lands in America, will he do us the favor to ask himself how they became
such a store house of fertility.' By the deposit and decay of animal remains? No. By
the annual deposit for hundreds of years, of vegetable remains.' Assuredly. Nature has
been plowing in green crops every year, on those bottom lands, till they are most unde-
niably rich.

So for w^c think Mr. Gowen will agree Avith us — that there is virtue in decaying and
decayed vegetation buried in the soil, whether in the shape of clover plowed in or other
wise. But we now suppose from reading his remarks, with which he has flivored us, in
the above communication, that we have probably misapprehended him in another way,
OWEN is not only a good practical farmer, but an excellent teacher of husba
Pennsylvania and the states south of it he notices that farmers neglect their

A TALK ABOUT PIGS.

yard manure to follow the new fangled fancies of plowing in green crops, using mineral
manure, &c. lie accordingly tells them that green crops, under such circumstances, are
not worth their attention, which ought to be devoted to the permanent enrichment of their
lands by the use of animal manure. And the advice is the best of advice. We look upon
barn yard manure as the solid bullion, green crops, gypsum, lime, &c., as the paper cur-
rency of husbandry. But in man}'- parts, we were going to say most parts of the country,
the bullion is scarce — is only to be had in very limited quantities — so that not a half or
third of the farm lands can be well manured with it. In such a condition of things a
farmer who wishes to mend his land and not lose his profit, will, we think, occasionally
employ the paper currency to maintain and restore the credit of certain fields that would
come to a beggared condition, if they had to wait for the bullion. Barn yard manure, M'e
say with Mr. Gowen, before everything, but if we can't get enough of it, then we must
not despise what the experience of so many good husbandmen has proved of decided bene-
fit— green crops ploughed in. Ed.

A TALK ABOUT PIGS.

BY L. F. ALLEN, BLACK ROCK, N. Y.

" Pigs! And what, T should like to know, have pigs to do with horticulture?" says
an intelligent reader. Why a good deal to do with it, when a sharp-nosed street grunter
of the Alligator tribe creeps under your fence, or through your gate, which some straggler
has, perhaps, left half way open, and roots up a fine growing border of Dahlias just get-
ting into bloom, or a bed of choice Tulips in the full opening of their luxuriant colors; or,
in a better way, the domestic, quiet dam, and half a dozen little chubby responsibilities
which you have turned into your plum orchard to destroy the Curculio's which so inces-
santly murder your fruit. In this last employment, your well-bred pig is a useful crea-
ture, and well tended, and properly secured from mischief, is rather an interesting animal
than otherwise.

Pigs have been wonderfully improved in England within the last fifty years, and Eng-
land is the country, except in fine wooled sheep, where the best of all our domestic farm
stock is obtained. Lei it be known, also, that many of our merchants and gentleman who
live in cities, and have fine country places, have shown much more spirit and liberality in
sending abroad, and getting such things for the improvement and benefit of the farmer,
than a thonsandof the very ftu-mers so benefitted would show of themselves, and who usually
give little thanks, even while acknowledging the benefit, to those who confer it upon them.
For myself, however, I intend to make an exception to this truth, in the case now in
hand.

Among my friends and acquaintances in New-York, is a merchant, an Englishman, but
who has complimented the land of his adoption in the highest possible way, by marrying
an American wife, and cultivating a beautiful little farm in Newtown, on Long-Island,
where he resides. Tliis gentleman has a taste for fine animals, and next to his carriage
horses, nothing composing his outside family gives him so much pleasure, as to look upon
his beautiful Short-horn cows, of which he has several, his Middles-ex pigs, and his Dork-
Is. In retuining a visit of his of some months previous, I last winter drove over
my fiiend, and spent a night at his most agreeable home. Being an active business

&l

A TALK ABOUT PIGS.

man in the cit}', I little dreamed that he had cultivated so nice and discriminating a taste
for farm stock, and supposed that I should meet with some very tolerahle things at his
place, in the way of cattle, pigs and chickens; yet the last I knew to be good, for he had
among them some of the choicest of a previous importation of my own. The^rs^ I also
knew were fine, for he had selected some choice creatures from a herd into which T, my-
self, had dipped at a liigh figure. These were examined, commented upon, and praised as
they deserved; but usually regarding a pig as a thing to be kept in a pen, out of sight,
fatted, slaughtered, and put out of the way, I took less interest in them; yet learning
they were remarkable in their way, I went with my friend to their stye — a proper, well
ari'anged apartment, adjoining the stables; and what a sight! I no longer wondered that
Princk Albert, the illustrious spouse of England's Queen, breeds Middlesex pigs, and
takes prizes with tliem at the Royal Cattle Shows. Tliere were the original pair imported
the previous year, with their brood of nine young ones, fat as squabs, white as pigs could
be, and more beautiful in shape, and more perfect in style, than one would suppose a pig
could be bred — all of the true " Prince Albert" stock. Why they really looked innocent,
and in no manner of descent from the herd which ran into the Sea of Gallilee when pos-
sessed of the devil, some eighteen hundred and odd j'ears ago!

It is needless to talk further about the pigs, for I fell so much in love with them that I
dreamed of them half the night, and nought would do but my friend would have me ac-
cept one of them to take to my own place, with which to improve my own stock, although
I had tliought that my own were about good enough. The matter was soon settled, and
a pig I was to have, when the navigation opened, and he could be safely sent to me. In
due time I received him, and although I had never looked upon a thing of the swine fami-
ly with particular complacency, the quiet temper, docility, and beauty of the creature has
now won all my prejudices, and my pig is one of the prime favorites among my farm
stock.

Finding his stock too large for his farm, my friend, a few months afterwards, sold his
imported pair, and a part of the young ones to Col. J. M. Sherwood, of Auburn, who
now keeps them, and declares that, although he had the best of pigs before, he never saw
anything to compare with them. For introducing these beautiful pigs into the countr}^,
Mr. John C Jacksox — for that is the name of the gentleman — deserves more credit for
good works than half the politicians in the country put together.

Now, as the pig, or a family of pigs, are useful things on every country place, be it a
farm proper or country seat, with only its garden and fruit yard, let every one who re-
quires a creature of the kind, see that he select good ones of an improved race, easy kept,
and quite tempered; and if he want their services in his fruit orchard, they will not then
rout oat his trees, or rasp off their bark, as the common ill bred brutes of the country are
sure to do if they get access to them, thus effectually destroying curculio, fruit, and tree;
whereas, your quiet little " Tussers" will graze among the trees, nosing over the fruit,
and " using up" the grub.

After leading tliis paper, I beg your readers not to suppose that I have these, or any
other pigs to sell, as I have not. I write this solely pro bono publico, and to do justice to
the good taste of my fiiend, Mr. Jackson, as well as to advise all my horticultural friends
to get good pigs when they get any. Your Suffolk pig, and your Essex pig are also quiet,
gentle creatures, and well deserve all the patronage bestowed upon them; but in all my
pig knowledge, I have never met with the beauty and perfection of the Middlesex pigs
imported and bred by Mr. Jackson. Lewis F. Allen

Bl'ick Rock, July, 18.52.

'A^^

^^1^^--

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

inmrstir liuti

Chuech in the Lombaed Style. — [See
Frontispiece.] — The great change, and no
less striking improvement, whicli have taken
place in the church architecture of our princi-
pal cities, within ten years past, are beginning
to exert an influence on the rural and suburban
edifices of the same character. The uncouth
wooden buildings with frightful steeples, which
deformed so many of our country towns, are
gradually being displaced by tasteful and con-
venient churches of stone or brick, built in
more correct proportions, and the interiors of
which are really calculated to raise devotional
feelings in the minds of the congregations.

The suburban churches of our country towns
are very important features, not only as places
of worship, but as bestowing dignity and beauty
upon the towns thf-mselves. To awaken and
diffuse a taste for good country churches comes
fairly within the field of our labors, and in ad-
dition to examples already given, we place be-
fore our readers this month, a handsome design
by Messrs. "Wyatt & Brandon, eminent archi-
tects in London, for a church in the Lombardic
style of Architecture. It has been admirably
carried out at Bethnal Green; the material,
brick, with stone dressings. The interior di-
mensions are 117 feet long, 50 feet wide, and
60 feet high to the picket of the gable.

New Hardy Cherries. — We received on the
26th of June, from B. B. Kirtland, Esq., of
Grecnbush, N. Y., samples of two varieties of
seedling cherries — called Mary and Christiana,
that seem to us worthy of the attention of po-
mologists, especially at the north and west.
These cherries appear, in fruit, flavor and foliage,
to be a cross between the Mayduke and the
Heart cherries, assimilating much nioi-e closely
in flavor and color and form to the Mayduke
than the other parent ; the color bright lively red
— the flavor sprightly sub-acid — the fruit borne
in large clusters — the leaves rather narrow.

The "Christiana," with quite narrow, small
leaves, and long stalks, is the finest flavored va-
riety. -''Mary" is the most profuse bearer and
remarkably hardy. Greenbush is in a cold

portion of the northern states — the thermome-
ter having fallen to 14'* below zero the past
winter. The consequence of this was that the
cherry crop was almost wholly cut ofl' by the de-
struction of the germs of the flower buds in win-
ter, while these two seedlings of Mr. Kirtland's
were loaded with the heaviest crops. From
this fact, and the close relation which these
seedlings have to the May Duke, there is every
reason to believe they may prove hardy enough
to supply that place in the north and west, which
the compaiative failure of nearly all but the
acid cherries has left vacant.

Large Trees in the State of New York.
— It is much to be regretted that no work has
ever been published with well engraved por-
traits of the finest specimens of our noble Ameri-
can forest trees, many of which are annually
disappearing, either by old age, or by the pro-
cess of " clearing up" the country. It is sad-
dening to the heart of a lover of trees to see in
many parts of the country the finest single speci-
mens sacrificed by the wanton axe of the wood-
man, who sees only so much " cord- wood" in
what, to his descendants, would be valued " be-
yond rubies." Of course new-world forests
must be cleared up, but it is difficult to under-
stand what good reason the most practical com-
mon sense man can have for despoiling the neigh-
borhood of his dwelliiig of stately single trees
— that should be held sacred as the pride and
glory of his home landscape. One cannot but
feel that the sentiment of the nineteenth cen-
tury in this respect is far behind that of the
most remote antiquity — as the Jews were for-
bidden to cut down the favorite trees even of an
enemy. (Deut. xx, 19.)

The Genesee Valley is that part of New- York
where the lover of fine trees will find most to
delight and satisfy him. On the Genesee Flats
is a kind of meadoAV-park of a thousand or
more acres, belonging to the "Wadsworth fami-
ly, with the finest specimens of park-like oaks,
elms, and other trees of indigenous growth —
finely developed and presenting studies for
tist or arboriculturist, such as are nowhere

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

to be seen in the middle or eastern states. Mr.
S. B. Buckley has given, in Silliman's Journal,
a record of some large trees, from which we ex-
tract the following paragraphs as worthy of
preservation in tlie Horticulturist. (We should
be glad to have accounts from our correspond-
ents in various {lortions of the union, of trees
of remarkable size — especially those which grow
singly — and not in forests.)

" There is a ' big tree,' still alive, (July, 18-51,)
on the banks of the Genesee river, about a mile
from the village of Geneseo. It is a swamp
white oak (Qucrcus bicolor.) At the height
of about 20 feet, its body sends forth numerous
large branches, many of which are now dead.
The trunk varies little in size from the ground
to the branches, it having an average circum-
ference of 27 feet. The smallest circumference
is 24 feet. An elm tree tln-ce feet in circum-
ference is partly joined with it, their bcKlies
often touching, and their limbs intertwining,
the green leaves of the elm, make the old oak
look fresher than it really is. They are situated
in a pasture, and the ground is bare and hard
beneath them from the trani[iliiig of cattle and
visiti)rs.

The swamp white oaks are numerous and of-
ten attain great size on the Genesee Flats. As
examples, one is 14 feet in circumference ; anoth-
er 13 feet 9 inches; a third 12 feet 8 inches.
The wood of this species is said to l)e superior
to that of the common white oak. Many of
these majestic trees contain more solid feet of
timber than the " big tree," on account of their
greater height.

A large tree on the Genesee River, near Ge-
neseo, attracted the notice of the early settlers
of Western New- York. One of their finest
roads, leading from Canandaigua to Geneseo,
via. the foot of Iloneyoye Lake, was long known
as the " Big Tree Road." Tlie native Indians
had long known this corpulent giant of their
woods, and named one of their chiefs '' Big
Tree" or Great Tree." S. section of this tree
was conveyed to New- York, via. the canal and
Hudson River, about 15 years ago, where it was
used as a grocery.

I have recently, (Feb. 1852.) visited the lum-
ber region in Alleghany county, N. Y., where a
portion of the hills and valleys are still
covered with dense forests, through which the

white pines, {Pinus strobus,) are conspicuous
for their great size and height. I measured one
which was 15^ feet in circumference at the
height of 4 feet. One stump was 5 feet in di-
ameter, another 4| feet. A saw log 4 feet in
diameter, showed by its annular rings, an age
of about 210 years. The largest log which I
could learn of ever having been at any of the
mills, was one sawed several j'ears since, 7 feet
in diameter. A plank from this log, containing
600 feet board measure, was exhibited at the
county fair, at Angelica. I saw a hemlock,
{Abies canadensis,) which was 12 feet in cir-
cumference.

In the history of Ncw-Hampshire, by Bel-
knap, a white pine is mentioned which was 7
feet in diameter. MicuAux,in his Sylva, states
that he saw a stump in Maine more than 6 feet
in diameter. He also measured two trunks
that were felled, one was 154 feet long, and 54
inches in diameter, the other 142 feet long, and
44 inches in diameter. I quote the above to
show that no part of the United States can pro-
bably boast of larger white pines than Alle-
ghany connty, N. Y.

An elm, (Ulmiis americana.) was cut down
during the present winter, on the farm of S. K.
Jones, near Dresden, Yates county. New- York,
whose stump is 4 feet 10 inches in diameter at
4 feet from the ground. At the height of 15
feet, the trunk was 15^ feet in circumference.
At the height of 20 feet, where the trunk was
divided into two large branches, the circumfer-
ence is still greater. Its height was about 60
feet. Its annular aings indicate an age of about
300 years. [We think there are still larger
elms in the valley of the Connecticut. Will
some of our readers there send us statistics?
Ed.]

In the township of Sod us, Wayne county, N.
Y., are many large Sycamores, (Platanus oc-
cidenlalis.) several of which are from 14 to 16
feet in diameter. The largest of them are uni-
formly hollow. These trees are not far from
Lake Ontario, and their branches still appear to
be in a flourishing condition. Mostof the trees
named in the foregoing article grew in a rich,
deep alluvial soil; even the large pines were
either in ravines or vallevs.

The Cllmate of S.^n Francisco.-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

valuable scientific account of the climate of San
Francisco by Dr. Gibbons, we extract the fol-
lowing, as giving more precise information than
any usually obtained, and as calculated to ex-
plain the reason why the new evergreens from
from California are not so hardy in the middle
states as those from China and the Iliniraalaj-as:

" The most striking peculiarity in the climate
of San Francisco, is its uniform temperature.
There are no extremes of heat or cold. There
was only one day in the three summer months
(the 18th of August, 1851) when the thermome-
ter rose to 79'', (at Philadelphia it reaches this
puint 60 to 80 days in the year.) Only on^-e in
tlie year did the thermometer sink to the freez-
ing point, and it was below 40° only on twenty
mornings.

In the summer months there is scarcely any
change of temperature in the night. It is in
early morning, sometimes clear, sometimes
cloudy, and always calm. A few hours after
sunrise, the clouds break away, and the sun
shines full cheerfully and brightly. Towards
noon, or most frequently about one o'clock,
the sea breeze sets in and the weather is com-
pletely changed. From 60° to 65° the mercury
drops forthwith to near 50°, long before sunset,
and remains almost motionless till next morn-
ing. The sudden fluctuations of temperature
incident to the climate of the Atlantic states,
are unknown here. "We have none of those
angry outbreaks from the northwest, which
change summer to winter in a few hours.

As regards the infiuence of the seasons on
vegetation, the common order is reversed. The
entire absence of rain in the summer months
parches the soil and reduces it to the barrenness
of a northern winter. The cold sea winds of
the afternoons of the summer solstice, defj' the
vertical sun and call for flannels and overcoats.
When the winds cease, as they do in Septem-
ber and October, comes a delightful Indian sum-
mer. In November or December the early
rains fall, and the temi)erature being moderate,
vegetation starts forth, and mid winter finds tlie
earth clad in lively green and s[)angled with
countless flowers. The spring opens with genial
warmth, but just as the April sun begins to
ive promise of summer heat, its rays are shorn
of their power by the winds and mists of the
Pacific

These remarks apply to only a small part of
the state of California. Beyond the influence
of the bay of San Francisco and its outlet, the
sea winds are scarcely perceptible even near the
ocean."

Str.4wberry Beds. — Sir; I followed your
directions last year in making strawberry beds,
and with such extraordinary success, that I am
induced to recur to the subject for the benefit
of those who like myself would " take pains to
excel as good cultivators" if they knew liow.
I began by collecting a dozen loads of good
stable manure, rejecting all the litter. I then
marked out the ground to be devoted to straw-
berries, and commencing on one side opened a
trench three feet wide, by wheeling all the top
soil, for six inches deep, to the opposite side of
the intended strawberry plat.

I then spread a coat of the stable manure 4
inches tliick, over the lower layer of soil, laid
bare in the trench, and turned it under, mixing
it well with this soil. Then I threw the top soil
of the next space of three feet upon the bottom
soil in the trench already manured. This left
a new space or trench 3 feet wide, which was
manured and trenched like the other, and this
was rei)eated till the wliolc plat was worked
over. I then dug over and levelled the top soil
again, mixing some decomposed manure with
the surface of the beds on making them.
Through these beds I set two rows of plants,
the rows 14 incites apart — the jilants 10 inches
apart in the rows. I removed the plants early
in August — young runners M-ith little balls of
earth attached. I directly covered the beds
with tan-bark, 2 inches deep. This kept the
plants cool and moist, so that they struck root
immediately, and made such extraordinarily fine
plants, that I have liad a fine crop this season,
many of the berries measuring 3 to 4 inches.
I planted 8 sorts, and after trial prefer the fol-
lowing. Burr's New Pine, Hovey's Seedling,
Swainstone Seedling, Early Scarlet. Yours,
A Philadelphia Subscriber. July 14, '52.

Soap Si:ds and Poultry Manure tor
Grapes. — A "Horticulturist on a very small
scale, having only 4 pear trees and six grape-
vines," (dating at Pittsburgh,) writes us an ac-
count of his mode of fteding a large Catawba
grapevine, which may interest some of our
burban readers. He firms a large basin

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

the roots of his grapevine, early in the spring,
by raising a curb or box of boards, so that the
soil over the roots will take a couple of barrels
of water without allowing it to run to waste.
He provides himself with a quantity of the
sweepings or manure of the poultry yard, keep-
ing it constantly diluted or dissolved in a barrel,
at the rate of a peck to a barrel of water.
Every week, at the close of the " washing day,"
he first empties upon the roots of the vine a
pailful of the manure water from the barrel, and
afterwards as much of the '•' suds" as the vine
will take up. The consequence, as may be ex-
j)ected, is a great luxuriance of vine, and enor-
mous clusters of fruit. A very large back,
building is covered by this vine, and the fruit is
just twice as large, in bunch and berry, as those
on the other vine, left to ordinary good garden
soil. A neighbor, who had an old Isabella vine
that had failed for several years to bear any
good fruit, has taken the hint, and applied the
" weekly wash," with the fertilizer as aforesaid,
and has been gratified with a larger and more
promising crop this year, than the vine ever
bore previously.

A WELL DESERVED TRIBUTE. The NeW-

York State Agricultural Society has, by its
steady devotion to the interest of the farmer,
by the solid sense and intelligence of its officers,
by its liberal premiums and its great annual
fairs, become one of the most useful, honora-
ble, and influential institutions of the country.
Its premiums now amount to over six
thousand dollars per annum, and its Trans-
actions, published every winter, contain a great
amount of valuable experience and observation.
Few of those even who share in the reputation
and are benefitted by the results of such a so-
ciety, know how much of the labor is done by
a few earnest, devoted men, who, though not
the conspicuous dials of the time keeper, are
the concealed balance wheels or regulations so
much more neces.sary to the accuracy and per-
fection of the machine. The Treasurer and
former Secretary of the Society, Mr. Tucker.
pre-eminently belongs to this class, and we no-
tice with no ordinary pleasure that by the fol-
lowing resolutions of the society, passed .some
time since, the executive board have determined
to present him with a handsome service of plate,
acknowledgement of their estimation of
th.

TThereas it is the opinion of this board, that
the New- York State Agricultural Society is
greatly indebted to Mr. Luther Tucker for
his able, efficient and long continued labors, as
a member of the Executive Committee, having
acted as its secretary and business officer for the
first three years after its reorganization, in 1841,
and aided most efficientlj' in perfecting its or-
ganization , and in carrying into successful opera-
tion its first Fairs, at Syracuse, Albany and
Rochester, furnishing an office for the Execu-
tive Committee, the necessary stationery, &c.
for the three years; prei)aring for the Press,
and superintending the printing and distribu-
tion of its Transactions, and in performing all
the duties devolving upon its local Secretary,
for all of whicli, as well as the expense incurred
by him in the performance of these services, he
declined to receive any reward: and,

Whereas Mr. Tucker has, with the excep-
tion of the year 1844, when he declined to act
as Secretary, on the ground that the Society
was then quite able to pay for such services, and
the year 1847, when he again declined the secre-
taryship, to which he had been elected, served
the Society, as a member of this Bo^rd, or as
its Secretary or Treasurer, from its reorganiza-
tion to the present time, without remuneration,
except for the year 1845, when he was allowed
$300, an amount less by $250 than was paid for
the same services the previous year: therefore,

Resolved, as the unanimous opinion of this
Board, that to no man more than to Mr. Tuck-
er is the Society indebted for its present highly
prosperous condition, and that the thanks of
the Executive Committee, together with a ser-
vice of plate to the value of $500, be presented
to him. as a testimonial of their high apprecia-
tion of his services and character.

The Cold Winter in Arkansas. — A.J.
Downing, Esq — Dear Sir: As you expressed in
the Horticulturist a wish to hear from different
parts of the country, respecting the efiect of the
last extraordinary winter on trees and plants,
I will endeavor to tell you how things stand in
this neighborhood, although it is doleful enough.
The latter part of the summer of 1851, as well
as the autumn and forepart ot winter, was
unusually dry. and the trees making no late
growth, the wood was perfectly matured. The
first cold weather was on the 15th of December,
the thermometer standing at 4. On the 18th
it was at zero. January 13th, 2 below zero;
19th, 28 below zero; 22d, 16 below zero, all at
sunrise, when the thermometor was at its lowest.
28th, at noon, it was 70, and Blue birds sing-
ing ; 30th, at sunrise, 60. Here was a difier
ence of temperature of 98 degrees, in the
space of nine days; no wonder it proved

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

astrons. Through the month of February, and
the first half of March, the weather was very
pleasant, so that vegetation was far advanced,
and the pear tree nearly in bloom, but on the
18th the thermometer fell to 16. and since then
it has continued cold and disagreeable, until the
last days in April.

In summing up the injury that has been done,
I allude to my own garden and neighborhood,
generally, for there are few places where the
situation is a favorable one, that they have not
suffered quite so much. My peach trees are
nearly all killed ; and part of the one year old
pear trees in the nursery, with some of those
two and three year old, that were planted out.
Magnolia grandijiora,* M. purpurea, and M.
tripetela, are frozen to the ground. Magno-
lia macropMjlla is injured only on a few shoots
of last years growth. My beautiful Pyrus Ja-
ponica hedge had not one early flower, and
some of its twiggs are frozen. Chinese Honey-
suckle. Deutzia scabra, and the hardy roses,
with one single exception, are killed to the
ground. The Chinese Arborvitae is entirely
destroyed.

The Trumpet Honeysuckle, the White Ital-
ian Honeysuckle, the Purple, Wliite, and Per-
sian Lilac, the Snowball, the Fringe Tree, and
Venitian Sumac, are the only things that es-
escaped.

Of Apples, I think we shall have a tolerable
good crop, only a few of those that were most
advanced were injured by the late frosts. Pears
we shall have but few; and Plums none at all ;
the Curculio destroys them all, and so I cut
down the trees.

A few words about the Osage Orange. In
the fourth vol., page 146, of the Horticulturist,
your correspondent, J. , says the seed all rotted in
the ground, and then asks, " Was the seed
worthless, or was it immersed too long, or was
the water too hot?" On the 5th of April, 1818,
I planted a quart of Osage Orange seed that had
been soaked for 40 hours in warm water, and
afterwards spread on a board for 32 hours.
When I received the, seed the ground was not
prepared, and by the time I was ready to plant,
it rained, and continued to rain for several days;
at last, in a fit of desperation, I made drills in
;iiolia grandiflora has stood tlie winter perfectly
ington. M. tripetela is perfectly uninjured, and
full bloom ill our grounds on the Hudson. Ed]

the mud with my fingers, (it was impossible to
use the drilling machine;) threw in the seed,
and covered it slightly. Never was seed put in
in worse condition, nor did any ever grow bet-
ter; indeed, I thought every seed came up.
The water poured over the seeds was not quite
so hot as that used by your correspondent. I
imagine the seed was worthless when he got it.
In conclusion, let me tell you. Mr. Editor,
that I have received much of benefit and plea-
sure from the perusal of your volumes. Should
you find anything in this, my first attempt, like-
ly to interest your readers, you are at liberty
to use it. I am sir, respectfully yours, J. M.
J. Smith. Fayetteville. .Arkansas, May i,
1852.

Cold that Destrots Peach Buds. — I have
of late been perusing the horticulturist, which
to me is very interesting. Among other things
that particular!}' attracted my attention, was a
notice of fruit btids being destroyed by the ex-
treme cold weather of the past winter. It has
frequently been asserted that 12 degrees below
zero destroys peaches and some other fine fruit.
As I have had some experience in fruit raising
for twenty years past, I have had an opportuni-
ty of making some observations to my own
satisfaction, and as you have requested notice
from different parts of the country, respecting
the prospect of fruit, I send you some facts
from this section. Although I have to refer to
other persons to determine the state of the
weather, still I have reason to believe tlie state-
ments correct. The thermometer records a
number of days the past winter, ranging from
14 to 26 degrees below zero. Now does that
degree of cold kill the fruit? Nature answers
the question. The spring with us is quite back-
ward, but it gives us fitll evidence that there
shall be no failure in the promise of regular
seed time and harvest. Though the elements
may yet prove destructive, the prospect is
promising. Peaches, plums, and cherries, are
now coming out, clothed with their i)iiik and
white, even to the covering of their branches.
Does this look like their being frozen to death
— other proofs we have, last year 1850 and 51,
the cold ranged from 13 to 27 below zero and there
has not been so large a crop of peaches for eight
years; plums were mostly destroyed by th
culio, cherries quite plenty. I have some

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

peach trees, set last season, one year from the
bud, quite a share of them are now filled with
blossoms; and plums, from six to eight feet
higli, are clothed in bloom, I have some dwarf
pears standing from two and a half to three
feet high, set for a dozen fruit each— so much
for our prospects in this cold regicjn.

I raise all my fruit trees, perhafis I may at
some leisure moment send you my manner of
cultivation. Charles Sjuitii. Shelburne,
Franklin co., Mass., May 24, 1852.

[The irregular effects of the winter are very
difficult to understand. It has been supposed
that 12° below zero invariably killed the blos-
som buds — but there are many examples the
past winter of their surviving a greater cold un-
injured— while in some portions of the country
they were quite destroyed witli less cold. Pro-
bably more depends on the thawing after the
severe frost than on the cold itself. Ed.]

Coi'NTRY Seats About Boston. — Sir: My
attention has been called to an article in the
April number of your Journal, signed " Horti-
cola," and to a commentary on the same in the
May No., by a "Subscriber," between whom
there seems to be some little difference of opin-
ion about the relative beauties of various coun-
try seats in this town, (AValtham, Mass.)

This is a nice question, as all mere matters of
taste are; but can be settled, perhaps, by a lit-
tle reflection. The truth is, we are, here, a lit-
tle fastidious in these matters. The beauties of
country residences arise from [losition as well as
surrounding scenery; and we are so completely
encircled with positions so beautiful by nature,
and requiring so little artificial adornment, that
we arc not aware how capricious we have be-
come in our taste, and judgment too, in those
matters. In the early settlement of this state,
when our ancestors, with the whole land before
them, were looking only for pleasant places on
which to take up their rest, tradition says that
when they reached Watertown, of which Wal-
tham was then a part, they ceased their search,
satisfied that their new world could not reveal
to them, beyond, a fairer inheritance. Stand-
ing on these hills, from which they could see, on
the one side, the sun rising from the dreary
ocean which they had passed in fear, and set-
on the other side, in, to their minds, the
carier wilderness, they planted themselves

'• with much jorj," in this lovely region. I say,
then, we are not judges of fine positions; we
have no waste places for contrast; we see noth-
ing but nature, and so arrayed as to appear,
•'even when unadorned adorned the most." But
to go back to the true question before us-

" Horticola," a stranger, I hear, but ena-
mored of our town, (a proof of his good taste,)
speaks rather slightingly of the ancient seat of
the Lyman's in this place; the oldest I believe,
and heretofore considered the grandest; and
passes by its old rival, the Gore Place, with
mere mention; this docs not suit " A Subscri-
ber," nor would it any old con.servative. The
lands of Mr. Lyman are broad and rich, but
low. It is a valley residence, and of course
does not appear to the .same advantage an es-
tate chosen more for prospect would ; such was
not the fancy of that day. Gore Hou.se, of
about the same period, is in similar taste. In
that day, houses were built for merely comforta-
hie residences— now for show country seats, and
prospects are now much more valued. Horti-
coLA speaks flatteringly of Rose Hill, where the
appliances of a more modern taste are fast re-
vealing the beauties of a position entirely diffe-
rently situated . This accounts for Horticola's
opinion, and '' A Subscriber's" too: they are
both right. But my intention in this note is to
speak a word for a part of our town, which has
till this present time, been obliged to be content
with but silent praise- Would "Subscriber,"
if he be, as his deep interest and feeling in the
case, strongly encourages one to think — an in-
habitant of this lovely land, but turn his eye
upon " Trapilo," our romantic hills and fer-
tile vales in the north atj^east; could he ab-
stract himself from the dusty "plain," and re-
pose himself awliile among those quiet scenes
and select some favored spot for experiment, my
conviction is, that with suflBcient means, he
could distance all competitors in a beautiful
countrj' seat. But I find my communication is
becoming too long, and I must omit much I in-
tended to say about some other places in this
town; but I hope " Horticola" will communi-
cate again with you, for he evidently has an eye
to beauty in landscape gardening. Trapilo.
Waltham, Mass., May 31, 1852.

Sulphate of Ammonia. — I was very much
pleased with the recommendation of Sulphate

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

o/ .y^mmoHia as a fertilizer by " An Amateur,"
iu your Magazine for June." The one pregnant
assurance, " nothing so good can be cheaper,
and the substance may be obtained at almost any
apothecary's," wrouglit in me a lively satisfac-
tion— endorsed as it was, by your own profes-
sional endorsement. Filled with faith, I straight-
way sought a drugstore, in search of the requi-
site " Sulphate of Ammonia," and experienced
something very like contempt for the establish-
ment, on learning tliatnosiich substance contri-
buted to make up its assortment. But after
having visited four other large stores witli like
success, and finding the said '•sulphate" at
neither, while its very existence seemed doubt-
ed at many, I sobered down into a more accus-
tomed sobriety, and contented myself with a
small dose of the Muriate for experiment.

Now, what is the trouble? If no Sulphate
of Ammonia can be found at the respectably
extensive drug stores of Syracuse, am I not
warranted in doubting the general ability of hor-
ticulturists to easily procure it? Or does '• An
Amateur" expect us to manufacture for our-
selves, as we can do if necessary, from salts
which apothecary's do keep? or is it something
else than the sulphate which he uses? For one.
I am really anxious for the means of preparing
so valuable a fertilizer. J. M. W. Syracuse,
June 6, 1852.

[Our correspondent's only error was in saying
the sulphate was easily procured. "We believe
it is only to be had of the wholesale druggists
in the larger cities. Muriate of ammonia, (sal
ammoniac,) may be had at any druggists, and
from some experiments we have made lately,
Ave believe it is a vejj' tolerable substitute for
the sulphate, used in the same proportions.
Ed.]

Insects on Apple Trees. — A. J. Downing.
On my property near this city, I have a small
young orchard of apple and peach trees, which
early in the spring, gave promise of a fine crop
of fruit. The trees are very thrifty, and are
just beginning to hear. The apple trees, espe-
cially, look well, and every one had some fruit,
and some of them were loaded. But an insect
of the bug or beetle species has attacked my
orchard , and I fear they will totally destroy the
fruit, and seriously injure my trees.

About a week siuce was the first I observed of

them. I then discovered a few of them on d
ferent trees, eating the tender leaves and young
apples. In the past week they have multiplied
by thousands, and have commenced on my jiench
trees, and even the vegetables in the garden.
They have eaten up many of the leaves entirely,
except the stem, and nearly all the apjiles.
They commence by making a small incision in
one side of the apple or peach, then eat the
pulp, and increase in numbers as the opening
enlarges, until the fruit is entirely devoured. I
have seen as many as 15 and 20 all crowding
their heads into this opening, in the side of a
small apple. The peaches suffer in the same
way, but they like the apples much better.

When I discoved these insects, my first step
was to consult my " books," see what they
were, and what was the best method of destroy-
ing them. I have the works of Downing, Bar-
ry and Thomas, all recent publications, and spe-
cially devoted to fruit trees, besides several oth-
er works that treat partly on the same subject,
but in none of them could I find a description
Avhicli would answer, as I thought, to this in-
sect. I am a mere novice in the delightful stu-
dy and art of fruit-growing, as yet, and could
not tell any of the destructive insects except by
comparing them with the descriptions in the
books — which, by the way, I find entirely too
brief and unsatisfactory for a learner like my-
self. {Query — What is the best work on this
subject of" Insects ") [Harris' Treatise — now
out of print — but a new edition of which is in
preparation. Ed.]

This insect appears to resemble the locust
more in its habits and ravages, than any other
insect of which the books treat. But it is not
near so large as the locust, and carries on its
work of destruction in perfect silence. They
fly about but little, and chiefly in the Avarmest
part of the day. They continue pretty much
in the same place, on the leaf or apple, during
day and night. In the evenings and mornings
they are more stiff and torpid. This induced
me to try an experiment of catching them in a
sheet early in the morning, when the dew is on
the trees, and then killing them. We tried this
plan, but after slaying our ten thousands, we
gave it up as a hopeless job. I then tried sy-
ringing the trees most eflectually with strong
tobacco juice — but this seemed to have but lit-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

tie, if any effect, upon them. This would never
kill them, for I found they would live after be-
ing immersed five minutes in the juice. Even
very strong brandy would not kill them for ne-
veral miimtes,

I herewith send you some eight or ten of
tliese insects, a part of what I took from one
apple, that you may see them, and give me any
further information you may i)Osse98 as to their
nature, habits, &.C., and the bust mode of des-
troying them. If they are unknown to you,
perhaps a brief notice in the " Horticulturist"
would elicit the desired information, or attract
direct attention to the insect, if it should be
found in x»ther sections of the country. I be-
lieve it prevails to a greater or less extent in all
the orchards in my neighborhood— how much
further I have not learned. It is my intention
to watch the insect closely, and learn more of
its nature and habits.

The insects I send you were killed by being
inuuersed in strong brandy. I will put them
up in cotton, so that they may carry safely in
my letter.

My ground is on the bank of the Ohio river,
commonly called " bottom land," — and is a
deep, rich, sandy loam ; but the trees on the
river hill were also attacked.

Any information on this subject you can give
mo in a private letter, or in the Horticulturist,
will be thankfully received. Yours, &.c. J. N.
F. W. Pittsburgh, Pa., June 19.

The insect sent us with the above is the rose-
bug or rose-chafer, well known in some parts
of the middle states, where the soil is light and
sandy. It is the most difficult insect to destroy
where it appears in abundance. In some vine-
yards on the lower part of the Hudson, infect-
ed with it, the only successful remedy yet found
is to pick them by hand, and put them in boil-
ing water — an obviously hopeless task, when so
abundant on trees as described by our corres-
pondent. If any of our readers have fuund a
more easy and speedy death for them, we shall
be glad to hear from them. Ed.

Roses — Birds and Insects. — I am very much
obliged to you for the information you gave me
last autumn, as to the winter disposition of my
roses; it kept them as nicely as possible, and this
summer they have made me quite famous, and
peojile sometimes come from quite a distance to

see them . But what shall I do to my Chroma
tella? It grows and branches out until it looks
like — a centipede ; it isn't a pretty comparison
I know, and if my rose would behave itself pro-
perly, I should not think of it, much less speak
of it. In the first place it is si.\teen feet high,
and every two or three inches along the whole
length, there is a branch from two to three feet
long ; and it will not blossom — and when it does
blossom it is not what it should be. Two years
ago it was yellow— a true Chromatella, as I
suppose ; last year it would not spend time to
blossom ; this spring it had eight blossoms, but
they were white, with pink edges and just a
faint shade of yellow in the centre. Is there no
way to bring them back to their original color?
Is this change in consequence of being near
other roses? The great thing has nearly killed
my poor little white moss rose, by fairly starv-
ing it out.

I do not like your correspondent J. C. H. (I
haA'e just read his article on " birds, insects, and
other matters" in the July number.) I am
very angry with him. I think that if I had an
opportunity I should feel strangely tempted to
pull his hair! Probably if he knew it, his an-
swer Avould be something like that of Napoleon's
ambassador to the old lady: '• Madam, the Em-
peror would be very sorry to learn that you
have so poor an opinion of him." Or some-
thing like it. But I am angry nevertheless.
" Boys do not shoot birds," do they? Then I
am laboring under a delusion in thinking that
my own pet robins, and blue-birds too, became
food for — fishes, once upon a time! There are
a few boys in these United States, who do not
live in the city, and who are not such very poor
marksmen either, as / know to my cost. But
I find that writing about it is by no means a
soothing process, so I will stop, lest I say some-
thing to be sorry for, or ashamed of.

But do tell me what to do for my rose, Mr.
Downing, for I very much fear it is a hopeless
case. Very respectfully yours, A Subscriber
AT THE "West. July 15, 1852.

Our " Subscriber at the "West" must not
lose her patience with her Chromatella rose,
and she will have abundant reason to be satis-
fied with it next season. At present — as is al-
ways the case with this rose, when it has fair
play, it is vindicating its nature as a climber.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

and expending all its energies in growing. Let
it grow, and the larger it gets the more superb
will be its bloom, when it comes into a flowering
condition again — which it will doubtless do next
season. We seen it, farther south, covering a
trellis 50 feet long, loaded with flowers at the
end of every branch. There, it stands the win-
ter without care, but in Illinois our correspond-
ent will have to bend it down and cover it so as
to protect it from frost and wet in winter. All
tliat need be done with it this season, is to let
it grow till the middle of October as freely as it
likes. Then commence pinching off the end
of every shoot, and repeat thisif it starts again.
This will force the young wood to ripen well
before winter, and next season the plant will
doubtless bloom very profusely.

We quite agree with our " Subscriber at the
West" in differing from J. C. H. in his opinion
regarding the worthlessness of birds as insect
destroyers. If J. C. H. will examine the works
of any of the entomologists who have taken
pains carefully to study the habits of insects, he
will find them continually referring to the agency
of birds in destroying or preventing the exces-
sive increase of various sorts of insects. We
ask, as a specimen, his attention to the follow-
ing paragraph, which we quote from Harris'
Insects, p. 26. " A cautious observer, having
found a nest of five young jays, remarked, that
each of these birds while yet very young, con-
sumed at least fifteen of these full sized grubs
(cockchafers) in a day, and of course would re-
quire many more of a smaller size. Say that,
on an average of sizes they consumed twenty
a piece, these for the five, make one hundred.
Each of the parents consume say fifty, so that
the pair and family consume two hundred every
day.

But as the grub continues in that state four
seasons, this single pair, with their family alone,
without recognizing their descendants after
the first year, would destroy 80,000 grubs.
Let us suppose that the half, namely, 40,000
are females, and it is well known that thej^ lay
about 200 eggs each ; it will appear, that no less
than eight millions have been destroyed, or pre-
vented from being hatched by the labors of a
single fixmily of jaj-s. It is by reasoning in this
that we learn to know of what importance
attend to the economj' of nature, and to

be cautious how we derange it by our short-
sighted and futile operations." Ed.

Notes from Illinois. — Sir: It is rather late
in the season to inform you of the effects of the
last winter, but as I do not observe any men-
tion made of it by correspondents from Illinois,
I will give you a few items' — although Septem-
ber was a very hot and dry month, yet the win-
ter came on so gradually that fruit trees and
fruit would not have suffered but for the great
severity of the freezing— the murcury in F. at
several times went to 14° below zero, but espe-
cially on tlie 19th January when it reached 22°
below zero. Of course we could not hope that
the buds of the peach could resist such extremes,
but we hoped that the seasonable weather in the
beginning of winter had prepared the tender
shoots to resist it — but it proved too much for
them, and great numbers of young trees have
wholly perished, while all have suffered greatly
— from one inch to three feet of the extremities
of the limbs having been killed. Strawberry
plants that were not protected also suffered —
particularly Hovey's Seedling — a strawberry
that I received as Keen's Seedling, but which
I think must be the Early Scarlet, has stood
the winter w^ell, and is the only one that has set
any fruit — but much of that was killed by a
frost on the 20th May. Kather a hard climate
this for gardening and fruit culture — ten days
ago to-day every tender plant that was not Avell
protected, was destroyed or injured by frost —
the mercury being down to 32° on the morning
of the 20th, and to-day the direct rays of the
sun have scorched and curled beans and the
tender foliage of the pea — at three P. M., the
mercury stood at 96 in the shade, free from
reflection. But all I wish to trouble you, after
this long story about the difficulties of our cli-
mate, is to ask j'ou or your correspondents for
some remedy against an enemy to the straw-
berry, which is new to us here. It is a worm
about an inch long when grown, dark colored
with but few bristles, very active in its move-
ments when disturbed, that rolls it.self in the
leaf by a web and then preys upon everything
within reach giving a scorched and blighted ap-
pearance to a whole bed that previously was
most luxuriant — it is so wound up in the leaf
that no general application of dry liquid
reach it — tobacco juice will destroy it when

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

mersed in a pretty strong preparation of it — but
it must first bo taken from its secure hiding
place in the leaf, but tliis process would be too
much lilvC the Frencliman's flea powder for
practical application — it commenced its depre-
dations about tlie time the bloom began to
come out and continues yet.

I tliink it is the same worm that attaches it-
self singly to the foliage of fruit trees, and is so
destructive to it. Some of your correspondents
anticipated a very general destruction of insects
from the severity of the past winter. It is
commendable to see good in every occurrence,
however unfavorable in appearance, but I fear
that the stock of destructive insects has not
been materiallj' diminished here, for they seem
unusually ravenous for ever)' tender sprout, af-
ter their long torpid slate.

The Osage orange in this region, stood the
excessive cold most satisfactorily — even seed-
lings being but slightly injured It is fast grow-
ing in favor liere, and will be the fence of this
country in a few years, unless some unlooked
for defect appears. There will be a few hedges
turned out next spring, five years from the seed.
Respectfully yours, &c. J. B. M. Warsaw,
III., May 29, 1852.

Southern Fruit Cilture. — Dear Sir: As
we do not profess infiillibility, will you allow me
to qualify what I stated in the last Horticul-
turist in regard to the American Summer Pear-
main. This apple I have noticed two or three
years on young trees, and it has usually crack-
ed a good deal, so much so, that its quality and
bearing properties did not seem to me to war-
rant its culture with this objection.

This year, however, it ripened in the gardens
of two of my friends so finely, that they called
my attention to it particularly. With Dr. Ca-
MAK the tree has borne this year an abundant
crop of ](ivge fair fruit of the best quality. It
ripened about the first of this month. Dr. Wood
has it also under the name of •' Watkin's Earlj',"
and equally fine. Whether the fine season,
or maturity of the trees, has made the speci-
mens that come to my notice so much better,
this much is certain, that should its good quali-
ties continue permanently, no better summer
fruit could be desired. A friend from a neigh-
county, states also that with him it is an

cellent fruit and a good bearer.

The Gravenstein is now just ripening an abund-
ant crop and though rather acid here is still a
good fruit and worthy of cultivation.

Our experience in regard to peach trees, in
the the main, coincides with that of Mr. Scott.
In ordinary years they bear abundantly but there
is no doubt that they are more liable to spring
frosts. This year for instance, I venture to say
that I will get as much fruit from a dozen seed-
lings in my garden, as will be gathered from any
hundred northern peach trees in this town. But
they generally bear well. Mr. Harwp:ll (he
will pardon me for using his name,) writes me
in a letter of last month, that his northern
peaches arc getting acclimated at last, and doing
well. From the early Tillotson he gathered.
June 5th, a single half bushel, which he sold in
Mobile for $10.50.

Our Ohio friends cannot believe the tales
from thisquarter of the Union, about ever-bear-
ing strawberries. But there is very little doubt
that in this climate, if well watered, the straw-
berry will bear nearly all the season. Since tlie
2d of April there has not been o week that my
vines have not shown ripe fruit; not much, it is
true, for they have had no care, but most after
wet weather, and there is not the shadow of
doubt, from the testimony of reliable eye wit-
nesses, that Mr. Peabody's statements are en-
tirely correct. With me Burr's New Pine and
Large Early Scarlet are tlie only cver-beaiing
varieties, Hovey's Seedling is not. Yours very
respectfully, Wm. N. White. Athens, Geo.
July 9, 1852.

Reply to Dr. Valk's Strictures. — Dear
Sir: As the permanent improvement of the na-
tive grapes by hybridization with the exotics, is
a matter of much national importance, you will
perhaps, excuse me for requesting again a cor-
ner in your valuable Journal, in answer to the
caustic remarks of Dr. V^lk.

As I am apt, upon honest conviction, to
speak somewhat abruptly, I committed the
same error by saying. " he has gone the wrong
way to work." That some polite effusion of
language might have been used to express the
same meaning, without giving offence, I admit,
and hope he will excuse the expression; but it
is not by indulging in invective and bra;
cia, nor yet by applying sarcastic pique

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

a triflng misplaced etiquette, that science and
observation are to be put down.

As the matter at present stands, in this in-
stance, your correspondent has proved little
more in his favor than positive assertion
founded upon presumptive evidence, — and
his assumed position is a wrong inference, for he
is surely aware that the desideratum is not so
much the hardiness, as to standing the severe
frosts of winter, but a constitutional power to
resist mildew during the growing season: and
though the former is a very desirable point, yet
it is a trifliiig matter compar(;d with the latter.
We know that in many situations far north of
this neighborhood, the foreign grapevine will
stand unprotected without injury; and if they
did not do so, we might cover them with earth,
as is done with the Fig and the vine in the vine-
yards in the steppes of Russia. I sincerely
hope that he has gained all that he asserts, but
under the circumstances it yet remains to be
proved, whether or no he has got a true cross,
for it may yet turn out to be nothing more than
an inferior variety direct from the Hamburgh,
as I know that seedlings from that variety often
answer the description of your correspondent ;
and those " who know" will look with skepti-
cism, at lea.'t, upon the experiment, until it has
been grown in different localities, and under va-
rious circumstances. And I repeat that he
would have made surer work of it, as regards
constitution, and most likely fruit, also, if the
Isabella had been crossed with the Hamburgh.
Although "practical experience" may some-
times prove my argument to be incorrect, Dr.
Valk has not yet shown it to be so — and if he
will give it a fair and unprejudiced further in-
vestigation, and as fairly submit his experience
thereon to public decision, I will willingly abide
by the verdict. If, acting in accordance with
the inscrutable and immutable laws of the all-
wise designer of the universe, is, in his estinia-
tion, catering aUa Barnum, he is welcome to
the delusion. What I stated is founded upon
the results of many experiments upon diffe-
rent tribes of plants ; it is a demonstrated fact,
and is supported by the authority of the most
scientific investigators of nature.

I do not wish to be a disputant, nor to detract
le honor due to your correspondent, nnd
that he will receive these comments with

as good feeling as they are jjenned. My desire
was to throw a mite into the treasusy of useful
knowledge, for the benefit of others, and if it
should liei'eafter realize my wishes, I care not
for his severe, but futile remarks. I am yours
most respectfully. Wm. Choklton. New-
Brighton, Staten-Island, July 15, 1852.

Pruning in Autumn. — The late S. W.Cole,
who strongly recommended autumnal pruning
for fruit trees, says, '•' Thirty-two years ago, in
September, we cut a very large branch from an
apple tree, on account of an injury by a gale.
The tree was old, and it has never healed over,
but it is now sound, and almost as hard as liorn,
and the tree perfectly hard around it. A few
years before and after, large limbs were cut
from the same tiee in spring; and where they
were cut off the tree has rotted, so that a (piart
measure may be put in the cavity." — ^Ib. Culti-
vator.

Dwarf Apples. — The Genesee Farmer states,
that a dwaif apple tree, seven years ])lanted,
and ten years old, the tree not over three feet
high, growing on the grounds of Aaron Erick-
son of Rochester, produced a Fall Pippin six-
teen inches in circumference and weighing
ttventy-six ounces. Two or three others were
nearly as large. Apples grow rather larger on
dwarfs than on standards. There is one inter-
esting question in connexion with this subject,
that we would like to have answered, viz : At
what price Cduld such apples, thus grown on
dwarfs, be afforded per bushel, as a general
average for seasons and cultivation and the cost
of a crop per acre, — and the comparative value
with otlier apples in market. — Albany Cultiva-
tor.

Slutirra nf Inrirtirs.

Albany and Rensselaer Hort. Society.

The firsl exliiliilion for ]s5'2. look plnre !it tlie N. Y.
.Stale Agricuilural Socieiy Rooms on the 22(1 .luiie ; the
floral display, both in beauty and variety, eclipsed tiiat of
any former exliilnlion ; and taking: into consideration the
unusual drouih, the display ol fruits and vegelahles ex-
ceeded all anticipations.

The Society met at 12 M., Dr. Herman AVendell, its
President, in the chair, when tlie following genilemen
were chosen delegates to represent it in the American Po-
mological Congress, which is to convene in Philadelphia
on the 13lh of .September next, viz: V. P. Douw, Her-
man AA'endell, M. D, James AVilsou. B. B. Kirtland, D.
T. Vail, B. P. .Johnson. Luther Tucker, and E. Dorr.

The following gentlemen 1o rejircstnt it at the Autumnal
Exhibition of the IMassachnsells Horticultural .Society:
viz — Joel Ralhbone, S. E. Warren. C. P. Williams, Jef-
ferson Mayell, Wm. Ncwcomb, AVni. A. AVharton, and
Amos Brigggs

And the following to represent it at the Aniumnal Exhi-
bition of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, viz: E.
P. Prentice, E. Corning, Jr., AVm. Janes, J. S. Goold,
h. Menand, Dr. Jolni \A'ilson. and W A. IMcCulloch.

Tlierc was a very fine exhibition of Strawberries, Mr.
Ralhbone. of Kenwood, exhibitins <even. James AA'ilson
four. n. n. Kirlland icn, C. P. Williams six. and J. S.
Goold sixteen varieties. The premiuui for iht finest fla-
vored variely was awarded to Burr's New Pine.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Of Greenhouse plants, flowers, and boquets, there was
a very fine exhil)ilion.

On ihc vegeialile table were WeU grown spetimens of
caulifluwerb, cucumbers, lelluce, peas, rhcul)arb, &c.

The spcomi exiiibilion for l&W, took place at ihe Hall
of ilie Agricullinal .*<ocieiy, on Tuesday, the filh July.
The (lispUiy of fruit, as will be seen by tlie report of the
cortnriitlee, was unexpectedly large and varied, as was
al-o tlie show of plants anil flowers, as well us vegetables.
The .Society niel at I'i, M. Dr. Herman Wendell, its Pre-
sident, in the Chair. A communication was read from the
New-York Horticultural .Society, inviting co-operation
witli them in promoting Horlieullural progress, which was
ordered on file, and the following genUemcn chosen dele-
gales to represent the Albany and Rensselaer Horticul-
liiral Society at the Annual Exhiliiuon of said Society,
which is to take place m September next, viz: .loel Rath-
bone, V. P. Douw, Hermnn ■\\'en(!ell, .D T. Vail, E. P.
Prentice. B. B. Kirtland, S. E. Warren, B. P. .loliiison,
I/. Tucker, James Wilson, E. Corning, Jr., Jefferson
Mayell, L. Meiiand, E Dorr, and C. P. Williams.

The show of Fruits was very fine, and premiums were
awarded as follows :

Cherries. — For the best and mo.st extensive collection,
B. B. Kirtland, $3. For ihe second bet^l and second most
extensive collection, Jefferson Mayell, $2. For the best
three varieties, to E. E. Platl, lor Gratfion or Yellow
Spanisli, Black Tartarian and Mayduke, tl. For the best
one variety, to B. B. Kirtland, for Ellon, $1.

Currnnts. — For the best and most exiensive collection,
to James Wilson, $.3. For the best and finest flavored
variety, to Col Ilathbone, for Knight's Sweet Red, $2.
For the second best, and second finest flavored variety, to
Jefferson Mayell. for very fine specimens of While Dutch,
$t.

Gooseberries. — For the best and most extensive collec-
tion, to Joel Rathbone, Esq., Sf.3. For ihe second best and
second most extensive collection, to V. P. Douw, $2. A«
the gooseberries were unripe, the premiums for best fla-
vored and best variety, could nol be awarded.

Raspberries.— For the best and most extensive eoUee-
tion, to Col Ralhbone, for five varielies, $3. For the best
and finest flavored variely, to Jefferson Mayell, for Fran-
conias, ©2. For the second hesl, and seconil finest flavor-
ed variety, to V. 1'. Douw. for Red Antwerp, SI.

The display of greenhouse plants, flowers, cVc ,a1lract-
ed much attention, and was considered fully equal to any
previous exhibition.

Of vegetables there was a liandsome exhibition, con-
si-ting of cucumbers, beets, onions, carrots, siring beans,
squashes, &c.,

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

The stated meeting of this association was held in the
Chinese Saloon, Philadelphia, on Tuesday evening, July
20. 1.'^.52. Gen. Patler«on, President, in the chair. The
exhibition was unusually fine in each deparlnient. 'J'he
displays of plants remarkably .«o, and consisted of five
extensive collections all in full flower. The President's
gardener contribuled a very large table of finely grown
specimens — Hydrangeas, Yucca, Gloxinias. Gardenias,
fine varieties of Fuchsias, etc. .fames Dundas'gar eiicr,
beautiful specimens of StigniaphylUiin ciliaie, Stanhopea
grandiflora, one of the finest air phiiits, Cattleya crispa,
Torenias, Gloxinias, Fuchsias, and Ilydr-.ingeas. Harry
Ingersoll's gardener, a choice collection of Gloxinias and
Achimenes, which reflected credit upon bis skill. Caleb
Cope's gardener, brought Iweiiiy-six select plants, among
which were Achimenes gloxiniacflora. A. Liebiiiaiiil.
Adamia versicolor. Fuchsia — Fair Rosamond and Don
Giovani and double purple Cliinese Primrose, all new and
shown for the first time. Joint J-ambert's gardener had
a handsome collection. Roberts Buist's foreman, a fine
specimen of Zauchsneria californica, Ihe first shown be-
fore the Society, Thos. F. Croll exhibited a collection
of very fine Pinks and double Poppies. The Bouquets
and designs of cut flowers displaye<l lasle and judgment.
The desgii by tsaac Collins, gardener to Gen. Patterson,
was large and beautitul. Ihe flowers which compo.sed it
f the choicest varieties. Thos. IMeehaii, gardener
Cope, presented another of those huge baskets
liter of which displayed the T7th llo«'er of the Vic-
toria regia from ihe same plant, it was a beautiful speci-

men; alro a pretty design of exotic flowers and a basket
torined with native flowers. Robert Kilvington exhibited
a large cone bouquet of native flowers and hand bouquets,
and Thos. Meghran a basket of cut flowers.

The fruit table temptingly presented its delicious burthen
com|)rising fine specimens of Black Hamburgh Grapes
from Robert Egee's houses, -feaches, the Noble.sse,
Crawford's early Melocoton, George 4ih and rareripe
varielies; Nectarines — the Pitinaston and EIruge varie-
ties; Plums— the Green Gage and Purple Gage from
Caleb Cope's. The i\lusch and Baxter Seedling Apricot,
AVilder Raspberry, Gilfaid and Muscat Pear, large yellow
and large Green Gooseberries from Isaac B. Baxter. The
Tlie Alooipark Apricot from James DuiKhus. Five va-
rielies of Cherrii s and one of Plums from Mrs. J. B.
Smith's. Madelein Pears from II. AV. S. Cleveland.
Miser Plum by A. I'arker. Cherries and Red Currants,
by N. A. Roe; Blush Apples and Red Currants, by M.
.Snyder Several varielies of Apples, choice kinds, and
Peaches by John Perkins. While Lurranls from Miss
Gratz's; Black Curranis from J. Lambert's. The col-
lection of vegetables were really very fine and extensive,
and Ifoni the I'ollowing sources; Amliony Fellen Jr.,
Thomas Meghran, gaidener to R. Cornelius, John Miller,
gardener to Joseph .S. Loveriiig, Maurice Finn, gardener
to John Lambert; Thomas Meelian, gardener to C. Cope
and James Jones gardener at Guard College. Thos. P.
James, Recording Secretary.

State Pomological Convention at Columbus, 0.,

August 31, 1S52.

Agreeably to a resolution adopted by the last Ohio Suite
Pomological Convention, held at Columbus, Dec., 1849, it
is the duty of the undersigned to make the call for the next
session.

Therefore, in pursuance of such duly, and after corres-
poiKling wi:li genilemen in various parts of the state, we
liereby request all persons interested in the subject of
Fruit Culture, to assemble in Convention at Columbus, on
the 31sl day of August, 18.52.

It is desired that fruit growers not only will bring speci-
mens of fruits ripe at that time, for exhibition and compa-
rison, hut that they will also bring with them notes and
observations relative to varieties ripening at other sea-
sons. •

Fruits inlended for exhibit ion, or communications there-
for, fiom those who cannot alleiid in person, may be di-
rected to the care of M. B. Baleham, Columbus.

A. H. ERNST. President.

J. A. Warder and F. R. Elliott, Secretaries.

Genesee Valley Hort. Society.

This Society held its principal summer exhibition a*
Rochester on the 25th and 2(ith of June.

The disi)hiy of plants and flowers was highly creditable
to the contributors. The efforts of Ihe managers of Ihe
Society have been liberally encouraged, and lliis was one
of the best, if not the very best show of flowers and
slrawberries the Society has ever given.

There was a large collection of Summer Roses, Green-
house plants. Floral ornaments, Boquets, &;c., including
many new varieties of Ornamental Plants.

The exhibition of .Strawberries was one of the best that
has ever taken place, both in the number and scleclion of
varieties, and in the fine giowdi of the specimens. R. G.
Pardee, of Palmyra, exhibited aliout 40 varielies, incUid-
ing all llie best standard sorts, and many new ones pro-
cured for the purpose of testing. Among the latter was
Jenny's Seedling, which has proved rather productive,
and promises to be a fine fruit. Prince's Charlotte, of fine
flavor — and small specimens of McAvoy's Superior, from
late spring transplanting, showing a decidedly good flavor.
Hooker it Co. presented 10 varieties; Bissell Ac Hooker
11 varieties, and three new seedlings of their own raising,
one staminale, and two pistillate, of got>d promise and
qnile productive, well worthy of further trial. M. G.
Warner. G varieties, mostly of the best standard sorls.
George L. .Southworth, Burr's New Pine and Hovey's
Seedling, of very fine growth. M. Jewell exhibited
sorts. Ellwniigcr it Barry prcseiiled 10 sort;
seven of their new seedlings, hut their flavor gener:
not appear to be quhe so well developed as last year

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

g had two sorts ; A. Frost & Co. fine Hovey's seed,
lings, and Shei)pard & Cherry V2 sorts.

As the results of their examinations, the Committee
have been led to regard with much favor, the following
varieties :

Burr's New Pine, hesl and most valuable for home cul-
tivalton; Large Early Scarlet, early, productive, and the
most valuable fertilizer; Scarlet Melting, exceedingly
productive and easily raised — flavor moderate, and too
soft except for home use; Rival Hud.son, for a late sort,
and for maikel and preserving; Hovey"s Seedling, and
Crimson Cone.

Champlain Valley Hort. Society.

The first Floral Exhibition of Ibis tSociety look place at
Burlington, Vt., on the 2'Jth of June. The exhibition
room was worthy of a visit, for its great beauty. The fine
arch at the entrance, covered with evergreens, interspersed
witb roses and oilier beautiful flowers; — the festoons sus-
pended from pillar to pillar, uiul also along the walls of
the room, with wreaths containing flowers; the beautiful
devise of Flora, at the farthest end, with her green flow-
ing mantle, with her skirt of variegated pinks, and the
wreath of roses swinging from lier hands, together with
the initial letters of the name of the Society and the date
of the day, all in beaulilul tbrm and in " sweetest green,"
made a room dressed and decorated, such as we are cer-
tain is not ol'len seen in New England.

The display of (ruits and flowers, more than realized
the anticipations of all.

Prof Thompson exhibhed some interesting specimens
in Entomology in order to show "the enemies as well as
tlie products of Horticulture." Among these .specimens,
were the Curculio, the Apple, Peach, and l.ocust Borer,
ill their various stages of existence, from the larva state
to the perfect inseel.

Buffalo Hort. Society.

The Semi-annual Exhibition was held on the 29th and
30th of June. Owing to the unusual backwardness of the
season, the display w'as scarcely so fine as that of last year
— many varieties of roses not being in bloom, and cher-
ries, with the exception of the eaiiiest sorts, not being yet
ripe. The Hall, however, presented a beautiful appear-
ance, decorated, as it was, with wreaths of evergreens,
interspersed with flowers, and having in the center a beau-
tiful floral temple. jNIany new and rare varieties, both of
fruits and flowers, were for the first time exlnbited— and
notwithstanding the many unfavorable circumstances
with which the Society was obliged to contend, the Exhi-
bition gave general satisfaction.

'J'lie display of .Strawberries was large, and in the opin-
ion i>f the committee, excelled in point of quality and va-
riety, that of any former show.

?lii5iiirr3 tu (rnrrapminits.

RASPBERR1E.S. — R. R. (New-Lonfloii, Ct.)
Rivers' Everbearing Raspbeirj-, doe.s not con-
tiniie to bear in this climate except it is planted
on a moist soil, when it yieds a good second crop
in the autumn. Knevetts Giant is a better mar-
ket fruit than the Fastolft'^the fruit being near-
ly as large, and much firmer.

Evergreens. — F., (Lancaster, Pa.) The
American Yew, is a native of tlie middle states —
grows in several places on tlie Hudson. It is
not properly a tree, like the European species,
but a spreading shrub, about 3 or four feet high,
the foliage and berries quite ornamental. It

loves the shade. You would have succeeded
perfectly with the native Rhododendrons if you
had taken the precaution to have made a bed or
border for them in a shady place, and brought
leaf -mold from the woods to plant them in.
They will not grow for any length of time in
common garden soil. C. (Boston,) The ma-
nure of the Lodi Company we found so well
adapted to evergreens, is called by them sim-
ply " manure for shrubs."

Insects.— .4 Subscriber, (York, Pa.) The
first Curculio comes out of the ground in the
spring, just as the blossoms of the plum begin
to fall. About three weeks after, the insect falls
from the tree in the fruit, and goes into tlie
ground — it comes out in a beetle form, accord-
ing to some entomologists — while others say not
till the next spring. At any rate, there are
broods, less numerous than those in early spring,
all through the summer — the later ones finding
no fruit to sting, taking the young branches in-
stead— and in the latter case the eggs remain in
the branches all winter, and the complete in-
sect comes out the following June. The insect
flies at noon-day — but whether the male or fe-
male, or both, crawl up the trunk at first, is not
known. J. A. C, (Boston.) The insect you
describe as boring the leading shoot of your ev-
ergreens, is probably the Pine Weevil. The in-
sect comes out in a perfect state about the mid-
dle of Augu.st, and when the ends of the bran-
ches are infected, they should be cut off and
burned before that time, to prevent the laying
of more eggs. Wash the ends of the shoots,
both in spring and mid-summer with a thick
paint composed of soft-soap, and tobacco water,
to prevent the beetles from depositing the eggs.
Any well decomposed compost is good for ever-
greens— avoid fresh animal manure.

Half Har©y Trees. — An Amateur, (Rich-
mond, Va.) All the pomegranates, both fruit-
bearing and flowering varieties, will succeed with
you if trained on a north wall or building, and
the roots covered a foot deep with tan-bark in
winter, and tops protected by a double ni.atting.
We do not think the Norfolk Island Pine will
thrive out of a green-house with you. Cun-
ninghamia sinensis is perfectly hardy south of
New-York, and Cryptomeria even north of it.

^

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AM) RURAL TASTE.

Mt ininning ml Ijjc Inrtitultorist.

"flllE had barely time to announce in our last number, the sad intelligence of the
'^ death of Mr. Downing. "We had hoped to present this month, an elaborate
memoir, prepared by an intimate friend of Mr. D., but unavoidable circumstances have
prevented its preparation at so early a day. It will be given in a future number, ac-
companied by a portrait of Mr. Downing.

We cannot, however, suffer the occasion to pass without paying some feeble tribute
to the memory of one who was endeared to every lover of his country — to every ad-
mirer of the beautiful, and expressing our ardent appreciation of his worth.

His sudden and untimely death has fallen with a crushing weight on the hearts of
his friends, and upon the public generally, as a common calamity. The place he oc-
cupied is now a blank — the commanding position to which he had carved his way, will
wait long for a claimant. Though comparatively a young man, he had earned a repu-
tation for ability, and enjoyed a popularity, which few have been fortunate enough to
win. Without the advantage of a liberal education, — forced from youth to rely upon
his own unaided exertions, — at the early age of thirty-seven years he had elevated him-
self to an enviable rank among the first minds of the age. At whatever point of
view we regard him, we are compelled to admire the symmetry of his character, the
vigor of his mind, the versatility' of his talents, and that healthful flow of enthusiastic
feeling which marks his writings. There are those who can work out beautiful
thoughts in marble, who can clothe them in the touching language of poetry, or bid
them flow in the rounded periods and convincing strains of oratory, but few minds
seem possessed of the power to add by art to the beauty of nature, and make the des-
ert blossom like the rose.

Mr. Downing first claims our attention as a practical Horticulturist and Nur-
serymen. Unlike the majority of working-men, he did not busy himself exclu-
sively in the manipulations and detail of his art, though in these eminently successful,

Sept. 1, 1852.

No. IX.

MR. DOWNING AND THE HORTICULTURIST.

but labored to discover the first 'principles of his profession, and to bring it up to its
proper rank in the science and the fine arts. When we consider the discouraging cir-
cumstances under which he wrought, both in the means of prosecuting his work, and
the apathy of public sentiment, we wonder that he should have produced a treatise so
perfect in its kind, so elaborate and finished as his Landscape Gardening. He
handles with apparent ease, the subtil topics of abstract beauty, the moral and social
influence of its development in nature, and what is more remarkable, he is equally at
home in carrying his theory into practice. This work first appeared in 1841, and
though an elegant and costly book, has now passed through four editions. It was the
first publication on the subject by an American author, and so completely unknown
was the art, that the manuscript remained some time in the hands of the author with-
out a publisher. It was, however, a complete triumph, and may be said to have al-
most created a taste for ornamental gardening — it certainly refined and elevated it.

The discussion of a disposition and adornment of the grounds pertaining to a resi-
dence, naturally led to the subject of Architecture. With all the branches of this
art, Mr. Downing was familiar, and his Cottage Eestdences and Country Hou-
ses, display with great effect his admirable taste. He discusses the meaning and ex-
pression of Architecture, in a profound and comprehensive manner ; and following, what
seems to have been a motto with him — " Never to lose sight of good sense,''' — he
shows the absurdity of adopting ancient architecture as the highest form of the art,
and argues the necessity of a peculiar national style of building. That he founded a
distinct school, we do not assert ; but from many sources, and particularly from his
own varied culture, sound judgment, and correct taste, he drew just what seemed best
adapted to the wants and capacity of the country.

The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, which was issued in 1846, presents to
great advantage, the pomological research and experience of Mr. Downing. This work
is admirably executed, and has met with universal favor. These works of Mr. Down-
ing have given this country a rank among other nations in Horticulture and Rural
Taste, and exerted a wide influence upon the improvement of our own gardens and
houses. Many a residence, beautified by his skill, many a smiling lawn, and gracefully
disposed group of foliage, remain as fit monuments to his memory, and many a home,
made happier by his teachings, will be saddened by his death.

In the editorship of the Horticulturist, he has shown, perhaps, better than in
his other writings, the peculiar fitness of his talents to educate the popular taste for
the beautiful in nature and art. The success which has attended this periodical, and
the increased attention which is being paid to Landscape Gardening, Horticulture and
Rural Decoration, are proof of the beneficial influence of his labors. Whether we
read his Letters from England, which exhibit a refined literai-y taste, and a delicate
appreciation of, and full acquaintance with, the pleasures of a scholarly and cultivated
mind, or the plain sayings and wholesome counsel of an " Old Digger," we recog-
nise the same sterling sense and discriminating judgment. Mr. Doavning was not by
eminence a theorist. It was not his aim to build castles too grand and lofty for human
realization, or to show the power of his intellect by forming conceptions, which imagi-

MR. DOWNING AND THE HORTICULTURIST.

nation only could give being to. The great question with him, was, how much of the
really beautiful can be made subservient to the public good ? how far can elegance and
utility be combined ? how much of the spirit of the amateur can be infused into the
mass of the rural population ? He has answered these questions by his deeds.

IMr. Downing was an American, and all his thinking and acting tended toward
the welfare and elevation of his country. Very much of his deserved popularity is
owing to his ability to popularise whatever he wrote upon. Ho seized upon what was
most needed, and upon that alone, and with striking point and directness, presented it
in such form, that his conclusions were irresistible.

His style of writing is unaffected and flowing, and his diction, though elegant and
ornate, is never verbose or tiresome. Such a style grew naturally out of his charac-
teristics of mind and habits of thought. His mind was furnished and cultivated, and
his impulsiveness bore his thoughts by the nearest way to the desired end. This
brings to notice that peculiar earnestness and sincerity which everywhere is visible in
his writings. Neither a philosopher or an enthusiast, he combined the excellencies of
both in his individuality. Above all others, he was the man best fitted to mould the
architectural and rural taste of the country to a correct model, to guide public senti-
ment to whatever is highest in Nature and purest in Art, and to aid in making America
what Heaven designed it should be, the garden of the whole earth.

^Ir. Downing has closed his labors too early to have shown the full maturity of
his power. If his youth has been thus productive, what results might have crowned
a longer life I what beauty might have sprung from a riper experience and an enlarg-
ing capacity !

About two years since, Mr. Downing received an invitation to vi.sit Washington,
for the purpose of conferring with the President with reference to the laying out the
public grounds in the vicinity of the Capitol. For the last year and a half he has
been engaged in designing and perfecting his plans, and in accordance with them, a
park of some 160 acres is being constructed. It will afford the only example of
grounds to such extent, laid out by the rules of art, in this country, and will un-
doubtedly be a most perfect work of its kind.

In his private character, Mr. Downing was upright, manly, and enthusiastic, and
he entered with zeal and energy into every subject which promised to elevate and re-
fine his fellow men. In his social relations he was a geiitleman in the best accepta-
tion of the term. Courteous, affable, and polite to the stranger ; generous, warm-
hearted, and confiding to his friends, he was universally respected and loved.

The sad circumstances of his death make us less reconciled to his loss. Mr. Down-
ing, in company with his wife, and her mother, sister, and younger brother, together
with a lady friend, Mrs. Wadsworth, embarked on the Henry Clay, full of buoyancy
and joyous expectation, on their way to Newport. Scarce two hours have passed,
and that circle is broken. Some are sleeping beneath the wave, — others are weeping
on the shore this wreck of hope and happiness. Mr. Downing, his wife's mother,
Mrs. De Wint of Fishkill, and Mrs. "Wadsworth, were lost — the remaining members
of the party were saved, — ]Mrs. Downing almost miracuously. As Mr. Downing

7^

MR. DOWNING AND THE HORTICULTURIST.

was an excellent swimmer, he must have been borne down by the crowd, or perished
in the attempt to save another's life.

We unite with his personal friends, and the many who are endeared to him by that
charm which his writings breathed, in tendering our heartfelt sympathy to Mrs. Down-
ing. We too can mourn that a great mind has been removed from our companion-
ship,— that a noble heart has ceased to beat, — that a life rejoicing in such beauty and
promise, has gone out thus early.

This sad event has thrown new duties and responsibilities upon us, which we shall
endeavor faithfully to discharge. The taste for rural art which has already sprung up,
the growing interest in Horticulture and Floriculture which is manifested on every
band, demand the continuance of a publication like the Horticulturist. That spirit
of improvement which the well directed energies of our friend was just awakening into
life, must not be suffered to die. Fortunately, the position which the Horticulturist
has occupied is so well defined, and its past volumes are so replete with value, that we
are not left without a guide as to our future course. We leave it for our readers to
say how well the expectations held out in the very commencement of the work, have
been realised ; still it may not be inappropriate to refer to its general design and pur-
pose, as expressed in the following language of Mr. Downing :

" In its pages, from month to month, we trated. The humblest cottage garden, as well

shall give them a collection of all that can most as the most extended pleasure grounds, will

interest those whose feelings are firmly rooted occupy the attention of the pens in our service.

in the soil, and its kindred avocations. The Beautiful flowers shall picture themselves in

garden and the orchard; the hot-house and the our columns, till even our sterner utilitarians

conservatory ; the park and the pleasure grounds; shall be tempted to admire and cultivate them;

all, if we can read them rightly, shall be made and the honeyed, juicy gifts of Pomona shall

to preach useful lessons in our pagi's. All fruit- be treated of till every one who reads shall dis-

ful and luxuriant grounds shall we revel in, cover that the most delicious products of our

and delight to honor. Blooming trees, and soil are no longer forbidden fruits. Whatever

fruitful vines, we shall open our lips to praise, our own feeble efforts can achieve, whatever our

And if , nature has been over-partial to any one more intelligent correspondents can accomplish,

part of theglobe, either ingood gardens, fair flow- shall be done to render worthy this monthly

ers, or good fruits, — if she has any where lavish- record of the progress of horticulture and its

ed secret vegetable treasures that our cultiva- kindred pursuits. If it is a laudable ambition

tors have not yet made prizes of, we promise to ' make two blades of grass grow where only

our readers to watch closely, and to give a faith- one grew before,' we shall hope for the encour-

ful account of them. Skilful cultivators promise agement and assistance and sympathy of all

to make these sheets the repository of their those who would see our vast territory made

knowledge. Sound practice, and ingenious smiling with gardens, and rich in all that makes

theory will be continually developed and illus- one's country worth living and dying for.'

To carry out the intention here expressed, to so prosecute the work as to urge for-
ward with steadiness of purpose and earnest effort, the impulses which our friend had
roused to a good degree of activity, is our aim. The impetus, which, in all its branch-
es. Horticulture has received, has made the demand for more ample information in the
details of its successful prosecution, commensurate with its importance. That which,
five years ago, would have been needlessly obtrusive, has now become a necessity, such
has been the progress in the art of gardening. An increased attention to detail in the
practical manipulations of the flower and kitchen garden, is called for, and may, we
be combined with the more artistic and scientific branches of rural taste
are well aware that we shall labor under disadvantages — that he who was

THE PLEASURES OF GARDENING.

master spirit in this art, is no more ; but may we not liope that echoes of his genius
will come back to us from the smiling gardens and beauteous landscapes which his
taste has rendered so expressive — that some other mind will kindle with the ambition
" to make his country worth living and dying for," and that the work which has been
so auspiciously commenced, will not cease for lack of laborers.

For the present, we shall continue The Horticulturist under our own immediate
direction, but hope, before the close of the current volume, to secure the services of a com-
petent Editor, who will efficiently carry out the spirit and design of the work. In the
meantime we earnestly invite the continued correspondence and assistance of those who
have hitherto contributed to its pages, and such rough notes of experience as practical
gardeners, nurserymen, and cultivators generally, may see fit to favor us with.

It is impossible to enter with too much zeal and enthusiasm, into this work. We
cannot, with safety, appropriate the result of horticultural labors in other countries.
Our tastes and wants are peculiarly our own, and must be fostered and satisfied with
American talent and research. Knowledge in the abstract may satisfy the German
mind ; the desire of supremacy may stimulate English energy ; the vain-glorious pride
of excelling in rare and beautiful products, may induce the Frenchman to exertion,
but different motives urge us, as American citizens, to beautify our country, and in-
crease its cultivation. We want the ornamental and useful together, — we require facts
as well as theories, — we build houses to live in as well as for effect — we cultivate gar-
dens for profit, as well as beauty. There is, then, a broad field for the student of
Horticulture, and a widening sphere for the taste of the amateur. If he " who makes
two blades of grass grow where one grew before," deserves well of his country, how
rich will be the reward of him who brings forth the treasures of science to adorn the
earth and refine the mind.

THE PLEASURES OF GARDENING

BY WM. W. VALK, M. D., FLUSHING.

We are disposed to cull a flower from every field of the literature of gardening. There-
fore, we pluck this from a rich soil, and offer it to the readers of the Horticulturist, for
their admiration or criticism.

Perhaps not one among the many thousands of every class who read for amusement or
for profit, but will admit that gardening has its peculiar pleasures. It is, indeed, an ab-
sorbing recreation, and among its votaries has ranked illustrious princes and renowned
philosophers. The most eminent and worthy of mankind, whether occupying exalted po-
sitions in public life, or fulfilling the more retired and unobtrusive duties of a private
sphere, have ever made it their favorite amu.sement. It is an enjoyment and occupation
for which none can be too high or too low — at once the pleasure of the greatest, or the
care of the meanest. The interest which flowers have excited in the bieast of man, has,
from the earliest ages to the present time, never been restrained to any particular class of
society, or quarter of the globe. Over the whole world, nature seems to have distributed
them as precious medicaments, to both the mind and body — to furnish agreeable sensa-
tions to its inhabitants, and to impart cheerfulness and beauty to the earth. In the joy

THE PLEASURES OF GARDENING.

of his heart, the untutored savage binds his brow with the native flowers of his romantic
haunts, while in every country, in proportion as civilization and refinement advances, so
does a taste for their cultivation increase. It is for the love of a garden, that the most
powerful influence is exerted in attracting men to their homes, and for this very reason,
every possible encouragement that is given to promote a taste for ornamental gardening,
secures an additional guarantee for domestic felicity, and the unity, morality, and happi-
ness of the social circle. Nor must it be forgotten, that as a recreation it conduces mate-
rially to health, advances intellectual improvement, softens the manners, and .subdues the
tempers of men.

Of all embellishments, flowers are the most beautiful, and man alone, of all the senti-
ent tribes, seems capable of deriving enjoyment from them. With infancy the love for
them commences; throughout the period of adolescence and youth, it continues unabated,
increasing with our years, and becoming a great and fertile source of comfort and gratifi-
cation in our declining days. No sooner does the infant walk, than its first employment
is to put a flower in the earth, and to remove it ten times a day, to wherever the sun
shines most favorably. In the care of his little plot of ground, the schoolboy is joyously
relieved from his studies, and loses all the anxious cares and thoughts of his tasks, or the
home he may have left. In manhood, our attention is generally occupied with more active
duties, or, by more imperious, and may be, less innocent pursuits; still a few hours em-
ployment in the garden, afi"ords a delightful recreation, and as age compels us to withdraw
from the busy cares of life, the attachment to flowers, and the delights of gardening, come
to soothe the later periods of our existence.

In the growth of flowers, from the first tender shoots putting forth from the earth,
through all the changes which they undergo, to the period of their utmost beauty, man
will do well to behold and contemplate the wonderful process of creative wisdom and
power. What can be more interesting than to watch Nature in all her progressive stages,
from the planting of the seed to the maturity of the perfect flower.' and who, upon ob-
serving the perfect order which prevails throughout her whole varied and extensive terri-
tory, and gazing on the delicate texture, admirable structure, and fairj' pencillings of such
a flower as the Phaius albus., but will exclaim, that

Nature is but a name for an eflcct

Whose cause is God. Not a flower

But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain,

Of his unrivall'd pencil. Heinspires

Their odors, and imparts their hues,

And bathes their ej-es with nectar, and includes

In grains as countless as the sea-side sands,

The forms with which he sprinkles all tlie earth.

Happy who walks with him! wliom, what he finds

Oi flavor, or of scent, in fruit or flower,

Or what ho views of beautiful or grand

In nature, from the broad majestic oak

To the green blade that twinkles in the sun,

Prompts with remembrance of a present God!

We view the bud as it swells, look into the expanded blossom, and delight in its rich
tints and fragrant odors; but more than all, how great the charm in contemplating the
precise conformation and mutual adaptation of its organs, and the undeviating regul
with which their various metamorphoses are effected; before which, all the combined

THE PLEASURES OF GARDENING.

genuity of man dwindles into nothingness. For, while the simple cultivation and mage
nient of flowers is productive of much innocent pleasure, how immensely is that pleasure
enhanced, when science is secured as its auxiliary! The cultivator of flowers or fruit, on
whom the light of science has just dawned, feels like one emerging into a new sphere of
existence. A multitude of subjects, previously unheeded, present themselves to his con-
sideration, which, as he proceeds to contemplate them, diverge into a successive series
of interesting associations, and awaken in his mind emotions of pleasure and gratification,
of which he had been hitherto unconscious. Instead of being content to follow blindly
the ordinary routine of the management example has prescribed, he perceives that cer-
tain plants require a peculiar mode of treatment, and is lead to inquire tvhy that treatment
is necessary. In prosecuting this investigation, other and more intricate subjects
present themselves to his mind; thus inquiry begets inquiry, and one thought gives
birth to another, until, in the solution of them, he makes the discovery, that all
nature is governed by universal and unerring laws, that the annual changes to which
plants are subjected are intended to answer specific and important ends, and that
the whole chain of gradation in organized matter, is linked together in the most perfect
harmony and order. This knowledge attained, he suifers not the most trifling of nature's
phenomena to escape his notice. The development of a leaf on the most familiar tree,
offers a field for his observation, for he learns that it is destined to bring forth,
nourish, and mature a germ, which is capable of producing a distinct tree, that in process
of time would equal or exceed in size, the parent that forced it into existence. He ob-
serves the autumn leaves in their fall and decay without regret, because they have duly
performed their important functions, and knowing, that were they capable of remaining,
they would probably excite the young buds into premature action, and cause them to fall
a prey to the inclemency of the approachiiig season.

These are some of the delights which science affords, but they are not all, for it is like-
wise capable of imparting an interest to the most common operations of the garden. Why
does the pupil of science scatter his seeds in the ground, and cover them with the soil.'
Because he knows that they must be thus enveloped, and excluded from the light, in order
that the various genial gaseous elements involved in such a situation, may stimulate into
action the vegetable vital principle; he knows too, that the soil must be spread over them
very lightly, because a proximity to the atmosphere is alike essential to their germination.
He watches the young seed lobes as they appear through the ground, and in imagination
perceives the little rootlet issuing simultaneously from the newly excited embryo; soon
the first leaves are formed, and calculating correctly on a similar extension and ramifica-
tion of the root, the earliest opportunity is made available, to transplant it to its desired
destination. This operation he either defers till dull and cloudy weather, or affords his
plants an artificial shading from the sun. This shading they require, for all the delicate
seedlings need time gradually to accommodate themselves to their new position. "Were
they not screened from the sun's rays, evaporation would become profuse, and the plant
die, before it could absorb sufficient liquid nutriment, to counteract it.

But after all, it is needless for us to expatiate on such a subject, for the pleasures of
gardening are not derivable from elaborate treatises, nor very easily communicable. To
be properly appreciated, they must be diligently sought after, and when once tasted, the
mind will rarely become satiated, but will rove as the bee, from flower to flower, in search
of nutritive and delicious sweets, extracting from each successive object, fresh stores of
wisdom and delight, till at length it succeeds in amassing that which most truly consti-
tutes the wealth of man — a fund of knowledge of the great Creator's works.

Flushing, Aug. 12, 1352. Wm. W. Valic

ENTRANCES TO COUNTRY SEATS AND VILLA RESIDENCES.

[SEE FRONTISPIECE.]

Every traveller through England must have been struck by the effect produced upon
its rural scenery, not only by the entrances to the more extensive parks of the nobility,
but also by the numerous gateways and lodges which are found to almost every country
house, and to the small pleasure grounds even of the suburban villas. Few, if any, ap-
pendages to a residence, which has onlj' a limited extent of ground surrounding it, add so
much elegance to its general appearance, or importance to its character, as does an entrance
suitable to its position and extent. We say suitable, because much as the stately entrance
arch, and its accompanying lodge, gives dignity to the mansion of the millionaire, a far
less structure satisfies the requirements of the villa.

Whatever may be the beauty of pleasure grounds or the magnificence of the park, how-
ever diversified the ground, or varied the scenery of the landscape, unless the attention be
arrested by a judicious entrance way, half the effect which the whole is calculated to pro-
duce, is lost. On the contrary, when upon drawing near a country seat, the eye is gra-
tified by the elegance of the entrance gatewa}', proportioned to extent, and appropriate in
structure to the principal edifice, an indication of refinement is conveyed to the mind, and
we prepare ourselves, imperceptiblj^ to admire the beauties and embellishments which we
expect to follow the fitness of the approach.

Take a few acres of our native wilds, where the undulation of surface admits readily of
the production of diversified effect; cut down a few trees, leaving a gi-oup here, and there
a noble denisen of the forest, to challenge the attention of the observer; then surround
your domain with a fence, and place a good entrance gateway to the whole, and you have
converted in a few hours, a wilderness into a garden, and taught the savage a lesson of
civilization !

We have been gratified to see that this truth appears daily to become more and more noted
around us. In the vicinity of New-York, and other parts of the country, we have obser-
ved many an edifice of the nature alluded to springing up, and with the view to foster so
desirable and well directed a taste, we have presented our readers with an engraving in the
present number, taken from an entrance gateway which has long been in high esteem with
the landscape gardeners of England.

This arch is one which is adapted to grounds of considerable extent, and the mansion to
which it belongs bears an architectural character in accordance with its general features.

It must be borne in mind, that the style of architecture of the principal edifice, and its
size, must form the guide upon which the fitness of the entrance is determined upon. Nor
is the position of less importance than the style. Whetlier it be a simple gate, an arch,
or lodge, or a combination of more than one of these, the position of it should rarely, if
ever, be parallel to the road of approach. A greater or less angle, the exact proportion
of which should be regulated by the general features of the ground, will set off to much
more advantage the pretension of the entrance, than will be practicable if it is erected on
a line with the road. It should always be placed a few feet, and often some yards from the
side of the road, and, if possible, in the immediate vicinity of a few trees, whose age and
grateful shade, may add both dignity and beauty to the new erection.

PLUJNIS AT THE SOUTH.

PLUMS AT THE SOUTH.

BY WM. N. WHITE, ATHENS, GA.

A. J. Downing, Esq. — As the plum has ripened this year some three weeks earlier
than usual, and the season is nearly over for taking notes upon it, we propose to continue
our notices of southern fruit frrowing, by some remarks upon its culture, and notices of
the varieties tested in this section.

This immediate vicinity is, perhaps, upon the whole, tolerably favorable to the plum.
The Chickasaw Plum is found abundantly in every old field, and there is no very serious
obstacle to the growth and culture of the improved species. We do not mean that the
plum ma}' be abused as the peach is — 'that you can plant a stone or a tree at random in an
" old field," or in a patch of Bermuda grass, and in two or three years therefrom gather
an abundant crop — and in case the seed be of a choice fruit, very likely find your seedling
of good quality — for such management will not do for the plum, unless it may be the na-
tive species. But though the plum requires some care and attention, there are few loca-
tions where it does not require as much, or where in the case of a few select varieties, the
reward is more sure.

Our chief advantage is a complete exemption from the black knot, which in some parts
of the north I have observed, is apparently as fatal to the plum, as the frost or fire-blight to
the pear. This disease has never appeared here. In general, our trees appear perfectly
healthy, and make a fine vigorous growth yearly.

We are, also, partially exempt from the curculio. He seems to confine his attention
very much to Apricots and Nectarines — usually taking the whole crop of these fruits —
but of plums, generally leaving enough of the crop not to render it unprofitable, without
resorting to shaking the tree, or calling in the aid of fowls or pigs. Our stiif subsoil of
clay and gravel, is too difficult to penetrate, perhaps, while the light gravelly loam that
often overlies, is, in general, too shallow to give him a quite comfortable protection from
sun and frost. But we by no means entirely escape.

In 1849, a frost in April destroyed all our Apricots, Plums, Peaches and Nectarines;
and we were congratulating ourselves that the next year we should be free from curculio.
As the destruction of fruit was complete, bj' all theory the curculio should have perished
too. Will you believe it, when we state the obstinate imp utterly refused to sacrifice him-
self, to maintain even this most plausible of theories. It was absolutely certain, we
thought, that die he must, yet he did'nt, and in fact, destroyed more fruit, if anything,
than usual; so that if poultry and pigs are any protection, as they undoubtedlj'- are, it
must be by frightening, him away, or rendering his haunts uncomfortable, rather than by
any positive destruction to the curculio himself.

But, though exempt from the black knot, and partially so from curculio, we are not
without some little troubles of our own. Occasionally a tree, or a part of it, dies in the
same way as the apole, by the sun striking the trunk or branches. The plum is apt to
throw out long branches, not much protected by foliage, which are sometimes blistered by
exposure, causing the parts above to perish gradually, and if not removed, injuring the
general health of the tree. This is not a very frequent disease, and shortening-in the
branches, as directed for the peach, will doubtless so clothe the limbs with foliage, as to
an efiicient preventive
find another difficulty in the want of adaptation of a good many plums that

PLUMS AT THE SOUTH.

celebrated with you to this climate. You will observe that several classed in j^our work
as best, here bear no comparison in flavor with some others regarded with you as not of
tlie highest quality. We buy new varieties with the probability that at least every other
one of those classed among the best, will be good for nothing. Still we know of several
kinds of high flavor, and the rest we can let alone now we have the experience desired.

But our greatest obstacle in the culture of the plum, is its tendency, in common with
sevejal varieties of the peach, nectarine, and grape, to rot before maturing. In adrj' sea-
son, no matter how hot it may be, the fruit is not in much danger. But in a year like
this of warm, abundant and continual rain, the cultivator may expect to lose, in the case
of most varieties, from half to three-fourths of his crop, and of some it maj' be the whole
will decay. He can guard against this only by selecting the varieties least affected.

A good stock for the plum is the Prunus chicasa or wild Chickasaw plum of the coun-
try, which I believe is common over all the south, and collar or root grafting on the same
is our usual mode of propagation. It sometimes throws up suckers, but they are easily
removed, and it is uniformly hardji'and health}', and as the grafts take kindly, it is perhaps
the best. It is a good stock for the garden for it dwarfs the tree, and, as in the case of
the pear on the quince, the point of junction should be beneath the surface. The wild
sloe, a small austere red plum, fit onl}' for preserving, is sometimes used, but the grafts
are sure to over grow it and perish for want of nourishment.

It is proper to state, before proceeding to notices of varieties, that the times of ripening
below are for 1852, and will average two or three weeks earlier than usual, as I find by
comparing the times of the few set down last year. The abundant rains too this year,
may have so injured the flavor of some varieties, that full justice may not be done them.
They are described ia the order of ripening, and the dates given are when they begin to
mature.

1. Chickasaw Plum. — Prunus chicasa — A tree or two of this plum should find a place
in every garden, of both the red and yellow varieties. The fruit is much enlarged b}' gar-
den culture — but the best varieties are later than the common ones — leaves lanceolate shape.
more like the peach than a plum — branches thorny. Fruit small, (size of Mirabelle in
your Fruits, or a little larger,) skin either bright red or yellow, somewhat translucent, —
flesh yellow, very juicy and sweet, but somewhat astringent about the stone, to which it
adheres. Ripe the 20th of May, and lasts nearly a month. From this will doubtless be
produced many excellent varieties by culture and crossing. I have met one variety nearly
a month later, marked with small yellowish dots, fruit almost the size of Prince's Yellow
Gage, and nearly free from astringency. Can species of fj'uit trees as nearly related as
this and the domestic plum, be crossed with each other Mr. Editor, with any prospect of
producing improved varieties? This plum is I believe free from curculio; perhaps the
fruit sets too early in the spring for him. It never fails of a crop with us.

2. Sea or Early Purple? — Ripens the 8th of June, and is with us the earliest of cul-
tivated plums. Fruit — small roundish-; skin — brownish purple, (color of the Columbia,)
■with a scanty light colored bloom. Flesh — greenish yellow, sweet, juicy, and parts freely
from the stone; highly perfumed. This nice little plum was, I believe, first introduced
here by some grafts received from Germany. Has now borne some three years. Matur-
ing so early, it is one of the most valuable. I do not find any description in the books
with which it coincides. It does not rot.

3. Wilde's. — Fruit — size of Imperial Gage, oval oblong; skin, rather thick, yellow or
greenish yellow, with a white bloom. Flesh — yellowish green, pretty firm, dry, sweet,
and adheres to the stone. Tree a good bearer. In 1848 we considered this the best early

PLUMS AT THE SOUTH.

plum; since then the Sea plum and Prince's Yellow Gage have come into bearing, and we
now consider it as merely a good bearer of fair quality, not often affected with rot. Raised
by Mr. Caniack from a stone brought from Italy by R. II. Wilde. Ripe June 15th.

4. Prince's Yellow Gage. — Received here under name of the Harvest Gage — ripe
June 15th. It proves with us one of the very best. The tree is very productive and the
fruit lasts a long time, ripening gradually for nearly a month. As it comes early in the
season, while good fruit is scarce, is pretty free from rot and lasts so long— bearing an
abundant crop of fruit of the best quality, sweet, juicy, and most agreeably flavored, I
think it may be considered the most desirable plum here cultivated at present. Will su-
percede Wilde's.

5. Brevoort's Purple. — Ripe June 18th. Bore a fair crop of tolerably good plums,
but not as good as the next, which ripens at the same time.

6. Italian Damase. — Ripe June 18th, a fortnight earlier than last year. Tree produc-
tive— fruit sweet and fine flavored, worthy of cultivation, not subject to rot.

7. Washington. — June 20th begins to ripen. A large and handsome plum, and that
is all the good we can say of it. The tree does not bear very well, and the fruit is dry
and flavorless. This may be owing to the season, but, so far, upon the whole, it is not
worth raising. It is much inferior to the Horse plum in quality.

8. Columbia. — Ripens June 20th. This magnificent plum can hardly be praised too
highly. It is large and beautiful — not much subject to rot, of excellent quality and suffi-
ciently productive. Tree hard3^ Should be in every garden.

9. Duane's Purple. — June 25th begins to ripen. A large fine looking fruit, very pro-
ductive and fruit pretty good, with a pleasant acidity, quite juicy, somewhat subject to rot,
but worthy of cultivation.

10. Knight's Large Green Drying. — Ripens last of June — bears pretty well and
not much subject to rot, but is too dry and lacks sweetness. It is a very insipid plum —
not worth cultivating.

11. Bingham. — Ripe July 1st. One of the finest plums here grown, large, juicy, sweet,
and excellent. Tree a fine grower and bears well. Indispensable.

12. Bleeker's Gage. — Ripe July 1st, twenty-five days earlier than last year. An ex-
cellent plum, but not quite so valuable as Prince's Yellow or the Imperial Gage; worth
cultivating.

13. Elfret. — Ripe July 1st. You may be surprised to see the high opinion we have
of the Elfrey. In this section it is a plum of high merit. In this opinion all who raise it
here concur. Though the fruit is scarcely of medium size, this is more than compensated
by its abundant crops. The fruit of the Elfrey with us is far from being dry. It indeed
is almost as sweet and juicy as the Imperial Gage itself. Nothing but frost ever prevents
its bearing a full crop of delicious fruit. It is the best flavored blue plum we have, and
one of the best six varieties here cultivated. It rots a little, but there is always an abun-
dance of good fruit in spite of rot or curculio. Tree thrifty and hardy. Indispensa-
ble.

14. Imperial Gage. — This is, to my taste, the most delicious plum here cultivated.
The Yellow Gage and Elfrey rank next in this respect. Though I have placed the Yellow
Gage as the first in all respects, it is from its season only. Ripe July 1st, and the fruit
so gradually matures, that it lasts about a month. Is not much affected with the curculio,
but rots considerably. Fruit very juicy and luscious, almost too sugary. A great bearer,

fine hardy tree. Indispensable

Horse Plum. — Ripe 1st of July. A hardy productive plum not much liable

PLUMS AT THE SOUTH.

cay, but worth cultivating only for culinary uses, for which the Red Magnum Bonum and
Duane's Purple, are much better.

16. St. Catharine. — Ripe about July 5. This is probably the true name of a plum
received here as the French Prune. It proves a pretty good plum tree, hardy and prolific.
Flesh firm, rich and good flavored, but somewhat dry.

17. Diamond. — Ripe July 5th. Tree productive and hardy. Fruit of the largest size,
but coarse and flavorless. Would do for the kitchen — but rots worse than any other va-
riety except Smith's Orleans; not worth growing.

18. Manning's Long Blue Pbune. — Ripe July 5. A pretty good bearer. Fruit
large, handsome, and of fair quality. "Will do to swell a collection, but would not pro-
bably get stolen where the Imperial Gage was abundant. Not very liable to rot.

19. Smith's Orleans. — July 5th begins to ripen. A great bearer, but extremely lia-
ble to rot. Fruit pretty good, and in good seasons it would be a profitable plum.

20. Gen. Hand. — Ripens July 8. Large and handsome, but the tree is not a good
bearer with us. The fruit, too, we consider rather indifierent. Not worth cultivating.

21. Semiana of Boston. — Bears a fair crop of harsh acid fruit, and is about the poor-
est plum we have. Ripe July 8.

22. German Prune. — Ripe about July 8. The tree is hardy, and bears exceedingly
well, but the fruit is dry and indifierent. If it will make good prunes, might be worth
cultivating, but not for the table.

23. Red Magnum Bonum. — Ripe July 10. The tree is a good grower and bearer —
fruit very large and handsome; juicy and agreeably sub-acid. A fair plum for the table,
and makes the very best of preserves. Not much subject to rot, and upon the whole, in-
dispensable.

24. Blue Plum. — July 15. This is the not very definite name borne by a plum very
well known in this vicinity. Fruit medium size, roundish, scarcely oval; suture very ob-
scure; skin dark blue, with a fine light blue bloom; stalk three-eighths of an inch long,
inserted in a shallow cavity; flesh yellowish green, juicy, sweet, and refreshing — adheres
to the stone; shoots smooth; leaves rather small. A very pleasant and agreeable plum,
and the tree is a fine bearer. It is generally propagated by suckers. Does not rot.

25. Jefferson. — July 20th it was ripe this year; last season the 7th of August. We
are a little disappointed in the quality of this plum, as it is somewhat inferior to the El-
frey, Yellow and Imperial Gages, Blue Plum and Columbia. It lacks juiciness and flavor;
but then it has merits which will always render it one of the most desirable of plums. It
is of the largest size, and the handsomest of all plums. The tree bears abundantly, fruit
hangs on a long time, and it is almost the only plum that is perfectly free from decay. It
seems so far to defy the rot. It is also the latest plum that with us has come into bear-
ing; and in spite of its defects, is absolutely indispensable, even in a collection of no more
than three or four varieties.

A few other plums have borne here, but are not fully tested. The Green Gage diedjust
as it commenced bearing. Huling's Superb, Lawrence's Favorite, Coe's Golden Drop and
Sharp's Emperor, were invoiced, but nothing about the trees corresponded thereto, ex-
cept the tallies. So of some others. A number of plums not mentioned, have not yet
come into bearing here.

From the above list, which includes all that we can speak of with confidence, the most
desirable three varieties that can be selected for a succession, are Prince's Yellow Gage,
Imperial Gage, and Jefferson.

For best six, add Sea, Elfrey, (or Columbia,) and Red Magnum Bonum, for preserves.

Add to these Chickasaw, Bingham, Blue Plum, Italian Damask, Bleeker's Gage, Duane's
Purple, and St. Catharine, for drying, and you have all that are desirable.

It is proper to add
that these notes are not
the result of my own
observations, solely. In
collecting material. I
have been greatly in-
debted to Dr. Ward
and Dr. Camak, of this
place, both for the re-
sults of their larger ex-
perience, and for their
kindness in supplying
specimens of nearly
everything which for
four years past, has
fruited in their fine col-
lections.

Enclosed you will
find an outline of the
Horse Apple, which is
unusuallyfine this year.

In flavor and COnsis- ^''^ -^'"•^« Apple.— Average size.

tence it is more like the Rhode Island Greening than any other variety in my knowledge.
It is a good cider apple, also.

A lady subscriber of this place has the Fastolif Raspberry, of which the flavor is very
well, but of the little drupes or carpels which compose the berry, only three or four swell
to each berry; the rest dry up and are abortive. The plants thrive well enough. Can
this infertility be cured, and how? If not, the variety is worthless.

Two errors in the July number need correction. To destroy the wooly aphis, I direct-
ed the whole tree to be ivashed in soap-suds — not worked — which is nonsense. Again,
the stem of the Red June Apple, is from one-half to three-fourths of an inch long, and
not as printed, from one and a-half to three-fourths, which is incorrect.

Yours very truly, TVm. N. White.

Athens, Ga , July 2G, 1852.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS BY FROST.

BY PROFESSOR LI.NDLEV.*

The past winter of such extraordinary severity, has led to a good deal of speculation as
to the precise action of severe frost upon vegetation. As but little has been written upon
this subject, in this country, we have thought it might interest our more inquiring read
know the views of the principal European physiologists. Prof. Lindley gave, some

* Transactions of the London Horticultural Society, Vol. II., 2d series, part IV.

DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS BY FROST.

time ago, an excellent abstract of their views, accompanied bj- some conclusions of his
own, in the following article, which will repay perusal. Ed.

" In considering the various circumstances alluded to in this paper, I was naturally led
to inquire into the exact manner in which the death of plants is caused by cold. Very
little, however, is to be learned upon this subject from the writings of physiologists.

" The common opinion is, that frost acts mechanically upon the tissue of plants, by ex-
panding the fluid they contain, and bursting the cells or vessels in which it is enclosed.

"M. Goeppert, of Breslau, in a paper originally read at the meeting of German natu-
ralists, at Leipsig, in 1829, briefly abstracted in Okcn^s Isis for 1830, p. 497, and trans-
lated in the Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geological Science for 1831, p. 180, de-
nies that this supposed laceration of vegetable tissue by frost, takes place. He is repre-
sented to have stated, that the changes which plants undergo, when they are killed by
cold, do not consist in a bursting of their vessels or cells, but solely in an extinction of
vitality, ■which is followed by changes in the chemical composition of their juices.

" Professor Morren, of Liege, in a paper printed in the fifth volume of the Bulbtin de
I' jicadcmie RoyaU de Bruxellcs, has published some exceedingl)'^ interesting observa-
tions upon this subject. Like M. Goeppert, he denies the truth of the statement general-
ly made, that frost produces death in plants by bursting their ves.sels; and he assigns the
effect to other causes. His more important conclusions are, 1. That no organ, whatever,
is torn by the action of frost, except in very rare cases, when the vesicles of cellular tis-
sue give way, but that the vesicles of plants are separated from each other by frost, with-
out laceration. 2. That neither the chlorophyll, the nucleus of cells, elementary fibre,
amylaceous matter, raphides, nor the various crystals contained in vegetable tissue, un-
dergo any alteration, unless, perhaps, in the case of amylaceous matter, which, in some
cases, is converted into sugar, no doubt, in consequence of the action of some acid, form-
ed by the decomposition of the organic parts. 3. That the action of frost operates se-
parately upon each individual elementary organ, so that a frozen plant contains as many
icicles as there are cavities containing fluid ; the dilitation thus produced not being suffi-
cient to burst the sides of the cavities. 4. That such dilitation is principally owing to
the separation of the air contained in the water. 5. That this disengagement of air by
water, during the act of congelation, is the most injurious of all the phenomena
attendant upon freezing: introducing gaseous matter into the organs not intended to ela-
borate it, and bringing about the first stage in the decomposition of the sap and the matters
it precipitates; so that with a thaw commences a new chemical action, destructive of ve-
getable life. 6. That the expansion of the cells, and aquiferous organs, drives a great
quantit}' of water into the air-cells and air-vessels, so that the apparatus intended to con-
tain liquid only, contains water and air, while that which is naturally a vehicle for air,
conveys water. Such an inversion of functions must necessarily be destructive to vege-
table life; even if death were not produced in frozen plants by the decomposition of their
juices, the loss of their excitability, and the chemical disturbance of all their contents.

" Professor Morren's observations were made upon various plants frozen in the spring
of the present year, having been exposed to a temperature of — 4*^ to -\-9° Fahrenheit.
One of his statements I give in his own words. ' In the parenchyma of many plants, and
especially in that of succulent fruits, it is easy to ascertain what modifications are caused
by frost in the internal organs of plants. If a frozen apple is opened, it is obvious that
the ice is not a continuous mass, but that it is a collection of a multitude of little micro-
pical icicles. Lender the microscope the fact becomes evident. We know how
hard some fruits become when frozen by this mosaic of icicles, especially pears

DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS BY FROST.

we thaw them, it is seen that on the instant a multitude of air-bubbles are extricated
from the juice of the fruit, and that this juice has then acquired new chemical qualities. I
wished to ascertain the cause of these phenomena, and the following is what observation
has shown me. I studied for this purpose, more particularly the tissue of t-he apple.
Each cell is filled with a small icicle, which has in its middle a bubble of air. We know
that when water freezes, the crystals so arrange themselves, that the air separated from
their mass b}^ the solidification of the liquid is intercalated between their j)laiies. This
air also places itself in a mass of congealed water in a regular manner, the nature of which
depends entirely upon that assumed by the crystals, as may be seen by freezing water in
a cylindrical vessel, when the air-bubbles always assume the form of a very long cone,
terminated by a spherical cap. The augmentation of the volume of water is in a great
measure owing to this interposition of masses of air. All these effects take place in each
cell of a frozen apple, which thus increases in size because each cell of its tissue becomes
individuall}'- larger. When thawed, the cell recovers itself by the elasticity of its vegeta-
ble membrane, and frozen fruit becomes, as we know, very much shriveled. Each cell,
therefore, acts like a bottle of frozen water, only there is no bursting, because the mem-
brane is extensible.'

" But when plants easily killed by cold, are exposed to so low a temperature as that
just described, it is to be feared that phenomena actually connected with the destruction
of vegetable life, may be intermixed with others, which merely indicate the physical ef-
fects of cold upon vegetable matter already dead. For the purpose of judging how far this
conjecture is well founded, I have carefull}^ examined the post mortum appearances of se-
veral plants killed by exposure to a temperature artificially reduced onl}' to from 28" to
30" Fahrenheit. These observations, while they have confirmed the general accuracy of
Professor Morren's statements, have led to other conclusions which also appear impor-
tant.

" I could not find the vesicles of cellular tissues separable from each other, even in the
most succulent species submitted to experiment, and I conclde that this circumstance, to
which Professor Rlorren attaches importance, and to which M. Payen ascribes the difficul-
ty of extracting starch from frozen potatoes, is not so much connected with the destruc-
tion of vegetable life, as a result produced upon the tissue by a great intensity of cold. I
did, however, find it lacerated in several cases, as if by the distension of the fluid it had
contained. In a Stapelia the whole of the cellular tissue was soft, and deformed, as if it liad
been extended, with but little power of recovering itself again, and several large irregular
lacerated cavities were observed. The same appearances were remarked in Euphorbia Ti-
rucalli, but the laceration of the tissue was much less extensive. In Hibiscus Fiosa Sinen-
sis the cells of the cortical integument, (niesophloeuin,) were very much torn, and in Hi-
biscus militaris, not only the cells of the bark, but especiall}' those of the pith, were so
completely broken up, that it was difficult to obtain a thin slice of those parts for exami-
nation. In no case, however, have I foimd any kind of tissue ruptured, except the soft
cellular dodecahedral or prismatical. It would also seem that M. Payen recognizes the
laceration of tissue b}' frost, fjr he ascribes the acridit}' of frozen potatoes to an extrava-
sation of the acrid matter which exists in the epiphloeum of such tubers, and which, in a
natural state, is locked up in the cells of which that part consists. Independently of these
observations, it is not to be doubted that frost does split the tissue of plants. I saw the
youngest shoots of Erica mediterranea, cinerea, and others, shivered into thousands of
pieces in the Horticultural Society's Garden, on the morning of the 20th of January. The
branches of the Melaleucas were rent to their points at Carclew. Several cases, amono'

DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS BY FROST.

others that of the common holly, were observed at Claremont, where the bark was split
and rent asunder from the wood below itj and Sir Oswald Mosley has given me the fol-
lowing instance, which occurred under his own observation. ' An oak tree, growing upon
the south side of a hill, in a sheltered situation, in Knightly Park, near Burton-upon-
Trent, in the county of Stafford, was rent in the severe frost of last winter in two diffe-
rent places, to the height of thirteen feet three inches. There was an interval of eleven
inches between the two shakes, which were each of therti one-quarter of an inch wide, and
extended in depth to the heart of the tree. The girth of the tree is six feet ten inches,
and as soon as the frost went the openings closed again, and the tree is now as flourishing
as ever.' To these cases many more might be added.

"The organization of woody tissue appears to be affected, but not by laceration. If a
frozen and unfrozen transverse slice of the stem of Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis be placed, side
by side, upon the field of the microscope, it is obvious that the diameter of the tubes of
the wood and liber, is considerably less in the former than in the latter; this appears to
be owing to an increase in the thickness of the sides of the tubes, which has the effect of
diminishing their calibre.

" The expulsion of air from feriferous organs, and the introduction of it into parts not
intended to contain it, is a striking phenomenon. Every one must have remarked that
when a leaf has been frozen to death, it changes color as soon as thawed, acquiring a
deeper green, and being of nearly the same depth of color on both sides; the same ap-
pearance is produced by placing a leaf under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, and
in both cases is owing to the abstraction of air from the myriads of little air-chambers
contained in the substance of this organ. If the leaf of Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis in its natural
state is examined, by tearing off the parenchyma from the epidermis with violence, it will
be found that the sphincter of its stomates, the cells of the epidermis, and the chambers
immediately below the latter, are all distended with air; but in the frozen leaf of this
plant, the air has entirely disappeared; the sphincter of the stomates is empty; the up-
per and under sides of the cells of the epidermis have collapsed, and touch each other, and
all the cavernous parenchyma below the epidermis is transparent, as if filled with fluid.
Whither the air is convej^ed is not apparent; but as the stomates have evidently lost their
excitability, and are in many cases open, it may be supposed that apart of the air at least
has been expelled from the leaf; and as the pith of this plant, in its natural state, con-
tains very little air, and in the frozen state is found to be distended with air, it is also
probable that a part of the gaseous matter expelled from the leaf when frozen is driven
through the petiole into the pith. In the petiole of this plant are numerous annular and
reticulated vessels, which, under ordinary circumstances, are filled with air, but after
freezing are found filled with fluid ; is it not possible that their functions may have been
disturbed, by the violent forcing of air through them into the pith, and that when that
action ceased, they were incapable of recovering from the overstrain; and filled with fluid
filtering through their sides.' That annular ducts are in some way affected by frost, was
shown by their state in a thawed branch of Euphorbia Tirucalli, when they were found
in a collapsed state, empty of both air and fluid, with their sides shrivelled, and with the
fibre itself, which forms the rings, also wrinkled transversely. Facts of an analogous
kind were remarked by me in Erica sulpliurea. The minute long-haired leaves of this
species are in their natural state firm, bright green, with a rigid petiole, and upon being
exposed to pressure in a comprcssorium, at first offer perceptible resistance to its action,
fterwards, as tlie pressure increases, discharge, chiefly through their petiole,
tity of air. But leaves of this plant, which have been frozen by exposure to the

DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS BY FROST.

perature of' 27° are very different; they are softer, dull olive green, with a flaccid petiole,
and offer but little resistance to pressure: yet, although they give way freely, tlie quanti-
ty of air which the coinpressorium expels is comparatively small, and readily driven out.
Moreover, the long hairs of this plant, which in the natural state are occupied b}' fluid,
were alwa3S found filled with air after freezing, and this without pressure having been
exercised upon them.

" I am inclined to refer to this cause the well-known fact, of which many cases occurred
this winter, that the sudden exposure of frozen plants to warmth will kill them; though
they msLy not suffer if warmed gradually. In such cases, it may be supposed that the
air, forced into parts not intended to contain it, is expanded violently, and thus increases the
disturbance already produced its by expulsion from the proper air cavities ; while, on the other
hand, when the thaw is gradual, the air maj' retreat by degrees from its new situation with-
out producing additional derangement of the tissue. It is also possible that leaves, from which
their natural air has been expelled by the act of freezing, may, from that circumstance,
have their tissue too little protected from the evaporating force of the solar rays, which
we know produce a specific stimulus of a powerful kind upon those organs.

" These circumstances are, in themselves alone, sufficient to account for death being
produced in plants by frost; and it is chiefly to such as these, that Professor Morren has
directed his attention. It however appears to me that there are some other points of ini
portance to which observers have not applied themselves.

" The green coloring matter of leaves, or chlorophyll, is certainly affected by so little
as only two or three degrees of frost. In Stapelia, when thawed, it is found collected in-
to clusters, and apparently half dissolved. In Euphorbia Tirucalli, when the plant is
alive, it is extremely abundant, and consists of distinct spheroidal transparent particles,
but, after a slight freezing, a considerable part of it disappears, and the remainder loses
its transparencj', becomes fusiform, is sometimes surrounded by coagulated gelatinous color-
less matter, and many of the particles appear as if burst. In the green subcutaneous paren-
ch3'ma of the leaf of Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis, the vesiclesforming the sides of the air cham-
bers are filled with distinct, angular, deep green particles, which, after freezing, become
amorphous, and seem as if partially dissolved. It is possibly to the decomposition, of
which these appearances are the incipient signs, that the extremely offensive odor of some
frost-bitten plants, especially the Laurustinus, when thawed, is to be ascribed.

" The amylaceous matter, which is so abundant in many plants, also undergoes altera-
tion. This has been remarked b}^ Professor Morren, who found that when potatoes are
frozen, a part of their starch disappears, leaving the deformed integuments behind it, and
he suspected that the starch thus lost had furnished the sugar formed in the process of
freezing this tuber. I believe it will be found a general fact, that starch is materially al-
tered by frost, for I have always found that the amylaceous particles seem less abundant
in a plant after freezing than before, and of those which remain, a part is generally be-
coming amorphous, clustered together, and certainly diminished in size. This is particu-
larly striking in Hibiscus militaris. In that plant the cells of the pith abound in amyla-
ceous granules, and are often quite filled with tliem; and they also occur abundantly in-
side the cells of the bark, of the medullary rays, and even of the tubes of the wood, and,
in short, everywhere except inside the wood)' tubes of the liber; so that a thin slice of
the stem of this plant, tieated with iodine, forms a most beautiful microscopical object.
But after being frozen, a great part of the starch disappears, and the particles which re
main are not more than a half or a quarter of their former size. I have not, however,
remarked among them any appearance of dissolving; neither have I been able to observe

DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS BY FROST.

any change in the curious double-headed bodies, in form resembling dumb-bells, found in
the vessels of Euphorbias, and supposed to be a state of amylaceous matter, because iodine
colors them violet; they appeared to me to be in precisely the same state before and after
the plant was frozen to death. M. Payen, however, denies that any starch whatever is
lost in frozen potatoes ( Comptes rendus, vi. 345;) but as only a small part of his impor-
tant treatise on amylaceous matter has reached this country, I am unable to state in what
way he explains the action of cold upon this substance.

'* Finally, it appears that frost exercises a- specific action upon the latex, destroying its
power of motion. If, as Prof. Schultz supposes, this is the vital fluid of plants, such a
fact would alone account for the fatal effects of low temperature. In all the cases I have
observed frost coagulates this fluid, collecting it into amorphous masses. In Stapelia,
where the laticiferous vessels are easily found, the latex itself is so transparent, that it is
difficult to perceive it in a living state, even with the best glasses; but after freezing it is
distinctly visible, resembling half coagulated water. In the Hibiscus above mentioned,
the stem is covered with long, rigid, simple hairs, filled with a plexus of capillary lati-
ciferous vessels of extreme tenuity, but in which the motion of the latex may be seen
beautifully with the one-eighth of an inch object glass of an achromatic microscope. Upon
being thawed, after freezing, all this apparatus is found reduced to some misshapen sepa-
rate sacs of fine grumous matter, in which no motion can be detected. That these vessels
lose their vitality after freezing, may indeed be seen without the aid of a microscope; for
if a stem of a Ficus elastica, or a Euphorbia, or any such plant, which discharges an
abundance of milk when wounded, be first frozen, and then thawed, no milk Mill follow
the incision.

" From these facts, I think we must draw the conclusion, that the fatal effect of frost
upon plants is a more complicated action than has been supposed; of which the following
are the more important phenomena:

"1. A distention of' the cellular succulent parts, often attended by laceration, and al-
ways by a destruction of their irritability.

" 2. An expulsion of air from the seriferous passages and cells.

" 3. An introduction of air, either expelled from the air passages, or disengaged by the
decomposition of water, into parts intended exclusively to contain fluid.

*' 4. A chemical decomposition of the tissue and its contents, especially of the chloro-
phyll.

" 5. A destruction of the vitality of the latex, and a stoppage of the action of its ves-
sels.

" 6. An obstruction of the interior of the tubes of pleurenchyma, by the distension of
their sides.

" These phenomena may be considered in part mechanical, in part chemical, and in part
vital. The two latter are beyond our control, and probably depend, in part, upon the
quality of fluid and organic matter, which may resist the action of the cold in different
degrees, according to their various modifications; and, in part, upon specific vitality. Salt
and water freeze at various temperatures, according to the density of the mixture, from
4'' to 27''; oil of turpentine at 14*; oil of bergamot at 23''; vinegar at 28°; milk at 30°
water at 32°; olive oil at 30"; oil of anise at 50°; and it is not to be doubted, that in like
manner, the fluid contents of plants, which we know are indefinitely modified. Mill resist
the action of cold in very different degrees.

he mechanical action of frost may, hoM'ever, undoubtedly be guarded agains
extent. It is well known, that the same plant growing in a dry climate, or in

HOW TO MAKE AN AMATEUR.

soil, or in a situation thoroughly drained from water during winter, will resist much more
cold, than if cultivated in a damp climate, or in wet soil, or in a place affected by water in
winter. Whatever tends to render tissue moist, will increase its power of conducting heat,
and consequently augment the susceptibility of plants to the influence of frost; and what-
ever tends to diminish their humidit}^ will also diminish their conducting power, and with
it their susceptibility; this is an invaiiable law, and must consequently be regarded as a
fundamental principle in horticulture, upon attention to which all success in the adapta-
tion of plants to a climate less warm than their own, will essentially depend. The de-
structive effLCts of frost upon the succulent parts of plants, or upon their tissue, when in
a succulent condition, may be thus accounted for, independently of the mechanical expan-
sion of their parts; indeed, it is chiefl}'^ to that circumstance, that Dr. NeufFer ascribes the
evil influence of cold in the spring; for he found that at Tubingen, nearly all the trees con-
tain eight per cent more of aqueous parts in March, than at the end of Januarj^: and tlie
experience of the past winter shows, that the cultivation of plants in situations too much
sheltered, where they are liable to be stimulated into growth, and consequently to be fill-
ed with fluid, b}' the warmth and brightness of a mild protracted autumn, exposes them
to the same bad consequences as growing them in damp places, or where their wood is not
ripened, that is to say, exhausted of superfluous moisture, and strengthened b}' the de-
position of solid matter, resulting from such exhaustion."

HOW TO MAKE AN AMATEUR.

BY X. Y. II.

The history of trees in the United States, has been too much after the following fash-
ion; much of the land had the reputation, if it had not the reality, of abounding in chills
and fevers, or fevers alone; whether the trees by causing dampness, or the unwonted ex-
posure of the settler caused disease, the native forests were considered in fault. To some
extent this was true, for till the country in many places, was cleared, and the sun, that
vivifier and sweetener, was let in, miasmatic influences were more or less rife. Ti'ee fol-
lowed tree, and when they were all down, and the house built, the settler had what he
believed he wanted — a clearing; he too often did not reflect that a belt at the north of his
dwelling would keep the wintry blasts from roaming down his chimne}', or protect his
sheep and poultr}'. His wife wanted sun to dry the clothes, never thinking of thermo-
meters at 90", and a clearing both parties had. The settler, however, either moved fur-
ther to swing his indiscriminating axe in the same manner, or, as many a sad histor}'-
would tell, if it had a Laurie Todd to commemorate it, he and his wife fell victims to
over exertion and exposure.

The next owner is probably a man of more means; a little cultivated himself, he would
like to see cultivation around him; he looks about for trees to fill the gaps so ruthlessly
made, but sees or hears of none for sale in the vicinity, except it may be very small ones;
so he either moves a few from the remaining " woods," without knowing what precau-
tions to use, or adopts the small ones from the distant nursery. In either case, two own-
ers must live under the influence of cold winter winds, and hot summer suns. What is to
one in the matter.''

somewhat difficult to find an answer that will at once remed}' the evil, but

HOW TO MAKE AN AMATEUR.

quote Cicero on the subject, as our best refuge for a reply. "If," says he, " a man
would build, he should reflect a great while, and perhaps not build at all; but if to plant
is the question, he should not reflect, but plant immediately." Wise Cicero! no better
advice could be given by the best modern editor.

What shall we plant, inquires the new owner of the clearing. We answer, take a little
pains to plant trees for shade, that will produce something either in the shape of timber
or fruit. What more ornamental trees than our true shellbark hickory, or the white oak;
we have one of the latter now in our eye, not fifty )'ears old, which is a model of strength
and beauty; very sure, we are, that the owner, who planted it himself, would decline five
hundred dollars for it; and certainly, in the estimation of every person of taste, it adds
more than that sum to the sale value of his estate.

It is a curious circumstance which we have often remarked, that the generality of per-
sons, whose attention has not been particularly drawn to the cultivation of trees, &c., are
not aware wliat it is that produces their pleasure, when suddenly introduced into a pro-
perly planted and cultivated pleasure garden; they are surrounded by beauties, but they
do not define, because they do not know the plants before them; yet something teaches
them that they are in the presence of beauty and novelty; the whole effect is good, and
they involuntarily exclaim, " how delightful! how we should like to live here!" Here is
the intuitive love of nature. Let the same individual learn to know each particular plant,
its history, origin, home, what length of time it has been introduced into gardens, its rar-
it}'^, its uses, the height it attains, whether of rapid or slow growth, to say nothing of its
botanical distinctions, and the enjoyment is increased a thousand fold; every plant so stu-
died is an old friend, recognised and greeted wherever we go. There is no real knowledge
acquired, that is not valuable and agreeable; botany, geology, astronomy, are continual
sources of pleasure, whatever country we visit; let a person but thoroughly know the
varieties of the rose b}^ name and peculiarities of habit, and ever after a garden is visited with
vastly increased delight; suppose tliat amount of knowledge multiplied by reading, obser-
vation, practice, and study, till we know in addition most of the new trees and plants, as
well as those of older introduction; with what gusto and vivacity one searches for and
sees a novelty of which he has only read. But we are straying from our clearing, for
whose adornment this periodical has already given, and will continue to give, lists of the
most valuable and easily procured trees, for shade and product.

After the planter has made up his mind what to plant for immediate effect, and what
for posterity — for we hold the axiom, so often in the mouths of the unreflecting, that be-
cause posterity has done nothing for us we will do nothing for posterity, in utter abhor-
ance — he will ask his life companion, — she is entitled to be consulted in all such
cases, — what fruits she most values; he will be glad to learn that by planting the Spanish
Chestnut he can have a companion tree to his white oak, which, like it, will throw out its
lateral branches, and spread over the lawn, producing in a very few years not only fine
shade, but bushels of its large and delicious nuts to astonish and gratify himself and his
visitors. So far he has cultivated himself, and bids fair to become an amateur; the clear-
ing in his minds eye has assumed a new shape and value, and he takes to studying during
the winter evenings, some further particulars; these acquire intense interest as he pro-
ceeds; books are consulted, but unfortunately books do not tell him all that he wants to
know, for he has yet to learn his a, b, c, in horticulture. One great object of periodicals,
like this, is to inform him. He does not know, perhaps, that yearling fruit trees can be
Rochester, Flushing, Philadelphia, and other places, for a very small sum; that
ing pears, cherries, apples, plums, apricots, and so forth, of the finest sorts, grafted

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

SO as to dwarf them, are to be purchased for the price of two or three shillings each, while
apples, itc, are even cheaper. Where is he to get a catalogue.'' Let him look at the adver-
tisements attached to this periodical, and selecting his nurseryman, commence his cor-
respondence without delay, for every year's advance brings him nearer to the goal of
his wishes. Let him at once read Barry's Fruit Garden, to learn the simple and best
practical methods of trimming, and when his first year's purchases are in the clearing
— our word for it, he has a source of pleasure in store, and baskets full of fruit
in prospect, which will prove a never failing source of occupation, mental and ph3'sical,
as long as he occupies his improving premises. These pets will be society' to him in his
otherwise lonesome hours; if he will at once take up the subject of a kitchen garden,
his home is complete, the only danger being that he will not be induced ever to leave it.
The first winter let him force a small hot-bed of salads and radishes, (with a corner
filled with the most useful green herbs for his cook's especial delight) with his own
hands, watching its progress, moving its shutters and glasses with every considerable
change of temperature, reading up to his suliject, visiting and observing his nearest suc-
cessful neighbor, and he has out-door, healthful occupation for his winter, both day
and night; such an amateur as our friend (for such we shall ever after call him,) has
now become, will not go to sleep as soon as tea is over; he will read and re-read Mc-
Mahon's Kitchen Gardener — one of the very best, after all, on the subject; Downing,
Thomas, and Barr)"^ on Fruits, will become his manuals, while Parsons and Rivers on the
Rose, will be consulted for a little variety. AVith what pleasure will he read Loudon and
the horticultural and agricultural periodicals; we shall not despair in another year of see-
ing him biing into the parlor, for display to his neighbors, his largest pumpkin, whicli he
remarks is a valuable article, it looks so like having results. A Ward's case, and a few
house plants that will thrive in a sitting room, among which is a fine ivy in a receptacle
large enough to contain its large roots, will make in-doors in a snow storm not onl}' tolera-
ble but delightful. Have we conjured up an amateur, by detailing the process by which
tliis healthy action of the mind is produced.' If so, we wish there may be thousands of
these added every year to our population; thousands may be added, but we want thou-
sands more. N. Y. H.

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFRKYS.

liuio to Popularize the Taste for Planting. — A very palatable talk to all, except such
professional gardeners and nurserymen as tliink that ever}' thing they give away is lost.
Yet your reasons wh}' they shoulil believe in such doctrine, are too palpable to be long
resisted by them. Our agricultural and horticultural periodicals, are doing great things
in tliis line, among our country people, and planting oucg the fashion, every body's house
will be smothered in trees and climliers. Railroads, too, help the people to travel. They
thus see what other folks do; and they — that is, (he most observant of the travellers — go
home and do likewise. Rely upon it, the taste for planting is in progress. Compare the re-
cently built farm-houses all over the country, with those of our bojiiood, and mark the
change! Then, they were as utteily bare of trres as of out-houses; stood all alone by

elves, naked, inhospitable, and desolate to the eye. Now, even the same old
nients, inhabited by people of better taste, are changed in their outward style; various

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

oflBces are attached, and they are comfortably nestled amid the deep shadow of fine trees,
and rejoice in plats of shrubbery and flowers.

It is wonderful to compare the taste of the laboring English with that of the same class
of people in our own country. The one you can scarcelj' keep from cultivating his flowers;
and if he, himself, has no time to attend to it, his wife and daughters will. The other
you can neither drive nor coax into the slightest attempt of the kind. I have a quiet lit-
tle cottage at one end of my principal farm — the tenement itself humble in appearance —
scarce worth an hundred dollars. I put into it an American " hired man," who chopped
wood in winter, worked on the farm in summer, and was a capital hand at all sorts of
rough labor. I had some fine young forest trees about the place, a comfortable garden
stored with currant bushes, roses, and such like little affairs, as would make a laborer's
home cheerful — for I like to see every bod^' about me in the enjoyment of such little plea-
sant things, not costing much, and looking pretty. When he removed into it, I told him
how comfortable and convenient these little appendages would be about the place, yet ob-
served the incredulous and staring look he gave me by wa}^ of reply. To cut the matter
short, during the year the man occupied the place, his " young barbarians" hacked into,
girdled, and spoiled several of my trees; the currant bushes were mostly stripped of their
branches to carry into the " shanty" to pick the fruit from, while the cow came in to browse
the remainder. The pig was let loose into the wretched, weedy garden, after the potato
and cabbage patches were cleared, and he rooted up the roses and hollyhocks, and the
place was sadly in ruins. When I remonstrated against such vile destruction, the answer
was, that " they had no use for such knick-knacks, and did'nt see the need of them!"
This man " walked Spanish," of course, at the end of his 3'ear, and was succeeded by a
quiet English laborer in like capacity, bating the " wood chopping" — Englishmen usually
knowing little of such labor. And now came a change truly. "Oh, what destruction
has been made here!" would he often exclaim. " I must fix these little things all up
again. A nice bit of fruit we'll get from these currants, and properly trimmed they'll grow
some good shoots again; and, sir, may I go into your /lowse-garden and take up a few
side- roots from the poeonys and roses, and sum'mut of other things that can be spared,
and put in here? for I hate to see a place naked, and without something to rest one's eye
on of a Sunday, and to give my wife a flower-pot now and then." " To be sure you can,"
was the reply, "and the more of them the better." All this was done in the course of the
spring, and no time lost either — for it was accomplished out of the regular work hours;
and in less than a twelvemonth the place was turned into a little paradise, where I often
drop in and take a quiet chat as I pass, and learn from the laborer and his good-mannered
wife, much of the humble and rural life of England.

This, to be sure, is in a sphere below the class for which the article under note is intended.
But it is a part of the system, and the subject. The parallel will hardly, perhaps, hold
good with the higher classes in America, but the difference in the taste of the two people is
surprising. This difference is partly incidental to the newness of our land, but much
more owing to a tvant of taste — that's the flat reason. Here, Ave go blundering and daun-
dering along, looking to the " main chance," and to the main chance only, as if to gather
together dollars and estates, with which to bespoil our children who are to come after us
— and in which latter purpose we usually succeed to admiration — were the only object
worth striving for in life! On the whole, how^ever, we are improving — but not half fast
enough.

an for Industrial Universities. — It is quite apparent that Professor TtJRNER is no
fogy" in his notions of practical education. lie is a man of sound sense and accu-

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

rate views on this subject, and when more men like him get control of these matters, we
may expect some useful result from the vast means which our different states, and our
general government, have at command for such purposes. But a host of literary
"grannys," who think that " education" is only intended for " the professions," must
first retire from the field. Railroads, steam engines, and telegraph wires, will run them
off the track after a while, and the demands of the time will set the thing right. So we
live in hope.

Birds, fnsects, and other matters. — A man who writes with the perspicuity and force,
of J. C. 11., should tell us something to instruct as well as to amuse. There is pith in
him, beyond question; and he holds a quarry of information behind these salient arrows
which he lets fly with such facile directness. He has a kind heart too; otherwise he could
not talk of the charming little birds as he does. But my friend, many of them do catch
worms — caterpillars even — and bugs, and spiders, although you may not believe it.

Closing remarks on the Theory of Pruning. — This is a most comprehensive subject,
and I regret that Jlr. Young has " closed" it so soon. The question of " pruning" can-
not be fully treated of in a general wa3^ It must be applied to limited culture, as in the
garden, the close fruit yard — to dwarf cultivation in fact, where ringing, tortillating, and
root pruning may be tolerated. Also, to open orchard culture, and on different princi-
ples altogether, in practice, from the other, to make it applicable and understandable to all
who would profit bj' its discussion. Dwarfing is, in truth, a perversion of nature — not
wronglj' — but for our own convenience and profit; consequently it involves more labor,
more ingenuity, and is attended with greater risk, and demands deeper knowledge, and
observation, both in vegetable physiology, and in the composition of the soils which may
be occupied. In open, natural cultivation, the true theory of pruning is simple. Nature
will there do her own work, with a little aid in removing incumbrances and repairing ac-
cidents. These performed, as a general rule, the less " pruning," scientifically, the bet-
ter. But, good cultivation should be given, always. The best orchards, probably, in the
United States, are those which have received little aid from the saw and knife, except in
infancy, but whose soils have been well fed, if not originally stored with proper food, and
carefully tended. Nature, to be perfect in any of her works, should not be forced. JFe may
be impatient. Not so her. In her elaborate and harmonious labors, time must be given for
all things; and all we have to do is to understand what she intends, and only lend her
that grateful aid which will be amply repaid in ten-fold blessings upon our endeavors.

Fruit growing at the South. — B}' " South," I suppose is here meant any territory
below Mason and Dixon's line, for the neighborhood of Washington is not farther south
than Cincinnati, which at the real " south," is called " north." It is a most refreshing
idea to one who has the true feelings of an American about him, that there is a spirit
waking up for good cultivation of any thing in that hitherto tabooed District of Columbia
— as if it was not enough that the political bile of the country should concentrate there
for its annual eruptions, but that its influence should keep one of the naturally loveliest
spots on the globe, about it in a state of sterility. To foreigners, familiar with the capi-
tals of their own country, after visiting Boston, New-York, and Philadelphia, "Washing-
ton must look like a city of magnificent conceptions, wholly blocked out, partially built
UD, and then newly caught and squatted down into one of the most forbidding soils in
the whole compass of the American continent. Instead of a place where the good taste
and high cultivation of the several states should congregate and plant itself, to embellish
tional capitol, ever}' thing of the kind seems to have shunned it as they would an

mosphere of pestilence. I first knew Washington when a boy. Its maiket was then

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

supplied with miserable vegetables, raised by the neighboring " niggers," and who
" trucked" their commodities to market in the oddest and most incongruous ways possi-
ble. A mule harnessed by the side of a broken down horse, or one of them " spiked"
before a pair of the wretchedest " steers" on a miserable cart, or a worse Avaggon, and
driven by an equally well conditioned " plantation hand," was the usual mode of trans-
portation to the " city;" and these vehicles, with their appendages — that is, the jackasses
and the " nigger"— standing in theopen streets, were the " market houses" of the day.
Starvelling poultry, and poor meats, were the companions of the meagre vegetables, and
as for fruits, paw-paws wouldn't grow there, and persimmons were only in eating "after
frost."

It is better now, somewhat, but Washington, in all these things, is a full century behind
any other well conditioned town in America. It is a disgrace to somebody, that there is not
higher and more abundant cultivation of fruits and vegetables in and about the place. The
climate is delightful ; bland as Italy, and inviting a world of vegetable wealth to its embrace.
Prices are good, the demand for all edibles is steady and increasing, and why should not
the country within sight of the capitol be a continuous and a perfect garden.' I might
guess, but that my solution might be offensive in some quarters; so I'll drop the subject.
It is a good indication, however, that Dr. Bayne has so spiritedly gone into fruit culture,
and I hope that he will not only persevere, but that others will join him in such an im-
portant enterprise.

Memoranda on the Culture of Grapevines. — It appears, after all, to be a simple pro-
cess to grow the best of grapes in a " cold grapery," to those who understand it. Some
two years ago, I suggested in one of my critiques, the plan ofgetting up these establishments
by contract, and on proper principles. Since then. I am gratified to learn, by his advertise-
ment in your paper, that Mr. Ludlow, of Yonkers, has undertaken the business, in
which, I trust he has abundant patronage. I also suggested that a competent vigneron
should plant the houses thus constructed, with suitable vines. Now, let me add a
third requirement — which is, that in neighborhoods were these grape houses are built,
competent vine dressers should establish themselves to prune and dress vines for those
Avho need their services, in which occupation they would soon find abundant employ.
Many people are deterred from building a grapery, from the fact that they cannot spare
the time, and do not possess the knowledge of themselves to dress their vines, and cannot
afford the expense of keeping a gardener for that purpose alone. The}' require only a
small house and but a few vines for their family supply, and for the want of some such
economical way of management, forego the luxuary these would give th«m. Why should
not vine dressing become a profession in America, as well as in France, Germany, or
Italy?

Seedling Foreign Grape. — A most welcome subject — an j^merican seedling grape from
foreign varieties, as I understand it. As Mr. Allen was kind enough to send me,
through your hand, a specimen of this beautiful production, for which he has my thanks,
I can full}' confirm the good opinion you express of it. The muscat flavor, to my own
taste, is altogether to its credit, and I cannot but hope Mr. A.'s success in its cultivation,
will meet his wishes.

The seedling grape of Dr. Valk, of Long-Island, described in the June Horticulturist,

if he be not quite mistaken in its qualities, is an achievement in the hardy grape cuthire of the

United States. Aside from the Isabella and Catawba, we have scarcely a good out-of-door

rape for the northern states. These, when thej' rijien well, are delicious, an

satisfactory grapes — and that is praise enough. But we do want a good table

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY HORTICULTURIST.

that is hanly in the open air at Boston, Albany, Buffalo, Milwaukie and Prairie du Chien;
and if at Montreal, so much the better. At neither of these places can the Isabella or Ca-
tawba be depended on, and neither are fit for house culture, not producing their fruit in
such high perfection as Avhen suitably located in the open air. Dr. Valk is <ntirely
right in resisting all applications for slips and buds of his vine, until he has thoroughly
tested it under his own eye, and for a term of time in which he shall become per-
fectly satisfied of its productiveness, high flavor, and hardiness — wonderfully different
in this from the empirics who flood and cheat the country with their new nostrums, before
knowino- whether they are worth the moss they are packed in, or not. If Dr. Valk suc-
ceeds in the anticipated qualities of his grape, his honesty of purpose will be amply re-
Avarded in his success, even if he fail to produce his " ten, twenty, or a hundred thou-
sand plants" for sale. But this he can do likewise. The latest discovery which I have
noticed in the " native grape" invention, is from a Yankee manufactory, at Stafford, Con-
necticut, which I have seen figured, and published in sundry papers, and advertised ex-
tensively, with testimonials to match, from the neighborhood of the " Stafford Iron
Works," all up to the mark in describing its " great size," "soft pulp," "thin skin,"
and " delicious flavor." Wonder if the "soft" pulp is soluble \n aqaafortis ! I was
once at Stafford "Springs," and if that salubrious region of huckleberries, sweet fern,
and iron ore, spontaneously produces such grapes as are thus described, it must be a rare
spot of earth, indeed. Connecticut— all New-England as well— is full of small rapid
streams, on the narrow^ bottoms or intervales of which, grow thousands of wild grapes
of many varieties, both in size and color, but with pulp as hard and indigestible as bullets;
and this new " Chartur Oak" grape, as it is so pretentiously called, toall appearance, is
one of the same unadulterated type, which I have often plucked in my younger days, of
equal size, and no doubt corresponding flavor. Of course, boys love grapes, and I often
felt, when gasping to get their coarse, hard pulps down my throat, much as a young turkey
looks when trying to swallow an acorn larger than its own head! But the " invention"
has gone forth, and no doubt long before this, the peddlers of the grape are abroad, with
vines duly labelled, and certificates amply verified, to edify the good country people with
this " unrivalled discovery." A safe deliverance to the poor mortals who have to eat
them! The only marvel in the whole affair is, that this wondrous fruit has never found
its way " to the Editor of the Horticulturist."

To THE Publisher. — Since writing the foregoing, the sad intelligence of the untimely
death of Mr. Downing, has reached us. To that portion of the public with whom he
communed with his pen, or who enjoyed his personal intercourse, his loss is irreparable.
Polished in his manners; highly cultivated in his profession ; gentle in his disposition;
kind in his intercourse; of exceeding ability and great resource as an editor and an au-
thor, his death has left a void not easily nor readily supplied.

For many years ^Ir. Downing has exerted a leading and commanding influence in f;ish-
ionino- the public taste to the rural embellishment of our country, in the construction of
buildin"-s, gardens, lawns, and pleasure grounds. Wilh many he was a standard autho-
rity, and it is certain that to his fine taste and discrimination we are greatly indebted for
much of the improvement which has been so extensively and rapidly made in our country
residences and grounds. As a Pomologist he was sound and practical, and a leading spi-
the progress we have accomplished in that interesting department of cultivation. In
ry outset of his career — a young man — with so wide a harvest of reputation, use-

THE GRAPE IN COLD HOUSES.

fulness, and enjoyment, before him, it is sad to reflect that he is so suddenly' cut off, and
his agreeable intercourse, and valuable teachings, are lost to us forever!
" The glories of our birth and state

Are shadows, not substantial things j
There is no armour against fate ;
Death lays his icy hands on Kings j
Sceptre and crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade."
With Mr. Do"WNlNG mj' personal intercourse had not been frequent, but always plea-
sant. I have partalven of the hospitalities of his late delightful, but now desolate home, on
the banks of the Hudson, made classic by his own graceful pen, where his intelligent and
charming conversation, and the gentle attentions of one now in the fresh agony of widow-
hood, will live among my happiest recollections.

Nor does the public press throughout the country, fail to give utterance to the sorrow
which Mr. Downing's death has created. His loss is lamented as that of a public bene-
factor— one who labored for the good of his fellow men. His works will live long after

him, and

" — time, the beautifier of the dead,"

will cherish his remembrance in the images of taste and loveliness which he has planned
and executed in many a spot that knew only barrenness, till his ingenuity and discrinii-
tion had adorned them with the most graceful associations of rural life.

Honor — gratitude, to his memory! and although at the hazard of violating the proprie-
ties of the occasion, by obtruding my own private griefs upon your pages, I cannot but la-
ment, that in being forever cut off from my accustomed intercourse with one whom I held

so worthy,

" I feel like one

"Who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted ;
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed!"

Jeffkets.

CULTURE OF THE GEAPE IN COLD HOUSES.

BY A. MESSER, GENEVA, N. Y.

Mr. L. Tuckek — The late Mr. Downing, whose melancholy death we sincerely mourn,
expressed himself much pleased with a statement made by Mr. Chorlton, describing his
management of a vinery. It was in the Horticulturist of February last. I have reason
to believe that all those who are attempting to grow the foreign grape under glass, were
highly entertained by the article. The editor said that there were many others in the
country who anight, ij they xcould, furnish a report of their experience. I was entitled to
think myself in the number; and although my grapery is small, and built in a cheap
manner, and the vines now growing only the third summer; and although gardeners arc
not to suppose that all they have to say, is worth printing, still I would like to make

THE GRAPE IN COLD HOUSES.

a few suggestions, and fondly hope, at the same time, that they will elicit from others,
additional information. Not to give an account of my management in full detail, I ob-
serve that I have endeavored to follow the best examples. And now at this date, (Aug.
10,) in a cold house, the Royal Muscadine is transparent, of an amber-like color, and
almost ripe; the Black Ilamburgs also are rapidly coloring. The growth has been all
that I could expect; the vine and fruit free from mildew, or any disease whatever. I have
expended but little money, but have given much personal attention to the vines.

The writer has been much gratified by often inspecting the grapery of Mr. H. L. Sut-
DAM of this village, who obtained the second premium at the agricultural fair last Septem-
ber. His house, though not large, is 30 feet long, of which the side of his barn makes the
back wall. He has 12 vines in front, and eight or nine in the rear. This experiment is,
on the whole, pronounced to be very successful. He enjoys the advantage of an open
exposure, and has never been troubled with mildew. The older vines in front, are now
laden with beautiful fruit, of luxuriant growth, and which in this vicinity, is the grand
point of attraction for amateurs in grape cultivation.

Having occasion to go to New-York, two weeks ago, I availed myself of the opportuni-
t)', to go over to New Brighton and look into the vinery of J. C. Green, of which Mr.
CnoRLTON has the management. The vines appeared healthy and flourishing, and were
well laden with fruit; it occurred to me, however, that the number of clusters was too
great for the aliment which had been furnished to the border. There is much danger of
over-cropping. It is to be remembered, that these vines were put out two years ago in
April last, in a very rich border, — 60 barrels of bone dust, and 40 tons of stable manure,
having been used in its construction. The first summer's growth was astonishing; per-
haps unparalleled in this country. It is in vain to expect a similar growth the following
season, or this present season, with ordinary rates of manuring. If one half the quanti-
ty of bone dust and stable manure had been used, and a suitable lot of whole bones, or
cattle's feet, or slaughter house offal, had been added, the fertility of the border would
have been more permanent at less cost; and the gardener on the Island would have been,
probably, quite as well satisfied at the present moment. A good layer of compost, in
early spring, and a semi-monthly treatment of soap suds, will be of great importance to
the vines next year. The vine is truly " a gross feeder."

One word about our friend's mode of pruning. Is there not danger that the spurs or
branches, as they put forth horizontally, will meet and interlock with each other? and
in such a case, will not the house become too much shaded? It is the habit of some vari-
eties to push their horizontals many inches, before the fruit is located, as in the White
Muscat of Alexandria. It must, therefore, be stopped at the first bud beyond the cluster,
or the allotted space will be all used up. The operator may, perhaps, flatter himself that
he shall keep the fruits " at home" in future, because he has a bud on the lateral, near
the main stock, for fruiting next year. But never fear a want of buds, where the vine is
strong and ripe, and has laid in a good supply of organizable matter. Germs will show
themselves; "nature will out," and I should like to see the experimentalist who should
propose to prevent fruiting by cutting all the spurs smoothly and closely to the main stem.
The preserving of an open space between the vines, in a span roof house, may not be so
essential; but it is quite important in the " lean-to" graperies, so that the sunlight may
be reflected from the back wall.

By a recent and careful observation, at all those points, where I have had an opportuni-
have discovered my own errors, at least in part. At the outset I failed in th
It was deep enough and suitably drained, but organic manures were furnished

FRUITS vs. INTEMPERANCE.

parsimoniously. There was not enough to furnish the phosphates, or a copious disengnge-
ment of nitrogen. Professor Norton's lectures in Albany, were exceedingly useful to
me. Another mistake was to allow the sash to remain with bad joints, so that a uniform
temperature could not be maintained. After fitting the sash, I found a great difference.
In the early part of the season, the house has been kept closed, a larger part of the day
than in previous years, and with decided advantage. True, Mr. Dowxing says, " Plenty
of sunlight, plenty of air, and plenty of moisture," are his fundamental principles for grape
culture. But if the house is open too much for air, the caloric escapes, and the moisture
evaporates. I have never kept mine so close before, and never before had such growth of
wood, or such perfection of fruit. Being too much shaded by some forest trees, behind which
the sun retires at 3 o'clock, I have laid some old sash on the border out side, and so have
obtained a temperature suited to the wants of the roots. Under the glass, the vapor is
also condensed, and the roots find a grateful moisture, to the very surface of the ground.
The border is mulched with tan.

With these comments, which appear sufficiently egotistical, I conclude, observing that
if others can derive any, even the smallest profit, from these speculations, I shall be satis-
fied. And I hope also, to offer reasons, at a future time, wh}^ many others would do well
to commence the building of a vinerj^ A. Messer.

Geneva, Ontario co., N. Y.

FRUITS vs. INTEMPERANCE.

BV JAMES RICHARDSON, Jr.

The grand mission of the horticulturist, in subduing, cultivating, and embellishing the
earth, — of rendering the outward world a Paradise, — a garden of beauty and delight, (as
the word Paradise literally imports,) is as yet but little understood and appreciated in
all its length, and breadth, and glory, by even its most distinguished apostles and earnest
and enthusiastic devotees. For it shall be his ofiice in the coming age, not only to tians-
form the face of nature, and through the hints and suggestions everywhere given him by
tlie Divine Creator, to deduce order and beauty from the surrounding chaos, but to have
a very important and powerful influence upon the life and culture, the health and happi-
ness of man The civilization of man, and that of the earth indeed, always go hand in
hand, and each acts upon, and advances the other. By the greater abundance and im-
provement of grains and vegetables, and especially by the increase of various and luscious
fruits, a very striking change is to be made for the better, in the manner of human living,
in the regimen and nourishment of the human body, and hence, in the purity, activity and
beautiful development of mind and soul. How much more poetical, how much more re-
fined and elevated, as well as beautiful and exhilirating, is a table glowing with the vari-
ous melting and luscious fruits in their season — the dewy, delicious strawberry, the fra-
grant raspberry, the ruby cherry, the tempting paradisean nectar of peach and apricot,
plum and pear, and the glorious clusters of the rich and juicy grape, with the cooling and
refreshing waters of cantelope and melon, accompanied by simple farinaceous articles
of diet, than a board covered with the flesh of beasts, however delicately cooked, and with
various spiced, unnatural, and unholy mixtures of cake, pastry, &c. Think of
Adam slaughtering an ox in Paradise, or the delicate fingers of his fair and gentle par

FRUITS vs. INTEMPERANCE.

dripping with the fat of a roast spare-rib, as her divine features become scorched and em-
purpled over a blazing fire.

AVe believe, most full}', from personal experience, as well as observation, that an abun-
dant use of fruits has a strikingly delightful and elevating influence upon the animal spi-
rits, as well as upon the mind and soul; that the constant habit of employing fruits will cure
manj' diseases, and have a most beneficial effect upon the health of the individual, and the
race, and prove, next to air and water, the greatest of all preventive medicaments. In-
deed, as for ourselves personally, through spring and summer, autumn and winter, our
breakfast is made almost exclusively of fruits. These we will have, and using no other
luxury, we think we have a right to use them at any cost. At the same time, we feel it
to be a high and holy duty, whicli we owe to the race, to do all in our power to render
fruit so abundant and cheap, as to fall within the means of our poorest brother, and glad-
den, with its nutritious and exhilarating juices, every child in the land. AYe do not labor
merely that this princely merchant, and that lordly nabob, should have his table loaded
with choice "specimens;" but that every man, woman, and child, month in and month
out, should revel in these delicious and healthful luxuries, till they become the cheapest
of common necessities. And let the true friend of our noble art but do his duty, and this
can, and it will be accomplished.

We even go so far as to believe, that such a blessed consummation would do more than
aught beside to banish dram-drinking, wine-bibbing, and intemperance, from the land-
For these habits are to be attributed, in the main, to a craving for the sparkling and
exhilarating juices, the grateful and healthful acids contained in fruits. And the truth of
this statement will be evident, if we consider that principallj'-, from the juices of fruits,
come all our various wines, exhilarating liquors, and intoxicating beverages. It was one
of the methods early taken to lengthen out and perpetuate the season of fruitage. The
less abundant of fruits were dried in ovens, or hung up in the solar rays, and the
juices were expressed from the more prolific and plentiful varieties. As from the apple,
cider; from the pear, perry; from the grape, wine and brandy; and hence, elder
wine, currant wine, &c. At first, indeed, this method was employed only on a
limited scale, in the very season of fruits, and the juicy clusters of the grape were
pressed into the crystal or golden goblet, as we now squeeze the orange and the lem-
on for our delicious orangeade, or the cooling sherbet of lemons. As we read in holy writ,
" I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand," (Genesis XI. 11.) Gentlemen, indeed, in the constant habit of emploj'ing wine
and liquors, say to us, " Oh! with such fruits as these, I should not care for wine, and
should soon give up all relish for drinking." Let us make the various delicious fruits so
plentiful, as to be withiii the reach of every man, even the poorest and the humblest, and
we shall do more for the cause of temperance, and truly gootZ-living, than all the Maine
liquor laws and temperance lecturers in the world; for we shall thus destroy utterly, the
the corrupted and perverted tastes of men, and restore them to the original beautiful and
wholesome simplicity of nature. James Richakdson, Jr.

Greenfieled, Mass., July 28, 1852.

CULTURE OF THE NARCISSUS.

ON THE CULTURE OF THE NARCISSUS.

BY JUVENIS.

Mr. Editor — The Narcissus is a flower the cultivation of which is neglected more tnan
it ought to be, and I am desirous of calling the attention of j'our readers to some of the
best species. With this object I have sketched a few of them, and if you can find room
for them in one of your numbers, before the fall, I doubt not, that amongst your nume-
rous readers, many will try for once a few Narcissi, who have never grown them before;
and I promise them a gratification if the}' do so, that will induce them to repeat the ex-
periment.

In the sketch which I send, the flower with reflexed petals on the left hand of the group
at top, is N. Cernuus. Immediately below it are three flowers of N. Jonquillus, (the
common Jonquil.) In the centre of the group is N. Albicans with its beautiful bell
shaped cup, and below it N. Conspicuus. On the right hand of the sketch, is the mag-
nificent N. Trewianus, more generally known by the gardener's name, " BazelmanMiijor,"
(one of the polyanthus varieties,) and below it is the elegant N. Poeticus.

For culture in pots, the Polyanthus species is the most showy, and several of the best
and most distinct are always to be met with in the annual catalogues of our seed stores;
and of them, the varieties named Grand Monarch, Grand Primo Citronier, Soleil D'or,
and the Bazelman Major, are the best worth cultivation. All these sorts do admirably
well in pots. The bulbs of all the Polyanthus tribe of Narcissi, for ])ot culture, should
be large, none less, and some exceeding in size a fine Hyacinth root. Altliough almost
any soil will serve to grow them tolerably well, yet, of course, they are materially bene-
fitted b}'' one speciall}' adapted to their nature.

I have grown them with uniform success in a compost, consisting of rich loam with an
equal quantity of old hot-bed manure, and about a sixth in bulk of white, fine sand,
mixed together. The pots in which the}' are grown should bear reference to the size of
the bulbs. There should be at least an inch clear space between the diameter of the bulbs
and the sides of the pot. In October or November (the earlier the better) plant the bulbs
in the above compost, taking care that it is well pressed down round the bulb, so as to
have the \a.iter firmly fixed in the pot. AVhen all are potted, place the pots in a fiame or
in a cellar, and cover them over with any dry mateiial, such as coal ashes, sand, or even
loam, for I have used each with equal success; but the last named must not be used if
3'our pots are in a situation exposed to wet, which they ought not to be. This covering
should be of the depth of at least eight to twelve inches; because wlien the bulbs begin
to put forth their roots, the force exerted by them is much greater tlian would be sup-
posed possible by those unacquainted with the fact; and unless the superincumbent weiglit
is considerable, the bulbs will be completel}' raised out of their pots bj' the reaction upon
the bulb of the force exerted by the roots in pushing themselves through the soil. The
pots should remain in this situation for at least six weeks or two months, during which
time they are in the most favorable condition the}' can be for forming roots; and they
may be so left with advantage until it is wished to bring them forward into bloom. About
the middle of December, this operation may comnience, though to have a fine head of
bloom, it is desirable to delay it a month longer, as the Narcissus will not bear such early
forcing as will the Hyacinth; I mean to produce a proportionately good flower. Wlien-
ever it is determined to commence forcing, the pots must be taken from under their cover-
ing with care, (for the stem will have shot up from one to three or four inches, into the

CULTURE OF THE NARCISSUS.

ashes or other covering,) the outsides of the pots washed with a sponge, and they may-
then be placed in a moderately warm hot-bed or in a green-house or parlor. I have grown
them as fine in a room as ever I did in my green-house. Of course the period that will
elapse between their removal from their first situation to the time of the expansion of their
bloom will depend upon the degree of heat to which they are subjected. The more gra-
dually they are brought forward the finer will be the bloom, and in any event they should
not be, for the first fortnight, in a higher temperature than from 55" to 60" Fahrenheit;
which will be quite sufficient to bloom them in perfection; but if it be desired to hasten
the bloom, the tempeiature may be increased after a fortnight or three weeks, gradually,
by 10" or 15", which will expedite their progress. After the pots are taken from under
their first covering, they must be moderately watered occasionally, so as to keep the
earth moist, but by no means to an extent which will render it of the consistence of wet
mud, which I have sometimes found my lady friends think essential to the well doing of
their bulbs. When the bloom buds have begun to expand, the quantity of water may be
increased; this if accompanied by a slight increase also in temperature, for two or three
days, will add to the size of the bloom.

The Polyanthus Narcissus also grows well on water, in Il3'acinth glasses. Its treat-
ment is precisely like the Hyacinth. When first placed in the glass, the water should not
be allowed to touch the bottom of the bulb, but the glass should be filled to within half
an inch of it. The reason for this is, that if the bottom of the bulb is permitted to rest
in the water, the outside coats of it become decomposed V>y saturation, and a slimy result
is formed, which putrefies, and decay of the bulb is frequently the consequence. Until
roots are protruded, it is best to place the glasses in a dark closet, as it is found to be a
law in vegetable ph3'siolog3', that darkness is favorable to the formation of healthy roots,
which are produced under such circumstances, also more speedily than when exposed to
the influence of light.

There is another species of Narcissus which should always be grown, and Miiich may
generally be found in tlie eaily autumn, in the seed stores, befoie the other sorts arrive.
It is called the Double Roman Narcissus; and another from the neighborhood of Mount
Vesuvius, N. Papyraceus, (the paper white of the shops.) The Double Roman and the
Paper White, will both bear forcing much better than the other kinds, their season of
blooming in their natural habitat, being from one to two months earlier. I have for
j-ears grown this in my parlor onl}^, and got it into bloom by the first week in Janu-
ary, and any one may do the same by simply following the plan I have given above, only
that to have them in bloom thus early, the}' cannot be allowed more tlian a month or so
to remain under ashes — for you can seldom buy the bulbs until the middle of October,
and in the parlor where m}' family sit, (with a fire of course, at that time of year,) they
take six weeks to bloom from the time they are brought in. No bulb can be got to bloom
in anything like the same perfection, so early in the year as this. Indeed, I have several
times had them with some flowers open on the 25th December.

The scent of the Double Roman is strong, and to man}' very agreeable; but in odor
all nmst yield the palm to the delicious Jonquil. The bulbs of the Jonquil are small, and
three or four should be placed in a pot of the same size as is used for the larger varieties.
The pot culture of the Jonquils is precisely the same.

No object amongst our early spiing flowers, is more beautiful than the Narcissus, for
the flower garden. Any of the varieties may be planted in the open border in the fall of
ear; they should be jjlaced deep enough in the ground for the bulbs to be cov
inches, and their situalion should be a short distance from the edge of the bor

THE FERTILE CURRANT OF PALNAU

with Crocus or Snowdrops, or some low growing plants in the foreground. It is not ne-
cessary to lift the bulbs every 3'ear, but once in three 3'ears they will require it, to sepa-
rate the offsets. "With regard to soil, they will thrive very well in any tolerably good gar-
den ground; the richer it is, the larger and more numerous will be the flowers, and they
will form a most interesting contrast to the Hyacinths, which should be planted alternate-
I3' w ilh them. The effect thus produced is more pleasing to the eye, than when they are
placed separately in beds, as is sometimes done.

When out of bloom, (if grown in pots) the bulbs should be turned out, and planted in
the garden in a newl}' dug piece of ground, placing them a foot apart every way; and in
a situation where the}' get but little sun; and if well watered, dail}'. for two or three
weeks, until the ends of the leaves begin to turn yellow, (from which time no more water
must be given,) they will bloom again the following year. They should be taken up in
the end of July, and then dried in the sun, with a sheet of paper or cloth thrown over
them to prevent their drying too rapidly. I have grown the same bulbs with very tolera-
ble success for several successive years.

THE FERTILE CURRANT OF PALNAU,

BY BAPTISTE DESPORTES, ANGERS, FRANCE.

It is generally known that France is the country, where, thanks to the climate and the
nature of her soil, fruit attains the highest degree of perfection; and where, for the same
reason, the study of them has become both easy and attractive. And in this country thus
favored by nature, some cities, amongst which I mention two. Tours and Angers, have
distinguished themselves particularly, by their superior culture of them. In the first
named city, our respected friend, Dr. Bretonneau, who is equally eminent for his stu-
dies of plants as of natural history, has raised from seed, some 3-ears ago, a new variety
of currants, to which he has given the name of " Groseillier fertile de Palnau" — Palnau
being the name of his garden in which this variety has been raised.

This currant tree, having been introduced into the garden of Mr. Andre Lerot, has
been there rapidly propagated, with a success proportioned to its merits, and it can now
be distributed in great quantities to agriculturists. This " Fertile Currant of Palnau,"
was raised from the natural seed of the common currant. The distinguishing type of it
is its early flowering, and in particular, the enormous abundance of its clusters. The dis-
position of its branches is also different; they are generally less spreading, and much lar-
ger than the ordinary currant. The leaves are slightly whitish, with deep lobes obtusely
indented. The petioles are hairy at the base. The fruit is red, and, as in all currants,
slightl}"^ acid — but less so than the common species; its perfume and flavor render it very
agreeable as a dessert fruit. For jellies, syrups, and preserves, it yields to none of the
most esteemed varieties. It has the advantage of keeping well on the bush until the first
frosts of the season, without its being necessar}' to cover it.

I will now give 3'ou a description of a branch taken from one of a number of specimens
of this currant, in the garden of Dr. Bretonneau, which will, much better than any-
thing I can say, give an exact idea of the fertility and product of this valuable acquisi-
tion.

The currants occupy on the branch, a length of sixteen inches. They hang vertically.

THE FERTILE CURRANT OF PALNAU.

and very close, so as to cover the stem entirely. Notwithstanding their growing so close-
ly, they nevertheless, are perfectly developed. Each of the bunches, and there were one
hundred and fifty of them, being three inches in length, carrying ten to fifteen berries, so
that taking twelve for each as an average, gives one thousand eight hundred berries. These
berries were about one inch and a quarter in circumference; a few of them only, which
were placed towards the end of the bunches, not being more than an inch. They are cer-
tainly not so large as the cherry currant, but they are much larger than the common kind.
The total weight of these currants was a pound and a half. The bush that bore this
blanch, although a young one, had at least a dozen branches equally loaded with fruit,
and some others which were also well covered, although not to the same extent.

You can judge by this of the abundance of the crop, and how great the advantage would
be to adopt this variety in gardens, instead of the common sort. I am certain that I do
not over estimate the produce, at ten times greater than the ordinary kind.

These currant trees are pruned in the vase or goblet shape, upon which a certain quan-
tity of permanent, or " mother" branches are left, at equal distances. Upon these per-
manent branches, secondary ones are thrown out, the increase of which is encouraged by
pinching oflf the ends of those first produced, so as to have the secondary branches at dis-
tances of three or four inches apart on the permanent stenu These secondary branches
are all stopped at the length of one and a half or two inches. From the base of these last
named, other branches will grow out, which are treated in the same manner. At the in-
tersection of all these ramifications, a considerable quantity of buds will be formed, which
will not fail to flower, and to produce immense quantities of fruit. Each one of the small
branches is only preserved three years, after which they are cut back to the place from
whence they started. This process, at once simple as it is natural, adds still more to the
natural fertility of this variety.

I regret that the distance that separates us, does not permit me to send you one of these
branches loaded with fruit. I should have been very happy to let you see all the extra-
ordinary merits of this remarkable species.

Wishing, nevertheless, to give you an idea of it, I send to the Pomological Congress at
Philadelphia, a drawing of one of these branches, which I have had painted. I have also
added drawings of some other different new fruits, that I wish to make known in Ame-
rica. Baptiste Desportes.

Ansers, France, July ]3, 1652.

TnK Results of Manure on a Pear Tree. — Tn a late number of Moore's New-
Yorker, Linus Cone, of Oakland Co., Michigan, informs us of an interesting experiment
with high manuring. Twenty-five years ago, he planted a Summer Bonchretien pear tree,
the culture of which, after a few years, was neglected. The fruit at first was fine, speci-
mens often weighing nearly a pound each, but afterwards grew gradually smaller, till
nearly worthless. The tree was then well pruned, washed with lye, and the ground well
spaded, with no improvement. Last spring twenty bushels of manure from a blacksmith
shop, consisting of dung, parings of hoofs, cinders, &c., was spread and dug in. Twenty
bushels of fine, high flavored fruit, was the result, the same season.

TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF MR. DOWNING.

(Lrilmtrs ta tljf 3\lt\\mn\ nf Ml Dniuiiiiig.

ODE ON THE DEATH OF A. J. DOWNING.

BY A LADV (IF MARYLA.ND.

!\IoLKN'. all yo iiUMiiilaiii nlU, whose crystal flow
Ijy peLilily iii;iigiii.s, .sooilies tlie summer gale!

Mourn all ye lulls,
AVIiere cedars wave and tall pines darkly throw,
From (he grey rocks, their shadows down the vale.
And all ye gardens, where the cultured flowers
Of various climes perfume the vernal air,
Mourn ye! Mourn all ye genlle showers!

Ve evening dews
Drop ditmiond tears in morning's early hour*,

Sparkling profuse,
From lids yet heavy wuh the damps of night.

His step, which gave delight
To the curved walk and tasteful lawn, no more
Treads the crisped, gravel'd shore,
Bord'ring the grassy swurd, with easy slope.
The eye, the hand, the pen, are silent all !
Tastk mourjis the graceful spirit that portray'd
Her lines of beauty m each varied shade.

Each slope and fall,
Each "long-withdrawing vale"

And ivied wall.
Where wild hirds build and tell the am'rous tale.
Ve droop ng elms, and cedars dark, which sweep
With pendant boughs the grassy verdure, deep,

Do ye not hear Her weep?

DowM.VG ! Fair nalure was to ihec

A glorious DeJiy :
Soniclhing akiu to Godliness, and Love,
And An I to build her altars 'nealh the skies,

A Nymph of Paradise.

O tuneful streams and lawns of velvet green,

AViih clustering shrubs and bow'rnig vines between;

Dark tow'ring firs, and Lebanon's own tree.

As cyiee o'er sacred hills, droop solemnly!

The irune of DowsiXG whisper as ye wave;

And O ye winds! Blow lighUy o'er his gravel

Each cot and stately hall, eacli tijiy bower.
And each fair girl who loves to rear a flower;
Each soul who seeks in Nature or in Art,
To bear an humble or a lofty part,
Put on the Cypress! Shroud in mourning weeds
The casements dark, for Rural Beauty bleeds 1
And ye neglected shades — our forest wealth,
No longer wearing glorious hues by stealth.
Come boldly forth I— assert your noblest powers!
Give us your stately forms— j-our brilliant flowers,
But while you shade America's young homes,

When brilliant autumn pamts each fading leaf,
Give to I he rusi'ling wnid as forth k roams,

A soft finiereal tone of tender grief.

Artist AND Scholar! Thou art fallen asleep.

In thy fair prime,
Where the blue waters of the Hudson sweep.
Alas! no opening bud or swelling fruit can charm:

Nor votive rhyme
Light the cold eye, the sdent pulses warm.

We nnngle tear with tear
With mourning friends around thy early bier,
And lay thy favorite rose upon tliy breast.

Sweet be thy rest !
And may that world where trees immortal grow.

Around thy spirit throw
Their sot't refreshing shades, amidst the blest!

Wevertoii, MaryUnd^ An^. 17. J. C. AV.

Massachusetts Hort. Society.

At a nieeling of the Massachusetts Horticul-
ttifal Society, held Saturday, Aug. 7, 1852, the
following preamble and resolutions reported by
a committee chosen at a previous meeting,
wore unanimously passed, aud placed on the
records of the Society:

The Massacliusetts Horticultural Society
have been startled and pained bj- the intelligence
of the sudden death of tlieir co-laborer and
friend, A. J. Downing, of Newburgh, N. Y. —
a passenger in the ill-fated steamer Henry Clay.

Eminent alike as a Horticulturist, a Land-
scape Gardener, and an Architect, Mr. Down-
ing has, in each character, made his mark upon
the age. "Where the grateful gardener plucks
the rich fruit from the laden bough, there is his
name known. Where taste has turned the un-
sightly pasture into a lovely lawn, and adorned
it with gems of the garden and the green wood,
there are his labors felt.

The humble cot lie has made a picture of
beauty, and the elegant mansion, reared by his
genius, fills and satisfies the most nicely critical
eye.

But he has gone! In a moment, as it were,
and without warning, he has been called to pass
the gloomy vale of death, and now rests —

" Where rivers of pleasure flow over bright plaius
And the noon-tide of glory eternally reigns."

In view of this unexpected and terrible stroke,
by which this Society is deprived of one of its
members, and the cause of Horticulture of an
eminent and earnest advocate,

Your committee respectfully submit the fol-
lowing Resolves:

Resolved, That the members of the Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society greatly deplore
the loss of their associate, who has done so
much to advance and e.\tend a taste for the
kindred arts of Agriculture, Horticulture,
Landscape Gardening, and Architecture.

Resolved, That in the death of the late Mr
Downing, Horticulture and Pomological Science

TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF MR. DOWNING.

have sustained a severe loss: clistingiiislied alike
for Ills private worth and public usefulness, and
devoted to the pursuits of Horticulture, Land-
scape Gardening, and all that pertains to the
advancement of our Rural llonies. his niemorj'
will he cherished, and his decease sincerely la-
mented.

Resolved, That we tender the sympathies of
the Society to the family, in their atHcting be-
reavement, and that the Corresponding Secre-
tary be directed to communicate the above
resolutions to his bereaved family.

Further Resolved, That the Hon Marshall
P. WiUler be solicited to deliver an Eulogy on
the Life and Character of the late A. J. Down-
ing, Esq., at such time and place as the Society
may hereafter designate. For the Committee.
Sau'l AValker, Chairman.

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

At the meeting of this society, August 17, the
following appropriate resolutions were unani-
mously adopted:

Resolved, That we deeply deplore the afflic-
tive providence wliich involved, in the destruc
tion of the Henry Clay and the tragical loss of
many valuable lives, the removal of our es-
teemed fellow member, A. J. Downing, of
^'ewburgh, in the i)ride of manhood, and in the
full maturity of his powers, from the scene of
his useful and honorable exertions, at a time
when his services were so univei-.sally and highly
appreciated, and when his elforts in life were
producing throughout the land, the beneficent
and beautiful results for which he had so long
labored, and over which liis benevolent spirit
would have so generously rejoiced.

Resolved, That we regard as a national be-
reavement and affliction, the loss of one whose
powers were so diligently and successfully dedi-
cated to the purest and best interests of his race
and his country ; that the deceased was endow-
ed by nature with a vigorous intellect, which
was elevated by liberal and jjractical cultiva-
tion, and directed by an expanded ])hilanthro-
py and a glowing love of nature, to the promo-
tion of those pursuits connected with rural life
and rural hajjpiness, which, while they contri-
bute to the solid power and jjrosperity of a peo-
ple, refine and elevate their tastes and enjoy-
ments; that the country will liold in grateful
and enduring remembrance his valuable and po-
pular contril)utions to the literature of horticul-
ture— his aid in the promotion of Landscape
Gardening — in the improvement of the ■' Fruits
and Fruit trees of America." and of Cottage
Residences, and his able and assiduous labors
for the general advancement of Pomology and
rural economy ; that his efforts in tliese branch-
es have produced an improvement which is per-
ceptible in the aspect of many sections ot our
country; and that liis sudden and melancholy
death is a bereavement which will he long and
deejdy deplored, flir beyond the aflfectionate and
d circle of which he was the ornament
the pride.

Resolved, That as the loss of A. J. Downing
is a national calamity, calling for an ajjpropri-
ate national commemoration, we cordially ap-
prove of the action of the President of the
American Pomological Congress, in inviting the
Hon. Maishall P. Wilder, an intimate friend of
the deceased, to deliver at the approaching ses-
sion of the Congress in Philadelphia, on the
13th proximo, an Eulogy on the life, character,
and virtues of our lamented fellow member.

Resolved, That we sincerelj' condole with his
bei'eaved family upon this afflictive dispensation
of an inscrutable Providence; and that as a
manifestation of our respect and sympathy, the
Secretary be directed to tiansmit to them a co-
j)y of the foregoing resolutions. T. P. James,

Rec. Sec'y.

New-York Hort. Society.

At a regular meeting of the New-York Hor-
ticultural Society, held at Stuyvesant Institute,
August 2, 1852, after some appropriate re-
marks by Mr. Peter B. Mead, on Mr. Down-
ing's melancholy fate, a committee appointed
for that j)urpose reported the following Pream-
ble and Resolutions, which were unanimously
adopted :

Whereas, This Society, by a melancholy cas-
ualty, has been suddenly clei»rived of a valuable
and esteemed member;

JInd whereas. It becomes our duty to pay a
piojjer tribute to the memory of one whose ser-
vices in tlie cause of Horticulture have given
him a lasting claim to our gratitude ;

Be it therefore Resolved, That in the sudden
death of our late associate, A. J. Downing,
Esq., we recogTiize the hand of an oveirnling
Providence, and that we deeply deplore the loss
sustained by his family, by his calamitousdeath,
and hereby tender our sympathies to them in
their affliction.

Be it further Resolved, That, in common with
all who take pleasure in horticultural pursuits,
we feel that we have sustained no common loss
in the death of one so eminent in his profession,
and whose labors in Rural Architecture and
Landscape Gardening, will remain as enduring
monuments of his judgment and taste.

On motion, it was

Resolved, That the Corresponing Secretary
be requested to forward these Resolutions to
Mrs. Downing, and also furnish copies of the
same for publication in the Horticultural Maga-
zines.

Pittsburgh Hort. Society.

Pittsbvrgh, Jvg. 7, 1852.

L. Tucker, Esq. — Below is a copy of resolu-
tions passed by the Board of Managers of the
Pittsburgh Horticultural Society, at their regii-
lar monthly meeting on the 4th instant. A. B.
McQuEWAN, Cor. Secretary.

Resolved, That this Board has heard with
profound regret, of the melanclK)ly death of
A. J. Downing. Esq., by the burning of the
steamer Henry Clay — That wc regard hi
as a National loss to the cause of Horticultur

TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF MR. DOWNING.

Landscape Gardening, and other Rural Scien-
ces, not soon, we fear, to be filled up — his life
and brilliant talents having been devoted tu the
advancement of his favorite i)ursuits.

Resolved, That this resolution be published
in our daily papeis, and a coj)}" of the same be
sent to the P^ditor of the Horticulturist by our
Corresi)onding Secretary.

W. H. Williams, Prest. Protem.

J. M. Kain, Sec'y.

Genesee Valley Hort. Society.

At a special meeting of the Horticultural
Society of the Valley of the Genesee, held in
tiie city of Rochester, August 12, 1852, the
President, on calling the meeting to order, stated
tliat he had called the members together at the
suggestion of others, and in accordance with
his own feelings, to express in some suitable
manner the feelings of the members in regard
to the sudden and melancholy death of A. J.
D;)WNiNfj, who had been for many years an
honorary member of this Society.

On motion of M. G. Warner, a committee of
five were appointed to pirepare resolutions fur
the consideration of the nieeting.

The President appointed AI. G. Warner, Jas.
H. A\'atts. II. E. Hooker, Geo. Elhvanger and
A. Frost.'

The Committee, through their Chairman, re-
ported the following Preamble and Resolutions
— which are unanimously adopted:

Wlterean. in the death of A. J. Downing,
American Horticulture has lost its noble and
gifteil staiiilard bearer, and society one of its
most amiable, accomplishml and useful mem-
bers— who has done more than anj' other to
awaken among the American people an a{)f)re-
ciati(ni of their country's resources, and to cul-
tivate and diffuse a love for the beautiful in na-
ture and art — whose writings, brilliant and
powerful in style, and truly American in senti-
ment, have given us a Horticultural Literature
which commands the admiration of the world,
— therefore,

Resolved, That we regard his loss as one of
the greatest that could in this day befall the
American people in the death of any one
ninn — that we deeply sympathize witli his
afflicted friends and relatives, truly '' monrning
with those who mourn" for the loved and
lost.

Resolved, That thougli Mr. Downing is no
more, and his voice is hushed in death, yet
he still speaketli — his works will live after liim,
and his influence be felt while correct taste has
a disciple or a home in the earth.

Resolved, That we recommend the Horticul-
ciiltnral .Societies of this country to take some
some united action, to testify in a suitable man-
ner their regard for the memory of Mr. Dow\-
TNG; and that a committee of three be appointed
espond with other Societies on the sub-

rrry, L. W^elherell and James H. Watts,

were appointed a committee In accordance with

the resolution.

Resolved. Tiiat the proceedings of this meet-
ing be furnished the various Horticultural pa-
pers, with a recpiest to i>nblish the same, and a
copy thereof b ■ forwarded by tlie President of
the Society to the family of the deceased.

James Vick, Jr., Sec. P. Barrv, Prest.

Columbus (Ohio I Hort. Society.

Whereas, news has been received of the lo.ss
of the steamer Henry Clay, by fire, on the Hud-
son, and among the lost we find the name of A.
J. Downing, of Newburgh, the editor of the
Ilorticultniist ; therefore, be it

Resolved, That while we deplore the loss of
so many lives, and synipathi.se with tli(;se bereav-
ed, we learn with Ceeliiigs of sincere regret and
profound grief, of the death of the distinguish-
ed Inuticulturist, A. J. Downing. That while
horticulture engages the attention, and enlists
the feelings of many, none have surpassed the
deceased in intelligence, enthusiasm, industiy
and devotion, in all things that relate to "rural
art and rural taste," none have left more en-
during or nnu'e beautiful monuments of their
labors, than he. Death has surprised him in
the midst of his usefulness and success, and just
as his cultivated taste was being fully apprecia-
ted by the nation. Who can fill his place?

Resolved, That as an honorary member of
our Society, we feel that we have a lost a broth-
er, whose writings and teachings have been our
pleasure and our guide, and whose memory we
will cherish as one worthy our love and esteem.

Resolved, That in this bereavement, we sym-
pathise with his familj', and the friends of horti-
culture everywhere, and as a token of our es-
teem, we will place these resolves on our mi-
nutes, and forward them to be published in the
journal which he so ably edited.

[From the jV. Y. Tribune.]
Among the victims by the destruction of the
Henry Clay, there is none whom the country
could so little afi'ord to lose, or whose .services
to the community could so little be replaced, as
i\rr. Downing f)f Newburgh. A man of genius
and of high culture, thoroughly disciplined in
his profession by long study and observation in
Europe, with taste refined and judgment true
enough to feel the deficiencies and to know the
needs of our domestic, and especially of our
rural architecture; still in the prime of life, and
e.sercising a wide influence by his practical la-
bors as well as by his life, he is snatched from a
sphere of high and beautiful utility, and a suc-
cessor we cannot hope to find. What ]\[r. Down-
ing had done and was doing to improve the
fashion of our dwellings, hardly surpassed in
value his contributions, theoretical and practi-
cal, to the kindred art of landscape gardening.
Under his dii-ecting hands, the grounds at the
Smithsonian Institute at W^asliin<iton, were
being transformed into models of beauty in
their kind, and the grounds about many i)iivate

iKa

TRIBUTES TO THE I\IEMORY OF MR. DOWNING.

mansions also bear testimony to the same taste,
the same wise sense of- beauty and fitness. As
a writer, Mr. Downing is remarkable for a mix-
ture of the strong sense, thorough understand-
ing of his subject, and a genial originality. The
cessation of his monthly essays in the Horticul-
turist, will leave a permanent blank in the his-
tory of the domestic arts. While he drew his
materials from the most varied culture, he was
always, and in the most frank and manly way,
an American. His chief aim was to refine the
taste, and elevate the social life and habits of
his countrymen, to something like the ideal
proper to freemen. An artist, a scholar, and a
gentleman, we dej)lore his untimely loss, and a
wide circle of acquaintances who with us recall
his eminent social, as well as public qualities,
will join with us in this tribute to his memory.

[From the IVciv York Evening Post ]
Mr. Downing first became known by a work
on Landscape Gardening, in which he ex-
hibited great taste and enthusiasm. It was near-
ly the first book of any pretension to direct our
countrymen to ornamental gardening and ru-
ral arcliitecture, and it had a good eftect in re-
fining and cultivating the public taste. Not
long afterwards he published a smaller work on
Cottage Residences, which also attained a wide
circulation, and exercised a healthl'ul influence.
He then prepared a work on the Fruits and
Fruit Trees of America, in which his extensive
horticultural studies and exi)erience were appli-
ed. He edited also, a small book etitled Hints
on Architecture, but of late years his energies
were princii)ally exerted in the Horticulturist,
a monthly magazine of high character, devoted
to Horticulture, Pomology, Landscape Garden-
ing. Botany, and Rural Economy. Mr. Doayn-
ing's contributions were a chief attraction of
this periodical, which through his ettbrts, had
become unusually successful.

These publications of Mr. Downing, more
than any other agency, had worked a change in
our style of building, and created a general im-
provement in taste. He was comnu'is.sioned, by
a large number of gentlemen about to construct
private residences, to prepai'e the designs and
lay out the grounds. The evidence of liis fine
professional accomjilishujents now meet us in
all parts of the country, and his loss is one that
will be felt far beyond the bereaved circle of
which he was the ornament and pride.

At the time of his death, Mr. Downing was
employed by the government at Washington in
laying out the public grounds in front of the
Cai)itol. He had not yet completed his plans,
but such alterations as bad been already made
were universally admitted tobeagreatiinprove-
ment to the metropolis, and promised the most
beautiful results. Mr. Downing had determin-
ed to expend the whole resources of his art,

under the guidance of his exquisite taste, in
rendering these national gardens worthy of their
name. AVhether he has left any instructions or
drawings, to enable others to carry out his de-
signs, we cannot say.

[From the JS'eivburgh Gazette.]
We have had a conversation with Miss Amelia
A. Bailey, in relation to the last moments of
Mr. Downing. She assigns the preservation
of her life to the advice given her by Mr. D.,
who, before she jumped overboard, urged upon
her presence of mind, and directed her how to
avoid strangulation as she sank into the watery
element. They were on the stern of the boat
together, whence one after another were throw-
ing themselves into the water as the fierce flames
approached. She sprang into the water from
an elevated point, and as she arose caught hold
of the chain, fortunately within reach. There
she sustained herself until a gentleman, arising
tor a moment from the same fearful grave of
youth, manhood, and age, grasped the chain
with a convulsive effort, that forced her to lose
her hold. Miss B. finally clung to the braces
(under the guards,) sustaining above the water
with her feet, an elderly lady in whom the spark
of life had almost expired, while another per-
son clung to her waist until a boat arrived and
rescued them. Miss B. informs us that the last
she saw of Mr. Downing, he was struggling in
the w^ater with Mrs. Wadsworth clinging to his
neck. She did not speak to him in the Avater,
though she saw him, as stated above, sinking in
the water a short distance from her. She says
he was perfectly composed, and just betore they
parted on the declc, I'eplied to her inquiry
whether there was a prospect of being saved ;
' I cannot say. there is danger,' or soiuething
to the same effect.

PI?" A correspondent of the N. T. Times wri-
ting from Newburgh, in reference to the disas-
ter to the Henry Clay, says:

" This country has good cause to assail them,
and pray most sincei'ely that just retribution
may fall ujjou all who were in any way the cause
of this thrilling and heart sickening calamity.
Ml'. DowNiN<i's loss cannot be made good by a
thou.sand owners of steamboats. His death is a
national loss. ]\rrs. De Wint, of Fishkill, was
niece of the late John Quincy Adams, and Mr.
Downing was her son-in-law. He undoubtedly
lost his life in attem])tiiig to save a lady — Mrs.
Wadsworth of New-Orleans, a very lovelj' wo-
man— and who was under his charge. His wife
escnjicd by being supported upon two chairs un-
til she was rescued. Knowing that Mr. Down-
ing was an excellent swimmer, she supposed he
had been taken off by the Armenia, and gone
to New- York, and it was not until the next day
that she was told of his sad fate.''

«^

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Domrstir )h\m.

Caltstegiapubescens.— Thisplant,arfo«6/e,
climbing rose convolvulus, continuing to flower
through a large portion of summer, a perennial,
and perfectly hardy, had much to reconuuend
it, and may yet be contintied in cultivation by
those wlio admire varietj'. But, like the Cam-
panula trachelium. introduced for ornament,
it is likely to prove a very troublesome weed.
We last year planted two or three fragments
of the root of the Calystegia, an inch long, and
as large as goose quills, which grew, and pro-
duced a profusion of flowers. But this spring
we found them coming up over the whole sur-
face within a circle of ten fed, whither, like
the Canada thistle, their roots had extended.
They were destroyed with the hoe; but in a
short time they sprang up again, nearly cover-
ing the whole surface, with some extension of
the circle. The soil is light; and tliey may not
extend quite so rapidly in heavy soil.

The Milam Apple. — This apple has obtained
some celebiity at the west, and has been widely,
though not abundantly cultivated. Its quality
as given in the following extract from a letter
of Dr. Kennioott, of Northern Illinois, agrees
with specimens we have received from Cincin-
nati. " Perhaps I did not name a celebrated
Indiana and Illinois apple, called "Milam" —
my brother and several neighbi^rs have many
trees of this common western variety — we have
only one, and do not propagate it. This apple
is barely ^^ good," and is no great bearer here,
whatever it may be elsewhere. I know a dozen
trees 20 years old, which do not produce as
much as one tree of the size ought to bear. And
then we have certainly two, and perhaps more
varieties under this name. All that can be said
in favor of the Milam is that it is not a bad
apple — is pretty, though small, — pleasant, but
rather insipid — and where it produces well, as
it is said to do at the south, and no better can
be had, it should be cultivated."

Apeicots at the East — Climate of Pales-
tine.— Extract from a letter of Dr. J. Thomas,
Smyrna, June 17, 1852 — " "When I was
o on the Gth of May, they had on the

table at the hotel, ripe apricots ; and we have
found them at almost every important town
that we have stopped at since. We found veiy
fine ones in Palestine, but not finer, perhaps not
so fine, as I have seen in western Is'ew-York."
The letter adds, " The climate on the hills of
Palestine seemed to me more delightful than

anything I have ever experienced. is

quite American in his prejudices, but he said
he had never breathed any air so pure, sweet,
and exhilarating as that of the hills and val-
leys around Jerusalem. His health is so
much improved that his friends would hardly
know him."

Cucumbers. — We have often seen cucumbers
in England, that measured twenty.three or
four inches, and the flower on them, which is a
sine qua non for exhibition with English ama-
teurs. There are " Cucumber Societies" around
London, the special object being the early pro-
duction of this fruit . But recent improvements
in the heating of forcing houses in that country,
renders it easy to have them in plenty all through
the winter, in every place where attention is
given to a hot-house, and consequently the so-
cieties are now only the remains of times gone
by, when the fight for a good cucumber in April,
was winter's frost on one side, against plenty of
good stable manure and careful gardening on
the other. Market gardeners around London,
grow cucumbers early in the year, on an ex-
tensive scale, in frames of many hundred feet
in length, heated by hot water pipes running
through them, upon which some faggots of
wood are first laid, and the compost upon the
latter. The faggots serve to distribute the heat
equally beneath the soil in which the plants
grow, and thus yards and yards of frames are
heated by a pipe 3 or 4 inches in diameter,
through which one small boiler and a moderate
fire keeps up a circulation of the hot water.

A Monument to Mr. Downing. — I have
thought it would be fitting, could a suitable space
of ground be had near where he has passed so
many of his useful hours, midst his family
garden, looking down upon the noble H

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

the river of liis choice, in which might be plant-
ed the native trees of our country, and the or-
namental ones of others — such as the numerous
nurserymen, and all his admirers, would be glad
to appropriate for the purpose, to be gathered
from all localities possible — there to be planted
around such enclosure, and about the resting
place of one so admired when living, so lament-
ed when dead. It would mark the spot of him
who loved the soil — its cultivation — and its em-
bellishment, and whose example all would like
to imitate.

Such a plan carried out, to be superintended
by judicious and qualified friends, would be in
harmony with the character of him whose me-
mory we would perpetuate. J. H. "Watts.
Rochester. August 12, 1852.

Roses. — Dear Sir: AVhat is the proper time
of year to {)roitagate rosea by cuttings, for pot
growth. I have this year bought some of the
best sorts I could find, and they are now plant-
ed out in my garden, and growing luxuriantly.
When should they be potted again to bloom in
the green-house next spring? and ought they to
be cut or pruned. Yours, J. T.

[If you take off cuttings the last week in
August, and plant them in light soil, under a
north wall or fence, they will root and make
nice little plants before winter. The end of
October will be time enough to take up your
Roses. Do not cut them when you pot them ;
but let them stand until the beginning of the
year, when you may cut them back moderate-
ly, and bring them forward for bloom.] Ed.

Ravages of the Curculio Prevented. —
The accompanying box will show evidence for
itself, that I have for the second year, found
means of arresting the fearfcil progress of the
Curculio, which is by syringing the trees after
the fall of the blossom, with a mixture of white-
wash and flour of suli)hur, in the proportion of
18 double handsfull of sulpher to a barrel of to-
lerably thick white-wasli, made of unslaked
lime. The sediment of this mixture will answer
for a second and third barrel, merely filled with
water, and well stirred.

I ai)plied the above three times a week for
four weeks, and have met with great success,
been obliged to prop the limbs to sus-
the weight of the fruit.

These trees are ten years old, and have blos-
somed every spring, but have never until last
year, ripened any fruit.

The specimens I send you are Bolmar's
Washington, and you will observe upon some
of them, the marks of that little infamous Turk,
which are nicely healed over, leaving the cre-
scent to light up those who may have doubts
that they are the production of a Curculio dis-
trict. Syringe ■well, and although the fruit may
be stung, it will come to perfection.

I am glad to find that Mr. Stokes has also
been successful in raising this most delicious
fruit, and his idea of coloring the whitewash is
a good one, as it does awaj' with the glaring ef-
fect given by the lime.

I have doubts of the practicability of using
a rose upon the tin garden pump, as it will soon
stop up with particles of lime, and become use-
less. I prefer the lip which generally comes
with these pumps. This may be bent in such
a manner as to flatten the stream as it passes
out the spout, and thus disperse it over the
tree. I did not notice that any of the fruit
withered or turned yellow, as spoken of by Mr.
Stokes — of course there were some, as is the
case in the best plum districts, that decayed and
fell from the trees, making room for those that
are left to have a chance to swell. Taos. W.
Ludlow, Jr. Yonkers, Westchester Co , N. Y.

Note to the Article on Evergreens,
June No. — Arbor Vita-s, to give the very finest
effect, and make a thick, impervious mass of
verdure, should have their lower branches grow-
ing out from very near the roots; and these
trailing branches should be partially buried in
the earth, when they will strike down new roots,
and throw up shoots; each branch thus buried,
forming as it were, a separate tree.

If there are no branches trailing on the
ground, those nearest the earth may be bent
down and pinned into the earth with stout for-
ked sticks, where they will soon root, if kcjit
mulched and moist. No trimming or cutting in
can make the tree so thick and impervious as
this method, or give it so fine apyraniidal form.
A seedling Arbor Vitae, comparatively new,
called the Warrenia, is much stouter in its
habit, and thicker in its growth, owing to its
much shorter joints than our native tree, some
fine large plants of which we have rcceiv-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ed from John J. Stimson, Esq., a distinguish-
ed amateur of horticulture in Providence, R. I.

Tlie true method of setting hcmloclcs to have
tlicm form a tliiclc impenetrable mass of beauti-
ful foliage, is to plant them in chimps, or hills,
with three to five plants in a hill, each plant
from a half foot to a foot and a lialf apart.
Set in this way, each tree throws its branches
outward to the light and air, and thus makes a
verj' dense thicket of green. AVe were indebt-
ed for this hint to Ira Cleveland, Esq., a
hiwyer of Dcdham, and Secretary of the Nor-
folk Insurance Company; a gentleman of great
taste in architecture and landscape gardening,
who will show any one interested, some of the
finest specimens of hemlocks grown in this waj',
e\-e ever beheld, fully equal in beauty to any
exotic evergreen known. Heading in the tree
nearly down to tlie roots, will give much the
same growth and effect, thougli the former me-
thod is much preferable.

Tlie American Yew may be trained so as to
make a low hedge, or a single oval, or pyrami-
dal, of the most rare and ivied tint of green,
which is rendered still more striking, late in the
season, by the contrast of its brilliant scarlet
berries.

The mulching we employ for evergreens, viz :
fine hub chips, spent tan, or common chips, and
chip dust — forms the very best manure that ev-
ergreens can have. Jamks Riciiakdson, Jr.

Sthawberrt Culture in the vicinitt and
IN Rochester, N. Y. — Very much attention
has been given by fruit growers in this vicinity
to the culture of the fine fruit, the Strawberry,
and our markets are abundantly supplied with
the best kinds. A careful comparison of select
varieties for flavor and productiveness, has re-
sulted in the highest commendation of " Burr's
New Pine," as the best berry grown. I sub-
join a statement made by G. D. Southworth,
of Penfield, who took the first premium from
the '•' Genesee Valley Horticultural Society"
this season. His soil is a light sandy one, which
he says he prefers for one particular reason,
that the frost does not throw them out of the
ground in early spring, causing destruction to
the roots. He plants them in rows.

lis is his first experience, he is to discard
Alpine variety, which has grown well, but

is not fit for market. He proposes planting out
half an acre of " Burr's New Pine" more than
he now has. and ultimately as many as he can
attend to.

To use his own words, he says the " Burr's
New Pine'^ will produce double the quantity
that the " Hovey's Seedling" will, carries to
market well, and is all that could be desired.*
He places straw under the vines, and when his
fruit is brought to market, it is as clean and
bright as though varnished.

His success has been complete — price sold for,
from 25 cents per quart, down to 12^ cents,
averaging for liis crop, 13 cents. J. H. Watts.
Rochester, July 16, 1852.

Geo. D. Southworth's statement. — I have
about five-eights of an acre planted to strawber-
berries. The varieties are — Early Scarlet, about
three-eights of an acre; Hovey's Seedling and
Burr's New Pine, about one rod each ; Alpine
the remainder.

I have sold a little over 2,000 quarts, at an
average of 13 cents a quart. $205. G. D.
Southworth. Pevfield, N. Y., July 15, 1852.

Dr. Valk's Seedling Grape. — The Au-
gust number of the Horticulturist, contains a
" reply" to what is termed my " strictures."
On what? Very much to my surprise, and
certainly to my regret, the few remarks made
by me in the June number, in relation to my
Seedling Grape, and Mr. Chorlton's com-
ments thereon, appear to have given that gen-
tleman a deal of offence. "A corner in your
valuable journal is requested to answer my
caustic remarks." and if I am to judge the
measure of their causticity by the pungency
of the -'reply," they must have been pretty-
highly seasoned with '• invective, braggadocio,
and sarcastic pique against a trifling misplaced
etiquette."

Now all this puts me in mind of an old saying,
that a tempest is easily raised in a teapot. Re-
ferring to pages 290 and 291 of Hort. for June,
your readers will please note the article that
has proved so exciting to Mr. Chorlton. I
had communicated to the late deeply lamented
editor, the fact of my having raised several
seedling grapes, a cross betw-een the Black

* Burr's New Pine is an American .Strawberry of first
rate cliaracler — our correspondent does not overrate it.
Very fine, very productive, very early. Ed.

Haniburgli and the Isabella, and had sent him
a bunch of the fruit. His judgment was flat-
tering, and I think would have been more so,
if I had been able to send him a perfect
bunch.

3Ir. Chorlton notices my communication in
the Hort. for November, and thought that " too
mucli jiraise" could not be given to me for my
"enterprising experiment," but he thought I
had " gone the wrong Avay to Mork." Wy re-
ply was, that "physiological theory teaches"
well, but practical experience better, — the
proof of hardiness in my grape being the past
severe winter. I spoke of my seedlings as I
thought they deserved, although I had "gone
the wrong way to work-" Without a thought
of, or reference to Mr. Chorlton, I felt the
necessity of stating my abhorrence of humbugs
and cheats, and left " my grape to the ordeal
of its own merits, and the test of time." In
all this, where are the " caustic remarks," the
"invective, braggadocio, and sarcastic pique"
with which I am charged? It is a libel on the
truth to say so, and still a greater libel to mis-
understand and then misrepresent what I have
said. It is a perfect piece of folly to write
about " good feeling," when " comments" are
made of a character directly contradictory of
the assertion. Where, in my "estimation,"
do I assert, that "acting in accordance with
the inscrutable and immutable laws of the all
wise designer of the universe," would be " ca-
tering a la Barnum ?" It is something worse
than a "delusion" to insinuate the charge; it
is a positive untruth to assert it. No man more
thoroughly detests the "' follies and cheats" of
horticulture than I do, and it was because of
this, that I desired to " establish the reputation
of ray grape on some better evidence than the
usual form of horticultural charlatanry." I
wished to put my grape to the proof, and when
proved, then to claim my just due for doing
something to improve a valuable and delicious
fruit. Those " who know" are welcome to in-
dulge in the largest scepticism " upon the ex-
periment." It is an indulgence that will in-
jure no one, but when it comes to " comment"
and misrepresentations, the pure offspring of a
perverse imagination, I object decidedly, and
would remind the gentleman to whom I am al-
luding, that bearing false witness against his

neighbor, is in violation of a command of the
decalogue.

It has been hitherto thought a " desideratum"
to procure a native grape as hardy as the Isa-
bella, yet bearing fruit equal to the foreign va-
rieties. But this is not the desideratum after
all. It is a very desirable point to be sure,
yet it is a " IriJUngmatiev" compared with the
" constitutional power to resist mildew during
the growing season." So says Jlr. Chorlton,
thei'efore the desideratum is, a constitutional
poxcer to resint mildew during the groiving sea-
son. The foreign grapevine is hardy enough,
and stands unprotected without injury in situa-
tions north of this, (Staten Island,) but we
want the constitutional power, &c., and must
get it as soon as we can.

Sly assertions, whether few or man}', have
amounted to the declaration of the fact, that
my vines are as hardy as the Isabella, and, that
I Iiold them to be superior to every other grape
grown in the open air in any part of the United
States. I shall endeavor to prove my a.sser-
tions by the test of time, and shall cheerfully
await the verdict.

Having no vines to sell, and not intending to
dispose of a single plant until that verdict is
rendered, I can excuse the doubts, surmises,
and scepticism of Mr. Chorlton, " and those
who know." To the just and impartial reader,
I leave the decision of the question — is my com-
munication of May 6th, in June Ilort., or Mr.
Chorlton's of July 15th, in August Hort., the
most open to censure, for their "caustic re-
marks," and "sarcastic pique." "Jeffreys"
has got something to say, and I am anxious to
hear him say it. W. W. Valk, M. D. Flush-
ing, L. I., Jug. 10, 1852.

Cold Water in Wells During Summer. —
In the March number of the Cultivator for 1851,
(page 117,) I described the well frorr. which we
draw our daily supplies of water. It is pro-
tected by trees and buildings so that the sun
never shines into it; but the snow enters, and
during all the spring, and early part of summer,
it is so uncommonly cold as to have been mis-
taken by a guest, for ice-water. Gradually
however, it grows warmer as the heat of the
season increases, and as the springs that
mingle with its chilled waters; but we

often thought how desirable it would be if its
coldness could continue throughout the summer
and autumn,

"Well, we have lately found the remedy for
this defect. Judge R — — dining with us on
the 3d of last month, brought in his carriage a
large lump of ice, intended for other purposes
but which we plunged into the well. For about
two days, the water was gradually growing
colder, and then it was all iced water, delight-
fully cold, and far more pleasant, in myestima*
tion, than any water from a jjitcher of ice. It
continued .so about a fortnight. If no rains had
swelled the springs that flow into tlie well, this
temperature would have continued longer.

Ten or twelve pounds of ice every fortnight
would not be deemed a high tax ; and may be
compared with the expense of a quid, a i>uff
of smoke, or a pinch of snuff ad libitum. D.
T. — —

LiiitJM lANCiFOLiuM.-^This is the season when
these superb flowers are blooming. Let us
counsel all who have either of the varieties; to
save seed, and to hybridise them with some of
our native species. Some growers have done
this, but we are not aware that any great result
lias hitherto arisen. It is perhaps rather soon
to expect it, for it takes three years at least to
flower a seedling from the time of sowing; and
therefore much may be in store for us yet, of those
now in process of growth ; and besides, judging
by analogy from the hybrids of other flowers,
we must not expect to get distinct and fine new
sorts without continued application. No trouble
however, or time either, can be thrown away in
this matter, for if strikingly new varieties are
not produced, all the seedlings will be beautiful;
and it will be a long time yet before the stock
of these splendid ornaments of our green-houses
and gardens at all approaches what we should
like to see. There is a fine lot of these seed-
lings coming into bloom at 3Ir. Boll's nursery,
at New- York. "\7e heartily wish him success.
We do not generally see these Lilies grown so
Avell as they ought to be. "We have grown L.
lancifolium punctatum, ten feet high, with from
10 to 16 flowers as Avell as th.e stem and leaves
of a siz'! proportionately large to that height.
This variety is always both earlier and taller
ubrum, or Album, and when duly en-
aged in its growth forms a much more ma-

jestic plant; although in beauty it must yield
to the first of them. Black peat earth is by
no means essential to this plant, as many sup-
pose; good loam, well enriched, it delights in.

The MicROPUYLLA RosE.-^The Microphyha
Rose, according to Loudon, was 'introduced in-
to Britain, from the East Indies, in 1823. Its
specific character is, " Leaflets, finely serrate,
shining. Calyx muricated with very dense prick-
les. Sepals, short, broad, acute, apiculate,"
In 1829, he mentioned no variety of this spe-
cies; but I have seen the names of nine in a
recent catalogue. I have only the white, and
the red, — the latter agreeing best with the spe-
cific character, and would do so entirely were
its leaves " shining" when dry. The white va-
riety, I think must be a hybrid, as its leaves are
larger, its calyx less muricated, and its sepals
longer and more slender.

The red sort is a beauty, perfectly double,
and blooms throughout the growing season,
though it is rare to find more than two or three
roses open on the same bush at one time. The
flower bud resembles a bur, and hence it has
been called the Biir Rose.

Both varieties, however, are very desirable,
though they are unable to withstand our rigor-
ous winters; and as the flowering twigs stand
on the stems of last year's growth, it is neces-
sary to bend them down and cover them on the
approach of severe weather.

The Champney, Fellenberg, Chromatella,
and other tender sorts, when the stems are
killed by the cold, send up radical shoots which
bloom earlier or later in summer, and thus as-
sume the habits of herbaceous perennials. D. T.

Money found in Peat Earth. — A gentle-
man was not long since breaking up some peat
earth, which he had procured for gardening
purposes at Wimbledon, a few miles from Lon-
don, when his spade struck against a hard sub-
stance, which turned out to be a silver half
crown piece of King Charles the first. It was
about three inches deep in the turf, and assists in
forming some estimate of the time which elap-
scs in the reduction of vegetable matter to tlie
state which we term peat. For the coin was
so firmly fixed, and the surrounding vegetable
matter was so perfectly even in texture both
above and below it, that no reasonable doubt

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

can exist tliat the depth of soil above it had
been gradually formed over it. after it had been
dropped there, probably by some Cavalier or
Roundhead of the day. At all events the coin
could not have been deposited there before the
time of Cliarles, and the impression bore but
little signs of wear from use; the inference to be
drawn is that it had in all probably laid there

from that age. ' — ■

Horse Shoe in a Tree. — Whilst cutting a
piece of oak a few weeks ago, in the timber yard
of Mr. Thos. Wallis, at South Sliields, England,
some workmen found a horse shoe embedded
in the heart of the wood. From the thickness
of the wood that had grown over it, it must
have been fixed to the tree when very young.

Daphne indica rubra. — Mr. Editor: I
should like to see the true variety of this de-
lightful plant more amongst us in this country.
I was for several years engaged in business in
England, where I got bit by the " Floricultu-
raphobia," which, as you know, is a prevalent
complaint in that part of the world. But, upon
returning home, and stocking my little green-
house. I hunted through many nurseries here
before I could get the right kind. All the nur-
serymen have what they call the Indica rubra,
but it is not true ; nor is it in leaf or flower, any-
thing equal to the correct one. At last I met with
it true, at Buist's, at Philadelphia. Tiie flowers
are finer, and more abundant, and the leaves at
the point, lancet shape, and thick in substance,
in the correct plant. In England I found it
difflcult to keep in health, until I was let into
the secret by one of the two men who introduc-
ed it into that country; since that, I have had
no trouble, and I think no plant equals it in the
early spring. Yours, Americus.

[Will our correspondent oblige us by sending
his experiences of this flower? AVe agree in his
admiration of it, and are sure his remarks on
its cultivation would be very acceptable to many
of our readers. Ed.]

A Note from a Farmer's Wife. — Mr. Down-
ing: What think you has become of the Ne'.v
England country girl, who used to contribute
to your pages, over the name of " Wild Flow-
er?'' I suppose she is married, as few who are
belles are apt to remain long in a state of " single
blessedness." She says on page 51G, vol. 4th,

that she is tired of hearing about " remarkable
pears," and that she could not " graft a tree
for her life." If she was tired of hearing of
new pears in 1850, what must be the matter
now, since more has been said within the last
two years on the subject of fruit, than had been
in ten years previous. I am no more tired of
hearing about remarkable pears, than I am of
eating them, and they taste so much better
when you can say, •' they grew on my own
trees," and as for grafting, 1 can do that to a
charm, and have done it, on seedlings of my
own raising. Having been rather unfortunate
at first in raising pear seedlings, I raise them on
a new plan now, which makes their roots fi-
brous. If my trees could talk, they would re-
port themselves by hundreds, that I have raised,
grafted or budded, and helped to transplant
within the last 12 years. (I hope the nursery-
men won't be alarmed ; there is no danger of
my example being followed by the ladies suffi-
ciently to interfere seriously Avith their business.)
My fatlior is a farmer, and in the days of my
youth kept a small nursery himself. I used to
work with him in the nursery, tying buds and
the like, for many a day. This I suppose ac-
counts for my passion for trees ever since. My
love of flowers increases with years. What I
know of botany is self acquired ; but I have
learned enough for all useful purposes. My
love for wild flowers leads me over liills and
dales, in search of floral treasures, to decorate
my garden, and I have a large collection of na-
tive flowers that I have removed from their
native haunts. I find the natives of upland to
be the most patient of removal, and there is
certainly nothing more delightful to me than an
intelligent ramble in the woods with the double
pleasure of botanical and gardening acquisition
to lead me on I always find something new
in flower, even where I have wandered many
times.

I do not ex.ictly like the spirit in Avhich
"Wild Flower," speaks of the farmers' "rye
bread," as if it was a matter of course that the
farmer must eat rye bread. It is the farmers
who raise the wheat on their own land, and
" lords of the soil" are not likely to give the
fat of the land wholly to others; and farmer's
wives are apt to know how to make wheat
bread (that is to say if they were prudent in

- g^

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

the choice of a wife, aud married farmer's
daughters.)

In yonr remarks on tlie article I liave referred
to, you speak of tlie constant turning of eyes to
the cities for fasliions and customs; if tliat was
all I shduld not so deejjly regret it; hut tliere
is not a season passes but some relative or
neighbor is selling or leasing his ftirm,and going
to some village or city to live, and as far my
observation extends, it is generally chargeable
to the gentlemen. I fear my husband may take
the disease, which aj)pears to be contagious,
but liere there would be an obstacle in the way.

I entirely agree with AVild Flower's notions
that the killing of all birds should be made a
crime, with attendant penalties, but I fear that
legislatures would be inefficient to the task. It
would be a more effectual stop if the mark of
odium could be put upon the hunter [except in
wild countries] by common consent, as it should
upon the tobacco user in any form. Then, and
not until then, will the thing be accomplished,
but as long as young ladies will countenance the
use of tobacco in any form by young men, just
so long will they use it. A Farmer's Wife.

As a farmer's wife has not sent us her address,
we have no other way than this of expressing
our thanks and acceptance of her kind offer,
which accompanied the foregoing. Ed.

I The Osage Orange. — [ know of no plant so
likely to prove valuable for hedges as the Osage
Orange. I have cultivated it many years; and
even in this climate it is quite haidy enough
for that purpose. It is true that very thrifty
shoots often have their tops killed down for a
foot or more in severe winters, but such branch-
es as have ceased to grow in good season, and
have had time to mature tlieir wood, sustain no
injury. And in a hedge i>roperly trimmed, the
twigs are greatly multiplied, and there are no
leading shoots to be injured or killed.

The thorn forms a nursery for insects, and
often perishes in consequence ; but I know of
none that feeds on the Osage Orange. I con-
sider it also more formidable than the thorn;
and whoever encounters it, unprotected against
its spines, will be likely to remember that time.
I have a hedge-row, rather than hedge, through
which none who regard a sound skin, would
dare to creep. D. T.

The Bi.ack Ant. — These marauders are df-
ten extremely troublesome in gardens where
they make their nests ; and from thence prowl
into tiie larder or the fruit garden, even at con-
siderable distances from their liome. Last
year, in the Cultivator, I mentioned having car-
ried off a large detachment in a basket of ap-
ples; and I have just been reminded of it by
the girl bringing me a tin can of sugar into
which the ants had found their way. Taking
them to a broad smooth stone, I let them out,
in such numbers as I could manage, and soon
destroyed about two hundred and fifty. That
happened yesterday ; and this morning a similar
scene occurred, though only about 100 were now
killed, indicating that their family was much
reduced. D. T.

The Astrachan Apple.— Every householder
who owns land — if only a small lot — ought to
have one tree of the Astrachan apple, both on
account of its earliness, and its excellence for
cooking. It is so tender as to be cooked al-
most as soon as it is scalded; and so puie that
it has no unpleasant tang, like the Yellow Har-
vest. It is acid indeed, but sugar readily over-
powers this defect.

It is a tree of vigorous growth, an abundant
bearer, and what is worthy of note, it bears
every year without tixil. Twenty feet from
where I now sit, stands a tree of this variety,
with braiiches bending under their load ; and a
very frequent dropping takes places. When
half grown, these apples may be used ; but like
most other fruits, the flavor increases with the
magnitude. A well grown tree would furnish
a common sized family for some four or five
weeks, thougli I cannot determine this period
exactly.

The fruit is of great beauty, having a bloom
like the plum, on a fine red skin. I know of
no apple at this season that would command
more customers in maiket. D. T.

Duration of Timber. — Much has been said
and writen upon the age of trees, both living
and after they have been reducid to the use of
man. That under favorable conditions the ve-
getable fibre is well calculated to resist the luth-
Icss ravages of time, many well authenticated
evidences have been accumulated to show. The
roof of Westminster Hall in Lon li n, which has
of late years given rise to repeated disputations

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

to whether it be of oak or chestnut, was
without doubt, erected a thousand years ago,
and continues perfectly sound; and there are
other edifices in the old world which con-
tain equally old timber in perfect preservation.
But there has lately been imported into Eng-
land, some specimens of ancient timber, which
by contrast take away the dignity of age from
the European ancients. During the excava-
tions which have been so perseveringly prose-
cuted under the direction of Dr. Layard at
Kinevah. some timbers of considerable size, of
the wood of the Mulberry, have recently been
discovered, which are said to be as solid and
firm as they were when placed in the position
from which they are now withdrawn. But
when were these venerable ancients submitted
to the axe? At least seven or eight hundred
years before the christian aera ; and they are
now some twenty five or six centuries old! We
are not aware that any specimens of old timber
can at all bear comparison to these, for in none
of the ruins of Egypt or of India, that the re-
searches of the many indefatigable travellers
of the last hundred years has produced, was
there found any wood work that, from its posi-
tion and appearances, indicated ap age coeval
with the structures themselves

The Curculio or Plum Wkevil. — Much
has been written about this destructive insect,
and many plans have been adopted to prevent
its ravages on the Plum, and other smooth skin-
ned fruits. Some prefer paving under the trees ;
others planting in hog or poultry yards; many
use salt, ashes or sulphur, scattered over the
ground around the trees.

The first method has been adopted by Mr.
LoNGwoRTH, and others, in Cincinnati, with
eminent success, but in the country it is not
found so effectual. The other modes, so far as
my observation and inquiries extend, have not
been successful.

The plan I pursue is a very simple one ; De-
struction— shaking off the insects from the trees
on sheets, in the morning and evening, and/ci/Z-
ing them. This method was proposed many
years ago, by David Thomas, one of the best
■practical horticulturists in Western New-York,
and has been adopted by me from the recom-
ndation of my friend Doct. Moshf.r, fur the
eleven years. Since that period, I have

saved my plums seven years out of the eleven ;
the frost destroyed them in blossom four years.

I have never failed to secure at least half a
crop, on an average, and on some of the trees
more than they should have been allowed to
bear. To make this plan effective, the plum
trees should be planted by themselves, near the
house or barn, and if in a paved, or hard smooth
yard, so much the better; if in grass, keep it
mowed down close ; gather up the injured fruit
as it falls, and throw it to the pigs. When the
trees are young, a sudden blow with the hand
will bring down the insects; when old, saw off
a lower branch, leaving a stump of 3 or 4 inches,
to be struck with a mallet, for the same purpose.

It may be objected that the crop is scarcely
worth this trouble, but it requires less time than
would be supposed by those who have not tried
it; a few minutes in the morning and evening
will be sufficient to protect a dozen or two of
trees. I have now 36 in bearing, and I find the
trouble less than I anticipated. Those the frost
spared this spring are now loaded with fruit.

The curculio commences its ravages when the
plum is first formed, and continues until the
latter end of July. During all that period, in
fair weather, they should be shook off early in
the evening and destroyed. Perhaps early in
the morning alone might answer. The insect
flies most at night.

This " shaking system" as it is termed, has
been sneered at bj' some who have felt disposed
to be witty on the subject, but I must confess I
canuot find a more practical remedy. We de-
stroy caterpillars and many othei insects found
depredating on our fruit trees, and why not the
curculio? To be sure it requires labor, and so
does everything else about the orchard, if you
want healthy fruit trees and good crops. For
my own part, as an amateur cultivator, the care
of fruit ti-ees has always been to me a delight-
ful hobby.

To watch their growth from year to year —
to cultivate, prune, and train them — to observe
the effects of experimental treatment in cul-
ture, in grafting and budding — to gather and
test the first fruits of new or famous va-
rieties— and to be enabled to present to friends,
splendid specimens of the finest fruits in their
seasons, are pleasures that richly repay the toil
of the amateur, to say nothing of the health

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

and cheerfulness, obtained by such innocent
relaxations from the cares and anxieties of or-
dinary business pursuits.

Those who cultivate the plum for market,
might possibly find the destruction of the cur-
cnlio by this method, too expensive where la-
bor is high ; this, however, will depend on the
value of the fruit where sold. R. Buchanan.
Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 13, 1852.

Rival Hudson Strawberry. — This new
variety is gaining a high reputation for its pro-
ductiveness and general value, although not of
the highest quality for the tal)le. It is one of
the best late sorts, and is fine for the market or
for preserving. A correspondent of Moore's
New-Yorker, says that a single neglected plant
of last year's growth, accidentally over-looked
till full of ripe fruit, was found completely sur-
rounded with trusses of berries, on which one
hundred and thirty-three ripes ones were found,
proceeding from this single root.

Extension of Tree Roots. — We have often
had occasion to point out the uselessness of digg-
ing small circles of the ground about large fruit
trees standing in grass. The Mass. Ploughman
says, " Last week we plowed a few furrows in
the road-side under apple trees that had been
set but five years, and we found roots in plenty,
at a distance of ten feet from the trunks of the
trees."

Iwmiu tn CnrrcHfinnhnta.

Pears and Cherries.—^. J. R. The two

best varieties of Pears on Quince for market,
which you name, are Louise Bonne de Jersey,
and Vicar of Winkfield. Of the sorts on pear
roots, we should select Lawrence and Bartlett,
For the best three cherries for market we should
select Mayduke, Napoleon Bigarreau and Down-
er's Late Red or Black Tartarian .

Sulphate of Ammonia. — G. M. if. informs
lis that he was unable to obtain this article at
the drug shops in Boston. It can be had of
Walter B. Snow, 23 Market-street, Provi-
dence, R I., who states that he has sold it to
many in that vicinity, who have been much
pleased with its operation. Price 25 cts. per lb.

Chinese Wistaria.— S. E.J. As you say
your jilant has been in a sunny exposure, it has
probably been too dry at the roots. You had
better take it up with care as soon as the leaves
eplant it in good soil, and when it starts
ear, keep it moderately moist.

Vine Borders. — S. R. Tou should drain
your vine border thoroughly ; the state of it,
according to your description, is quite enough
to account for your grapes never ripening. In
opening your border, cut of all roots you find
which have got down into the heavy soil at the
bottom.

Geraniums. — Jane. Tliere are three or four
new varieties of the Scarlet Geranium, far sur-
passing the old sorts. We saw this year two at
Thorburn's at Astoria, named Cerise Unique,
and Princess Alice, which you will find well
worth attention. — E. S. Some of the best Ge-
raniums at moderate prices, are Hoyer's Cru-
sader, Beck's Star, Beck's Rosy Circle, Lyne's
Forget-me-not, Lady Clementina, Beck's Rosa-
raond, and Topping's Rebecca.

Sea Kale. — T. M. This is a most excel-
lent vegetable, and well deserves more general
cultivation. We will give an article on its cul-
tivation in an early number.

Gooseberries. — T. S. The opinions as to
mildew among Gooseberries, are various. We
have seen them grown successfully, and almost
as good as we ever saw them in England, upon
the north side of a border, in a garden near
New- York, having an open lath fence behind it,
against which they were trained. These trees
never suffered from mildew, although some iu
an adjoining garden, planted against a similar
fence, but exposed to a western aspect, were
covered with it, and the fruit not larger than a
fox grape.

S. M. — The Chinese Primrose, or Primula
Sinensis, is one of the prettiest things you can
get, to enliven your green-house in the fall and
winter months. It is cheap, and to be got of
any gardener; and the effect produced by half
a dozen of them, placed amongst other plants,
is magical.

Amateur. — Single Hyacinths are, in the opin-
ion of many, equal in beauty to the double;
L'Ami de Coeur, Nimrod, Grand Vainqueur.
Paix d'Amiens, are some of the best, and cheap-
est also.

T. Edwards. — Cytisus racemosus is a more
desirable green-house plant than C.rhodophne.
There are two varieties of the racemosus ; in one
the flowers stand up erect, in the other they
droop. Get the former of the two. If
in rich compost, it will grow rapidly.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

should be repeatedly stopped to make it
bushy.

C. Janes. — The bestEpacris for winter bloom
are Nivalis, Impressa variabilis, and Campanu-
lata alba. E. grandiflora, when well grown,
is one of the most splendid green-house plants,
but it does not bloom freely, as early as the
others.

B. Smith. — The finest of all the Andromeda
family, is A. floribunda; but we have never
seen it, and we do not think it is yet introduced
amongst us. The shrub is most beautiful, and
the bloom like bunches of Lilies of the Valley.

jihiim nf IntirtitH.

The Pennsylvania Horticvltvral Society will hold its
S-Illi grand Aulumiial Exhibition on the 15lh, Ifith, and 17th
Seplemhtr, in the Philadelphia Museum liuilding's.

The America7i Poniulogical Congress will cDUvene in
the Museum Building, Ninlh-slreet, below Chestiml,
riiihidflpliia. on the 1.3lh day of Seplendjer.

The Neiv-York Hart. Society -wiW hold its Autumn Ex-
lubilion at Meiropolilan Hall, .Sept. 21, 22, 2.3.

The Champlain Valley Hort. Society's Fall Show, will
be iield ut I'latlsburgli, ."^ept. id.

Pennsylvania Hort. Society.

Tho stated meeting ot this Society was held in the Chi-
nese .Saloon, on Tuesday evening, August ITlli. Dr. W.
D. Hriekle, V. P.. in the chair.

There has not been at any former meeting for this
moiuh, so fine a display of fruits as on this occasion ; the
coinpelilion was unusually spirited, and the committee for
awarding premiums seldom have had their powers of dis-
crimination so thoroughly tested. In Gr.qpes there were
some ten contriluilors, who presented such specimens as
have rarely graced the tables of the f^ociety. The Black
Hamburgh variety wa.s in the greatest profusion, and the
AVhile Nice most beautil'ul. Of Nectarines, the Red Ro-
man, Elruge, New White andNewinglon varieties were
shown. The dishes of Plums were very numerous, and
of many varieties; among them were the Reine Claude,
Flushing Gage, i\Iagiiuml>oiiuin, Gwalsh, Washington,
Mirabelle, Mammoth. Bingham, and other kinds. The
table of Pears was a beautiful sight ; ihe specimens were
perfect and in great variety. The apples in most instan-
ces remarkably fine, and of many kinds.

This exhibition denotes a most iVuitful season, and istlie
harbinger of a rich dis|)lay next moii'h, at the American
Pomological Congress, and the grand Autumnal of the
Society, both of which will occur during the week com-
mencing with the Iflh.

The collection of plants shown were very interesting.

Peier McKenzies, coiiiaiiied very many choice Fuch-
iias. Gloxinias, Geraniums, Verbenas, etc.

Caleb Cope's had several recently introduced plants,
and were shown for the first time— Oldenlandia Deppei,
l'"raiiciscea Villosa. Gloxinia Madame de .'^oitibriel and
G. i\apt)leoii, and beautiful specimens of Kusseli .liincea.
Achinieiias Venu^ta and grandiflora. Also a cut flower
of the Victoria Regia, the 8.3d from the s;ime plant, and
seen for the first in its second stage of growth, and a de-
sign among the flowers ornamenting the same were 3
specimens of the Cereus glaucus, (new,) and beautiful
baskets of exotic and indigenous flowers. In John Liani-

hert's collection were fine plants of Pentas carnea, Roses
Hydrangeas, Acacias, etc.

Mr. Buist exhibited a beautiful cut flower of the Victo-
ria, grown in a tank at his premises, Rosedale, Kingse.ss-
iiig, expressly erected for the purpose; the seed came
iVom Mr. Cope's plant.

The Boquet designs, and Baskets, were very handsome
and creditable. The vegetable tables groaned with their
great weight, which contained specimens of the finest
growth, exhibiting skill in the cultivators. A new variety
of salad attracted attention tVomits speckled appearance,
called the Speckled Salad of Austria — '■' Forelle Kopf Sa-
lat," raised m the open ground, from seed brought from
Vienna, by Dr. J. Rhea Barton.

The Fruit Committee submitted a very interesting ad
interim report of objects shown to them since the last
stated meeting.

Oswego Hort. Society.

The Summer Exhibition of tliis society was held at the
City Hall, July 13, 1S52. Hon. E. B. Taleott, President,
in the Chair.

The display of flowers exceeded any previous exhibi-
tion ill variety and quality, although somewhat less in
number. Notwithstanding the lateness oi the season, the
ladies succeeded ill presenting a piofusioon of roses, in
collections of 20 to 30 varieties, with marked taste in the
arrangement. Messrs. Thorp & Co., of Syracuse, exhi-
bited 70 varieties. Accompanying these were specimens
of evergreens, some of them quite new and rare.

The season has been very unfavorable for fruit. Cher-
ries have suflVred from Curculio, drouth, &c. The show
of Strawberries, and other sm.dl iVuiis, w.as very limited.

List of Cherries exhibited. — Black Tartarian, Black-
heart, Napoleon Bigarreau, Late Mayduke, Downer's
l-aie Red, Florence. Graffioii, American Heart, Downton,
Honey, Redheart, Bhick Bigarreau, Sparkawk's Honey,
Black Eagle, Kentish. A di-h of the Florence from the
garden of the Hon. A. P. Grant, deseives special notice,
for the beauty, large size, and delicious flavor of the fruit.
Black Tartarian and Napoleon Bigarreau, presented by
Mrs. L. B. Crocker, were equal to the finest on the table.
Mrs. C.'s garden, cultivated with taste and alleiilioii, al-
ways furui.shes its rare and beautiful products at our exhi-
bitions. The former variety, .shown by Wm. AVorden,
(nurseryman,) Messrs. Fort, Carrington, the President,
and others, was m great perfection. Mr. A C. Mattooii
exhibited a large and excellent celleclionfrom trees new-
ly |)Uinied.

The Black Tartarian received the premium of course;
it is diflicult to find a variety that will successfully com-
pete with it.

Of Strawberries — Hovey's .'needling. White Alpine and
a few others were sliowii, the former taking the premium.

Some four or five kinds of Russet Apples were pie-ent-
ed by Hon. J. Turrill, and J. W. Judson, Esq., in sound
condition, and of good flavor.

The only Pears at maturity were the Amire Joannet,
by Mr Worden. Thomas, in his Fruit Cullurist, says of
it very truly, "the earliest pear known — which comprises
its merit."' A branch of the Beurre d'Aiijou. from a tree
two years old, literally loaded with fruit, exhibited by Mr.
Fahnestock, of Syracuse, attests the early productiveness
of that sort.

The next exhibition of this Society will be held on the
14th of Sept. next.

AVe trust the Horticultural Societies in the Union will
not neglect some suitable testimonial to the memory of
Mr. Downing, whose untimely end we have so sudden-
ly been called to deplore. Here, where his teachings and
experience In the department of Art lo which he devoted
himself, have conduced .so iimch lo rational enjoyment, his
loss is deeply felt. There is a feeling of grief and sorrow,
that a mind from which emanated so much that was really
useful and beautiful, is gone from among us.

Yours, &c. J. M. Casey, Sec'y.

^-•^;Pi-''Vf#>

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

llurnl 'Msk nut its 3'iliij5inn.

TTIHE cultivation of the beautiful in Nature has been rightly considered an importat ele-
A ment in culture. The abstract, philosophical considerations, which render the aesthe-
tic purifying and elevating in its influence, are not the subject matter of this article. We
seek to appropriate what is valuable and pleasing in the lessons which Nature, both in her
simple and artistic forms — in all her varied aspects — teaches us, without inquiring into the
peculiar constitution of the mind, which appreciates and craves the beautiful. We wish
to cherish the memory of that great master spirit of Rural Taste, by carrying on the mis-
sion which it is his glorj- to have planted, which it was his ambition to spread in forms of
beauty far and wide, and thus to blend the sad funereal tones with the joyous notes of
hope and promise which Downing drew from the inspiration of nature. We hope to
catch some of the echoes of his voice, which, like those of Teiin3'sou's sweet song —

" die ill yon rich sky.
They faiiil on hill, on field, on river,
And grow (brever and forever.''

Rural Taste is an ancient art, dating its origin back to the verj- infanc}' of the earth,
when man was placed in tlie gaiden planted by the hand of God, " to dress and keep it."
In all ages, and under all governments, this art has been fostered as the handmaid of pros-
perit}', the purest form of beaut}', and the fitting type of that repose and peacefulness
which religion and philosophy assume to be the legitimate inheritance of man. Royal
munificence has been lavished on it, and the poor cottager has sought in its simple forms,
his dearest pleasure. To excel in it has been the ambition of princes, and the pride of
the governed. The far-famed hanging gardens of Babylon, and the Academic Groves
where sages taught their lessons, attest this, the earliest, the most universal of arts. But
for all its antiquity, Rural Taste has not grown old more than nature herself. Time-ho-
nored, still rejoicing in immortal youth, this art continues to rear its grand architectural
monuments, to spread out its pleasing landscapes, and re-produce itself in fresh beauty
to win our love. Being most nearly allied to nature, it has a language for every one, and
with its soft, mellow voice, whispers something congenial to every heart. Wherever there
eye to ob.serve, a mind to reflect, and the taste to ajjpreciate, does admiration
ful, in distinction from the useful, spring up.

Oct. 1; 1852,

No. X.

RURAL TASTE AND ITS MISSION.

The more rude the age, the less do we observe the indications of this love of nature.
The Indian was willing to leave nature as he found it, content in gazing on the stars that
spoke to him of the Good Spirit, in watching the stream that, like his own life, was ever
moving on to some mysterious land, and the trees that, wild and uncultivated, like his
own aspiring thoughts, were reaching upwards. On the contrary, the highly cultivated
and imaginative Greek made everything around him artistic, invested every tree with a
spiiit, and every grove with a divinity. The Roman was more practical and stern in his
nature, and esteemed this earth as his battle field, rather than his resting place, while
the oriental nations made their gardens the synonyms of repose. At the present day
the English seek for something stately and rare in their parks and gardens, while the
French cultivate what is more showy and artificial.

We have not referred to the history of Rural Taste without a purpose. It has been
seen that each nation strove to embody in its parks, gardens, pleasure grounds, and dwell-
ings, the ideas peculiar to its own character, and the conclusion we wish to draw is, that
we should do something more than imitate the models which the past has left us. The
mission of Rural Taste in this country, is as peculiar and distinct as our institutions, and
we cannot adopt the standards of other countries without sacrificing our own individuali-
ty. We confess to little synipathj^ with the notion that our tastes in the fine arts are all
imported, and that we have no American connoisseurs in the principles of harmony and
beauty. Under monarchical forms of government, it is well to dazzle the eye and blind
the mind, but here we want no royal parks, or queenly gardens, but instead tiie evidence
of a refinement as universal as the principle of liberty. The rules of art are unquestiona-
bly the same in all ages, the same principles of proportion and fitness obtain under all
circumstances, but Taste is not absolute. There must be adaptation to the character and
habits of a people, in order to constitute any work of Rural Art strictly tasteful. The
Grecian temple was beautiful in the extreme, but it was built to worship otlier divinities
than the one true God. The eastern gardens were the very types of voluptuousness and
sensual indulgence, and as such are not suited to the spirit of our day. The magnificent
pleasure grounds of more modern times, are proofs of an extravagance which ill comports
M'ith the practical tendency of the age. We would not be understood to number our-
selves among those who narrow everything down to the criterion of utility and profit, but
we contend that Rural Art diffeis materially and essentially from Sculpture, Painting
and Music, in that its forms are predetermined by the nature of the soil, the climate, and
the occupation of the inhabitants of any given country. It is the mission of Rural Taste
to improve, beautify and adorn the native soil, not to re-produce the scenery and products
of foreign ones.

The greatest danger which at present thieatens the interests of rural decoration in this
country is that of imitating to too great an extent the examples of other and older nations.
We plant foreign trees instead of native ones. We build Gothic or Greci.in houses, with-
out considering whether they are suited to our climate and wants, or harmonize with the
surrounding scenery. We strive to fill our parks with something rare and imported, in-
stead of adorning them with the equally beautiful and ornamental products of our own
soil. This rivalry in importing foreign plants, fruits, and flowers is too nearly akui to
the pedantry of those excessively travelled gentlemen who assume foreign airs, — to the
no small detriment of x\merican independence — to be long pursued by intelligent cultiva-
tors. We ought, as tillers and beautifiers of the land, to win for ourselves the treasures
the earnest mind and the practical hand bring forth from mother earth,
an old adage that " he who follows must always be behind," and so the h

RURAL TASTE AND ITS MISSION.

of this country has thus far shown. It was not till Powers struck out for himself abold
and oiiginal course that he excelled in sculpture. So long as American authors followed
implicity the teachings of European critics, we had no American literature; but when
some dared to write to suit the tastes and demands of our own people, American authors
soon obtained an acknowledged reputation. So too has it been with Rural Taste. We had no
Ainei'ican houses, — save our log-houses — parks, or gardens, till Downing brought his
own peerless ability to the work. However gratifying the results of his labors, Avhat he
has accomplished should be suggestive of more vigorous exertion.

We do not mean by anything we have said, that the established rules of art should not
be studied, or that very much of foreign acquisition may not be added to our own improve-
ments. We onl}' wish to make prominent the idea that our eiforts should be such as to
stamp American talent, ingenuity and taste upon our Rural Art, as well as upon the more
practical and useful products of our handi-work. It is manifestly useless to vie with
crowned heads and princely coffers in rural decoration, and indeed magnificence and splendor
are hardl}' compatible with democratic institutions. But one thing we can accomplish,
if we will — we can make our whole countiy bccmtifal. The fact that a majority of the
inhabitants of the rural districts hold the soil in fee simple — that intelligence and cultiva-
tion are more universal than in other countries, make this comparatively easy. Let cot-
tage after cottage, in the length and breadth of our land, tell its tale of humble happiness
and contentment — let trees, mile after mile, throw their refreshing shade on our highways —
let flowers bloom along the walks of our obscurest laborers, as well as in the luxurious
gardens of the wealth}', and we can well dispense with the more pretending mansion, the
extensive park, and the costly green-house. In our gardens and around our houses, give
us the emblems of quietness and repose. Let our public squares be planted with the
towering elm, the gigantic oak, and the stately maple, fit types of our freedom and
strength, together with the pine, the fir, and the spruce, to symbolise the unfading nature
of our institutions. Let fountains sparkle in the sunlight, and flowers perfume the free
air; it will make the blood bound more joyously in our veins, and attach us more strongly
to our native land. Let our homes be made attractive by the simple adornments, which
a love of nature will suggest, and we shall be bound to them by a new tie, and drawn un-
consciously into closer sympathy with the world around us.

There is no wa}' in which real refinement so readily shows itself as in the decoration
of a home. In the idea of refinement we include not only intellectual culture, but that
harmony of mind and heart, that balance of thought and aflection, which fits man for
social life and endears him to his fellows. A coarse and vulgar nature sees nothing to ad-
mire in rural embellishment, while a truly cultivated man would as soon be in purgatory
as forced to live away fi-om the spot which his own hands have beautified, away from the
shade of his favorite trees, and the fragrance of his loved flowers. It is true that men
of high talent and superior culture are often so long separated from the country, that they
forget the charms which it once had for them; yet place these men in flivorable circum-
stances and they will turn as spontaneously to the tasteful arranging of houses, gardens,
and grounds, as the vine to its support. It is a mode of expressing the finer feelings of
humanit}', and the capability of living for higher than selfish ends. Other things being
equal, the advancement of Rural Taste will be exactl}' commensurate with the progress
of true refinement, and it is its proper mission to fix in home-like dwellings, in the living
green of tree and shrub and vine, the tokens of the virtue and intelligence of our citizens

GRAPES FOR A COLD VINERY.

GRAPES FOR A COLD VINERY.

On the 29th of August, I took from my vmes, one bunch each, of the following kinds of
grapes: Muscat Blanc Ilatif, White Muscat of Alexandria, Grizzly Frontignan, and Roy-
al Muscadine, and submitted them to the taste of myself, and my friends— and report the
following as the result, for the benefit of those who wish to select grapes for their own use.

The Muscat Blanc Hatif was not a very fair spgcimen, being the only bunch on the vine,
and not very ])erfect, and consequently, from that, or some other reason, was uniformly
rejected by all the tastei'S.

After a fair trial, one, a lady, preferred the White Muscat of Alexandria, owing to its
exquisite musky flavor. Miss C. gave the preference to the Grizzly Frontignan, while a
gentleman who was present shortly after, and tried these two varieties, gave preference to
the Royal Muscadine. For myself, for very exquisiteness of flavor, and perfumed aroma-
tic taste, I gave the preference to the Grizzly Frontignan. It is truly a delicious grape,
though in its absence, it would be difiicult to call either the Royal Muscadine or the AYhite
Muscat of Alexandiia, second to it. But while present, in the fulness of its flavor, it
seemed to me to carry off the palm. This result may not accord with other's taste, but
mny serve as some guide for those who want practical experiments as a guide for selection.
For myself, I would think no vinery perfect without the three last named varieties. The
AYhite Muscat of Alexandria proved a very thrifty bearer in my vinery last year, while
this season the Royal Muscadine has borne very fully, and ripened its fiuit finely.

I know of no branch of horticulture which pays the amateur better than a vinery,
(mine is a cold house,) if it is well prepared by a skilful gardener in the outset; but I
would not advise an unskilled gardener to undertake its erection. If the border be once
well made, and the house properly constructed, and filled with proper varieties of grapes,
then, with the aid of J. FisK Allen's little pamphlet, which can be procured for a small
sum, there will be no difficulty in the amateur, with proper care, realizing a satisfiictory
return for his outlay, in the delicious fruit he will produce for his own table. To aid as
much as possible, those who desire to make a selection, I will give the varieties I have in
mj' own house, as I have often felt the need of such lists in making selections myself:

1 Muscat Blanc Ilatiff— 3 Wilmot's Black Hamburgh — 1 Grizzly Frontignan — 1
White Frontignan — 1 Pitmaston's White Cluster— 1 White Sweetwater — 1 Black Prince
— 1 Syrian — 1 Royal Muscadine — 1 Decan's Superb— 1 White Muscat of Alexandria — 1
White Nice — 1 Black Hamburgh — 1 Black Frontignan.

Winter before last I laid the vines down, covering them loo.sely with straw. During
the winter the field mice got in, and seriously injured some of the canes by stripping them
on one side, and in some places entirely, of their green bark. Last winter I suffered them
to remain erect, and only filled spent tan-baik around them as high as I could convenient-
ly, say about a foot, and wrapped the remainder of the cane loosely with successive folds
of a newspaper, and covering them in no other manner. The}' stood the winter well, not
being at all injured, except one Black Hamburgh, which, for some reason, whether from
being imperfectly protected or not I cannot determine, died down to the ground. It how-
ever came forwaid again this summer, and has made a remaikably fine growth. I think
the protection I gave them of papers, would in all ordinary winters be sufficient. I
thought, however, this winter I should lay them down, and cover them entirely M'ith
tan-bark, believing that that will effectually protect them from the mice.

rij Wayne county. A'ew-Yurk. S. K. Williams.

TRANSPLANTIXG LARGE TREES.

TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES.

BY CHARLE.-5 WVLLYS ELLIOTT, NEW-HAVEN, CT

Therk are many places which would be benefited by the presence of a few large trees;
whose onwers would gladly spend some money to see trees growing near their dwellings,
wiiich should give, not oidy shade, but should clothe them with a leafy garment to hide
their nakedness. What a difference there is between a house — no matter how well pro-
portioned and tasteful— standing upon a bare plane or an e.vposed hill, and one covered
and sheltered b\' the protecting arms of siiadowy trees, every lover of home and the
country has too often felt. It is not always possible to choose a site which is furnished
with these, and otlier desirable circumstances; so that trees must be supplied by the own-
er, and he and they must bide their time. But there are two ways at least of going about
this.

One is, to contract with some enterprising early rising man of the neighborhood, to
plant out a nuinber, perhaps one or two bundled, say at fifty cents each, or even sixty
cents, should he warrant thcui to grow. He goes to his swamp, where the trees run up
tall and straight, and SLlc-cts nice, handsome stems, about four inches in diameter, and
say twenty-five feet in height; he takes his axe and cuts down into the shaky bog, throu"-h
the four or five roots of the tree, at twelve to fifteen inches from the stem, pulls the tree
down to the ground, cuts off the whole of the head, say at about ten feet from the root,
and the tree is then ready to be loaded into a cait for planting on any gentleman's place.
He does this again and again; and it is quick work, for there are usually but a few lono-
naked roots in such covers, and the labor of getting trees up is small. Ilavin"- loaded
them, they are ready for transportation the next day. Now in spring and autumn the
nights are apt to be fro.sty — and should the roots be exposed to a pretty severe freezino-
it would not be surprising. But let them once be delivered on the naked grounds. What
then.'' It is easiest to plant them in rows — and saves all thought and consultation either
on the part of the owner or a landscape gardener. The planter is to have fifty cents each,
and he can't sjjcnd his time shilly-shallying; so he opens the holes twenty-five inches in
diameter, (or thirty-one inches,) because twice 12 is 24, and twenty-five inches is large
enough — and it may be twelve inches deep to the subsoil, which is usually hard and sterile;
he places the roots in it, taking great care that the stem is perpendicular and true in the
line; then he covers the roots quickly to keep them from the air, tramples the earth, and
the deed is done, — the tree planted.

How does the tree grow.? Sometimes well. Elms are especially tenacious of life; often
though, they push weak growth along the stem the first season, for there is some strength
in it, and dwindle away during the summer drouth or in the second year. Should they
grow they are long in making a head; for trees are like men, starvation, neglect, want of
cultivation — inevitably induce weakness, disease and death.

This is one method of planting: — there is another, and the routine of plantino- a single
tree, one of a number which has been planted and have thriven now the third year, will
suffice.

1. A hole to receive the tree was opened in the month of October, sixteen feet in diame-
ter and three feet deep. All the tops and good soil, containing some of the vellow sub
was thrown out by itself — the subsoil, gravel, &c.. was thrown up and carted
ther earth brought in its place. A horse cart load of rotted stable manure, and

TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES.

bushels of ashes, were well mixed with about one half of the good soil, and about one foot
of depth of this compost was spread over the bottom of the hole, which was then ready to
receive the roots of the tree.

2. The tree selected was an elm, standing in a damp wood, but so that the head was
well branched. At the distance of five feet from the body, (which measured forty-two
inches in circumference at one foot from the ground,) a trench was opened two feet wide;
the long roots were not cut, but the trench was sunk so that the tree could be gradually
undermined, and with a pick the soil was dug away from among the roots so that the
diameter of the ball of earth was about eight feet; while the digging was continued under
tlie roots as far as it was possible, the fibrous roots being tied up so as to be but little
broken. This done, the long surface roots were followed out, say ten or twelve feet from
the tree, cut off, turned up, and tied to the stem. A block and tackle, fastened in the
top of this tree, and to the root of one at some distance, was used to pull the tree over to
an angle of 45*, and a stone sled was placed so that one half of the ball would rest on it
— the tree was then turned into it, and another sled placed under the ball. The side of
the trench was then cut away so that the sleds would run out of the hole; ten yoke of oxen
were chained to the sleds, and a chain was carried from around the stem to the draft
chain, so that the tree might not slip from the sleds. The tree was then quietly slid from its
old place and into its new one — the side of the new hole being cut down so that the oxen
could travel through the liole and leave the tree, sleds and all, in it. The tree was then
turned down first on one side, then on another; and both sleds being removed, it was
ready to have its roots placed and covered. This was carefully done by turning the tree
from the perpendicular, and filling in with the hand and a wooden rammer, every cavity
in the roots, with the compost earth — the bruised and mangled roots being first cut away
with a knife or axe. The tree was planted one foot deeper than it stood in the woods.
The long roots were stretched and pegged down to act as anchors, and the hole being then
filled with the common earth — so far the roots were disposed of.

Three strong props were then securely placed so that they could not chafe the bark, or
allow the tree to be disturbed by winter or summer winds — and then the autumn work
was done.

3. In the spring, about first May, the top Avas lopped, thinned from one-third to one-
half, just as the buds were breaking vigorousl3^ The ground over the surface of the hole
Avas mulched, (covered Avith manure four inches deep;) the props were examined, the tree
righted, and then it took its chance. Once during the dry weather of the summer, some
twenty-five buckets of water Avere poured over the roots.

The cost of the tree in its place Avas tliirtj^ dollars, it having been moved a quarter of a
mile — and it is worth the cost. It, with others, now stands on Mr. Saml. E. Foster's
place, at New-Haven, where it piomises well.

5. Better roots can be had by this process than by cutting a ball and freezing it — be-
cause the roots need not be cut so short.

6. The tree should be planted deeper than in the wood, for many reasons.

7. The props are very important for tAvo years at least, as the swaying of the tree in
the Avind would otherwise break the young new roots.

8. One-half the top may be cut away safely. Mr. Jas. Fellows, who has planted
large trees AA'ith success, in this neighborhood, thinks that none should be cut away; he
and I don't agree.

9. Mulching is one of the very best practices — and so is watering the leaves in dry
weather, Avith a barrel of Avater and a hand engine.

SUBURBAN GARDENING.

The above tree was the largest of some twenty-five which were removed in this way
three j'ears since. They have grown as well as such large trees could be expected to
grow, and but two have died; one large Elm, which was rai.sed with roots much broken,
and one swamp White Oak. The trees were mostly Elm, Oak, and Dog-wood, and were
from twelve to forty-two inches in circumference. Since then, Mr. Fellows, in this neigh-
borhood, has planted a great number of large trees, with good success. It is quite clear
that trees of great size can be safely removed and planted, so as to grow. Two large
Hickorys were planted out this year by this method; they have both gone through this
season well, and may yet thrive in their new position — though they are not a safe tree to
touch. Charles Wyllts Elliott.

New-Haven, Avg. 15, 1852.

SUBURBAN GABDENINO.

BY P. B. M. BROOKLYN, N. Y.

The above phrase is intended to indicate gardening adapted to grounds in the vicini-
ty of our large cities, and, according to my ideas, is a different thing from landscape gar-
dening, of which latter there is little in this country that deserves the name, and perhaps
will not be very soon. For some years past, strenuous efforts have been made by a few
individuals, to fix in the public mind, a taste for landscape gardening, and foremost among
those who have labored to accomplish this most desirable object, stood the late lamented
Editor of the Horticulturist. AVhile nobody would rejoice more than mysef, at the uni-
versal diffusion of a taste for this most beautiful art, it has alwa3^s seemed to me that the
subject was not properly initiated to accomplish any great results. The difficulties are
many, and not easily surmounted. Our habits, our laws of succession, our utilitarian
spirit, our artificial and superficial tastes, among other things, are all against landscape
gardening, properly so called. It will be perceived that I use the word gardening as a
geneial term, of which land.scape gardening, suburban gardening, &c., are species.
While landscape gardening knows no narrow bounds, suburban gardening may be circum-
scribed within comparatively narrow limits; the one retires far from the citj', the other
lingers on its skirts; of the one, much has been said, and well said; of the other, little
or nothing usefull}'. If the talent which has been so zealously devoted to the cause of
landscape gardening, had been, in the first instance bestowed upon what I have termed
suburban gardening, there can be little doubt that more gratifying results would have been
produced, and the true interests of landscape gardening have been better subserved. By
attempting too much, it generally happens that we accomplish almost nothing.

There are some, doubtless, who will feel the least degree of contempt for all efforts
which have for their object nothing higher than the improvement and beautifying of a few
suburbun lots; but let thera " not despise the day of small things." Those who know
me will bear witness that I am not one to follow by paths and devious ways, when a broad
road leads straight to the goal; and j^et I am thoroughly convinced, that in the matter of
gardening we must begin in this small vfmy; we must plant the acorn before we can get
the oak.

In the suburbs of New-York, Brooklyn, and other large cities, reside many persons of
wealth, occupying dwellings with plots of ground embracing from two to thirty lots, or
more. I instance New-York and Brooklyn, because lam most familiar with them and their
wants; and then, too, my love, like most other people's charity, begins at home. Some

tup: pear in France.

of these persons, I know, keep professional gardeners, and can show fine plants; but, not-
withstanding this, there is generally such an absence of taste in all that pertains to design
and effect, and such want of judgment in selection and grouping, that I must withhold
the praise of good gardening. This may be said of some of the best gardens about Brook-
lyn and New-York: of the remainder, the less said the better.

This state of things is owing to various causes; among others to the fact that nearly all
our gardeners are foreigners, (I say it with respect,) who inconsiderately follow here,
preciselj' the same system which they practiced at home. There is reason to hope for a
change in this particular; for some of the most intelligent of these gardeners have acknow-
ledged to me their mistake, and others are beginning to perceive it. We must have then,
notwithstanding all that has boen said on this subject, an American system of gardening.
I mean by this, not alone a system of cultivation adapted to our own peculiar soil and
climate, but also a style of design in keeping with simple good taste, and the habits of a
republican people; and in addition to this, some decided changes in the class of plants
which frequently' occupy our gardens, or at least in the grouping and arrangement.

Let it not be sup[)0sed, because I have instanced the I'ich, that I would confine garden-
ing to them; by no means. The rich and the poor, and the man in moderate circum-
stances, tlie merchant and the meclianic, should alike have their gardens; but if there
were a necessity foi' confining gardens to one class alone, then I would sa}', let that class
be the poor. Let them have at least one little spot where they can pass the evening of
their days in quiet repose under their own vine and peach tree. IIow much brighter and
better this world would be, if each man had a spot that he could call his own! But to
proceed. I have heard the remark made by not a few, that they would take pleasure in
beautifying their grounds if they only had the right kind of knowledge to do it themselves,
or to enable them to know that the work was properly done if executed by others. Now,
Mr. Editor, if it be your wish, it is this very knowledge that I propose to communicate,
with proper illustrations. And here, for the present, I will conclude these general re-
marks. P. B. M

BruvHyv, Avg. IS, lSo2.

THE PEAR TREE IN FRANCE,

BY A NEAV-YORK AMATEUR.

Business called me in the lall of last year to France; and T was so much pleased and
surprised by what I saw there, in reference to the universal culture of the pear, that I am
induced to send you some remarks upon it, which I think may interest your readers. I
landed at Havre, and was, much against my inclination, detained theie by business longer
than was agreeable to me. My time was, however, by no means fully occupied; and I
whiled away many an hour which would otherwise have hung heavily on my hands, by
exploring the surrounding country, which, by-the-bye, is full of interest to a visitor; and
the charm of novelty being added to the beauties of nature, in my case, at &\\y rate, a
protracted stay in that part of the country, gradually became not only endurable but in-
teresting. To make my explanation of the particular use of the pear tree, to which I
wisVi to call attention in these remarks, intelligible, I must shortl}'- describe the locality
of Ilavie; or those of your readers who have not been on the Continent of Enrone, will
not understand me. The town itself is placed at tlic entrance of llie river Sein
bosomed in a splendid bay, said to be, Mith our own New-York, and those of Napl

TIIK PEAR I\ FRA^■CK.

Constanlindple, the fii\est in the world. Bat there is one point in which our New- York
ba}- is incomparably more valuable in a mercantile point of view, which is this, that the
bay at Havre forms the segment of a semicircle, perfectly open to the sea and exposed to
a heavy swell, which, during six or eight months of the j'car, renders it unsafe for mer-
chantmen to ride at anchor outside the harbor. Havre is a fortified town surrounded by
a moat — into which the tide Hows : it is commanded by high land in the rear, which forms
almost an ampitheatre, rising by rather a steep ascent fiom the back of the town. This
constitutes a ver}'^ considerable suburb to tlie place, being covered with streets of houses,
intersected by villa residences dispersed over the hill side, and forming a convenient outlet
to the mass of meicantile inhabilants congj'egated in this, the French maiket f(jr our cot-
ton. There is, moi-eover, a considerali'e space extending over a Hat strip of ground, va-
rj'ing in bi'eadth fi'om fifty jards in some places, to a quarter of a mile in others, between
the town itself and the " cote," as the hill side to whicli I have alluded, is called — and this
flat is covered by a mass of small dwellings, principally inhabited by storekeepers, artisans
and working people, to which small peices of garden, or moie properly speaking, j'ards, are
attached. Tlie}- aie of very limited extent; but to these it is that I wish to direct atten-
tion. The size of them varies considerably, but a large portion of them are not more than
from fifteen to twenty feet square. Yet in these little places, subject though they be, to all
the uses of a jjoor and need}' class of a people, such as are scarcely to be found in this
country, thcT-e is to be seen some five or six, or more pear trees, varying in number ac-
cording to the size of the ground, covered with fruit — alwaj's of fair growth, and fre-
quently as fine as can be found anywhere. Often have T stopped to admire the appearance
of the trees and the abundance of the cro[), and sometimes to gossip with the old ladies,
who are generally to be found outside the door, pui-suing some of their manifold domestic
operations — the great majority of which they delight to perform in the open aii! They
are all, apparently, pear " fanciers," and are much pleased by the approving smile of the
traveller, particularly if happens to be a foreigner. And they are very communicative
upon the subject, answering readily any inquiry that may be addressed to them, and en-
lai-ging with great volubility upon the character of the fruit, the wonderful crops that
particular 3'ears have produced, and last, not least, upon the " politesse" of " Monsieur"
who has had the "complaisance" to make the inquiry! These trees are almost invari-
abl}' grown as standards, from six feet to ten in height, and pj'ramidal in shape — well
furnished with branches from the ground to the top, and forming, as they do, a constant
feature in all gardens, from these cottage plots, to the extensive grounds of the rich, where
the}' are seen to convert the straight walks into perfect avenues of pomona, it is hardly
po-ssible to walk five minutes, without being reminded of your presence in the land of
pears.

Another thing connected with this subject, which I particulail}' remarked, was that
you never see an inferior variety grown there. Many, indeed most of the sorts, were old
favorites, but most of them deservedly' so. One of the Doyenne varieties was of very ge-
neral culture, and becomes to those whose circumstances oblige them to sell their fruit, a
source of considerable profit. Very large quantities of these pears are bought up every
year, for exportation to St. Petersburgh, where they fetch a high price, and the demand
for this market is so regular, that they are always expensive, as compared with most oth-
er kinds in the Havre market.

I had several conversations, both with nurserymen and others, upon the modes of cul
adopted, and found it was of the simplest character. During the first three
the grafting of the stock, they annually lift the plants, which they consider essenti

THE PEAR IN FRANCE.

to the formation of a good large ball of roots; and certainly, in that respect, their trees
leave nothing to be desired. Nothing can exceed the healthy appearance of the roots of
some, which late in the year I saw a man lifting in a nursery there — and in quantity they
did amplejustice to the cultivator. After that age they do but little except the pruning,
which they well understand, and which I took some pains to make myself master of I
bi'ought a few trees home with me, which are now bearing a small crop only, as from an
accident they suffered injury on the voyage, and I have had difficulty to recover them.

In the small villuges around Havre, of wliich there are several, every working man's
cottage has its half dozen pear trees, and they appear to be regarded as an essential ap-
pendage to the domicile of a French artisan.

In the village gardens I observed, also, that the pear trees in no way encroached upon
what some may regard as the more appropriate occupants of the cottagers plot — I mean
cabbages and potatoes. In the suburbs I saw few vegetables, but in the villages, the gar-
dens were well stocked with them, the pears being planted at the corners and down the sides
of the divisions of the ground, where, (as was the case oftentimes in the villages,) the
gardens attached to the cottages were of fair extent. The effect produced by the m hole was
})leasing to a degree I sliall not easily forget, and conveyed to the mind an idea of enjoy-
ment which, alas, was too often confined to the exterior of these humble abodes! For
the laboring classes in that fine but unhappy countrj'^, are poor and destitute of the neces-
saries of household comforts, to an extent which it is painful to witness. Volatile and un-
reflecting, however, the French husbandman appears to realise the aphorism of the poet,

" Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants ihut little long."'

and singing his " Marseillaise" as he drives his plough, where no " babbling echo" can
waft his " treasonable !" lay to the ears of a " prince president," or his miserable min-
ions, he cheerfully toils through his daily task, and returns to his naked home light heart-
ed, and contented with his lot.

What I wish to impress upon j^our readers, is the beautiftil effect produced, and the air
of rural taste given to a neighborhood, by this universal growth of the pear tree. Until
seen, it is difficult to be estimated. But I will engage that if the lovers of horticulture in
any one city, will exert themselves, and distribute a few pear trees amongst their neigh-
bors, (and they are cheap enough here now,) so as to get a goodly show of them, that
before three years are over, if they are grown in the conical shape I have described, and
which is well known, there will not be an inhabitant in the vicinity that would fail to re-
gard them as a magnificent addition to the elegances of the place. Then, without entering
into more expensive or time occupying floricultural pursuits," " pear societies" may be
started, and every fall would bring along its pear exhibition, and with it a day of joy and
gaiety for all the lads and lasses around !

To all, I say then, plant pears. If you don't eat them yourself, give them away, or sell
them if you like; and moreover, if you manage them so badly that you get no fruit,
(you will be rather clever to prevent having more or less three years out of four,)
you will still have, if well trained, as fine an object as an ornamental tree — as almost any
deciduous trees of the size that you can find. Therefore, I say again, plant pear trees.

An Amateuk.

New-York, Scptenber, 1352.

SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.

SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.

UV LEWIS F. ALLEN, BLACK ROCK, N. Y.*

The proprietor of a plantation in the south, or south-west, requires altogether a differ-
ent kind of residence from the farmer of the northern or middle states. He resides in the
midst of his own principality, surrounded by a retinue of dependents and laborers, who
dwell distant and apa)t from his own immediate famil}"^, although composing a community
requiring his daily care and superintendence for a great share of his time. A portion of
them are the attaches of his household, yet so disconnected in their domestic relations, as
to require a separate accommodation, and yet be in immediate contiguity with it, and of
course, an arrangement of living widely different from those who mingle in the same cir-
cle, and partake at the same board.

The usual plan of house-building at the south, we are aware, is to have detached ser-
vants' rooms, and offices, and a space of some yards of uncovered way intervene between
the family rooms of the chief dwelling and its immediate dependents. Such arrangement,
however, we consider both unnecessary and inconvenient; and we have devised a plan of
household accommodation which will bring the family of the planter himself, and their
servants, although under different roofs, into convenient proximity with each other. A
design of this kind is here given.

The style is mainly Italian, plain, substantial, yet, we think becoming. The broad
veranda, stretching around three sides, including the front, gives an air of sheltered re-
pose to what might otherwise appear an ambitious structure; and the connected apart-
ments beyond, show a quiet utility which divests it of an over attempt at display. Noth-
ing has been attempted for appearance, solely, beyond what is necessary and proper in
the dwelling of a planter of good estate, who wants his domestic affairs well legulated,
and his family, and servants duly provided with convenient accommodation. The form
of the main dwelling is nearly square, upright, with two full stories, giving ample area
of room and ventilation, together with that appropriate indulgence to ease which the
enervating warmth of a southern climate renders necessary. The servants' apartments,
and kitchen offices are so disposed, that while connected, to render them easy of access,
they are sufficiently remote to shut off the familiarity of association which would render
them obnoxious to the most fastidious — all, in fact, under one shelter, and within the
readiest call. Such should be the construction of a planter's house in the United States,
and such this design is intended to give.

A stable and carriage house, in the same style, is near by, not connected to any part
of the dwelling, as in the previous designs — with sufficient accommodation for coachman
and grooms, and the number of saddle and carriage horses that may be reqired for either
business or pleasure; and to it may be connected, in the rear, in the same style of build-
ing, or plainer, and less expensive, further conveniences for such domestic animals as may
be required for family use.

The whole stands in open grounds, and may be separated from each other by enclosures,
as convenience or fancy may direct.

The roofs of all the buildings are broad and sweeping, well protecting the walls from
storm and frosts, as well as the glaring influences of the sun, and combining that com-
fortable idea of shelter and repose so grateful in a well-conditioned country house. It is
true, that the dwelling might be more extensive in room, and the purposes of luxury en
copy this design by permission of tlie Auilior. from Mr. Allen's " Rural Architecture," recently publ
Saxton, New- York, and whicli was reviewed in the July No. of this work, by Mr. Dowring.

©f^^^

SOUT[IKRN OR PLAXTATION HOUSE.

largcd; but the plr.ntcr on five ]iunclied, or five thousand acres of land can here be suf-
ficienl!}- acconiinod;ited in all the reasonable indulgences of famil}' enjoyment, and a libe-
lal, even an elegant and prolonged liospitality, to which he is so generally inclined.

The chimneys of this house, different from those in the previous designs, are placed
next the outer walls, thus giving more space to the interior, and not being required, as in
the others, to promote additional warmth than their fireplaces will give, to the rooms. A
deck on the roof affords a pleasant look-out for the family fi'om its top, guarded by a
parapet, and giving a linish to its architectural appearance, and yet making no ambitious
attempt at expensive ornament. It is, in foct, a plain, substantial, respectable mansion
for a gentleman of good estate, and nothing beyond it.

TnteiuokArrangemrnt. — This house stands
50 by 40 feet on the ground. The front door
opens from the veranda into a hall, 24 by 14 feet,
in which is a flight of stairs leading to thecham-
bers above. On the left a door leads into a li-
brary, or business room, 17 by 17 feet, lighted
by three windows. A fire jilace is inserted in
the outer wall. Another dooi- lead.s into a side
hall, six feet wide, which separates the library
from the dining-room, which is also 17 by 17
feet in area, lighted and accommodated with a
fireplace like the other, with a door leading into
it from the side hall, and another door at the
further right hand corner leading into the rear
hall, or entrj'.

On the riglit of the chief entrance hall, oppo-
site the librar}'-, a door opens into the
parlor or drawing-room, 23 by 19
feet in area, lighted by three windows,
and having a fireplace in the side
wall. A door leads from the rear
side of the parlor into a commodious
nurserj-, or family bedi'oom, 19 by 16
feet in size, lighted by a window in
each outer wall. A fire place is also
inserted on the same line as in the
parlor. From the nurserj' a door
leads into and through a large closet,

9 by 7 feet, into the rear hall. This i_ « ^^^ jj

closet may also be use.d as a sleeping ground plan.

room for the children, or a confidential servant maid, or nurse, or devoted to the storage
of bed linen for family use. Further on, adjoining, is another closet, 7 by 6 feet, opening
from the rear hall, and lighted b}' a window.

Leading from the outer door of the rear hall is a covered passage six feet wide, IG feet
long, and one and a half stories high, leading to the kitchen offices, and lighted by a win-
dow on the left, with a door opening iu the same side beyond, on the side front of the
establishment. On the right, opposite, a door leads on to the kitchen porch, which is

six feet wide, passing on to the bath room and water closet, in the f;\r rear. At the end
of the connecting passage from the main dwelling, a door opens into the kitchen, which
is 24 by 18 feet in size, accommodated with two windows looking on to the porch just
described. At one end is an open fireplace witli a cooking range on one side, and an oven
on the other. At tlie left of the entrance door is a large, commodious store room and
pantry, 12 by 9 feet, lighted by a window; and adjoining it, (and may be connected with it
by a door, if necessary,) a kitchen closet of the same size, also connected by a correspond-
ing door from the opposite corner of the kitchen. Between these doors is a flight of stairs
leading to the sleeping rooms above, and a cellar passage beneath them. In the farther
right corner of the kitchen a door leads into a smaller closet, 8 by G feet, lighted by a small
window looking on to the rear porch at the end. A door at the rear of the kitchen leads
out into the porch of the wash room beyond, which is six feet wide, and another door in-
to the wash room itself, which is 20 by 16 feet, and furnished with a chimney and boilers.
A window looks out on the extreme right hand, and two windows onto the porch in
front. A door opens from its rear wall into the wood house, 32 by 12 feet, which stands
open on two sides, supported by posts, and under the extended roof of the wash room
and its porch just mentioned. A servants' water-closet is attached to the extreme right
corner of the wood house, b}- way of lean-to.

Tlie bath room is 10 by 6 feet in area, and supplied with water from the kitchen boilers
adjoining. The water-closet beyond is G feet square, and architecturally, in its roof, may
be made a fitting termination to that of the porch leading to it.

The main flight of stairs in tlie entrance hall leads
on to a broad landing in the spacious upper hall,
from which doors pass into the several chambers,
which ma}' be duly accommodated with closets.
The passage connecting with the upper story of the
servants' offices, opens from the rear section of this
upper hall, and by the flight of rear stairs commu-
nicates with the kitchen and out-buildings. Agarret
flight of steps may be made in thcreai section of the
main upper hall, b}' which that apartment may be
reached, and the upper deck of the I'oof ascended.

The sleeping-rooms of the kitchen may be divi-
ded off" as convenience may dictate, and the entire
structure thus api)ro[)riated to every accommoda-
tion which a well regulated famil}^ need requiie.

The carriage-house is 48 by 24 (eet in size, with a projection of five feet on the entrance
front, the door of which leads both into the carriage-room and stables. On the right is a
bed-room 10 by 8 feet, for the grooms, lighted by
a window, ami beyond are six stalls for horses,
with a Avindow in the rear wall beyond them.
A flight of stairs leads to the hay loft above. In
the rear of the carriage-room is a harness-room,
12 by 4 feet, and a granary of the same size,
each liglitcd by a window. If farther attach-
ments be required for the accommodation of out-
building conveniences, they may be continued in-
definitel}' in the rear.

CHAMBER PLAN.

r^^--

SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.

Miscellaneous. — It may strike the reader that the house just described has a lavish
appropriation of veranda, and a needless side-front, which latter may detract from the
precise architectural keeping that a dwelling of this pretension should maintain. In re-
gard to the first, it may be remarked, that no feature of the house in a southern climate,
can be more expressive of easy, comfortable enjoyment, than a spacious veranda. The
habits of southern life demand it as a place of exercise in wet weather, and the cooler
seasons of the year, as well as a place of recreation and social intercourse during the fer-
vid heats of summer. Indeed, manj' southern people almost live under the shade of their
verandas. It is a delightful place to take their meals, to receive their visitors and friends;
and the veranda gives to a dwelling the very expression of hospitality, so far as an)^ one
feature of a dwelling can do it. No equal amount of accommodation can be provided for
the same cost. It adds infinitely to the room of the house itself, and is, in fact, indispen-
sable to the full enjoyment of a southern house.

The side front in this design is simply a matter of convenience to the owner and occu-
pant of the estate, who has usually much office business in its management; and in the
almost daily use of his library, where such business maj' be done, a side door and front is
both appropriate and convenient. The chief front entrance belongs to his family and
guests, and should be devoted to their exclusive use; and as a light fence may be thrown
off" from the extreme end of the side porch, separating the front lawn from the rear ap-
proach to the house, the veranda on that side may be reached from its rear end, for busi-
ness purposes, without intruding upon the lawn at all. So we would arrange it.

Objections may be made to the sameness of plan, in the arrangement of the lower rooms
of the several designs which we have submitted, such as having the nursery or family
sleeping room on the main floor of the house, and the uniformity, in location, of the others;
and that there are no netv and striking features in them. The answer to these may be,
that the room appropriated for the nursery or bedroom, maj' be used for other purposes
equally as well; that when a mode of accommodation is already convenient as may be, it is
poorly worth while to make it less convenient, merely for the sake of variety; and that
utility and convenience are the main objects to be attained in any well-ordered dwelling.
These two requisites, utility and convenience, attained, the third and principal one — com-
fort— is secured. Cellar kitchens — the most abominable nuisances that ever crept into a
country dwelling — might have been adopted, no doubt, to the especial delight of some who
know nothing of the experimental duties of housekeeping; but the recommendation of
these is an offence which we have no stomach to answer for hereafter. Steep, winding,
and complicated staircases might have given a new feature to one or another of the designs;
dark closets, intricate passages, imique cubby-holes, and all sorts of inside gimcrackery
might have amused our pencil; but we have avoided them, as well as everything which
would stand in the way of the simplest, cheapest, and most direct mode of reaching the
object in view: a convenient, comfortably-arranged dwelling within, having a respectable,
dignified appearance without — and such, we trust, have been thus far presented in our de-
signs.

Lawn and Park Surroundings. — The trees and shrubbery which ornament the ap-
proach to this house, should be rather of the graceful varieties, than otherwise. The
weeping willow, the horse chestnut, the mountain ash, if suitable to the climate; or the
china-tree of the south, or the linden, the weeping-elm, and the silver-maple, with itslong
slender branches, and hanging leaves, would add most to the beauty, and comport more
closely with the character of this establishment, than the more upright, stifi", and unbend
ing trees of our American forests. The Lombardy-poplar — albeit, an object of fashiona-

nB/i SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.

ble derision Mith many tree-fiinciors in these more tasty da)'S,as it was equally the admi-
ration of our fathers, of forty years ago — would set off and give effect to a mansion of
this character, either in a clump at the back -ground, as shown in the design, or occasion-
all}^ shooting up its spire-like top through a group of other trees. Yet, if built in a fine
natural park, or lawn of oaks, with a few other trees, such as we have named, planted
immediately around it, this house will still show with fine effect.

The style of finish given to this dwelling may appear too ornate and expensive for the
position it is supposed to occup}^ If so, a plainer mode of finish may be adopted, to the
cheapest degree consistent with the manner of its construction. Still, on examination,
there will be found little intricate or really expensive work upon it. Strength, substance,
durability, should all enter into its composition; and without these elements, a house of
this appearance is a mere bauble, not fit to stand upon the premises of any man of sub-
stantial estate.

If a more extensive accommodation be necessary, than the size of this house can afford,
its style will admit of a wing, of any desirable length on each side, in place of the rear
part of the side verandas, without prejudice to its character or effect. Indeed, such wings
may add to its dignity and consequence, as comporting with the standing and influence
which its occupant may hold in the community wherein he resides. A man of mark, in-
deed, should, if he live in the countiy, occup}^ a dwelling somewhat indicating the posi-
tion which he holds, both in society, and in public affairs. By this remark we may be
treading on questionable ground, in our democratic countr}^; but, practicall}^, there is a
fitness in it which no one can dispute. Not that extravagance, pretension, or any other
assumption of superiority should mark the dwelling of the distinguished man, but that
his dwelling be of like character with himself: j)lain, dignified, solid, and, as a matter of
course, altogether respectable.

It is a happy feature in the composition of our republican institutions, both social and
political, that we can afford to let the flashy men of the day — not of twie — flaunter in all
their purchased fancy in house-building, without prejudice to the prevailing sober senti-
ment of their neighbors, in such particulars. The man of money, simply, may build his
"villa," and squander his tens of thousands upon it. He may riot within it, and fidget
about it for a few brief years; he ma}' even hang his coat of arms upon it, if he can for-
tunately do so without stumbling over a lapstone, or greasing his coat against the pans of
a cook-shop; but it is equally sure that no child of his will occupy it after him, even if
his own changeable fancy or circumstances permit him to retain it for his natural life.
Such are the episodes of countrj' house-building, and of frequent attempts at agricultural
life, by those who affect it as a matter of ostentation or display. For the subjects of these
we do not write. But there is something exceedingly grateful to the feelings of one of sta-
ble views in life, to look upon an estate which has long been in an individual family, still
maintaining its primitive character and respectability. Some flve-and-twenty years ago,
when too young to have any established opinions in matters of this sort, as we were dri-
ving through one of the old farming towns in Massachusetts, about twenty miles west of
Boston, we approached a comfoi table, well-conditioned farm, with a tavern-house upon
the high road, and several great elms standing about it. The road pas.sed between two
of the trees, and from a cross-beam, lodged across their branches, swung a large square
sign, with names and dates painted upon it — the name and date we have forgotten; it was
a good old Puritan name, however — in this wise:

" John Endicott, 1652."
" John Endicott, 1695."

SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.

i

" John Endicott, 1749."

" John Endicott, 1784."

" John Endicott, 1817."
As our eyes read over this list, we were struck with the stability of a famil}^ who for
niaiij'- consecutive generations had occupied, by the same name, that venerable spot, and
ministered to the comfort of as many generations of travellers, and hicontinently took off
our hat in respect to the record of so much worth, drove our horse under the shed, had
him fed, went in, and took a quiet famil}- dinner with the civil, good tempered host, and
the equally kind-mannered hostess, then in the prime of life, surrounded with a fine fa-
mily of children, and heard from his own lips the history of his ancestors, from their first
emigration from England — not in the Mayflower, to whose immeasurable accommodations
oui good New-England ancestors are so prone to refer — but in one of her early successors.
All over the old thirteen states, from Maine to Georgia, can be found agricultural es-
tates now containing [;vmilies, the descendants of those who founded them — exceptions to
the general rule, we admit, of American stability of residence, but none the less gratify-
ing to the contemplation of those who respect a deep love of home, wherever it maj'^ be
found. For the moral of our episode on this subject, we cannot refrain from a descrip-
tion of a fine old estate which we have frequently seen, minus now the buildings, which
then existed, and long since supplanted b}' others equally respectable and commodious,
and erected b}' the successor of the original occupant, the late Dr. Boylston, of Roxbu-
ry, who long made the farm his summer i-esidence. The description is from an old work,
" The History of the County of Worcester, in the State of Massachusetts, by the Rev.
Peter Whitney, 1793:"

" Many of the houses (in Princeton,) are large and elegant. This leads to a particular
mention, that in this town is the country seat of the lion. Moses Gill, Esq., (' Honora-
ble' meant something in those days,) who has been from the year 1775, one of the Judges
of the Court of Common Pleas for the count}' of Worcester, and for several 3'ears a coun-
sellor of this commonwealth. His noble and elegant seat is about one mile and a quarter
from the meeting house, to the south. The farm contains upwards of three thousand
acres. The count}"^ road from Princeton to Worcester passes through it, in front of the
house, which faces to the west. The buildings stand upon the highest land of the whole
farm; but it is level round about them for many rods, and then there is a very gradual
descent. The land on which these buildings stand is elevated between twelve and thir-
teen hundred feet above the level of the sea, as the Hon. James Winthkop, Esq., in-
forms me. The mansion house is large, being 50 by 50 feet, with four stacks of chim-
nies. The farm house is 40 feet by 3G : In a line with this stand the coach and chaise-
house, 50 feet by 36. This is joined to the barn by a shed 70 feet in length — the barn is
200 feet b}' 32. Verj- elegant fences are erected around the mansion house, the out-hou-
ses, find the garden.

"The prospect fioin this seat is extensive and grand, taking in a horizon to the cast,
of seventy miles, at least. The blue hills in Milton are discernable Avith the naked eye,
from the windows of tliis superb edifice, distant not less than sixt}' miles; as also the
waters in the harbor of Boston, at certain seasons of the year. When we view this seat,
these buildings, and this farm of so many bundled acres, now under a liigh degree of pro-
fitable cultivation, and are told that in the year 17GG it was a perfect wilderness, M'e are
sti'uck with wonder, admiration and astonishment. The honorable proprietor thereof
must have great satisfaction in contemplating these improvements, so extensive, mad
der his diiection, and, I may add, by his own active industry. Judge Gill is a

CONSTRUCTION OP FRUIT ROOMS.

man of singular vivacity and activity, and indefatigable in his endeavors to bring forward
the cultivation of his lands; of great and essential service, by his example, in the em-
ployment he finds for so many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of
the place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and public generosity,
and deserves great respect and esteem, not only from indivivuals, but from the town and
counti y he has so greatly benefited, and especially by the ways in which he makes use of
that vast estate wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him."

Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it sixty years ago;
and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by equally valuable men, then existed,
and still exist in all our older states; and if our private and public virtues are preserved,
will ever exist in every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible illustrations
of the morals of correct building on the ample estates of many of our American planters
and farmers. The mansion house, which is so graphically described, we saw but a short
time before it was pulled down — then old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of
wood, and of style something like this design of our own, bating the extent of veranda.

The cost of this house may be from $5,000 to $8,000, depending upon the material of
which it is constructed, the degree of finish given to it, and the locality where it is built.
All these circumstances are to be considered, and the estimates should be made by practi-
cal and experienced builders, who are competent judges in whatever appertains to it.

CONSTRUCTION OF FRUIT ROOMS— KEEPINa PEARS.

The time has now arrived when intelligent cultivators are no longer satisfied with a
supply of the best fruit during the few weeks when it may be plucked fresh from the tree.

The best artificial method for prolonging the period of maturity must be ascertained;
and when once reached, cannot fail to be sought with great eagerness. For it becomes a
matter of no little consequence, whether the cultivator, who has expended a considerable
sum to purchase, raise, and carefully cultivate a fine orchard of trees, be permitted to eat
the best fruit only during two or three months of" the fruit season," or to feast on melt-
ing pears, all through a long winter, and till the fresh trusses of strawberries are redden-
ing his garden beds the next summer. This is no chimera — it will be done.

The old fashioned receipt for keeping winter apples, was " to lock them in a cool cellar
and hide the key." But this simple process will not answer for pears. These evaporate
moisture much more rapidly than apples, which have a more impervious epidermis.
Place an apple in a dry room, and it will continue plump for along time. During the same
period, a pear will become badly shrivelled.

Winter apples are usually suljected to many changes before the time comes round
for them to be eaten. They are placed in a dry room, tending to evaporate their mois-
ture; there are removed to damp cellars, where moisture is re-absorbed; changes of tem-
perature, besides being accompanied alternately with dryness and humidit3% also affect
the keeping qualities by the direct action of heat and cold. Tt is not surprising that pears,
when subjected to these changes, being much more susceptible than apples, should be
found so hard to keep. This is the reason why we so often hear the complaints, " I can't
keep winter pears" — or, " they wont ripen with me, thcj^ either wither, or rot. or both"
nter pears area humbug!"
the best Bartletts and Virgalieus could be taken from the tree five days before their

-4^^

CONSTRUCTION OF FRUIT ROOMS.

usual period of maturitj^, (as they always should be,*) and submitted to a temperature
scaicely above freezing, and where no change, either in temperature or moisture could oc-
cur, they would keep an indeffinite length of lime — it is hard to say how long, — whether
seven months or seven years— and the nearer they are made artificially to approach this
condition, the longer they will keep. This, with the exclusion of light and moisture,
which always tend to produce decay, constitutes all that is at present known and estab-
lished, relative to the keeping of fruit in a simple unprepared state. The exclusion of air
from fruit in its simple ordinary condition, is of less importance than is usually supposed,
as it usually contains within itself, all the elements for fermentation.

Tn constructing a fruit room, therefore, the first and leading requisite is to guard against
changes of temperature, that is, to exclude frost and heat. Hence, the same principles
substantially must be applied, as in the erection of an ice-house — the adoption of double
walls, double roof, and double doors, forming perfect non-conductors of heat.

The annexed plan exhibits, in substance.

the best mode at present used for the con-
struction of the walls and shelves. The
walls are double, and may be made of brick
or of matched boards — the former will be
most secure from changes of heat and cold.
The enclosed plate of air serves as an addi-
tional non-conductor; but as its circulation
in this confined space cari-ies the heat from
one wall to another, a filling in of some po-
rous substance to prevent this circulation, is
a decided improvement. Col. Wilder is ve-
ry successful with charcoal dust — saw-dust
or dried tan would be as efficacious. On each side of the room is a window, a a, corres-
ponding with the two walls, so that the room may always be kept dark; each shutter is
made of boards, double, or with a confined portion of air. These
windows serve for cleaning and airing the room before gather-
ing the fruit, and for ventilation in a few rare instances, when
occupied. The doors, b, are also made double. In ordinary ca-
ses, all the ventilation required is effected by registers placed in
the walla near the floor and roof. The table, c, at the center of
the room, is used for the reception of fruit, before placing on the
shelves. It is covered with cotton, or other soft substance, to
prevent bruising. The shelves are divided into narrow stiips,
with the space of an inch between each, to facilitate the circulation
of air through them. The upper ones are raised at the back, as
shown in Fig. 2, that the fruit may be easily seen. All are pro-
vided with a ledge-board in front.

Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, has given much attention to
the preservation of winter pears, and has been so successful as ' Fig. 2.

to keep good specimens through the whole of spring into the summer months. His
fruit room was at fiist below ground, or in other words was a eellar, but he found
it too warm, too damp, and not well fitted for the purpose. He then adopted the
opposite extreme, and constructed a fruit room over his carriage-house, havin
* Tliere may be a very few e.xoeplions— such, for example, as llie Andrews.

CONSTRUCTION OF FRUIT ROOMS.

ble walls, filled with powdered charcoal. The fruit is arranged on shelves, and on
tlie approach of the severest weather of winter^ it is removed and packed in boxes,
with a thin laj-er of clean r^-e straw between each tier. The boxes are then placed
together, and covered with hay three feet deep. Joseph Moormax, of London, has
a fruit room, also over a carriage house, the walls not filled in, and perhaps in other
respects not so secure from frost as would be desirable. A small stove is therefore
placed in one corner, to be used when necessity demands. (It is also used for repelling
moisture.) lie succeeds admirabh', however, in preserving an even temperature, and
states that " when the weather becomes frosty, it is several days before the thermometer
is affected as much as one degree." Tlie fruit room of the London Horticultural Society,
under the charge of Robert Thompson, is doubtless a more perfect structure; the double
walls, eight inclies apart, are filled in with dry moss, and according to the statement of
H. W. Surgent in a former number of the Horticulturist, fire is never used, although the
thermometer in open air has sunk to 5* below zero. The fruit is on open shelves. Long
continued severe weather, as often occurs in this country, would of course be more diffi-
cult to guai'd against than a sudden snap.

It is obvious that artificial heat should be used with extreme caution, as it is changes
of temperature and of moisture that cause speedy decay. Ventilation by opening the
room to the air outside, is only to be effected when the temperature within and without
are the same. Some French horticulluiists have made use of the chloride of calcium* for
absorbing the superabundant moisture of their fruit rooms, which entirely obviates the
necessitj' for currents of external air, and without any change in temperature. It absorbs
double its own weight of moisture, and then becomes liquid. It is placed in a shallow
wooden box, so as to expose two or three superficial feet to the air, the box being open also at
one corner, which being placed lowest upon a table the liquid chloride immediatel}' drains
off and runs into an earthern vessel. It may then be dried over a hot fire, and be as
good as befoi'e.

The amount of moisture in differrent localities and situations, is no doubt quite unlike.
Some cellars are much dryer than others, which is a reason that some are quite success-
ful in keeping fruit, when others with equal care entirel}' fail. An important object in
selecting an upper room is not however merely to avoid inoisture. To secure coolness is
the main reason — especiall}' during the last half of autumn, when a great man}' winter
pears arc permanently injured for keeping by too much warmth. But the moisture of the
air should be so regulated as never to condense upon the fruit, (kept at the same tempera-
ture.) producing what is usually termed sweating — nor to be so little that the fruit shall
throw off its juice to the dry atmosphere, producing shi'ivelliug. A little experience in
a well constructed room would enable any one to manage this point accurately'.

We should have mentioned, when speaking of the construction of the shelves, that they
should be evenly covered with some soft substance, one of the best of which is ha}' made
from the spear or June grass, (^Poa pratensis,') which is remarkable for its softness and
elasticity. The fruit should then, after being carefully assorted from all bruised or de-
cayed specimens, and wiped dry, be placed in a single layer upon this, without touching.

It will be understood by all familiar with keeping winter pears, that when the speci-
mens approach the usual period of maturity, they should be successively removed to a
warmer room, Avhere a ^aw days will develope their golden color and their melting tex-
ture.

As we have already observed, the great leading requisite is a low and uniform tempera

* Obtained by heating common chloride of lime.

CRITIQUE ON THE AUGUST HORTICULTURIST.

ture, and exclusion from light; the fruit having the elements for fermentation "within
itself, the absence of air is not of great importance, under ordinar3'- circumstances. The
great success which has been found to attend packing in charcoal, sawdust, chaff, &c., is
largely owing to the preservation of a uniform temperature by these non-conductors of
heat, and to the exclusion of light — with occasionally the additional advantage of admit-
ting of being placed in a cold and damp cellar by absorbing the surplus moisture.

All this care will, no doubt, appear to some as altogether too great for practice. But
even supposing that the room and its management will cost as much as the fruit garden
and its cultivation, would not doubling or tripling the period for the maturity of pears,
amply repa}' all trouble? And, estimated by money merelj'', would not such a room for
the marketer of the finest specimens, prove eminently profitable, b}^ enabling him to sell
his best specimens for twenty-five cents each, as has been repeatedly done both here and
in Europe, for well kept rare sorts.' Many thousands could be placed in a singlebuilding;
and as high profits are in future to accompany the cultivation of the very best, it is well
worth wliile to look at the mode that shall contribute to the highest perfection.

Such a room as we have desciibed would be an admira-
ble place for grapes, either deposited on the shelves, or
(still better) suspended by wire hooks at the apex of each
bunch, causing the bunches to spread and the grapes to
hang apart and prevent rotting.

In all cases where a cellar is used for keeping fruit, as
is usually the case with common winter apples, the evils
of dampness may be much lessened by placing the shelves Fig. 3.

in the centre, (a, Fig. 3,) and leaving a space all around for passage. (6. 6.) These
shelves may be suspended on iron rods, at such a distance from the walls and floor that
the most expert rat can never reach them by his longest leap. The^' may be twice as
wide as usual, as they are reached from the passage on both sides.

CRITIQUE ON THE AUGUST HORTICULTURIST.

BY JEFFREYS.

Shade Trees in Cities. — It was fitting that the last essay of Downing to his readers,
should be on his favorite subject of trees; and never has he talked to us more wisel}', nor
upon any subject can his advice be better heeded. It were useless to comment upon what
has been so well and fitly spoken. If any one characteristic of good taste stood marked
and prominent in the affections of our late friend, it was his deep love of the scenery of his
native land, in its freshness and grandeur, clothed with its oM^n luxuriant forest trees. He
has made them classic by the graces of his pen, and taught us all to love and admire them
beyond any and all others.

Had I the melancholy privilege to select the final resting place of Dow^ning, it should
be on the sunny breast of a hill looking out upon the Hudson, near the place of his birth
and his residence. It should be where the pure waters of a bubbling spring would call
out the earliest flowers of the season, and freshen the green turf beneath the sere and ycl-
aves of the waning year. A group of noble forest trees should protect, with their
hadow, a j)lain marble shaft bearing simply his name and age — all within a neat iron

CRITIQUE ON THE AUGUST HORTICULTURIST.

railing. In this hallowed spot would the Blue-bird carol his first song to the returning
spring, and the Redbreast chaunt his last sad wail over the departing autumn — simple,
touching, beautiful. Such should be the burial place of the most accomplished Horticul-
tural writer of his time!

The Curcalio IVarfare — a Successful B(ittli\{?) — " Don't shout till you are out of
the woods," my friend. Try it another year or two, and see if you remain successful.
We have already been told in these columns, by those who have tried it, that whitewash
amounts to but little in preventing the ravages o( this pest, and I am more than half of
that opinion. Still, we are inclined to heed j'our experience with all due respect, and hope
that it ma}' [)rove successful h.ereafter.

Kutas oil. Forfij-foLir Varieties of Strawberries. — Enough, in all conscience. Yet it is
well to " try all things, and hold fast unto that which is good." For a venture, I will select
out from this foity-four, the following four kind.s — leaving out the forty — and those who
choose may further experiment with the others; Burr's New Pine, Hovey's Seedling, Large
Early Scarlet, and Rival Hudson. These comprise the earliest, largest, highest flavored,
and latest kinds we have, for ordinary cultivation, and are enough for anyone family sup-
ply, or for any one man to grow for the markets. Yet a substitution of others for some
of theese may be better for some localities.

Mr. Pardee is entitled to our thanks for his zeal and perseverance in thus testing so
many varieties, and f\ivoring us with his opinions of their value. Some of them ma}', for
certain soils, excel those 1 have selected; others may better please the taste of amateurs;
and no doubt, others yet, which Mr. Pardee mentions in favorable terms, may be equal,
possibly excel in excellence, the four varieties which are our choice. Enough has been
discovered to sliow that an almost infinite variety of good strawberries can be produced
from the seeds of the best we now have in cultivation.

Strawberries and their Nutrition. — The thanks of every strawberry grower are due to
Doctor Hull for this very scientific, practical, and able article. It speaks for itself; and,
together with the editorial remarks, will be read with marked attention by every one in-
terested in the subject. There are some positions in it which may be doubted in some
parts of our country; but even there, sound instruction may be received from the particu-
larity of cultivation, and the method of applying the special manures which have been
used. Every one cannot afford to grow strawberries as Dr. Hull has grown them, even
without his application of special stimulants; yet all who grow them for their own tables
can afford to cultivate them well, and to provide that aliment which will develope their
best qualities.

Fifteen or twenty years ago, good table strawberries, with most people, were scarcely
known, and among those who did know them, the Chillis, Alpines, and a few poor things,
both in bearing and fiavor, were all that could be found. Now the country housekeeper,
with a garden of his own, who cannot, for three months in the summer, furnish his table
three times a day, if necessary, with any quantity of the best of strawberries, is consid-
ered far behind the times, in any intelligent neighborhood. They are, in fact, as easily
produced as tomatoes.

There is one thing, however, against which I must protest, in the zeal to produce large
strawberries. These overgrown, highly stimulated fruits of any kind, are, and must be,
from the very nature of things, deficient in flavor. There is no fruit we cultivate which
produces so much weight of flesh in proportion to its stem and root as the strawberry. It
nish but a given amount of its own specific flavor, according to the size of the plant,
fruit it may bear. All beyond that given amount of flavor must, of course, be

CRITIQUE ON THE AUGUST HORTICULTURIST.

simply water, and perhaps badly tarted at that, partaking largely of the properties of the
stimulant from which its size is made. The experience of every one who remarks it must
agree to this assertion, and for high flavor, and the real excellence of the fruit, it is not de-
sirable to cultivate overgrown specimens, or to get them much beyond their natural size.
The field strawberry — and of these there are many varieties — when grown in good locali-
ties, are acknowledged to be the highest flavored known; and this flavor is acquired by
letting nature take its own course, and perfect the fruit in its own way. Not that I would
advocate the field strawberry as superior to others, but merely to illustrate, that beyond
a certain point nature will not hejorced into the full and complete development of her
bounties.

Of the virtues of tannic acid, it may still remain a doubtful point whether it is of any
real benefit beyond the very convenient and excellent quality it has as a mulch for the
strawberr}^ Field strawberries certainly get nothing of it beyond the rotten wood and
decayed leaves which sometimes reach them in their chance localities. That the tan-bark
keeps them clean, and protects them from frost and drouth, is certain, and therefore it
may be fully used — {spent tan) but beyond this, good old fashioned manures and stimu-
lants, in soil not naturally rich, are indispensable.

Illinois Horticulture, Insects, Professor Turner, Sfc. — Doctor Kennicott is always
running over with good things. This very narrative of his makes one almost jump out on
a start for the western prairies, where he can " throw himself" into all liberty of action,
phase of thought, and extent of imagination. The Great West! Who can comprehend
it, in its vast outline, its inexhaustible luxuriance of soil, its far stretching interminable
streams, its grandeur of vegetation, its boundless scope, its healthful climate — its ener-
getic, enterprising, full-souled peojile! A century hence — and what must it be? With its
railways, its commerce, its cities, its farms, orchards, gardens, and, beyond all, its popu-
lation. Well did Bishop Berkley look with prophetic vision when he wrote:

" Time's noblest Empire is the last.'^

A Talk about Pigs. — Mr. Allen seems to be associating himself largely with the aris-
totiacy — in the way of fivrm stock, and he is right. When such gentlemen as these he
names and alludes to, show such examples of liberality and public spirit in the introduc-
tion of improved stock to the farmers of our country, it must remain to the lasting dis-
grace of such farmers if they do not acknowledge the benefit they receive from it, and
reward such benefactors to their interests in a liberal purchase of their animals.

Neio Hardy Cherries. — Good. We want fruits adapted to every extremity of climate
and soil in our countrj"-, and good fruits too. These new varieties of the different kinds,
as we occasionally find them from the productions of our enterprising pomnlogists, are
significant of the fact that we can produce the required varieties tosupplj- all our demands.
It is to be hoped that these new cherries of Mr. Kirtland, will do good service to the
public.

Large Trees in the State of N^tv-York. — " It is much to be regretted, indeed, that we
have no chronicles of the grand old forest giants that have long been passing away from
among us. But for the occasional trunks which still remain as monuments of past ages
in some sections of the country, the diniensions of such enormous trees would seem al-
most fabulous. I have seen many an one of these

" last of a miglity line,"

in my own wanderings, and never gazed upon their immense stems and hoary branches

thout a feeling of profound reverence, at the majest}^ which had thus braved the storms

thousand years. Every man whose good fortune it is to own the soil on which one

NOTES ON STRAWBERRIES.

of those valuable relics remain, should consider it a religious dut}^ to protect it while he
lives, and to enjoin upon his successors in possession of the estate to cherish it after him.
Tn after days these time-honored monuments vill become the vegetable "Meccas" of our
land, to receive the homage of many a " pilgrim" in the walks of arboriculture.

Climate of San Francisco. — Among the interludes of gold hunting, lynch-Iaw, burn-
ing towns, and speculations in the far away Eldorado of California, we get an occasional
glimpse of its climate and soil, and its agricultural and horticultural resources. These
indicate a more favorable character, as the inhabitants begin to get acquainted with them,
than at first; and when the pursuits of the people once get settled, and the several divi-
sions of labor work into their appropriate spheres, as they probably will in due time
California, in its fertile valleys, hills, and plains, may become a productive region in most
of the useful grains and fruits with which we are acquainted. Its agriculture, if we are
to believe the accounts of many of their farming achievements, is wonderfully remunera-
tive—quite as much so as gold digging. A substantial agricultural interest must be plant-
ed there before California can become a wholesome state, either in morals or permanent
prosperity. But in the excitable, adventurous emigration which constantly flows upon it
from the older states, but a small portion can be expected to settle down into the quiet
pursuit of agriculture, and it will probably be many years before a regular system of
husbandry will be established sufficient to give stability to its productions, or to support
a large population. For many years, therefore, those who cultivate the soil with patience
and industry, will reap large rewards for the capital and labor invested in agriculture.

Country Seats about Boston. — De gustibus non disputandum. Why, gentlemen, each
all, and every one of the charming country seats you talk about, are fine places, in their
way. No matter whether a residence and grounds occupy a site on a hill, a plain, ur in
a valley, so that it be properly built, arranged, and planted, it may be equally beautiful
and attractive. Individual variety in such things is what makes the whole, taken col-
lectively, beautiful. Variety of surface demands variety in buildings and in the formation of
the grounds around them. How monotonous would look a range of villas and grounds,
plantations and gardens, all after one pattern! A small enclosure, besidean extensive one;
a cottage, in the neighborhood of a palace; a wood near an open field; a highly cultiva-
ted garden with its flowers and shrubbery, protected by the adjoining forest of laro-e and
stately trees — all give variety, character, and completeness to the landscape, which the dull
monotony of like things would fail to do, and thus a country, uninteresting in itself, as the
neighborhood of Boston would be in its natural state, becomes one of the most enchant-
ing character, by the diversity of art and taste which is exercised in its embellishment. I
wish every city in the United States was half as well environed, in its country places, as
Boston. We should be far in advance of what we now are. Jeffreys.

NOTES ON STRAWBERRIES.

BY G. W. HUNTSMAN, FLUSHING, N. V.

It is desirable, now that so many new seedlings are coming into notice, to define, if pos-
sible, what qualities are the most desirable. Those which I consider as constitutino- a
perfect strawberry, are the following:

A vigorous and hardy plant — capable of bearing alike our summers' sun and wi

2. Productive — giving uniformly a good crop of fruit under ordinarily kind treatment

3. Having strong trusses, of sufficient length to keep the fruit from the ground.

4. Fruit uniformly large, of a regular conical shape.

5. Flesh solid, rich and juicy — of a sprightly or luscious flavor.

g. Color — bright scarlet or crimson— one that will not become dull on exposure

Color may not seem to be of much importance — but as a quality of fruit for mai-ket, it
becomes a matter of great consideration. I have found that generally, the light scarlets
retain best their bright appearance. The Early Scarlet and British Queen possess beauti-
ful colors, which do not change much after being kept for some time. Hovey's Seedling
is much at fault as regards color; after being exposed, its color becomes so dull as to in-
duce the belief that the fruit is stale. If a plant could be produced, having the vigor, har-
diness, and productiveness of Hovey's Seedling, with the fruit of the British Queen, it
would very nearly realise my ideas of a perfect strawberry. That such a plant will be
produced, I have very little doubt.

The following notes were made during the fruiting season. Though not very full, they
may still be of some interest. In many cases the plants were only put out last autumn,
and consequently did not exhibit fully their qualities.

Mcjivoy's Superior — Vigorous and productive — fruit large, rich and juicy. One of
our very best varieties, though it will not, I think, quite equal Hovey's in size, but then
it is much superior in quality.

Burr's New Pine — Not quite so vigorous or productive as some other varieties.

Bichardson's Seedlings — Not sufficiently productive to merit much attention.

Moyamcnsing Pine — Plants very vigorous and productive — fruit, medium size— flavor,
about equal to Buist's Prize. Not superior to Hovey's Seedling.

Huntsman's Pistillate — One of the most productive varieties — fruit, large and beauti-
ful— flavor, very indifferent.

JVillcy — Productive, but too acid.

Tlie following are new seedlings raised by Mr. Wm. R. Princk. II. indicates herma-
prodite — P. pistillate.

Primate— (li.) Very productive— fruit large— about equal in flavor to Hovey's Seed-
ling.

Superlative— (V.') A seedling of Burr's New Pine. About equal in size and flavor to
its parent. Plants grow more vigorously — probably more productive than Burr's New
Pine.

Triumph — (II.) Resembles the large Early Scarlet, both in color and flavor — but of
twice the size. Very productive. Fruit borne on strong trusses. If of vigorous growth,
it will be one of the most valuable varieties for market.

Prince's Imperial Scarlet — (P.) Fruit large, light scarlet, and of excellent flavor —
a very promising variety. Another season will test its value.

The following six varieties are seedlings of the Swainstone:

Twice Bearing Sivainstone — (P.) Very productive — early, of medium size — about
equal in flavor to Hovey's Seedling. Said to bear a second crop in September.

Sylphide, Monstrous Swainstone, Maximus Swainstone and Le Baron, are all herma-
phrodite plants of great vigor — moderately or quite productive — fruit large, and of deli-
cious flavor. Of these, the Le Baron is probably the best; fruit nearly or quite as large
as Hovey's, and of the exquisite flavor of the Swainstone — the most desirable hermnphro-
that I have yet seen, though I have not yet seen Mr. Longworth's Prolific, or
hermaprhodite, which are said to be varieties of great excellence.

LAYING OUT GROUNDS.

Climax — (P.) Plants very vigorous — fruit of a larger average size than an}' other va
riety that I have seen; of a beautiful light scarlet color, but not of first quality as regards
flavor. May be a good market fruit. G. W. Huntsman.

Flushing, L. /., August 1, 1352.

LAYING OUT GROUNDS OF MODERATE EXTENT.

BY B. M., NEW-YORK.

We know that many individuals fancy that there is not much to learn on this subject:
on the contrary, that " every one knovrs how he likes to have his place done," and that
as it is " all a matter of taste," each one can follow his own.

It is perfectly true that it is "a matter of taste," and this is the very fact which in-
volves in it the mistake which those fall into, who have never given their attention to the
study of landscape scenery; not in its native grandeur only, but as combined with, and
made subservient to the conventionalities of art. The jnistake consists in supposing that
persons who have formed a general notion of what they wish done, cannot be assisted in
the development and carrying out of their own desires and wishes, by the landscape gar-
dener.

A little reflection will, nevertheless, satisfy the most .skeptical that there is error in such
a conclusion. Let any one recall to memorj' his jirimitive ideas upon subjects which he
has subsequently studied, and in which he has attained proficiency, and compare them
with his matured judgment, and he will be at no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion
that his first ideas were crude and incomplete, if not positively erroneous. What he had
regarded as perfection, or at least as a degree of excellence which would, at the outset,
have gratified his every want, will, with his improved acquaintance with the subject, ap-
pear to his mind wholly inadequate to his present requirements.

The reason of this is obvious. However alive we may be to the perfection of beauty,
whether in nature or art, our perceptive faculties in the exercise, admit of culture which
augments our powers of enjoyment. That, therefore, which satisfied him in the first in-
stance, ceases to do so, when, by greater familiarity with the subject under consideration,
we become more conscious of the capabilities of our nature, to derive from its higher cul-
tivation, an increased measure of those pleasurable sensations in which our enjoyment, or
in other words, the reception of impressions agreeable, whether to our senses or our men-
tal faculties, consists.

Again, let a man travel through miles upon miles of an unreclaimed country, where there
js but little diversity of scenery; where no massive rocks arouse the imaginative powers
by their sublimit}', and where the absence of water leaves nothing for the weary eye of
the wayfarer to rest upon, but the arid ruggedness of barren waste. Let him then come
to some favored spot, where the hand of man has raised an oasis in this desert. With
what rapture is the first glance of the eager eye cast wistfully around, almost doubting
whether the welcome sight is visionary or real! W^hy is this? Because that man's taste
has been educated — has learnt to distinguish between the rough features of nature's most
rustic garb, and the grateful smile which she puts on under the fostering hand of man. In
words, he has unconsciously learnt part of that endless, but never fruitless lesson,
by industry, that not only are our wants supplied, but our innocent pleasures are

LAYING OUT GROUNDS.

even amply gratified, in return for the diligent use of those means which a merciful provi-
dence has placed within the reach of all.

And thus will it ever be found in reference to the stud}^ of the beautiful in nature, and
the adaptation of her wilds and wildernesses to our present uses. The more we become
practicalljr acquainted with the associations of country life, the more shall we becomesen-
aible of the numberless instances in which lougb untouched grounds admit of being ac-
commodated bj' the experienced e3'e, to the immediate wants and requirements of the ele-
gancies of domestic life, and this, very frequently, by simple, although most eifective, be-
cause judiciously directed means.

The first thing to be done in setting about to lay out grounds of moderate extent, is to
take a survey of the whole, and determine upon the situation for the house or villa, as-
suming that it is not already erected. In doing this, one of the chief considerations
should be the aspect, and its situation as regards elevation. This, to be judiciously de-
cided upon, must depend not only upon the greater or less extent of the grounds, and
their even surface or the contrarj'^, but also upon the nature of the surrounding localities;
for instance, the presence or absence of river, lake, or any considerable expanse of water,
or of mountainous, or less elevated scenery in the vicinity. More cannot, therefore, be
said upon that point, (within our limited space,) than that due regard should be had to
these accidents of situation, so as to take advantage of the surrounding scenerj', and so to
place the residence that it should command an extensive, and at the same time as varied a
view, as ma}' be.

The situation for the house being determined upon, the general plan of the whole ground
has to be arranged. Of course, any domestic offices and out-houses, such as stables, wood
house, poultry house, &c., should be placed in the rear of the dwelling house, and be con-
cealed from sight b}' a small plantation of trees, and b}' the kitchen garden, taking care,
in the position of the latter, that a fjivorable aspect is obtained for it, with a southern ex-
posure as nearly as possible.

The general effect now to be given to tlie whole, will mainly depend upon two circum-
stances; the one the distribution of the trees and shrubs, and the other, the nature of the
surface. The most favorable ground for landscape gardening, is that which is uneven —
presenting an undulating surface, and if with mounds and elevations at some parts, or
with a gentle ascent of a considerable portion of it in another direction, so much the bet-
ter. The distant scenery should be glanced over, with a view to endeavor to bring it in,
by opening its most picturesque portions. The removal of a few trees at intervals, will
often effect this, taking care in so doing, that such only are cut down, as are not essential
to the home scenery — and only removing sufficient to obtain the view, without exposing
the privacy of the residence.

If in the distant landscape a view of water can be brought in, nothing adds more, and
few things so much, to the general effect. In the introduction of the distant .scenery, care
should be taken to avoid opening to view those parts of it which may not offer agreeable
features; and unless the scene of operations be on an elevated situation, it is generally ex-
pedient to avoid the exposure of a great breadth of fiat country, unless bounded b}' dis-
tant hills. Then, again, the question of what parts of the outer sceenery are to be open-
en upon, must, in many instances, be regulated by that within the grounds. If, for in-
stance, there happens to be within the grounds a considerable plantation of dense foliage,
wiiich it is desirable to retain for tlie purpose of shelter, or for any particular reason, a
ct will usually result from cutting through it a small opening, by which a pleasi
is caught of the distant view. By such means the sombreness of the mass

LAYING OUT GROUNDS.

effect upon home scenery, is much relieved. Another effect of striking elegance is produc
ed, if, in exposing the distant landscape to the grounds, it can be so done that any fine,
noble tree, (or group of two or three trees,) upon them, can be left standing, mid- way,
as it were, between the observer and the outer landscape; Avhether the tree or group is
so placed as to be presented to the eye at the side or center of the general view, is of little
moment. Few who recall to mind the magnificent effects produced b}"- many of the great
landscape painters, by placing a tree in the foreground of their paintings, will fail to ap-
preciate readily the value of such an addition to the landscape. And although it may be
expedient to get one pretty extensive view of distant objects, assuming them, in character,
to present pleasing associations, it should always be borne in mind that more ornament
and variety are given to the general effect, (and particularly to the home scenery,) by
opening the distant prospect at several distinct points of view from the grounds, than by
exposing from one point a great extent of distant objects, by the sweeping destruction of
intervening foliage.

The distance having been called into requisition to the limit of its capability, the home .sce-
nery mustnDxtbeattended to — by which is meant the laying out those parts of the ground
not intended for garden culture, or required for domestic purposes. And it is here that a
small expenditure judiciously laid out by the landscape gardener, admits of the produc-
tion of great results; whilst unfortunately the practiced eye too often sees that it is here,
more than in any other pai'ticular, that large sums of money are expended frequently in
taking Jrom, instead of adding to, the rural beaut}' of the grounds.

If it is wished to retain, (as it is generally expedient to do,) a part of the grounds im-
mediately in front and adjacent to the house, as lawn, turf, or pleasure ground, that por-
tion, (be it greater or less, according to the wish of the proprietor,) should be marked off,
and shoufd be surrounded either by a fence or ditch. If the former, it is best that it
should be of light iron, or wire, so that it may be as invisible as may be, but if of wood,
as light, rustic, and elegant as possible; and it should be painted dark green, or some dark,
in preference to any light color. If a ditch, it should not be less than four feet wide, and
the earth dug out in making it should be throw^n up and made to form an embankment on
the homestead side. In case it is intended to plant the part so enclosed, with ornamental
trees and shrubs, it must be cleared from all brush and under-wood, and also from the
greater portion of the larger trees, leaving, however, here and there, one of them, to form
a contrast to the effects of art culture.

The treatment of tlie grounds outside this home fence, requires a more extended notice.
In the first place, supposing the ground to be hilly and uneven, above all things avoid the
prevailing error of setting to work to level it. It may be necessary in particular places,
and in some parts of many places, to expend some time and money in this use of the spade
and wheelbarrow; but, three times out of four, this is done to the positive injury of the
place, as it undoubtedly is usually to the pecuniary loss of the proprietor, and this to an
amount frequently far greater than the whole of his other out door expenditure. Time
out of time have we seen more money expended in moving earth upon a place, than would
have served to cover the cost of altering the grounds from a rough state, into first rate
order, if it had been laid out by a skilful landscape gardener, whose fee would but have
amounted to something like a merchant's commission upon the sum that would have been
saved.

Instead of looking round, therefore, to see how the ground can be levelled, look at the
positions occupied by the principal eminences of it, and then see whether they obstruct
the view of any desirable object — or if by their proximity to the residence, or otherwise.

^

LAYING OUT GROUNDS.

tlie}' interfere with the general arrangement; in the latter case it may be necessary to re
move them, or to reduce their size, but if not the}'' will usually add to the beauties of the
place. If at a considerable distance from the house, a group of trees upon the top or sides
of such eminences, will form a pleasing object, but on elevated spots nearer to the villa,
a single tree or two will usually be more effective. Wherever water is present in the
grounds, unless it be an artificial basin surrounded by a lawn of well kept turf, it is
desirable that a greater or less quantity of trees and shrubs should ornament its banks.
A broken foliage of diversified bright clear water, will be found more efficient than a belt
of even hedge row; and when a pond or small lake, it is seldom expedient that it should
extend around the whole area of it.

Throughout the grounds, some large trees which have attained, or which are approach-
ing to, maturity of growth, so as to have become single objects of beauty, should be left
standing, to give boldness to the whole, and as a principal means of insuring variety to
the landscape, as the spectator views it from the different points. In the selection of these,
attention should be given to retain a diversity of foliage. Around the sides of the ground
groups of trees of greater or less extent, should be left, not only for shelter, but to afford
a degree of outline to the premise.s — and before these should be left or planted .shrubs and
foliage of moderate growth, to act both as a fence, and to form a foreground to them.

In this mode of adapting the refinement of landscape gardening to the requirement of
places of moderate extent, the beauties brought into observation by it in no way interfere
with the employment of the land for the more profitable purposes of farming, or as pro-
ductive of the usual domestic enjoyments associated with country life. The features of
the rural landscape having been secured by the general treatment above indicated ; and
the private pleasure grounds, gardens, and poultry yard, having been protected by
fences, in the mode pointed out, the whole of the land may be adapted to such branches
of husbandry and farming, as the proprietor may desire. The cows and the sheep may
range over the pasture, and he may cultivate any crops he pleases. All that it has been
sought to do, is in the first start to secure on the one hand, a large share of rural beaut}^
to the grounds, (and which, in three or four j'ears will, by-the-bye, add in no small
degree to the value of the property,) and on the other, to save the owner from throwing
away a large sum of money in what he erroneously considers to be a necessar}' expense
" to make the place decent," whilst in reality, he expends it onlj' in destroying beau-
ties Mhich one-third of the sum would draw forth and portray in all the sublimit} of effect
for which nature has already fitted them.

In such an arrangement of ground as we have thus hastily sketched, if the parts of it
brought into culture for corn, or other tilled crops, be confined to the rear of the resi-
dence, and the other parts are devoted to pasturage for sheep or cattle, an air of park-like
appearance will be presented by the whole place, whilst, as we have before remai'ked, its
profitable and productive character will not be interfered with. A few evergreens, both
trees and shrubs, distributed here and there, will materially add to the general eifect, and
these may often be found already growing. The road of approach to the front of the
house, as well as the paths through the pleasure grounds, should be formed in greater or
less curved lines, and never, (except in very extensive grounds,) in straight lines. The
plantations of small shrubberies on either side of the house, (unless on one side it opens
upon the garden,) will also much influence the beauty of the whole. But our object has
been rather to direct attention to the material features of the general plan, than to par
rise the detail of minor points. B

York, Septejiber, 1852.

CULTURE OF SEA KALE.

ON THE CULTURE OF SEA KALE.

BY AAIERICUS, NEW-YORK.

ALTnotiGii we have such a variet}' of vegetables, that it may seem sui)erfluous to press
upon the public the good qualities of one at present but little in use; yet seeing that it is
onlj'' from want of its being better known, that sea kale fails to be fully appreciated, I
think all who try its cultivation will feel obliged to the Horticulturist for bringing this
excellent vegetable into notice.

In quality it takes its stand with asparagus, but has the advantage, with but little
trouble, of being available for the table some M'eeks earlier; and the beds of sea kale, like
those of asparagus, when once made, last for years.

If plants can be purchased, a year is saved, but if they cannot, the seed may be sown
either in October, or in April, as early as the ground can be worked. The seed should
be sown in drills, and when up, as soon as the plants are two inches high, tliey should be
thinned out to about four inches apart; so let them stand, if sown in the fall, until spring,
covering them during the winter with straw or other litter loosely, or what is bettei-, with
a frame and glass lights. In April put out the young plants in a fresh, dry, piece of rich
ground, about a foot apart, and let them stand, keeping them hoed occasionally until Oc-
tober, when, of course, they will be a year old, and tliese are the best plants with which
to make up the permanent bed; but plants sown in April, transplanted when three inches
high, as directed for the fall sown, and hoed till October, will do. The beginning of Oc-
tober, or any time between that and the setting in of haid weather, the permanent beds
may be planted, and this must be done with some care.

First, trench a piece of ground the size that it is intended to make the beds, laying some
good rotten manure at bottom, (though it may be coarse, rough stuff,) and if there be
some ashes made fioin burnt weeds, or refuse wood and bones, thrown in with it, all the
better. If the situation be at all wet duiing the winter months, trenches must be dug or
the beds thrown up, so as to drain off. Take the plants fiom the nur.sery bed and sort
them, so that those of a size may be planted together, which operation must be performed
as follows: The bed to be planted should be marked off into squares three feet each vva}-,
and at the intersections of the lines forming the squares, three plants should be put in
triangularl}"-, at the distance of eight inches apart, so as to form a hill. Thus, when
planted, the bed will consist of hills three feet distant from each other every way, and
three plants in each hill. The object of sorting the plants in sizes, is to have plants of
equal strength growing together in each hill, so that they may all be re:id3' to cut at the
same tin'ie. The bed being planted, nothing more requires to be done until signs appear
of the setting in of frost. About the time when the cold weather commences, the leaves
of the kale will die awaj', and then the}^ should be cleared off the bed, and a thick cover-
ing of some material must be put over the beds. Some rough manure should always be
put on to the thickness of three or four inches, at least, and if this material is in plenty,
nothing is better for the whole covering; but if otherwise, leaves, "ica weed, tan baik, or
black bog earth will do. AVhatevcr it may be, should be laid on a foot thick, or moie,
and tlius remain through the winter.

When the plants have reniaincd in this state for some four or five weeks, remove the
covering carefully from one or two of the hills to see whether they have commenced
iug; if so the shoots will be found an inch or more long, looking much like bhi

CULTURE OF SEA KALE.

celery; and as soon as these shoots get to be from four to six inches long, the cutting of
the bed for use may commence. The plants will continue to push into the material which
covers them, and it is whilst they are so doing that they are in perfection for the table.

Of course the time from which the cutting commences in the ordinary mode of culture
above detailed, will depend upon the greater or less severity of the weather after the bed
is covered over; but if it is wished to bring the bed into bearing at an earlier date, that
can readilj' be done by a very simple method of forcing, which is not attended b}^ the
trouble and constant care and watching required in forcing most other vegetables. The
mode of forcing is this: When about to put on the winter covering, if it is intended to
force the bed, before doing so, take some large sized flower pots, or some old barrels cut
in half, or old boxes, and invert one over each hill of plants, then cover the bed as usual
over the pots or boxes. Whenever it is wished to bring the bed into bearing remove the
material around each hill, and in its place throw some fresh or half rotten stable manure
upon the boxes, and in a few daj'S the slight fermentation from it will heat the air within
them, and the plants will shoot very rapidly.

In cutting the kale, care should be taken not to cut it too close to the crown of the plants,
or the product will be injured the following year. When the plants shoot up for bloom, the
cutting must be discontinued, and all the covering material, except the manure, removed
from the beds. The manure should then be just turned into the top of the bed, and a
little salt may with advantage be sprinkled over the beds, which should be kei)t clear from
weeds through the summer, and the growth of the plants encouraged by hoeing round
the hills occasionall}^, as upon their vigor depends the size of the roots, and the conse-
quent strength of growth of the shoots the following season. The beds should also be
dug over every year between the hills, but great care should be taken in so doing, not to
go too near the plants so as to disturb their position and the mass of roots immediately
around them. If stable manure is used as the covering material in winter in any con-
siderable quantity, that will keep up the condition of the beds in good bearing order, but
if other materials are used for the winter covering, then some manure should be put in
when the beds are dug over every year.

Where expense and labor are not regarded, and it is wished to prolong the season for
this delicious vegetable, some of the large plants in a bed, two or three years old, may,
before winter sets in, be taken up with large balls of earth and placed close together in a
garden frame, which may then be covered over with boards, taking care to leave a space
of 12 or 14 inches between the crown of the roots and the top of the frame; then by heap-
ing fresh stable manure upon and round the frame, the process of forcing will be very
much accelerated. Another mode often adopted where a hot-house is kept, is to put a
hill of old plants in a box and force near the flues; of course covering the crown of the
plants with a flower pot to exclude the light in order to blanch the shoots as they push
forth.

This vegetable is cooked and eaten exactly like asparagus.

Americus.

Neva-York. September 10, 1852.

TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF MR. DOAVNING.

€rilnitr5 tn tljr Si^pninrij nf 3^1r. IPninniiig.

471

TuE following beautiful tribute to the late
editor of The Horticulturist, written by one of
its correspondents, Henry F. French, Esq.,
of Exeter, N. H., is copied from the Home
Journal :

Poor Downing is dead. In the dreadful ca-
lamity on the Hudson, which brought death to
so man\ and sorrow to the hearts of thousands
more, he whose name is associated with all
that is fresh and beautiful in nature — with the
starting grass and fragrant blossoms of spring-
time— with the rustling leaves and waving
branches of summer — with the clustering fruits
and yellow harvest of autumn — has perished
from the glad and beautiful earth; how much
more glad and beautiful because of the life of
him who has just jjassed away.

He who, as a prophet, inspired with the very
genius of The Beautiful, taught us not only tlie
eternal principles of taste, and thus enabled our
judgments to appreciate its true manifestations,
but also infused into our hearts a genuine love
for what is lovely — giving to the eye a new
light in the glancing of the moonlit water, and
in the rainbow-hue of every dew-drop of the
morning — giving to the ear new music, as well
in the solemn rustling of the tempest-stricken
forest, as in the gentle murmuring of the zephyr
through our latticed bower; he who, by his
teachings, thus awakened in us a new life, and
so brought us more nearly into harmony with
the great Author and Architect of all, has gone
out from among us.

He who, as a wise and gentle brother, has
"taken sweet counsel " with us. in arranging
the "surroundings" of our pleasant rural homes,
in the position of every group of trees and everj'
flowering shrub that ornaments the lawn; he
who kindly sat with us, and carefully " counted
the cost" of our dwelling, planning with singu-
lar combination of knowledge and taste, the
various conveniences and luxuries of life show-
ing how far more necessary is a nice perception
of fitness and harmony to right enjoyment, than
abundant riches; he who has gilded the "re-
fined gold " of the wealthy, by working it out
into what has been expressively termed the
"frozen music" of architecture, and at the
same time has "painted the lily" and thrown
"a perfume on the violet" for the poor and
lowly, by enlightening their minds and fdling
them with new perceptions; he, our master and
f>ur friend, suddenly is " blotted from the things
that be."

And yet how little of such a man can die.
To his fiiuiily, to his immediate circle of per-
friends, and those who met him in the
walks of life, it is indeed death, in all its
reality. With them, " each heart know-

eth his own bitterness,'' and with their sorrow
"the stranger intermeddleth not '" But to us,
who chiefly knew him through his written
teachings, and have him still with us in the
pages of his "Landscape Gardening." "Cot-
tage Residences," and " Country Houses," in
his " Fruits and Fruit Trees," and " The Hor-
ticulturist"— tons, to the world, to posterity,
he still lives.

We mourn for one who, in his department of
knowledge, stood c.mfessedly above any other
on this whole continent — a man who came to
us, not like most great minds, too early to be
appreciated or even recognised, or tot> late to
be useful, but who came and was welcomed just
when the inhabitants of this western world had
laid down the woodman's axe, and were anx-
iously waiting for lessons which should enable
them to advance from the stern and rigid prin-
ciples of mere utility, to the higher and more
graceful pursuits of science and of art — from
'the rude cabin of the settler, to the vine-shel-
tered cottage or more lofty dwelling of the artist
and the scholar. This man, w(! are told, is
dead; but still he stands forth, for us. pre-emi-
nent as if yet among the living, patiently, ,'is
heretofore, in his written words, replying again
and again to our inquiry. How shall we make
the earth more beautiful, and humanity more
pure ?

Philosophy has suggested that the impress of
objects perceived by what we term sight, is
constantly repeated, projected, again and again,
into space, travelling with the rapidity of light,
to be intercepted, perchance, thousands of years
hence, by the refined senses of mortals even,
translated to distant spheres; and that nothing,
whether it be a material atom, a note of music,
or the reflected image of a flower, which has
once been, can ever cease to be. The thought,
however fanciful, is pleasing in connection with
the memory of one whose life has been success-
fully devoted to the creation of beauty all
around. How these daguerreotypes may have
filled all space, and eternity itself, with his
beautiful creations !

And now the trite question, nsually so easily
answered when one has gone who occupied a
large space in the public mind, will be heard,
" Who shall fill his placed" The answer to
this inquiry has already been suggested: His
place is already filled. The niche in Fame's
Temple for him who should develope a new world
in the pursuits of" Rural life and Rural Taste"
in America, like that for the discoverer of a con-
tinent, can contain bvt one statue.

In early manhood he has fallen, but not, in-
deed, before he had finislied a life-work, and we
who lament what seems, at first, his u
fate. sh(ndd remember that true life is n(
sured by vibrations of the pendulum, an

TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF MR. DOWNING.

his life is long which answers life's great end,"
whether it be drawn out to three score j'ears
and ten, or ended, like his, when scarcely half
those years have passed away.

And now, what eulogy for the dead ? what
monument to the memory of our friend depart-
ed? This work is also finished. Throughout
the length and breadth of our country, wherev-
er the air is fragrant with the perfume of cher-
ished flowers, or murmurs through cultivated
groves and gardens, it breathes tlie praises of
him whose spirit more than any other, has re-
fined the taste, and whose knowledge guided
the hand of the cultivator; and the winds which
sweep over our forests, — "those grand old
woods" of oak and pine, and hemlock — already
celebrate the fame of him who boldly asserted
their right to the first rank in the world's cata-
logue of tlie majestic works of nature. His
monument ! Is it not already on every hill-top.
and in every valley, in every town and every
village, where Gothic art expresses, with its ver-
tical lines, in lofty towers and pointed arches,
aspiring Hope, and all embracing love — where
the encircling, over-spreading, all uniting dome
of Roman architecture illustrates, in public
halls and capitols, the sentiments of patriotism
and unity?

He has, indeed, " erected a monument more
enduring than brass." His memory! Is it not
already beautifully entwined with the vine that
encircles the stately columns on the banks of
our noble liveis, or hangs from the humble
porch of the tree-sheltered cottage? Who
among us has built him a house, or planted a
vinej'ard, or reared a rare flower, uninfluenced
by his taste? Who. in town or country, does
not cherish an abiding sentiment of gratitude
and love towards one whose life it was to refine
and elevate the hearts of men, turning them
from gain and worldliness, to the ajipreciation
of the beautiful in the works of Him who has
not in vain, for his creatures, spread out the
landscape, and made the woods vocal, and the
air fragrant? No; of all who have thus sud-
denly perished,

" He will not float upon liis watery bier
Unwept."

With no desire to .sketch his every-day life, oi-
coldly to analyze his character as an author or
an artist, but under the first impulse of the min-
gled feelings of sadness, of att'ection. of bereave-
ment, which must find a wide sympathy through-
out our country, as his melancholy fate becomes
known, this notice of our departed friend has
been written.

" HEAVEN KEEP HIS MEMORY GREEN."

Cincinnati Hort. Society,

On Saturday, July 81, at the opening of the
meeting, the President arose and announced to
the Society that the telegraphic account of the

loss of the steamboat Henry Clay, on the North
River, contained a report of the death of A. J.
Downing, Editor of the Horticulturist, the
friend of horticultural science in the United
States. Members expressed an earnest hope
that there might be a mistake in the telegraj)!!,
even though it were hoping against hope.

Mr. Heaver moved that R. Buchanan, A. H.
Ernst, and S. Mosher, be appointed a commit-
tee to draft resolutions expressive of the deep
sympathy felt by our Society in the supposed
loss of this eminent friend of horticulture; and
in the hope that we may have been misinform-
ed, to withhold their report to next week. A
general gloom pervaded the Society, every man
feeling that he had lost a friend.

At the next meeting the committee rendered
the following report, which was silently adopted
by the Society:

The sad intelligence of the loss of the steamer
Henry Clay on the Hudson river, causing the
untimely death of a great number of our friends
and fellow-citizens, has been confirmed. Among
the lost, we are called upon to lament the death
of our distinguished and zealous fellow-laboier
in the cause of horticultural science and rural
taste, A. J. Downing, of Newburgh, New- York,
editor of the Horticulturist, and corresponding
member of this Society: therefore,

Rcfiolved, By the Cincinnati Horticultural
Society, that in his death we have lost a most
valuable friend and contributor to the cause in
which we are engaged, and that the country has
to dei)ltire one of its most valuable promoters
of refinement in rural taste.

Resolved, That we sympathize sincerely with
his family and fiiends in the deep affliction and
bereavement which it has pleased the Almighty
disposer of events to visit u[)on them in so un-
timely and unexpected a manner.

Resolved, Tiiat a copy of the foregoing ])re-
amble and resolutions be forwarded to the be-
reaved wife and lamily of the deceased.

The following resolution was offered by
Richard Davis, seconded by M. Kelly, at a
late meeting:

Resolved, That the members of this Society
and hoiticiilturists generally, be solicited to
raise a subscription for the purpose of erecting
a monument to the memory of A. J. Downing,
Esq,

It was next moved by Mr. Ives that a com-
mittee of three be appointed to carry out the
spirit of the foregoing resolution. Messrs.
Hatch, Kelly and Warder were appointed.

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

JhWm nf hmWn

Pomological Congress at Philadelphia.

Tlie iourih Pomological Congress, which as-
sembled at Philadelphia on the 13th ult. , and con-
tinued in session two days, was in several par-
ticulars a most interesting session. Its most
important movement was the adoption of a
constitution, under the title of the American
Pomological Society. Delegates were in at-
tendance from nearly all the Atlantic states, and
from several of the AVestern, and they com-
prised, evidently, the cliief pomological talent
and experience of the countrj*. The collections
of fruits were very extensive — as a proof we
may state, that in a hasty glance among the
tables of pears, we observed 200 varieties from
M. P. Wilder, 135 tvom Parsons & Co., 128
from B. V. French, 122 from J. S. Cabot, 140
from Ellwanger &. Barrj^, 100 or more from
Wm. Reid, 108 from Thomas Hancock, besides
many other collections nearlj' as large. These
included some specimens of much interest, and
others of extraordinary beauty and fine growth.
On the whole, the Congress was a very satisfac-
tory one, with the exception of too short a
time, (only two days,) allowed for its delibera-
tions.

The provisions of the constitution were, bien-
nial meetings — a president, and vice-presidents
from each state, territory, or province repre-
sented — a treasurer and three secretaries —
executive committee of five members — a stand-
ing fruit committee of five members in each
state or territory, with a general chairman — a
standing committee for native fruits, another
for foreign fruits, and a third on synonyms, each
consisting of seven members, and an admission
for membership of two dollars biennially, or
twenty dollars for life-membership.

A chairman was appointed for eacli state,
with power to select his associates, consisting
of the following gentlemen, with Samuel
"Walker, of Massachusetts, as chairman of the
whole:

Maine — Henry I.itllp, Baiijjnr.

Ne\v-Hanip.--liire — Henry F. Frencli, Exeter.

Vermont — C. Gooilricli, Burlington.

Miissaclmsetls — E. Wiglil, Ho.s'ion.

Bluxle-Island — Siephen H. Sniilli, Providence.

Coiniecticut — George Gabriel. New-Haveu.
-P. Bai 1 y, Ruchesler.

New-Jersey — Wm. Reiil, Elizabethlown.

Pennsylvania — Thomas P. .James, Philadelphia.

Delaware — Ur. Lewis P. Bush, Wilminjiluii.

Maryland — Samuel Feast, Baltimore.

Dislriel of Columbia — .loshua Pierce, Washington.

Virginia — Yjirdley Taylor, Purcell Store, Loudon co.

Souili Carolma — William Summer, Pomaria.

Georgia — Stephen Elliott, Jr., Savannah.

Florida^ A. G. Sems, Qnincy, Gadsden co.

Alabama — Charles A. Peabody, Gerard.

Mississippi — Thomas Affleck, Washingloa.

Missouri — Thomas Allen, St. Louis.

Ohio — R. Buchannan, Cincinnati.

Indiana— J. D. G. Nelson, Fort Wayne.

Illinois— Br. J. A. Kennicott, Northfield.

Kentucky — E. D. Hobbs, Louisville.

Iowa — James Grant, Davenport.

Calilbriiia — Capt. W. Macondray, San Francisco.

The standing committee on Foreign Fruits
are, C. M. llovey, of Mass. ; J. P. Kirtland,
Ohio ; Charles Dovv^ning, of New- York ; Robert
Bulst, of Pa.; P. Barry, of New- York; S. L.
Goodale, of Maine, and B. Lines, of Ct.

On Native Fruits— Dr. W. D. Brinkle, Pa. ;
F. R. Elliott, Ohio; E. Tatnell, Jr., Del.;
Thomas Hancock, N. J.; Benjamin Hodge, N.
Y., and H. P. By ram, of Kentucky.

On Synonyms — J. S. Cabot, Mass.; J.J.
Thomas, N. Y. ; A. H. Ernst, Ohio; J. A.
Kennicott, 111.; S. D. Pardee, Ct.; A. Saul,
N. Y., and J. D. Fulton, Pa.

The discussions in relation to extending or
altering the list of recommended fruits, were
attended with much interest, and drew out much
valuable information. We can, at present, pre-
sent only a very brief abstract.

S. Walker, of Boston, proposed to strike
Dearbornh Seedling from the former list, as-
serting that it was too small for market, — very
small unless on vigorous stocks. — and a poor
grower. S. B. Parsons had found it the best
pear of its season on Long Island. J. H. Hays
regarded it one of the most profitable of pears
— that if stricken from the list, it would not be
stricken from market — thought it variable with
locality, but very valuable. B. V. French of
Mass., thought it an inferior pear — the trees he
could not make grow. G. B. Deacon, of New-
Jersey, thought it a very good pear, wortliy
of cultivation. S. Walker admitted the excel-
lent quality of the fruit, but on account of its
small size, and the poor growth of the tree, re
garded it as of little value on the whole
Parsons said the same reason would coni

NOTICES OP SOCIETIES.

the Seckcl . A. H. Ernst stated that the Seckel
grew well at Cincinnati, but from its small size
would not sell ; it rotted on his hands, while
large and poor pears commanded a good price.
P. Barry, of Rochester, considered the Dear-
born's Seedling as one of the most valuable in
western New- York. C. M. Hovey said it was
regarded as the best summer pear when adopt-
ed, and has continued to sustain its character
when well cultivated and thinned. F. L. Olm-
sted stated that Rivers had found it to grow
well on pear and foil on quince. This was cor-
roborated by S. B. Parsons — who asked S.
Walker if his trees were not on quince stocks,
— who stated that they grew nearly as badly as
they could on quince, and would generally die
out in about two years. The motion to strike
off this pear was withdrawn.

The Washington pear was added to the list,
for general cultivation, without any objection.

The Duchesse d'Orleuns was next proposed,
and among many remarks, M. P Wilder stated
ho had found it a poor grower on quince, and
good on the pear — had not, with Robert Man-
ning, found it a great bearer, but could bear
witness to its fine appearance and quality. It
was concluded to let it remain on the list for
trial.

The Doyenne iT Ete being called up, A. H.
Ernst stated that he had fruited it seven years,
and pronounced it handsome and valuable.
Hovey, Barry, Wilder, and others, corroborated
this opinion, some of whom thought it grew
best on pear stocks. S. Walker thought well
of this i)ear, but did not find it to come up
to the high character represented. C. M.
Hovey called on him to name a better, when
he named the Madeleine, which he regarded as
superior. P. Barry found it to ripen before the
Madeleine, and regarded it as decidedly the
best — found it a '' splendid grower" on quince.
When allowed to ripen on the tree, it was worth
little, being dry and mealy, but was fine and
juicy if house ripened. B. F. Nourse found it
fine in Maine, and a good grower.

The Benrre d' Anjou was proposed, and M.
P. Wilder thought there would be a unanimous
expression in its favor — and stated that it was
the best new pear he had fruited in ten years,
and that it had kejit till January and February.
T. Hancock had found it a most valuable pear,

the crop evenly distributed through the tree. S
Walker found it to bear well and evenly — the
fruit of fair size, fine shape, and very delicious
— and would undoubtedly be held at the highest
price in market. It was unanimously adopted
for general cultivation.

Manning's Elizabeth was jiroposed — C. M.
Hovey regarded it as one of the most delicious
of August pears, the only objection being its
small size. F. R. Elliott had found it a tardy
bearer. CM. Hovey had also. T. Hancock
had fruited it when four feet high and two years
old. B. Hodge had also fruited it, early, but
found it not equal to Bloodgood or Rostiezer.
It remains on the list for trial.

Brande's St. Germain was proposed — J. C.
Cabot said it was a fine pear, but is not worthy
of general cultivation — it is small, a poor grow-
er, and liable to crack. It remains on the trial list.

The Pratt was similarly disposed of.

The Ott was taken up. Dr. Brinckle consi-
dered it the best summer pear known, having
the flavor of the Seckel, and a month earlier.
F. R. Elliott found it excellent in Ohio, but
doubted if experience was sufiRcient to place it
on the general list. There were 17 votes in fa-
vor of placing it there, and 15 opposed. So it
remained in its former jiosition.

Jlnanas d' Ete, Fontenay Jalousie, and Van
Assene, were taken up, but did not pass beyond
the list of those that promise well. F. L. Olm-
sted, T. Hancock, and others, stated that the
Fontenay Jalousie cracks with them; C. M.
Hovey and A. H. Ernst, said that Van Asscne
proves very fine with them, while J. S. Cabot
and others found otherwise; and with T. Han-
cock it cracked very badly.

Doyenne Botissock. — J. Cabot had fruited it
for some years, and thought it lacks flavor, but
is so large and handsome that he regarded it
valuable. Many others corroborated tliis opi-
nion, and it was placed on the list for general
cultivation, but not unanimously.

The Lawrence pear was placed on the list of
those which promise well, for trial.

The Kirtland pear, which several had found
to grow well on the quince, ^\as also placed on
this list.

There were 10 votes against the Duchess of
Angoxileme, and ten for it, for general cult
tion.

fi

There were 17 votes for the Beurrc Giffurd,
as promising v/ell.

The Coinpte dc Lunuj, altlioiigh a fine pt'ar,
was not added, on account of its small size.

The Jutuinn Paradise was very generally
and highly commended, and adopted for gene-
ral cultivation.

The Duchess of Beri and St. Michael jir-
change, by 5 votes: the Diller pear by 7 votes,
and the Linton, or Beurre Haggerston, by 4
votes — were i)laced on the list tor trial, as pro-
niisiiig well.

The Early Richmond cherry, was placed by
11 votes on the list for general cultivation, for
culinary purposes.

The Bigarreau Gnubaulis, Reine Horlense,
and Early Purple Guigite, were placed on the
list for trial. S. Walker stated that the Gau-
baulis was of remarkably crooked growth in the
nursery.

The Imperial Otloman plum, Hudson Gage,
Coc's Late Red, Blue Imperuiria, and Rei7ie
Claude de Bavay, were also placed on the list
for trial.

Apples. — The Smokehouse appeared to have
been ranch cultivated in Pennsylvania, and was
highly commended. It was recommended for
trial. The same disposition was made of the
Melon, Hawley and .Autumn Bough.

Red. Canada or Old Nonsuch. A general
ex{>ression in its favor, although S. Walker
found it to overbear, and produce some very
small fruit — others had found it spotted — 14
votes placed it on the list for special localities.

Northern Spy — D. Miller, of Pa., had fruited
it, and found it very knurly — S. AA''alker stated
it was poor at Danvers, yet he said the first
specimens he had received from AVestern New-
York , were as good as any apples he ever tasted.
S. Goodale said that in Maine some were very
good, and others very poor. It was generally
admitted as of high excellence, as grown in
Western New- York. J. II. Watts said it gene-
rally sold at Rochester for $2.50 per barrel,
and some the last spring, had sold in New- York
city for $9.00. It was placed on the list for
special localities by 22 votes.

The committee on Native Fruits reported the
following as " best," among the new sorts pre-
sent: Je^r/es apple and Richards; Susquehan-

nak peach; and Moyamensing, Styre, Ed-
ward's Elizabeth, and Quinnipiac pears.

Str,\wberries. — Jenny's Seedling received
7 votes for placing it on the list for general cul-
tivation ; and Burr's New Pine, 15 votes.
AYilley did not receive the two-third vote, and
did not go on this list.

The Congress adjourned to meet in two years
at Boston. During its session appropriate re-
resolutions were introduced and adopted. expres-
sive of its loss by the death of A. J. DowNiNG,and
a Eulogy on his character, delivered on the eve-
ning of the 13th, by Marshall P. Wilder,
which was eminently characterised with the
ability, chasteness, and pathos, Avhich this dis-
tingushed gentleman has at his command.

Pomological Meetings at TJtica.

Interesting pomological meetings, consisting of
a few of the most intelligent cultivators in attend-
ance at the New- York State Fair, were held on
theeveningsof the7thand8thof 9mo , (Sept.)

First Evening. — The Winter Nelis Pear
being called up for discussion, P. Barry, of
Rochester, stated that it was of weak and
crooked growth, Avould not grow on the quince;
but he admitted it was a pear of high flavor.
This opinion was corroborated by Wm. Reid,
of Elizabethtown, N. J., who spoke of the
scarcity of this tree in nurseries, as proving the
difficulty of its culture. G. M. Hovey, of Bos-
ton, regarded it a vigorous grower, although
.slender, and said it was one of the twelve re-
garded as best at Boston. F. R. Elliott, of
Cleveland, considered it as a handsome, fair, and
good fruit. W. R. Coppock, of BufTalo, had
known the fruit as good as the Seckel, and had
found the growth thrifty though slender. J.
Morse, of Cayuga Bridge, stated that after
having grown it for many years, he found it
never blighted, and he regarded it as only ex-
celled in value by the "White and GrayDoj-enne.
Wm. Reid stated that it dropped its leaves bad-
ly, as well as Flemish Beanty and others. T.
C. Maxwell, of Geneva, and J. Morse of Cayu-
ga, both stated that Flemish Beauty held its
leaves well, in spite of the drouth.

Vicar of Winkfield. — C. M. Hovey, while
he regarded the Winter Nelis as best to eat,
found the Winkfield best to sell — and although
not of high quality, was very productive and
showj — the tree was beautiful and ornamental

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

— he liad known tlie Winkfield to sell for 75
cents per dozen, and the Glont Morceau for three
dollars per dozen. P. Barry would plant the
Winkfield in a selection of a dozen sorts, and
valued it highlj- — the Glout Morceau had dis-
appointed some cultivators in Western New-
York — it was not the best grower, and did not
always mature well. W;.,. Reid and others
thought it a good grower.

The third best winter jtiea;- was asked for, and
the Vicar of Winkfield was agreed to stand ne.\t
to Winter Nelis and Glout Morceau.

C. M. Ilovey stated that several Flemish pears
were apt to have small and worthless fruit among
them, among which he named Spoelberg, Wur-
temberg, Marie Louise and Passe Colmar — he
knew of no American pears liable to this defect.
P. Barry cited the Stevens' Genesee, and
Deaiborn's Seedling, as being similarly defec-
tive.

M. Kelly, of Cincinnati, had not found the
American pears hardier than the European —
in a locality where the tree is strongly liable to
injury.

C. M. ITovcy found but few American pears
tender, and but few that did well on quince
stocks — indeed, very few of any origin did well
on quince — but he did not know tlie .same i)ro-
portion of American as of European for this
mode of culture.

C. M. Ilovey stated that Dearborn's Seedling
failed on the (jnince after a few years — that he
should dig up his trees, as they had become an
eye sore. T. C. Ma.xwell had large trees of the
Dearborn's Seedling, which did well on quince.
Wm. Reid knew trees of the Andrews ten feet
high, which grew and did well. These are both
American seedlings.

P. Barry thought more e.\i)erience was need-
ed on this subject — the stacks at first used here
were not of good quality — and he thought if
the trees were placed in good soil, properly
manured, pruned, and not allowed to overbear,
that many would succeed well, which would
otherwise fail.

The best early pear being called for, C. M.
Ilovey and P. Barry named the Doyenne d'ete—
Wm. Reid recommended the Madeleine as ear-
lier—but it was not found so at Boston and
s(er, where the Madeleine was regarded
ud best.

The two best market cherries being asked for,
early and late, most agreed in recommending
the Early Purple Guigne and Downer. P. Bai-
ry named the Early Purple Guigne and Belle
Magnifique. Wm. Reid named the Mayduke
as early. The Sweet Montmorency was regard-
ed by C. M. Hovey as a good late sweet cherry.
P. Barry thought it would not sell, when C. M.
Hovey stated that he had known it to sell for
fifty cents per quart.

Second Evening. — The superior hardiness
of seedling peaches over budded ones, was pro-
posed as a subject for discussion.

W. Tracy stated that peaches could not be
rai.sed at Utica except within the city, the warm
and moist valley of the Mohawk preventing a
sufficient ripening of the wood ; while at Clinton,
on higher and more exposed ground, crops were
frequently obtained. He stated that two trees
within the city, fine seedlings, which were well
shaded at the roots from the influence of the
sun, bore abundant crops.

C. M. Hovey considered the protection af-
forded them, as a reason for their successful
bearing, without regarding the circumstance of
their not being worked. A friend in Kentucky
had sent him buds of one of his finest peaches,
a fruit which often grew twelve inches in cir-
cumference— the buds grew, but the giowth was
so poor, and they gummed so badly, as to be
perfectly worthless. He had generally found
seedlings more tender than budded varieties,
being often killed at the ends of the branches,
while most budded sorts escape even to tlie very
tips.

Dr. Warder of Cincinnati, in explanation of
the reason that ])each trees were killed the past
winter in Kentucky, stated that the tljermome-
ter the past winter, in the same region had fal-
len to 22° below zero. F. R. Elliott said it had
fallen to 19° below at Cleveland, a part of the
ci'op escaping.

J. J. Thomas stated that the thermometer at
Macedon, in Western New- York, l)ad sunk
during the past winter to IS*^ below zero, which
had not before occurred for many years — that
about one-half the peach buds on his grounds
had been destroyed, which was a smaller j)ro-
portion tlian in other winters when the cold was
several degrees less severe. This result he
ascribed to the uniformhj cold weather, without

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

tlie influence of warm periods in starting tlie
buds, and to tlie fact that after tlie severest
cold, the sun >vas obscured by a curtixin of
clouds. He had observed that buds were often
de.'itroj-ed on tlie sunny side of branches, while
t]R>se which were thawed gradually ou the
shaded side liad escaped.

II. E. Hooker, of Rochester, had known peach-
es at Montreal, where the thermometer not iin-
frcqnently falls to 20** or more below zero, sav-
ed by the simple protection of a mat, [which
could not have increased thewarmtli of the air,
but only prevented radiation, and excluded the
sun's rays.] He remarked tliat budded trees
consisted of nothing ln;t selected seedlings, and
that he liad usually tound theni to endure the
cold best.

C. M. Ilovey thought Imddcd trees the har-
diest, because they usually consisted of such va-
rieties as were of strongest growth.

P. Barry Iiad known native seedlings, stand-
ing for many years in grass, loaded with heavy
crops, wlien, had they been cultivated, they
might have been barren. This, C. M. Ilovey
ascribed to the uell ripened, and not succulent
growth which they ac(piired. He considered
some varieties as liardy, and others as tender,
entirely independent of tiie influence of bud-
ding.

A list of those sorts which were hardiest, and
which bore most uniformly and abundantly after
severe winters, being called for, CM. Hovey
named the following: — Yellow Rareripe, Coo-
ledge'sFavorite, BellegardeandOIdinixon Free.
Several gentlemen from Western New- York
named tlie Early Barnard, or Alberge of that
region, as being eminently hardy and uniformly
productive. John Morse of Cayuga Bridge, had
found Jacques' Rareripe to be the hardiest and
best peach for market, out of some forty sorts,
and Early Barnard next. J. J. Thomas named
Fay's Early Ann, which he had fruited for eight
years, as one of the most uniformly productive
of early peaches; in two different years, when
the Tillotson and Serrate Early York had near-
ly fiiiled, this had borne good crops. The pre-
sent very unproductive season, the White Im-
perial has also borne fully.

A list of such pears as had grouni well on
quince stocks, and had borne good crops for se-
veral years, without exhausting the tree, was

next called for, and the following proposed,
witliout objection:

Louise Bonne of Jersey, Vicar of AVinkfield,
GloutMoi'cean, Beurre Diel, Angouleme, White
and Gray Doyenne, Napoleon, Beurre d' Ama-
lis, Easter Beurre, Soldat Laboreur, Long
Green of Autumn, and Striped Long Green of
Autumn, Henry IV, Summer Frankreal, Ber-
gamotte Cadette, Madeleine, Beurre d' Anjou,
Urbaniste, and Dovenne Boussock.

New- York Hort. Society.

The second exhibition of this Society was
held on the 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d of Sept.,
at the Metropolitan Hall, New- York, and we
rejoice to say was very successful and credita-
ble to the managers of this new society.

We say rejoice, because, now that the diffu-
sion of horticultural knowledge is so rapidly in-
creasing avnonst us, and the commendable spi-
rit of enterprise in this branch of science is
aroused' — we are glad to see progress in the
right direction ; and the more so as it was most
unpardonable for the " Empire State" to be
lagging behind, when the prosperity of such so-
cieties as those of Massachusetssand Pennsylva-
nia, not to name the numerous others equally
praiseworthy, have long set so good an example.

The first exhibition of this Society was held
in June last, when, from the evidence we then
saw of an eartnestness of purpose about the ori-
ginators of the meeting, we augured well of the
prosperity of the Society; while the encour-
agement which we saw was extended to it by
some of the most celebrated amateur cultiva-
tors, manifested amongst others, by the kind
consideration of Mr. Cope, in sending from his
splendid collection a specimen of the far famed
Victoria Lily, satisfied us that nothing but per-
severance is necessary to render this Society
prominent in its amiable rivalry with its more
matured sisters in other parts of the country.

The present exhibition convinces us that our
prognostications have not been ill founded. It
was not nevertheless without some mi.sgivings
as to the result tliat we wended our way on the
20th to Metropolitan Hall ; wishing well as we
do, in all sincerity, to this and every other
rightly directed effort in the furtherance of our
favorite science. For, having ourselves had a
pretty extended experience in these k
things, we are w^ell aware of the numerous

iiSF^

Ng55iS:

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

culties, prejudices, conflicting interests and
views, wliicli have to be contended with, and
smoothed down at the outset of all similar un-
dertakings, and which if not judiciously handled,
too frequently cause the shipwreck at their ori-
gin of many a well intentioned onward move-
ment. When, however, we cast our first glance
over the tables of Metropolitan Hall, we felt
that the only duty left us was to congratulate
the members of the Society on their success.
Although of course in point of extent the ex-
hibition could not be expected, as the produc-
tion of a young Society, to equal or approach
those of older socit^ties ; yet the quality of the
collection as a whole was highly creditable to
the exhibitors, and as encouraging to the exer-
tions of the managers, as it must have been
gratifying to the members and to their numer-
ous visitors. "We were gratifled to perceive that
not only was considerable company generally
there, but that a large portion of the substantial
merchants and their fair ladies had resolved to
show their fellow citizens that the elegant dis-
play which had been brought together was ap-
preciated and enjoyed by them.

The fruit was in considerable quantity and
almost all good.

In Grapes, we are glad to bear willing tes-
timony to Mr. Charlton's skill, as manifested in
the very fine specimens which gained for him
the first premium for the following eight va-
rieties:— Victoria, (very fine,) Black Prince,
Syrian, Xeres, Austrian Muscat, Black Ham-
burgh, Reine de Nice, and Deacon's Superb.
They were indeed " superb," all of them — well
colored, and with the bloom well preserved.
Ti)e vines from which they were cut, were sta-
ted to be three years old. A discretionary pre-
mium was also given for three fine bunches of
Black Hamburgh, to H. Sheldon, E.sq., of Tar-
rytown, and another premium of the .same kind
to Alex. Gordon, Long Island, for Muscat and
Syrian grapes, which well deserved the distinc-
tion.

Apples and Pears were in tolerably large
collections Me.'ssrs. Parsons & Co., of Flush-
ing, exhibited 70 varieties of apples, fine in
quality, and containing many both of old and
new favorities. Their collection of pears was
fine. Messrs. Wilson, Thorburn and
of Albany, also exhibited an extensive

and very good collection of apples, which Ave
observed the connoisseurs examining very as-
tutely. With reference to some of the plants, and
particularly as regards theapplesand pears, the
divisions between those belonging to the differ-
ent exhibitors, were so indistinct, that we found
it impossible, in many cases, to find out to which
of the plates of fruit the premium cards applied,
or we should have more particularly adverted
to some of these premiums, for many of them
were very meritoriously earned.

In HoT-HousE Plants, Messrs. Hogg & Co.
were the successful competitors for the first
premium, in wliose collection were noticed a
fair plant of Schubertia graveolens, and one of
AUemanda neriifolia, nicely grown, but the
bloom hardly expanded enough; they would
have been in greater perfection in another fort-
night or so. Messrs. Hogg also exhibited well
grown and remarkablj' healthy specimens of
Musa humilis, and of Maranta zebrina, wliich
indicated careful culture, and were very credi-
table to their establishment We noticed two
good plants of the fragrant Hedychiuni Gardne-
rianum from the nursery of Mr. Dunlap.

In Green-house Plants, the first premium
was awarded to M. Coleman, gardner to A. P.
Cumings, Esq., of Williamsbiirg, who exhibited
a very fine Araucaria Braziliensis, much better
grown that tliis variety generally is. Mr. A.
Bridgeman gained the second premium, and
his collection contained .several very neat plants,
but of course the lateness of the season pre-
cludes the expectation of seeing this class of
l)lants in the perfection in which they were in
May and June.

There were several fine specimens of plants in
the rooms, among which we must particularly
mention a Fuchsia six feet or more high, well
covered to the bottom with foliage, and very
clean and well grown, from the collection of
Leonard Spencer, Esq.; also a large Begonia
argyrostigma, and a fine Licopodium in equally
luxuriant growth, and some other things from
the same gentleman. These plants we noticed,
all indicated the same care and good manage-
ment, and although we have not the pleasure
of Mr. Spencer's acquaintance, we hope our
merited approval may operate as an additional
stimulus to his exertions, so that on fut
cations he may contribute in larger quan

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

these exhibitions; and not only so, but that his
example may induce more of our many ama-
teurs to contribute from their valuable collec-
tions in aid of the exertions of the managing
committee, to render their display worthy the
patronage which the public appears disposed to
accord to it. Neat specimens of Angelonia
Gardneriana, and of Brunsfelsia Americana,
were exhibited by Messrs. Hogg; and a fine
Acacia pubescens, with its elegantly delicate
foliage, by Mr. T. Diinlap. We noticed also two
well grown Begonias from Mr. J. Buchanan.

Messrs. Hogg & Co. obtained a discretionary
premium, also, for a very neat and well cultivat-
ed, but not very extensive collection of Coni-
FSRA, which contained amongst them plants of
Cedrus Deodora and Cryptomeria Japonica,
three feet high at least — a tine Araucaria excel-
sa, the pretty drooping Juniperus oblonga pen-
dula, and the elegant Abies Clanbrasiliana.

The first premium for the best 12 Cacti, was
awarded to Wm. Chalmers, gardener to Thom-
as Richardson, Esq., "Westchester co., amongst
which were good, although moderately sized
specimens of Cereus senilis, Melo cactus com-
munis, in bloom, Mamalaria decijiiens, M. sco-
pea, and M. flavescina. A fine specimen of
Melo cactus coronata, sent by Messrs. Jervis,
also merits notice; it was the largest in the
rooms.

For Verbenas in pots, the first premium was
awarded to J. M'Key, gardaner to Mr. A. Reid,
and the second to Mr. Daniel Boll — both of
whom we know to be too good judges of what
they ought to have been at this season of the
year, to wish us to praise them as they were.
There were some good cut flowers of Verbena,
from Mr. Isaac Buchanan.

The Ferns were not numerous, but Messrs.
Hogg &. Co., had a fine specimen of the Stag-
horn fern, (Platycerium alcicorne,) and a very
pretty Licopodium umbrosum.

In Cut Flowers, there were many bouquets
displayed, of all descriptions, and many of them
well put together. Tlie basket of wild flowers
sent by Archibald Henderson, Long Island, was
most interesting, and had it not been for the
queen of the garden, the rose, which formed
so formidable a rival in the other baskets, these
wild flowers would almost have equalled in at-
traction their more aristocratic neighbors. John

Cranston, of Hoboken, obtained and deserved
the first premium for a basket bouquet; but
the second, given to "Walter Parke at Mr. A.
Reid's, was equally well merited. The large
parlor bouquet of James "Weir was very pretty ;
and with the two ba.skets attracted much atten-
tion from the fair visitors.

The display of Cut Roses did not equal our
expectations. Mr Daniel Boll, long celebrated
amongst amateurs for his fine collection of roses,
had the first j^remium for general display ; but
neither his nor any others in the rooms, were
in fine condition. Mr. Mateo of Astoria, had
some good varieties in his cut roses, and a seed-
ling or two, but the latter were in too bad a
state to judge of as regards quality.

Several Ornamental Designs were exhibi-
ted, and they displayed ingenuity at least. One
we observed, exhibited by Mr. William Chorl-
ton, of Staten Island, and we trust he will for-
give our expressing the hope that a man who
can grow such grapes as we have noticed above,
and such plants as he does, will give up the
construction of these floral monstrosities. If
the public require them, they must be construct-
ed by somebody, but inasmuch as hundreds can
do so, who Mr. C. would not trust foran hour's
work in his green-house, and as so few can grow
fruit and flowers as he can, let us entreat him
to believe ■' flower temples" are beneath his
notice. Bouquets in any and every shape, are,
by themselves, elegant, and we were going to
say indispensible adjuncts to the gardener's ex-
hibition of some results of his skill, and they
add to the beauty and decoration of our parlors
and drawing rooms ; but when flowers are so
persecuted into divers shapes and forms that
you require almost a telescope, when at a short
distance, to ascertain whether the thing is made
of flowers or paint, we hold that the office of
the gardener, no less than his dignity, is abused
by this perversion of (so called) taste. In Eu-
rope these things are quite exploded, as belong-
ing to that kind of march which here we don't
want — namely, the march backward instead
o( forward.

The Dahlias were by no means in good order.
The unfavorable weather no noiibt opei'ated to
an extent beyond the control of the growers
For general display, the first prenuum w
en to Mr. T. Dunlap, and the second toMessr

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

J. M. Thovburn & Co. The two collections
were so nearly eqiial in merit, that there was
little to choose between them. Mr. Dunlap's
appeared the most numerous, but the dark
flowers predominated so much as to give a som-
bre hue to the collections. In Messrs Thorburn's
the light varieties prevailed, and rendered them
more attractive as a whole. We noticed in the
latter, several new varieties which promise to
be favorites.

^Ye must not forget to thank Mr. Leonard
Spencer for the well arranged and beautiful
vase oi native grasses, vvhich contained twenty-
two specimens, and was much admired. This
gentleman, we are sure, can teach his neighbors
how to •■' go ahead horficiilturaUi/," ^^^ ^^'^
hope he will do so.

There were several pots of ^ichimcnes exhi-
bited, but we do not particularise them, because
although clean and neat, they were by no
means grown in the luxuriant way which this
family of plants admits of, and in which at this
season of the j^ear, we expect to see them ex-
hibited. Our friends must grow them faster,
and shift them oftener than they appear to do,
if they want fine specimens.

Whatever may have been the opinion of the
visitors about the flowers of the exhibition, we
are certain that there could exist but one feel-
about the vegetables. They were all extremely
fine, and the variety exhibited was highly cre-
ditable to the Society. We will notice first the
four large flat Dutch cabbage, sent with many
fine specimens of other vegetables, by Francis
Brill, Esq., of Astoria, and also his Boston
Marrow Squash. The first premium was given
to J. ]\Iitchell, gardener to Wni. Watson,
Esq., Westchester, whose collection was very
good, but the finest display, taken as a whole,
was that of Jacob Giraud, Esq., of Bergen, N.
J., a gentlemen well known to our scientific
world as an ornithologist, and M'ho we are glad
to find thus turning his attention to experimen-
tal gardening. His specimens of carrots, beets
of two or three varieties, potatoes, Swiss chard,
cardoons, escarole, radish, egg plants (of six or
eight varieties,) tomatoes, &c., in the whole
about thirty sorts of vegetables, gave evidence
of the most judicious and skilful culture. In
on he sent upwards of thirty varieties of
corn, of M'hich his collection is. we be-

lieve, one of the best in the country, and is
doubtless well known to our readers, from his
exhibitions of it at the Annual Fair of the Ame-
rican Institute.

Altogether the exhibition M-as, we repeat,
highly satisfactory, and induces us to liope for
much from the Society in its second year.

We have one cause of complaint against the
committee of management, which tve are con-
vinced they will remedy on future occasions.
We mean the fixing Monday as the first day
of the exhibition. Of all days in the week it is
peculiarly that which ought to be avoided. To
all exhibitors the day before the exhibition, is
necessarily a busy one in preparing for tlie con-
test, and consequently should never fall on

Sunday. M.

Albany and Rensselaer Hort, Society.

The autumnal exhibition of the Albany and
Rensselaer Hort. Society, took place on the
13th and 14th ult. The display of fruits, flow-
ers and vegetables exceeded that of any former
exhibition. The Society met at 12 .m. on Tues-
day, its President, Dr. Herman Wenpell, in
the Chair, who in an appropriate and feeling
manner, called the attention of its members to
the death of the late A. J. Downing, editor
of the Horticulturist, and oflTered the following
resolutions which were unanimously adopted : —

Resolved, That the members of the Albany
and Rensselaer Horticultural Society, in com-
mon with others of the Pomological, Horticul-
tural and Agricultural portions of our citizens,
mourn sincerely the death of the late A. J.
DoAVNiNG, who has been more instrumental,
than any other individual, in extenduig a taste
for, and i)romoting the love of, all tlie branches
of an art which conduces so much to the com-
fort and the pleasure of the community.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions,
properly attested, be forwarded to the family
of the late Mr. Downing, and that they be eni-
liodied in and pul)lished with the records of this
Society.

The following gentlemen were chosen dele-
gates to represent the Society at the Fair of the
American Institute, to be held in Xew-York,
in October: —

Joel Rathbone, V. P. Douw, Herman Wen-
dell B. P. Johnson, J. McD. McIntire.B. B. Kirt-
land, Wm. Newcombe, Erastus Corning, jr.,
Jefferson Maj-ell, James Wilson, W. A. Whav
ton, E. M. Van Alstyne, E. E. Piatt and
Dorr.

FiiuiTS. — In addition to the fine display of
fruit by members of tlie Society, tbe following
gentlemen contributed much to the interest of
the show. Elhvanger &, Barry of the Mount
Hope Nurseries, Rochester, exhibited 5?> vari-
ties of pears, all finely grown specimens. John
J. Thomas of Macedon, 17 varieties of apples
and 15 of pears, which for size and beauty were
not excelled. II. T. E. Foster, of Lakeland,
Seneca co.. 9 varieties of pears. H. R. Hart
Whitestown, Oneida co., 11 choice varieties of
apples. John Morse of Cayuga Bridge, 15 va-
rieties of pears and 11 of ai»i>les. The samples
.shown by these gentlemen, gave evidence of
careful cultivation, and the vote of thanks ten-
dered to tliein by the Society was concurred in
bj' every visitor to the show.

Among the exhibitidus made by members of
the Society, we noticed those of Dr. H. 'Wen-
dell of Albany, who had 49 varieties of jtears;
Wilson, Tliorburn & Teller, of Albany, had 53
varieties of jiears, eight of jieaches, and six of
idums; Jefferson Mayell, 17 varieties of pears;
J. S. Goold, 9 varieties of pears; V. P. Dou'v,
of Wolvenhook. 13 varieties of [)ears: Hon. A.
J. Parker, 14 varieties of pears; E. Corning, Jr.,
10 varietiesof pears. These, with several small-
er exhibitions, made a very fine collection of
fruits, and by far the best ever shown by the So-
ciety. The grapes shown by Col. J. Rathbone,
Kenwood, were most beautiful specimens, of
wdiich seven varieties were grown under glass.
The clusters were large, and the grapes highly
colored, and of a superior flavor.

Greenhouse Plants. — Fine exhibitions
were made by L. Menand.E. Corning. Jr., Col.
J. Rathbone, though the collection did not em-
brace a large variety.

Flowers. — The display was larger than at
any previous exhibition, and contributed much
to the interest of the show. There were shown
81 varieties of Dahlias, by E. M. Van Ahstyne,
of Greenbush, who received the first premium;
more than GO varieties of dahlias, 40 of verbenas,
16 of roses, and several boqiiets, by James Wil-
son ; also a good collection of dahlias, verbenas,
])hloxes, &.C.. by Wm. ^Newcoinb, of Pittstown.
Col. J. Rathbone exhibited 42 varieties of dah-
lias, a fine display of roses, and other cut flowers.
Additions were made to the display by E. Corn-
ing, Jr., V. P. Douw, L. Menand, and others.

A floral temple, six feet high, elaborately
wrought and surmounted by the Goddess of
Flowers, as well as several fine boquets, were
shown by Mrs. J. T. Van Namee of Pittstown.
Also a complicated floral design, beautifully
wreathed and studded, and boquets. by Mrs.
Emily Ncwcomb of Pittstown.

One of the most tasteful things on exhibition
was a large pyriniidal boquet of artificial flow-
ers, tlie liandi-work of Mrs. E. A. Barber of
AlbaTiy. The flowers were very perfect and in
great variety, and were arranged with admira-
ble taste, especially as regards the harmony and
blending of colors.

Vegetables, were shown in great variety
and remarkably fine specimens by several in-
dividuals. The exhibition was highly satisfac-
tion and gave ample proof that the taste for
growing fruit and fiowers is becoming more
general, and also that oiu' gardeners and nur-
serymen are improving in their art. The sever-
al premiums awarded were generously left
in the treasury of the Society to defiay current

expenses.

Ohio State Poinological Society.

A Convention of tli(! P(tnK>logists of Ohio was
held at Columbus on 31st day of August and
1st of September, wlien a fine collection of iVniis
of the season, wei'e eNbibitfd froiri dililn-nt
parts of the state, and after organization, and
the forming of a permanent State Pomological
Society under a constitution, electing A. H.
Eenst, E.^q. of Cincinnati, President, J. L.
Warder of Cincinnati, Vice j)resident ; F. R.
Elliott of Cleveland, Secretary, and M. B.
Bateham of Columbus, Treasurer; they pro-
ceeded to discuss the vahie of different varieties
of fruit in various parts of the state, and at the
.same time to collect the multifarious local
names, lielonging to some of our fruits, and
])lace them so that those who read their tran-
sactions may learn respecting them. The con-
stitution states the object of the Society to be
the collecting, collating and disseminating of
knowledge on pomology, to the people at large;
and for this end those who wish to assist and aid
the cause can become members by paying two
dollars to the secretary or treasurer. The
funds are used in publishing the transactions;
and the report of this meeting will be issued
immediately. The society forwarded specimens
of many Ohio fruits to the American Congress
of Fruit Growers which met at Philadelphia on
the 18th inst., and also appointed delegates to
attend the same.

They adjourned to meet on the 11th of Jan-
uary, 1853, when it is expected there will be a
fine show of winter fruits, and at which
is purposed to petition the legislature for
terial aid." — Ohio Farmer.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

iniiirstir fntirrs.

Sale of Mr. Downing's Residence.— By
reference to an advertisement in our columns,
it will be seen that the beautiful residence of
the late Editor of the Horticulturist is to be
sold on the 7th of this month. It is to be re-
gretted that a place, upon the adornment of
which Mr. Downing lavished so much of his
art and taste, should not remain as an appropri-
ate heir-loom to his flimily. How could tlie
many friends of Mr. Downing more fittingly
express their appreciation of his woith. and of
the incalculable service he has rendered to his
country, than by presenting this model,, just as
his own hands fashioned it — the liome of his af-
fections, so sacred to the warm and loving heart,
— to his bereaved lady? AVhat better nu)iiu-
ment could be erected to one whose whole soul
was alive to beautifying and making more hap-
py the homes of others, than thus to secure a
home for one, who, by his untimely death, is
at once deprived of the solace of life, and forc-
ed to seek a new residence.

The place is in strict keeping with the princi-
ples of the art he practiced, and we doubt
whether a more tasteful country residence can
be found. It is situated on the northern border
of the village, on an eminence which overlooks
the Hudson and commands a fine pro.spect in
every direction. The house is in the Elizabethean
style, and wears the quiet, unobtrusive air of a
gentleman's residence rather than a nobleman's
mansion. The grounds, comprising about six
acres, are all planted in the most tasteful man-
ner, and so disposed as to give the most pleas-
ing effect to the shrubbery, lawn and flowers,
which blend in a harmonious picture. The col-
lection of fruits, plants, and flowers, is very
choice and in the best cultivation.

The place will undoubtedly meet with will-
ing and liberal purchasers; but we dread to
think that the residence of our friend must be
occupied by strangers — that henceforth the
doors which have been so hospitably opened to
all who had claims upon his attention, must
hereafter be closed, even upon those who most
dearly cherish his memory.

A PoLisHEB NuHSERY.— The most neatly
kept nursery of fruit and ornamental trees that
we have ever seen in this country, by all odds,
is that of Wm Reid, of Elizabethtown. N. J.
It occupies about thirty acres ; and every por-
tion of it ajipears to be as smoothly combed and
brushed, as the most finished partsof other peo-
ple's grounds. The broad alleys used as cait
tracks, and for turning about the horse which
cultivates the rows, are smoothly covered with
a beautiful turf, kept closely shaven by mowing
once a fortnight, and the edges are kept as
smoothly trimmed as the walks of any orna-
mental garden. Even the open ditch, needed
for the surface water, is kept .sodded and shaven
with mathematical accuracy. Where the rub-
bish was deposited — for rubbish must accumu-
late from every nursery, — we cannot say, for
every remote corner of the grounds was preser-
ved in the same neat appearance. The question
may arise, where was his comjjost or manure
heap — a most necessary, but rather repulsive
a])pendage to every thriving nursery? Not
thrust away in some remote and inconvenient
place, as a thing not fit to be seen, but render-
ed an ornamental object by tlie rich masses of
squash vines which hung down its sides, and tlje
brilliant glow of petunias which covered its
whole upper surface !

Tho.se who have purchased of Wm. Reid,
know that he is very successful as a grower of
fine trees; and the excellent stock now growing
on his grounds, especially of dwarf and standard
pear trees, sliows that neatness and thrift are by
no means strangers.

Summer Pears — Jesse Colbt, of Meriden,
N. H., has forwarded us some fine looking spe-
cimens of a summer pear, which he regards as
" the best summer pear extant — appears to do
much better than any foreign varieties, a good
bearer, vigorous grower, and hardj' — it is called
variously the Dorr, the Colby, the Udal, &c.
It does not appear to be a seedling with us.
We should like to know what other variety we
could introduce as good or better, to ripen later,
and as good a bearer."

This pear, which is described in Cole's Fruit

Book as a New Hampshire seedling, "large,
fair, handsome, profitable for market — flesh
rather coarse and dry, but sweet and pleasant,"
and in Coxe's View as the BcUissime d'ete or
Supreme, ''a singularly beautiful fruit," and if
picked before too ripe, ''a pretty good early
pear," is no other than tli? French Jargo-
nelle, one of the rejected pears of the American
Pumological Congress. The specimens sent
were very fine ones for this sort, Mhich evident-
ly succeeds better in New Hampshire than in
many other places, but we regard it as entirely
superceded. TJie English Jargonelle, although
less handsome, is much better, and rii)ens at
the same time ; closely succeeded by Bloodgood,
Osband's Summer, Dearborn's Seedling and
Rostiezcr, and these again by Bartlett, Heath-
cot, Washington, Belle Lucrative, &.c., all of
M'hich possess excellent flavor.

Pie Plant and Asparagus. — A " Farmer's
wife" wishes to know if the large stalks of the
pie plant are the result of cultivation or of se-
lecting a large sort — the time for manuring —
distance asunder in planting — and number of
leaves to be left to each root. Also the time to
transplant asparagus, and best mode of culture.
An answer to these inquiries has been acciden-
tally delayed a few months.

Rows four feet apart, and plants two feet in
the row, is a suitable distance for the piejilant.
If the sort is large and the soil deep and fertile,
they will need all this space. The '' large
stalks" are the combined result of good culti-
vation and selecting such large varieties as
" Giant," a green sort with round stalks, which
sometimes grow to the thickness of a man's
wrist; •' Victoria,'' red, equally large, earlier,
and better in quality; and " Downing's Colos-
sal," regarded by many as the best of all.
There are some smaller and earlier varieties.
The plantation should be covered with manure
late in autumn, and this should he spaded in
early in spring. All the leaves are usually al-
lowed to grow.

Asparagus seed is sown in autumn or early
in spring in drills about Iialf an inch deep in
heavy soil, and an inch in light soil, tlie ground
being rich and highly manured. The seedlings
should be set out at a year old, very early in
or as soon as the ground can be worked,
which has been trenched or subsoiled and

made very rich to a depth of nearly two feet.
Set the plants two inches below the surface, in
rows two feet apart and a foot asunder in the
row. The next autumn cover the plants three
inches with manure. For two years, let the
stalks grow to strengthen the roots, keeping the
beds clean, raking off the dead stalks in autumn
and covering with manure, to be forked in early
in the spring. Some earth will perhaps need
an annual replacing, or the plants will come too
near the surface by the dressing they get. The
third or fourth year will give fine crops, which
will continue for many years.

It is usual to make very rich beds two or three
feet deej), an excellent practice; and to plant
them very thicidy with plants, a very poor one
— for the stalks can never grow so large when
crowded. We have seen as large asparagus
raised on ordinary corn ground, six inches deep,
in drills three feet apart for horse cultivation,
as in a bed three feet deep and half manure,
with plants placed closely together. The finest
stalks are always obtained by distance and depth
combined. Asparagus, being usually increased
by seed, runs somewhat into varieties, and a
" Giant" variety is much lauded; but the size
depends mainly, if not wholly, on the cultiva-
tion which is given. A bed of earth and manure
well ■mixed, two feet deep, and with plants a
foot by two feet, will convert any asparagus
plants into giants. Salt is a good manure,
which we have seen applied in sufBcient quanti-
ties to kill the weeds without injuring the
plants.

Synonyms of Pears. — The following state-
ment relative to the synonyms of some well
known pears, is an extract from a letter of An-
dre Leroy, dated Angers. Aug. 18, 1852, and
although furnishing information well known to
our eminent pomologists, may be of interest to
others: "The Beurre d' Anjou, we find is the
same as Ne plus Meuris; Duchesse d' Orleans
is our Beurre St. Nicholas, raised at Angers,
and very well known to every nurseryman of
our country. The Louise d' Orleans is the same
as tlie Urbaniste, well known also. We have
received the Flemish Beauty under thirteen dif-
ferent names. Why is it that the English and
Belgian Pomologists do not accept our name of
Beurre d' Aremberg for the pear that the
call Glout Morceau? And our Orpheline

Englieiu?" [Tho names Gloitt Morccau and
Bcwre d'Jrembcrgh. as applied to the Freiioli
Areniberg, and Oi-p,lielinu d' Engenheiin, have,
licconie so Hxed and universal in England and
Anieiiea, that it would be entirely out of the
(|iie!<tioii to think of changing them now, and
the}- must, from necessity, retain their present
meaning and application. Ed.]

A Monument to jMr. Downino. — Under
this head, Mr. J. 11. Watts, in the Septem-
ber number of the Horticulturist, proposes
that a piece of ground in the neighborhood of
Mr. Downing's late residence, be selected, " in
wliich might be planted the native trees of our
country, and tlie ornamental ones of others —
such as the numerou.s nurserymen, and all his
admirers, would be glad to api)ropriate for the
pi\rpose. to be gathered from all localities pos-
sible— there to be planted around such enclo-
sure, and about the resting place of one so ad-
mired when living, so lamented when dead."

It is much to be desired that this idea should
be carried into execution ; and it has occurred
to me that no better or more appropriate device
for a Monument to be placed within such enclo-
sure, could be designed, than the Vase of Fruit
whichmonthly decorates the cover of the " Hor-
ticuUurist." It should be constructed of free
stone, or marble; and I cannot doubt that the
cost would readily be defrayed by the numer-
ous subscribers to the Horticulturist. A. Cod-
man. Roxbury, Sept. 13, 1852.

INew Fruits tested at Boston. — Every cul-
tivator knows the importance of selecting
the best sorts, and tliis selection is greatly faci-
litated by knowing the experience of others.
With this view, we give a list of those which
were more particularly commended by the
committee of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, in their report the past winter, with
the remarks of the committee; —

Strawberries — iS^ew Pine, and Burr's New
Pine, of high flavor and very fine. Early Vir-
ginia, Hovey's Seedling, and Jenny's Seedling,
the most profitable and best for general cultiva-
tion near Boston.

Cherries — Monstrcuse de Mezel, resembling
Black Tartarian.

n — Christiana— " not yet equalled,"
by Capt. Lovett, from a green Malta,

impregnated by a very early variety— and fjr
which the Society awarded fifty dollars.

Blackberry — cultivated High Bush — well
worthy of cultivation— remarkable for size and
beauty.

Raspberries — Knevett's Giant, Fi-aneonia, and
perhaps Fastolff — worthy of a place in every
garden.

The Northern Spy apple has again borne, but
••' the Committee see no reason to alter the opin-
ion thej- have before expressed, of the unsuita-
bleness of this variety for general cultivation in
this vicinity." Caution against hasty decisions
is, however, shown by the fact stated by the
committee, '-'that -what is now beginning to be
regarded as one of our best winter pears, the
Glout Morccau, was but a few years since al-
most condemned as nearlv worthless."

Mabten's Seedling Plum. — In obedience
to a request made by the late editor of tlie
Horticulturist, I submit a fi^w specimens of a
new j)lum, called Marten's Seedling, (from the
fact of its having originated in the garden of a
gentleman of that name.) I also enclose fruit
of the Jefierson variety, in order that you may
be enabled to judge comparatively of each in-
dividual sort. I have fruited Marten's Seed-
ling for the last five years, and most unhesita-
tingly pronounce it equal, and in some respects
superior, to the best varieties at present in cul-
tivation or generally known.

I annex the reasons for the superlative en-
comiums so freely bestowed upon it, and also to
satisfy the sceptical that its merits are not ex-
aggerated. In the fiist place, the fruit, when
let hang until fully matured, it not surpassed
in point of flavor by a Green Gage. Secondly
— it is as productive as a Lombard or Red Gage.
Lastly — it is exceedingly hardy, and a prodi-
gious grower, not unfrequently realizing nine
feet from the bud in a single season. It is also
a remarkably early bearer. I have at present
some eight or nine trees, but three years old.
with crops of fine matured fruit. To this add
the fact that it is capable of being propagated
as rapidly as the apple or jiear, (rarely losing
ten per cent in budding,) and you have a fruit
not easily beaten. C.Eeagles. Schenectady,
Sept. 2, 1852.

Hawley or Douse Apple — Having been
to exhibit fine specimens of the '' Hawley

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

4.5 i

pie at tbc Convention at Pliiladelphia, on the
13th of the present niontli, and finding them
liighly approved b}' gentlemen there, wlio were
conversant with the variety, I thouglit it dne
to your readers to furnish you willi some for
your opinion. It lias before been noticed in the
" Horticulturist," but it will call attention to its
merits to place it again before the fruit growers.

It was originated in Canaan, New- York, and
has been grown for some ten years at Rochester,
to a limited extent as yet — accidentally I found
five trees of it in Greece, Monroe county, which
trees are well grown and in plentiful bearing.
It ripens from 15th to 20th September, and is
valuable that it succeeds the "Early Straw-
berry" and ''Early Joe." For cooking it is
superior, and for a desert fruit it has but few
e(puils in my humble opinion. J. II. Watts.
Rochester, Sept. 15, 1852.

AVe annex Mr. Thomas' description of this
apple:—

" IIawley. (S'y/i. Dowse.) Quite large,
ronndisl). sliglitly conical, sometimes nearly
round, with a broad obtuse apex, and slightly
flattened; smooth, slightly oily when kept with-
in doors; pale green, becoming yellow, some-
times a very fiint orange cheek; stalk one-half
to one inch long, slender; cavity wide, deep,
acute, sometime.s slightly obtuse ; basin deep,
slightly furrowed; flesh yellowisli wfiite, fine
grained, quite tentler, witli a mild, rich, sub-acid
line flavor. Ripens at mid-autnnni. A very
valuable api)le. Shoots of rather slow growth.
Origin, Columbia county. N. Y., and cultivated
cbietlv in western M. Y."

Messrs. Thorelun 8t Co., Astoria. — We
are glad to find that these gentlemen are keep-
ing up their collection of Dahlias in the same
perfection that they have for some years past.
The plants this year do not bloom quite so well
as usual, owing to the weather principally, but
altogether they are well worth a visit, if only to
see some of the new varieties recently introduc-
ed, which are valuable additions to our stock
of these flowers. A\'e find our friend Mr. G.
C. Thorburn, has been obliged for wantof room,
to remove his green-hiuise plants and stock to
Ills new nur.sery, at jS'ewark. N. J. The situ-
ation is well adapted to the purpose, and being
within ten miiuites of the raili'oad station, it is,
although fnrtherfrom New- York, asreadilyand
speedily accessible as Astcuia. We wi.sli him
all success in his new undertaking.

HocG &. Co.'s Nursery, New-York. — We
visited this establishment the past month, and
were gratified to find it maintaining its deserved
reputation. The general appearance of the
stock of greenhouse and frame plants is health}',
and their arrangement ami state of cultui'c in-
dicate that care and attention has been given
them during their summer exposure, the good
effects of which will not ftiil to develope tliem-
selves during the coming season. We were also
pleased to find the hot-house plants remarkably
clean, and although the stock of them is limited,
it is satisfactory to see that they receive that
habitual care which in general collections is fre-
quently not paid to them. We see Messrs.
Hogg have a young plant of the Victoria Lily
growing vigorously, so that our New- York
friends Avill soon have the opportunity to gratify
their anxiety to see this beautiful addition to
our exotic flora, domesticated amongst them.

Theory of Pruning. — Dear Sir: I find
that in the August number of the Horticulturist
I am arraigned before a tribunal of very high
authority in such matters ui)ou a eliarge of hav-
ing made innovation upon the doctrines which
governed the practice of pruning in the good
old days of 1816! I perceive also that the indict-
ment contains two counts, setting forth in sub-
stance that in an article in the May number of
the Horticulturist I aver '-that severe summer
pruning of the fruit bearing and lateral branches
of the grape is the only correct practice, ac-
knowledged to be so by all cultivators." And
again charging that in the same article I aver
" that everybody does or may know this (it) to
be the correct practice." It might be a sufli-
cient defence to both these cliarges simply to
state that no such broad a.ssertions are contain-
ed in the article from which they purport to be
quoted; but believing that in the well turned
periods of the articleoverthe signature of "C,"
who is the author of this complaint, and in his
accurate description of the renewal system in
managing the grape, I recognise the proportions
of a personal friend, of one who is no novice in
the philosophy of vegetable life, and of one also
who is incapable of coining out on such a subject
from a mere desire to assail, I fear I may have
provoked his comments by a failure to
apparent the drift of my remarks ; with

fi^'T^^

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

leave, therefore, I propose to say something in
explanation.

A leading principle in the theory of pruning
attempted to be set up by me, supposes an ex-
cessive growth of wood and the simultaneous
production of an excessive fruit crop, incompati-
ble things, and it was about this principle I was
reasoning when the statement was made that
everybody does or may know that upon a vine
capable of sending out shoots 10, 15, to 20 feet
long, if two branches be taken, each having one
cluster of grapes, and they be so treated that
one forms no wood, whilst the other makes a
long shoot, the cluster on the branch without
wood will be large, the other a starvling. This
is no paradox — the doctrine may be found in the
books prior to 184G. and now is becoming
rife.

In a late number of the Western Horticultural
Review may be found a good article setting
forth in substance that the gooseberry may be
successfully grown and mildew prevented sim-
ply by cutting out all the shoots of alight green
color, thereby preventing a diversion of the sap
from nursing the young fruit. Indeed, if I mis-
take not the j>ersonal identity of C, he too is
an eminently successful grower of the goose-
berry upon this identical principle, pinching out
the points of his growing shoots during the cariy
stages of development in the fruit crop, and
afterward rubbing off any buds bursting into
growth while the crop is maturing. What I
said further in relation to summer pruning had
reference merely to the time of performing the
operation, and upon this branch of the subject I
only say that most cultivators fix upon a time
subsequent to the setting of the fruit, intimating
myself that in cases of great luxuriance this
setting of the fruit is a period too late to secure
the greatest advantage to the crop by cutting
out the growing points of the bearing branches,
whilst, as my theory maintains, if the wood-
forming and fruit-bearing forces be equally bal-
anced, no pruning may be required at all.
There is one suggestion in my article of May to
which the attention of " C." and of cultivators
generally is respectfully invited, and that is a
founding of the rule of practice in this case upon
principle instead of dogmatism— upon the con-
dition of the vine, not the length or breadth of
rellis, making luxuriance in the branches

a test for the necessity of pruning and not " in
convenient length." The suggestion of that
article goes even farther than this ; it contem-
plates grouping all plants bearing the fruit crop
upon branches of the current year's growth,
which branches are capable of making an active
growth at the jioints after setting the fruit crop
into one class, in which over-luxuriance in each
was manageable by a common remedy — short-
ening-in. In maintenance of that suggestion,
allow me to make a few quotations. Gen.
James Hamilton, in an excellent agricultural
address delivered to a cotton growing audience
at Fort Mitchell, Alabama, in July, 1844, takes
occasion to say that he was " satisfied that in a
rank and wet season we shall make at least one-
third more to the acre by topping the cotton
plant at about four and a half feet high and
afterward shortening-in the long laterals."

Of the tomato. Prof. Mapes, whom his co-
temporaries consider as "no mean authority,"
says in a late number of his well conducted pe-
riodcal, the Working Farmer, " All must have
observed that 90 per cent of the fruit is within
18 inches of the ground, while 90 per cent of
the vine, containing only 10 per cent of the fruit,
grows above this point. Therefore, cut it off"
with the small tomatoes, and the large ones left
will increase in size more than equal in value to
the 10 per cent cut off."

Why not study the management of these
plants, with the melon, the vine, and others of
like habits? It seems to be admitted in all that
the power to form perfect fruit or seed is check-
ed by the presence of a wood -gi-owth too active,
and that, under one name or another, topping,
cutting off, or pinching out, the process of short-
ening in is applied as a corrective Conformity
to the requisitions of science would not be the
only result brought about by grouping. It would
afford fresh facilities for effecting progress in
the art and science of cultivation by opening a
new field for comparison, whilst every hint
gleaned from such a field would swell in impor-
tance, because applicable to a whole class, in-
stead of an individual species. Connected in-
timately with this subject is the question, what
leaves are they which in this whole class of
plants nourish the seed forms or fruit? — are they
those between the points on the annual shoot,
where the fruit is located, and the base of the

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

shoot, or between the fruit and the points of
sucli branch ?

In grape culture this is a question of some
moment, since in the removal of leaves near the
bunches, in order to admit breezes refreshing
to the perspiratory organs of the berries, it
might happen that the apparatus designed to
pump in fluids for assimilation by the digestive
ones was rendered too feeble. Individually, I
incline to the belief that the inner are the more
important ones, and base my conclusion upon
the habits of the grape and tomato, and upon
my observations in fruit, and more especially in
peach growing, a branch of pomology in which
my friends will have it that I am " some;" yet
if I know anything on this subject (and allusion
to the good opinions of friends is made but to
show I might know,) and were called upon to
grow a first rate peach, one to charm all behold-
ers and yet prove equally grateful to the palate as
pleasing to the eye, I would unhesitatingly
choose for the experiment some good looking
specimen, located in a healthy portion of some
well cultivated tree, pendant at the point of
some slender branch, a position in which, when
enlarged, it would swing like a plummet before
every breeze, where it Avould linger long after
its fellows had articulated and fallen to the
ground, gradually receiving the softest and
most bewitchingly impressions of beauty by
touchings and retouchings of the solar ray upon
a perfectly pure and unsunburnt ground ; but in
a position where it should do its own pumping
of fluids, aided only by a small tuft of leaves
vjaving gracefully near the point of thebranch,
but above and betiveen the fruit and its sources
of food. L. Young.

Dwarf Pears for marketing. — A corres-
pondent inquires if it would be profitable to set
out a thousand dwarf pear trees, with a view to
Tiiarketing purposes. The answer must be — If
such sorts are selected as have been found du-
rable on the quince ; and if good and enriching
cultivation is given them — they would probably
prove quite profitable. They should be trained
as half standards, that is, with heads on bare
trunks about two feet high. This will prevent
the danger of the lower limbs being split off by
deep snow, and the only pruning they will re-
quire will be a thinning of useless shoots once a

year, and preserving a neat ovate shape to the
heads.

It must not be forgotten that the roots of the
quince, being .smaller and in a more compact
circle than those of the pear, need a better sup-
ply of the elements of fertility, if the tree is ex-
pected to receive its due amount of nourishment.
Hence, constant and enriching cultivation must
be given.

Among those sorts which have proved dura-
ble upon the quince, are Louise Bonne de Jer-
sey, Stevens' Genesee, Angouleme, Glont Mor-
ceau. Passe Colmar, Easter Beurre, Beurre
d'Amalis, Diel, Doyenne Bou.ssouck, Stc. Many
other varieties will grow freely on quince for a
few years, but the first good crop of fruit, (even
on double worked trees.) exhausts the trees,
and they soon languish and die.

There is one great drawback on the profits to
be expected from an orchard of dwarf, or of
any other pears ; this is the danger of loss from
fire-blight, which to some cultivators, has re-
sulted in as heavy loss as would have been the
destruction of their dwellings by fire. Cultiva-
tors of the pear should foim themselves into a
mutual insurance company, for securit}' against
this loss.

The inquiry whether dwarf apple trees can be
made to aff'ord profitable crops for market, can-
not, by any means, be answered so favorably.
A tree ten years old will not yield perhaps a
tenth part of the crop from an equally well
treated standard. We have indeed known a
distinguished cultivator to give the opinion, (we
shall not say it is strictly correct.) that taking
all circumstances into consideration, the average
cost of api)les from dwarf trees, as now culti-
vated, is about five dollars per bushel. They
can be regarded only as curiosities — fancy arti-
cles, of which they aflford sometimes very inte-
resting specimens.

Chrysanthemums. — Edward. The follow-
ing are some of the best: Madame Poggi.Fleur
de Marie, Temple of Solomon, Celestial, Em-
press, Lucidum, La Reine d'Or, Campestroni,
and Lady TalfoTird.

Fuchsias. — Thomas Simso7i. The best
sias we have noticed this season, (some

DOJMESTIC NOTICES.

new and some old,) are Psyche, Gajiad, Son-
tag, Devoniana, Corallina, Elegaiitissiiiia, Eliza
Milliez, Magnillcent, Chateaubriand, and Acte-
on. Serratifolia is a winter blooming variety.

Early Spring Plants. — ^Cottager. You
may sow now many seeds in pots, to keep in a
garden frame through winter, such as Candj"^-
tuft. Virghiia Stock, Nemoplijdla, Sweet Alys-
sum. Pansy, which will then bloom early in the
year ; and in the same way you may have in
bloom at the same time, Walltiowers, Primro-
ses, Daisies, Polyanthus, Stocks, Pinks, Carna-
tions, Roses, Columbine, and many others. We
■will give an article on this subject shortly.

Stocks. — Samuel. Tlie large scarlet stocks
which you admired so mucli in pots, are
grown thus: The seed is sown in June, the
young plants arc transplanted when large enough
to move, and by October they have become good
sized plants, when thej' are potted, and kept
during winter in a frame or cool green-house.

Salvia patens. — James Stone. If you wish
to propagate this extensively, you may do so in
spring by cuttings, exactly as you do dahlias.

Begonias. — X. Z. The Begonia is a hot-
house plant, but most of the varieties Avill thrive
very well with green-house culture. Zebrina,
Fuchsioides, Coccinia, and Maculata, arc four
of the best.

Azaleas. — G. T. The cooler your Azaleas
ai-e kept through the winter, so that frost be
kept out of the house, the better. So also,
your geraniums; and it is wonderful how little
water the latter require if a low temperature
is kept, by which they will be infinitely benefit-
ted when set to work in spring.

Root-pruning. — C. F. Your perplexity in
the dilferences of opinion which as you truly
say exist about root-pnming, is not to be won-
dered at. The reason of this diversitj of opin-
ion is easily exi)laincd. Where it is practiced
by i)ers(ins who have a competent knowledge of
the laws of vegetable physiology it is both bene-
ficial and a safe operation as regards the ])er-
manent health of the trees; but when practised
by others who have not that knowledge it is
frequently (|uite the reverse. Without writing
a dissertation on the subject we can onlysny,
you had better not practice it except in the ca.se
of a fruit tree which appears healthy, but which

whilst making strong growth fails to give a crop
of fruit. Generally speaking, in such a case it
will be beneficial.

Potatoes. — Charles. Ko progress has rea//y
yet been made by either the philosophical re-
searches or in the experiments which have been
instituted to find out the cause of the potatoe
disease. Smees' insect theory has been proved
to be quite fallacious. Moisture has something
to do, when in excess, in producing it, as may
be proved by growing a dozen potatoes in as
many large pots in a frame. Of these keep
feeders filled with water under six of the pots,
and keep the other six rather dry than other-
wise. Generally, but not always, those with
the feeders under, will have the disease and the
others not.

Auriculas. — E. S. Oh yes, we have grown
Auriculas here as fine as we ever saw them in
England. As you say you have grown them
there, all the difference you need make in your
culture here, is to keep tlie plants entirely in
the shade from the time they go out of bloom
until the end of September.

Grape HousKs. — j1. J.R., (Middleborough,
Mass.) Fou cannot do better than follow Mr.
Rivers' i)lan, detailed in vol. G, page 17, ex-
cept that we recommend you to build tlie house
higher so as to avoid the sunken walk; you Avill
find it more convenient ; and we advise you to
board both sides of the posts as recommended
in the note to page 18. of the article referred
to ; this will enable you to make the liouse more
useful during winter, because if you take the
vines down from the rafters and cover them up,
you may then keep out the frost by the stove,
and use the liouse for plants or any other pur-
po.se that does not require a high temperature.
As to the borders, read Mr. Buist's articles in
vol. 5, page 8G, and Mr. Chorlton's in tlie pre-
sent volume, page 94, both very judiciously
written by men who thoroughly understand
the subject, and the material details in which
our own experience for many years fully
confirms. Do not aim at too many varieties in
a house the size you name. The Black Ham-
burgh, the Victoria, the Grizzly Fontignac, and
the Muscat will be ample ; but plant most of the
first named.

^OUMAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

Cjir !lkEiikrt[ Tin ktinrrtt lOnrtiriiltiirt m\ Slgtirultiin.

TIJHAT !" exclaim our readers, " a division between the two primal occupations
"** of man, born of one parent, educated in tbe same school, with one common
purpose, one destiny ?" Certainly. By common acceptance, gardening and farming
are as far asunder as the poles — the zenith and the nadir. And for the simple reason
only, that people, in their ignorance, or prejudice, choose to make them so. There
has existed, and still exists, in the minds of a great multitude of people, an ideal and
insurmountable wall between these twin professions, and which must continue to sepa-
rate them so long as ignorance and prejudice, instead of light and intelligence, con-
trol.

It has been one chief aim of " The Horticulturist" to familiarize the arts of
horticulture, planting, building, and the subordinate occupations attending them, to
the attention and understanding of everybody who has at all to do with the cultiva-
tion of ground; to carry them into every household, and homestead, and into every
farmery in the land — provided their occupants would take and read our paper, and
profit by the instruction it contains. Let us examine : The stalwart, plodding, strait-
forward farmer, unfamiliar with our pages, looking merely at our title and vignette,
imagines it to smell of rose-water and perfume ; stitched in a dainty cover and talk-
ing some sort of sublimated nonsense, to people who have more money to spend than
they know what to do with, and therefore employ it in the erection of all sorts of
fanciful buildings for all imaginable and useless purposes ; to stock their gardens with
all varieties of ncAV and worthless plants, vegetables, and fruits ; to plant their open
grounds with foreign trees and shrubs, which nobody knows an English name for — in
short, to promote the practice and cultivation of things beyond the reach of the or-
dinai'y farmer, and useless to either his legitimate occupation or enjoyment.

ow, no honest man ever made a greater mistake. The difference between
arts of Agriculture and Horticulture, farming and gardening, to employ

Nov. 1, 1852.

No. XI.

BOUNDARY BETWEEN HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE.

more familiar terms, is not greater than between " lotv^^ farming and " high" fann-
inir, as Mr. Mechi, the famous English farmer of " Tiptree Heath," would denominate
them. One, the " old-fashioned," slow and easy mode of our fathers ; the other, a
tliorough cultivation and manuring of the soil, stimulating it to the utmost power of
production, and consequent profit — the only successful mode of farming in a country
with a crowded population and a heavy consumption. " High" farming is, in fact,
horticultural cultivation applied to agriculture. There is no wall between these
two practices. It is the gradual and agreeable approach from the rough inequalities
of surface, in the broken, waste field, to the smooth and grassy turf of the luxuriant
meadow.

Every farmer, who is a farmer, has his garden of a quarter of an acre and up-
wards. From this spot he obtains two to five times the amount of consumable vegeta-
bles and fruits that any other equal quantity of cultivated land on his farm produ-
ces. He knows it too, yet never asks himself the question whether to extend that
garden into area of five or ten acres, and put it into choice fruits and fine market ve-
getables, would not give him a greater profit than to keep the same surface in corn,
oats, or pasture, as before, and to do so would require no more skill than his own
brain can readily acquire, and his own ingenuity can look after, if he will only take the
pains to get a little information. Here, and here only, is the WALL between Agricul-
ture and Horticulture — the indisposition to read, examine, and practice for one's self.
Plain talk, we admit ; but it is also a plain subject to all who choose to understand
it.

We have a desire that every American farmer should become, to a degree, a horti-
culturist— sufficiently so to supply his household from his own farm, with the choicest
vegetables and fruits ; by the proper disposition and cultivation of trees and shrubbery^
and flowering plants, to create a taste and attachment in his family for all rural things,
which must add infinitely to their pleasure and their enjoyment, and aid them to reach
that destiny which God in his bounty intends for all whom he has placed beneath the
sunshine of heaven, and on this favored side of his foot-stool. The study of Horti-
culture, in what study it requires, is simply an episode in kind of the grand art of Ag-
riculture itself, requiring no extraordinary teaching, but only carrying out and extend-
ing, like algebra beyond arithmetic, the nice and more intricate details of the subject.
The pursuit of Horticulture requires only thought and attention — not intense at all —
but steady and consistent thought, coupled with close application. Every farmer may
thus become a Horticulturist sufficient for his own wants, the requirements of his
own family, and immediate profit to his estate, if markets, and the conveniences of
getting to them, favor him. Our subjects are all intended to be practical, each in
their kind ; to embrace the wants, the taste, and the fancy of all, from him who
" trucks" the product of his own cabbage garden at the nearest market, to the man
who erects his conservatories by the thousand feet in extent. Each, all, and every
one may find instruction suited to his wants, and by the aid of his own contributions
of thought and experience to our pages, he may also edify others in the same laudable
pursuit with himself.

MR. WILDER'S EULOGY.

Indeed, no sy,steni of farming can be complete unless a department of horticulture
be connected with the farm. The aid of horticulture is required to give the home-
stead a character of truth and completeness. A farm may be productive ; it may be
well and thoroughly cultivated ; it may, in well arranged buildings and other shelter-
ed accommodation, give protection to all that live upon it and share in its labors or aid
in its emoluments ; but the repose, the quietude, the true enjoyment of agricultural
life, cannot be had short of an appropriation to the horticultural department. That
it is, which more than all else beside, gives expression to the domain, and stamps it
with a character of dignity and beauty, and clusters those thousand associations
around it, which fill up to perfection the true, as well as the ideal picture of Home.

COL. WILDER'S EULOGY ON MR. DOWNING.

The annual return of the 28th of July will moisten the eyes and agonize the hearts of
many American citizens.

On the morning of that disastrous day two steamers, the Armenia and the Henry Clay,
with numerous passengers on board, start from the capital for the chief commercial port
of the Empire State. Like "stately sailing swans," they glide swiftly over the smooth
surface of the Hudson. The fire within them waxes warm; their awful energies are rous-
ed; they run abreast — anon, the " bird of the West" darts ahead and distances her orient
rival. She calls at her landings, swells the number of her passengers, and with fearful
velocity hears them onward.

They admire the varied landscapes, the cottages, villas, towns, cities, bold cliffs, and lofty
mountains, which have given the scenery about this majestic river a world-wide renown.

They near a city, which rises in beauty and grace from its western bank back to the
brow of the distant hill. There is a

" Cottage, halt" embowered
AVitli inociesl jes-:amiue, .iiid there a spot
Of garden ground, where, ranged in neat array,
Grow countless sweets."

Its architecture is in the most approved Elizabethean style. Its grounds are tastefully
laid out and adorned, and he who named it " Highland Gardens," accurately translated
the natural language of the place. It overlooks the city and the river, and commands a
view of one of the most extensive and beautiful landscapes in the world. The very site
seems designed by nature for the birth place of genius, and for the abode of comfort, taste
and learning.

Its proprietor, with his relatives and friends, six in all, take passage in the ill-fated
boat. She bears them on toward their port of destination, when suddenly the alarm of
fire rings like a death-knell through that floating sepulchre. The passengers are ordered
aft, and she is headed for the eastern shore. In a moment all is consternation and horror,
which no language can describe, no painter's pencil sketch. Her whole centre is on fire.
She strikes the bank two miles below the town of Yonkers. The wind envelopes the
multitude on her stern, in smoke and flame. With a fearful odds in the chances of escape,
* Pronounced before the Pomological Congress at Philadelphia, September 13, 1852.

MR. AVILDER'S EULOGY.

the Great Destrojer offers them their choice between a death by flame, or a death by
flood. Alas! on some he inflicts both; they are first burned and then drowned!

The}' are diiven before the devouiing element, and entrust themselves to the mercy
of the waves. AJiiiidst the crowd at the stern, stands a man of tall and slender habit,
and of thouglilful expression, whose penetrating eye survej^s this perilous scene, and
seeks tlie most favorable chnnce of escape. His accustomed self-possession fails him not
in this awful extremitj'. He imparts wise counsels for personal preservation to his friends
and those about liim; then climbs to the upper deck for articles from the furniture of the
boat, on which they ma}' float to the shore. He returns, but his beloved wife and part
of his company have already been driven overboard. He commits the rest, and last of
all himself, also to the fatal flood,

" Forlorn of lieart, and l)y severe decree
Compelltd reluctant to the faithless sea."

Thej' sink; the}' rise. With the grasp of death they cling to him and again submerge
him ai^d themselves in the Avaves. He brings thein once more to the surface and beats
for the shore. Alas! it is in vain; his efforts to save others peril his own life. Entangled,
exhausted, and disabled, he sinks to a watery grave.

But the partner of his life, her sister and brother, who were mercifully rescued from
the jaws of death, are still unapprised of his melancholy fate, and search for him in vain
among the agonized survivors. But the cry, she sinks! she sinks!! fills their hearts with
direful apprehensions. Still they cling to the delusive hope that he may be among those
rescued by the rival Armenia and borne to the city of New-York.

The object of his conjugal love returns to her desolate home. The tidings of this aw-
ful disaster fly upon the wings of the wind; the mystic wires tremble at the shock; the
press utters its loud lament; the note of woe rings through our streets, fills our dwellings
and convulses our hearts with grief. The nation mourns, minute guns are fired upon the
spot to arouse the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and to start the dead from their
lowly rest. Multitudes rush from every quarter to the mournful scene; they crowd
around each body as it is raised and brought to the shore, to identify therein a relation or
friend. Among them his brother and partner in business arrive. At length another body
is raised. Its countenance is familiar; it is recognised; and at last the melancholy an-
nouncement is made that Andrew Jackson Downing is no more.

" Lovely in death the beauteous ruin lay."

His precious remains are borne back to their native city and to his house of mourning.
There they meet his widowed wife, whose ear, during the fourteen years of tht-ir wedded
life, had been so quick to catch the sound of his returning footsteps, and who had been the
first to greet and welcome him. Alas! she is suddenly bereft by one fatal blow, of
friend, mother, husband! The funeral rites are performed; his body is committed to the
tomb, " earth to earth," " ashes to ashes," " dust to dust!"

Thus terminated the earthly career of our lamented brother and associate. But his
name shall be perpetuated by fragrant flowers and delicious fruits; by gushing fountains
and murmuring streams; by grateful shade and balmy breeze, and by many a rural scene,

and many a tasteful home. He shall be remembered

" Where cottages and fanes, and villas rise;
AVhere cultur'd fields and gardens smile around."

But to be more specific, the results of his toil appear in the forests which he has preser-
om the merciless axe — in the trees which he has described and made to cont
abundantly to the taste and comfort of their proprietors — in the avenues whi

MR. WILDER'S EULOGY.

has adorned — in the lawns and pleasure grounds which he has laid out and appropriately
einbellislied — and in numberless buildings which stand as monuments to his architectural
skill.

The fruits of his labor are also gathered in thousands of gardens and conservatories.
The numerous cottages and villas which have lately sprung ud in the towns and villnges
about our commercial cities, and throughout our happy, land, evince his genius; and it is
due to his worth to say that few have left a mark so deep and broad on the generation in
which they lived.

In responding to the calls wliich have been made upon me to pronounce the eulogy of
our deceased friend, I shall attempt nothing more, and certainly can do nothing better,
than to articulate the language of his useful life, and to give free utterance to your own
convictions of his worth.

Mr. Downing was born in Newburgh, N. Y., on the 31st day of October, A. D., 1815.
In his boyhood he manifested a fondness for botany, mineralogy, and other natural scien-
ces, which at the age of sixteen, when he left school, he was able to prosecute without the
aid of an instructor. At that period, his f\ither having died when he Avas but seven years
of age, his mother desired him to become a clerk in a dry goods store; but he, following
the native tendencies of his mind, preferred to remain with his elder brother in the rrur-
sery and garden, whose accuracy and practical skill in horticulture gave special promi-
nence to the same trails in the deceased, and with whom he might study the theory, and
perfect himself in the practice of his favorite art.

In the formation of liis character, we also recognize with gratitude the agency of Baron
de Liderer, the Austrian Consul, whose summer residence was in his native place, a gen-
tleman of large endowments and attainments, of eminent purity of mind, and refinement
of manners, a mineralogist and botanist, who discoved in young Downing a mind of kin-
dred taste, who made him the frequent inmate of his family, as well as his own compan-
ion in numerous excursions for the scientific exploration of the surrounding country.

But his sensibility to artistic beauty was cultivated and developed by the lamented Ra-
phael Hoyle, an English artist, residing in Newburgh, and who, like himself, went down
to an early grave, leaving behind him specimens in landscape painting, true to nature, and
of remarkable delicacy of coloring. His manners were much improved and adorned by
his familiar intercourse with his neighbor, Mr. Edward Armstrong, a gentlemen of re-
finement and wealth, at whose fine country seat on the Hudson he was introduced to the
Hon. Charles Augustus Murray, an Englishman whose book of Travels in America has
been admired on both sides of the Atlantic. There he also made the acquaintance of many
other distinguished men, who subsequently became his correspendents and personal friends.

These associations had, no doubt, much influence in strengthening his refined and gene-
rous nature. He devoted all the time which he could reclaim from physical labor to read-
ing and study. In the bowers of his garden he held frequent converse with the muses,
who inspired him with the poetic fire which illumes his pages, and imparts peculiar vi-
vacity and energy to his stj'le.

At the age of twenty-two, on the seventh of June, 1838, he married Miss Caroline
Elizabeth, daughter of J. P.DeWint, Esq., of Fishkill Landing, a lady of congenial spirit,
of refinement and intelligence, to whom the world is much indebted for his usefulness. In
grateful return for her valuable services, she now enjoys the commiseration and condolence
of his friends in America and transatlantic countries. But with all these aids, still Mr
ing was, in the strictest sense, self-taught ; a fact which deserves to be recor
ly to his praise, but as an encouragement to thousands of aspiring youth

MR. WILDER'S EULOGY.

was never a pupil in the studio of an artist; if he studied natural science in the labora-
tory of nature more than in the school of scientific chemists; if he enjoyed not the ad-
vantages of a liberal and professional education, valuable and desirable as these means of
improvement certainly are, yet he was at all times and everywhere a learner; and the
lessons of wisdom which he received, he promptl}'^ reduced to practice; a circumstance
which made him eminently piactical and national, a man of his own age and country.

I will illustrate his habits of observation and study. In a walk he plucks from an
overhanging bough a single leaf, examines its color, form and structure; inspects it with
his miscroscope, and having recorded his observations, presents it to his friend, and in-
vites him to study it, as suggestive of some of the first principles of Rural Architecture
and Economy,

Does he visit a beautiful countr}^ seat, he sketches a view of it, and of the grounds
about it; notes whatever is true to nature, accurate in taste, or excellent in design; and
from his copy a plate is engraved, and in the next number of his Horticulturist the whole
scene, with his valuable comments, is given to the lovers of the landscape and the garden.

He returns from the forest. A short extract from his journal will explain the object
of his tour, and afford a fair specimen of the beauty and force of his style:—

"Nature plants some trees, like the fir and the pine, in the fissures of the rock, and
on the edge of the precipice; she twists their boughs, and gnarls their stem.s, by storms
and tempests — thereby adding to their picturesque power in sublime and grand scener}^
But she more often developes the beautiful in a tree of any kind, in a genial soil and clime,
where it stands quite alone, stretching its boughs upward freely to the sky, and outward
to the breeze, and even downward to the earth, almost touching her in her graceful sweep,
till only a glimpse of the fine trunk is to be seen at its spreading base, and the whole top
is one great globe of floating and waving luxuriance, giving us as perfect an idea of sym-
metry and proportion as can be found short of the Grecian Apollo." " One would no
more wish to touch it with the pruning knife, the axe or the saw, (unless to remove a de-
cayed branch,) than to give a nicer curve to the rainbow, or to add freshness to the dew-
drops."

This descrvptioH, for beauty, power of diction, and for fullness of nature, not only har-
monizes with the pictures, but even rivals the finest touches of the pencils of Claude,
Poussin, Salvator Rosa, or any other great master of landscape.

He makes a tour of New England, and stops at New Haven, the city of elms. He
walks out from the Tontine upon the green, admires those grateful shades, their majestic
form, their gracefully waving bo-ughs, and they revive in his mind the history of the elm,
its varied use for fuel, timber, and shade. He arrives at Hartford. The first object of
his attention is the " Charter Oak." He hastens to visit it, stands before it, all filled
with veneration, exclaims, with the bard of Manma, translated by Dry den,

" Jove's own Iree,
Thai holds ihe world lu. sovereignly I"

He sketches it, gives you a copy of it in his " Landscape Gardening," together with
his classical and scientific account of the king of th« American forest. He journeys up
the beautiful valley of the Connecticut to Stockbridge, Ma.ssachusetts, whose streets are
lined with the sugar maple, " clean, cool, smooth and un)brageous." He there increases
his love and admiration of the American maple, the beauty of who.se vernal bloom is
surpassed only by the unrivalled hues of its autumnal foliage, dyed with the tints of de
parting day.

By scenes like these, and by scientific reflection thereon, he prepares himself

MR. AVILDER'S EULOGY.

those last and well directed blows at the "heavenly'' tree, the Ailanthus, and also at
tlie Abele Poplar— both of which he kills off in a most celestial manner, to make room
for the more deserving and trulj' American Maples, Oaks, Elms, and Ashes, for the Mag-
nolia, the Tulip and others. Of the latter, how beautifully he speaks in the last leader
from his pen, in a manner so cas}- and flowing, and so characteristic of the man. " We
mean the Tulip tree or the Liriodendron. "What can be more beautiful than its trunk,
finely proportioned, and smooth as a Grecian column? What more artistic than its leaf,
cut like an arabesque in a Moorish palace? What more clean and lustrous than its tuft
of f)liage, dark green and rich as deepest emerald? What more lily-like and spacious
than its blossoms, golden and brown .shaded? And what fairer and more queeidy than
its whole figure, stately and regal as that of Zenobia?"

Tn the progress of his journey, he reaches the commercial metropolis of New-England.
It is the annual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society of that city. He
enters its Hall, is greeted with a cordial welcome, and invited to examine its collection,
particularly the exten.sive show of pears. In a subsequent di.scussion with its fruit com-
mittee, he proposes to them a question in his direct, practical and impressive manner, —
" Will each of you please to give me the names of the best three varieties of the pear, to-
gether with your reasons for that preference?" He obtains their opinions, and publishes
the same, puts the public at once in possession of their long and dear bought experience.

The same practical and studious habit is remarkably exemplified in his foreign travels.
Unlike other touiists, who first visit the Tower of London, or Westminster Abbey, he
hastens from the parks of that city to Chatworth, then to Woburn Abbey, Warwick Cas-
tle, and other places where agriculture, horticulture, architecture, and all the fine arts
have for ages vied with each other in whatsoever is ornamental in embelli.shment and
princely in wealth, and where are scenes of natural and artistic beauty and grandeur,
which attract the chief masters of the world. He is received and entertained with kind-
ness and partiality, by the Earl of Hardwicke, the Dukes of Devonshire and Bedford, and
others with whom he formed many warm friendships in the mother country. From these
places, where wealth, art, nature and genius, have congregated whatever is most beautiful
to the eye, most approved in taste, or most impressive to sensibility, he prosecutes his
lourney ; everywhere observing, noting and studying the objects and scenes about him. To
him not a tree, a plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contained a folio volume.

We have necessarily amplified this part of our subject in order to give a correct view of
the manner and extent of his education, of the peculiarities of his style, and of the forma-
tion of his character, and to furnish the materials for a just appreciation of his worth, and
for a philosophical judgment of himself and of his works.

Mr. Downing was just what we have repre.sented, a self-taught man. His name will
appear in all coming time, emblazoned upon the roll of fame, among such worthies of that
class as Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, David Rittenhouse, Benjamin West, and
Nathaniel Bowditch. He was not, perhaps, so profoundly scientific, yet he' was well
grounded in vegetable physiology, and in the first principles of the arts to which his life
was devoted. Being the sovereign of his own powers and acquisitions, he could instantly
bring them to bear on the subject of his investigation or discourse.

Tn his character we find that assemblage of virtues commonly called amiablencss. On

this depended the suavity of his manners, the sincerity of his friendship, and the freedom

of his hospitality. His guests always received a hearty welcome, and found at his resi

a quiet home. Here Miss Bremer, Avhose fame in letters is like that of the

htino-ale in song, wrote the introduction to one of her works; and in speak

MR. AVILDF.R'S EULOGY.

his kindness and hospitalitj', she says: " I never shall forget, nor ever be able to fully
acknowledge them, feeling as I here do at this moment, all the blessings of a perfect
home.'"

He also possessed, what is rarely found in combination with these qualities, keen per-
ception, great energy, decision and boldness. Blessed with an almost intuitive perception
of character, he read men at a glance. AVhen he was in London, he desired an assistant
who would return with him to America, and aid him in the architectural department of
his business. He visits the architectural exhibition in that city, and seeks an introduc-
tion to the secretary of that association, to whom he reveals his object, and by whom he
is introduced to Mr. Calvert Vaux, as a gentleman well qualified for the place. They ex-
change references; and so readily did he inspire confidence in this stranger, and also per-
ceive that he might safelj"- repose the same in him, that on their interview the next morn-
ing, he concludes a contract, agrees upon the precise time when thej' will start from Liver-
pool for America, hastens to Paris to complete his unfinished business, fulfills his engage-
ment, and in two weeks they are unitedly prosecuting their labors at Newburgh. Such
was his activity, proinptness, and despatch.

The increasing extent of his business would have employed several common men; his
correspondence alone would have occupied a private secretary; yet the number and urgen-
c}' of his duties never depressed him, never confused him, never made him in a hurrj-,
because he was alwaj's the master, never the slave of his business.

Having once thoroughly investigated a subject, he rested with confidence in his conclu-
sions, and published the same with a boldness which arrested attention and commanded
respect. Witness his just cor.demnation of " white houses" amidst rural beauty, a color
which no master of land.scape would dare to transfer to his canvass, yet which is as com-
mon in the country, as it is opposed to economy and good taste. Witness also his con-
demnation of the impure air of stove heated and unventilated dwellings, air which, with
equal truth and propriety, he denominates " the favorite poison of America." This arti-
cle, copied by numerous journals, read by thousands, and commending itself to their com-
mon sense, is fast producing a reform, conducive alike to health, comfort and long life.
But his kindness and magnanimity , his freedom from envy and jealou.sy, enabled him to
admire and commend whatever was excellent and praiseworthy, as freely and decidedly
as he condemned their opposites. These characteristics are exemplified in his monthly re-
views of the press, and in the notices of the works of other writers, which appear in his
volumes.

Li a word, Mr. Downixg was in manners modest, polite and gentlemanly, — in percep-
tion of fitness and propriety intuitive, — in taste accurate and refined — in tact and practi-
cal skill remarkable — in love of country strictly national, American — in sentiment pure
— in life incorrupt — in most respects a model man — in all, nature's own child. It has been
justly said of him, " at whatever point of view we regard him, we are compelled to ad-
mire the symmetry of his character, the vigor of his mind, the versatility of his talents,
and that healthful flow of enthusiastic feeling which marks his writings. There arc those
who can work out beautiful thoughts in marble, who can clothe them in the touching lan-
guage of poetry, or bid them flow in the rounded periods and convincing strains of orato-
ry; but few minds seem more fully possessed of the power to add by art to the beauty of
nature, and make the dessert blossom like the rose."

His writings are a faithful transcript of his own character. If his diction sometimes
contains unusual and even strange words and phra.ses, possibly ungrateful to som
sic ears, the worst which enlightened criticism can say of them is, that they subord

elegance to originnlty and force. But his language is generally pure, chaste and reflned,
not unfrequeiitly beautiful and liighly ornate. His style is peculiarly liis own, and rigid-
ly methodic, sometimes abrubt, but always versatile and flowing. It is remaikable for
that of which lie was passionately fond in nalure, and to which, with some latitude of ex-
piession, we will appropriate the word " pictaresqaa."

A single quotation will truly illustrate our meaning, and also these qualities of his style.
We select the woids with wiiich he introduced the Horticulturist to his readers with the
first breath of summer. " JJii^ht and beautiful June! embroidered with clusters of odo-
rous roses, and laden with ruddy cheiiies and strawberries, rich with the fieshness of
spring, and the luxuriance of summer — leafy June! If any one's heart does not swell
Avith the unwritten thoughts that belong to this season, he is only fit for " treasons, stra-
tagems and spoils." He does not practically believe that God made the country. Flora
and Pomona, fiom amid the blossoming gaidens and orchards of June, smile graciously
as we write these few introductory words to their circles of devotees. * # *
Angry v<dunies of politics have we written none, but only peaceful books, humbly aiming
to weave something more into the fair garland of the beautiful and useful, that encircles
this excellent old Earth." Such passages enliven and adorn his works.

Of tlicse we can give but a biief account.

The first is his " Landscape Gardening," which introduced him to the literary andsci-
entilic world, and gave him a rank among the distinguished writers of the age. For years
previous to its publication, he seemed retired from the world, abstracted and absorbed,
but in reality, he was occupied in intense study of his subject. When he mastered it, and
adapted its principles to American climate, scenery and people, he published it on both
sides of the Atlantic.

Think of this young man, at twenty-six years of age, without the advantage of a libe-
ral education— with no precedents to guide him, with only a few practical hints from
such men as Parmentier, seizing upon the first principles o( this science in the works of
Repton, Price, Loudon and others, with a comprehensiveness of mind, with a power of
analysis, an oiiginality and fixedness of purpose that would have done honor to the first
scholars in other departments, popularizing and appropriating them to his own period and
countiy, and actually producing a book which becomes at once a standard universally
acknowledged by his own countrymen, and piaised by Loudon, editor of" Repton's Land-
scape Gardening," who pronounced it " a masterly work," and after quoting ten pages,
to give his English readers an idea of its excellencies, remarks, " We have quoted largely
from this work, because, in so doing, we think we shall give a just idea of the great mer-
it of the author." This woik the celebrated Dr. Llndley critically reviews, in sundry
articles in his Gardener's Chronicle; and \Uiile he dissents from it on some minor points,
yet in respect to its cardinal excellencies, he thus remarks: " On the whole, we know
of no work in which the fundamental principles of this profession are so well or so con-
cisely expressed." And in regard to Mr. Downing's explanation of this science, and his
general definition of it, he adds, what is equally complimentary to our author, and to
American genius, " no English Landscape Gardener has written so clearly, or with so
much real intensity."

Closely allied to this science is the subject of Architecture, to which our author next
turns his attention; and in the following year he publishes his "Cottage Residences."
Of this work Mr. Loudon also observes, " This book is highly creditable to him as a man of

and an author, and cannot fail to be of great service." This latter work, in
creates occasion for his " Architecture of Country Houses," including designs for

tages, Farm Houses, and Villas, with remarks on the interiors, Jarniture, and the best
modes of warming and ventilating.

Of these, the English and American press offer remarks so siniihir to those which we
have already submitted on his Landscape Gardening, as to supersede the necessity of
much amplification. We select the closing words of an English review of one of these
woiks: —

" We stretch our arm across the ' Vjig water' to tender our Yankee coadjutor an Eng-
lish shake and a cordial recognition." We will add two examples of the American esti-
mate of these productions. Says a gentleman resident on the Atlantic shore, who is
eminently qualified to form an enlightened judgment: — " Much of the improvement that
has taken place in this country, during the last twelve years in Rural Architecture, and
in Ornamental Gardening and Planting, may be ascribed to him." Another gentleman,
equally well qualified to judge, speaking of suburban cottages in the West, says: — "I
asked the origin of so much taste, and was told it might principally be traced to DowN-
INg's Cottage Residences and his Horticulturist."

Of his remaining works, the " Horticulturist," liis monthly journal, which has en-
tered its seventh year, is extensively celebrated for its appropriate, interesting and eloquent
leaders — for its numerous and able C(U-respondents — f(U- its varied learning and lipe ex-
perience— for its just and faithful reviews — and for its tasteful embellishments and rural
decorations.

His " Fruits and Fruit Trees of America," — a volume of six hundred pages, was print-
ed in 1845, both in New-York and London, and in two different forms — the duodecimo
with lineal drawings, and the royal octavo, both with these drawings and with colored
engravings. It has passed through thirteen editions, and originally combined his personal
observation and experience with those of other American fruit growers down to that
date.

Besides these productions of his pen, he edited, with notes and emendations, " Mrs.
Loudon's Gardening for Ladies;" also, " Lindley's Theory of Horticulture;" delivered
various addresses; submitted reports to public bodies, and contributed numerous articles to
the secular, literary and scientific journals of his day.

In addition to these labors, he rendered efficient services to the cause of agriculture and
ao-ricultural education. He constantly superintended his homestead — was a correspond-
ing or active member in many horticultural and kindred associations — was influential and
prominent in the establishment of this Congress, and from its origin chairman of its fiuit
committee — the author of the " Rules of American Pomology," which, with some modi-
fications, have been extensively adopted. He advised and aided in the laying out of
grounds, in the plans and specifications of various private and public buildings, and at
the time of his death, not only had contracts for important professional services in New-
burgh, Newport, Georgetown, Albany, Boston, and other places, but was actually on
his way to Wa.shington to prosecute the business in which he had been engaged by the
national government, for the laying out and adornment of the public grounds in that city.
He had also projected several new volumes in the departments of his peculiar studies and
labors, as well as the revision of some of his present works. The last effort of his pen
was a postcript to a set of working plans to illustrate a design for an observatory proposed
to be erected in one of our principal cities.

Alas! that one so eminently useful, with such brilliant prospects before him, and whose
place it is so difficult to fill, should be so suddenly removed! Such is the comm
clamation! But this general sorrow may find consolation in his ow^n devout words

MR. WILDER'S EULOGY.

letter of condolence addressed to me a few days before his death. They seem prophetic
of this hour. " God knows what is best for us."

This dispensation is indeed mysterious; a wonder of Providence such as the All-wise
and Infinite rarely permits. He takes away one to whom we are most attached, and
that, too, when we can Iciust afford to spare him. But let us hope that this melancholy
event may awaken public attention, and direct it from the man to his pursuits and to
tlieir connection with the public welfare, and thus become the occasion of raising up men
to cnrry out and consummate his worthy enterprise.

We have thus spoken of the last hours of our lamented friend — of the dreadful catas-
trophe which terminated his earthly career — of the circumstances and influences in which
his character was formed— of its most prominent and commanding features — of the great
events of his public life— of his published works — and of his plans of future usefulness.

As your humble servant, appointed to speak of his " life, character, and virtues," it
is not proper for me to indulge personal and private partiality. It has been my endeavor
to form such an elightened judgment of his worth, and such an unbiassed estimate of his
numerous excellencies, as shall be in harmony with your own opinion, and shall command
public confidence and respect. The duty we perform is without any expectation of adding
to the lustre of his fame. His works are his best eulogy — the most enduring monuments
of his worth.

But he has gone! His seat in this Congress is vacant! Another will make the report
which was expected fiom him! "We shall much miss his wise and leading counsels in our
deliberations and discussions, his prompt and energetic action in our endeavors to advance
the worthy objects of this association, in the origin and grogress of which his agency was
so conspicuous. He has gone! He is numbered with those patrons and promoters of the
ornamental and useful arts who rest from their labors; — with the erudite and sage Pick-
ering, the wise and laborious Buel, the ardent and scientific Mease, the humorous and
poetic Fessenden, the practical and enterprising Lowell, the tasteful and enthusiastic
Dearborn, the indefatigable and versatile Skinner, the scientific and volumnious Loudon,
and others of noble design and enduring fame. These have fallen around us like the
leaves of autumn; and Providence now calls on us to inscribe on that star-spangled roll
the cherished name of Downing, struck down suddenly when his sun was at the zenith
of its glory.

He rests in the bosom of his mother earth, in the city of his birth, and the sepulchre
of his fathers, on the banks of that beautiful river where his boyhood sport, and where
the choicest scenery inspired his opening mind with the love of nature — a spot which will
be dear to the thousands of his admirers, and which our love to him will constrain us to
visit. We may resort to his hospitable mansion, but he will no longer greet us with his
cordial salutation, nor extend to us the right hand of fellowship- We may wend our way
through his beautiful grounds, but he will not be there to accompany us. Instead of his
pleasant and instructive voice, which once dropped words of wisdom and delight on our
ear, we shall hear the trees mournfully sighing in the breeze — the cypress moaning his
funeral dirge, and the willow weeping in responsive grief, " because he is not." " His
mortal has put on immortality."

When we think of the place which he occupied in the hearts of his countrymen and
cotemporaries — of the expanding interest which he has awakened in the rural arts, the
refinements and comforts of society — of his unfinished plans, which others, inspired by
genius, will unfold and consummate — and of his works, which will be admired when
tongues that now praise him shall be silent in death, our sense of justice accords to

i|)jj 5(10 IIORTICULTURAl. EXHIBITIONS.

him an early immortality— a fame ■which history will cherish, art adorn, and grateful
posterity revere.

He is dead, yet how little of such men can perish! The clayey tenement may indeed
fall and crumble, but to him who dwelt in it, a place is assigned in the firmament of
American genius, far above the storms and convulsions of earth — " in that clear upper
sky," where he shall shine forever to illumine the path of intelligence, enterpiise and vir-
tue, and henceforth to enkindle in the human mind a love of order, taste and beauty. We
rank him with those who start improvements which advance ages after they are dead,
and who aie justly entitled to the consideration and gratitude of mankind. Wa.shington
and his illustrious associates are dead; but the liberty which the}' achieved still lives, and
marches in triumph and glory tlirough the earth. Franklin is dead; but the spark which
his miraculous wand drew from heaven, speaks with tongues of fire and electrifies the
globe. Fulton is dead; but he awoke the spirit of invention which turns the machinery of
man — aye, and he awoke also the genius of navigation.

'• Ami lieaveii inspireti,
To love of useful glcry roused mankind,
And iu miliounded commerce mixed llie world."

DoVvXiNG also is dead; but the principles of artistic propriety and ornament, of rural
economy and domestic comfort, which he revealed, await a more full and perfect develop-
ment; and as the}^ advance towards their gloiious consummation, grateful millions shall
honor and cheri.sh his name. IIis mkmory Shall live fokever.

HOE TICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

The season of our principal Horticultural Exhibitions for the year is just concluded,
and a few words upon them may not be altogether useless. We have, m truth, been much
gratified by the aspect of those at which we have had the opportunity to be present, (and
we doubt not that those of our readers who have attended them, will agree with us in
opinion,) that the exhibitions of the present year have shown an onward movement, which
testifies plainer tlian any other evidence can do, that our progress in every department of
cultivation, whether fruit, flowers, or vegetables, is highly satisfactory. In every branch,
the state of perfection in which the generality of exhibitors have brought their several
productions to the contest, has been very good, and after making allowances for the diver-
sity of localities, and the contingencies consequent on the weather upon some things, we
have seen quite enough to satisfy us that many intelligent minds are engag-ed, and careful
hands at work, to develops and apply the many advantages which this country so amply
possesses, for growing all products of the earth in that high degree of luxuriance and
perfection, which the judicious union of art in aid of nature's efforts, can alone effect.

Our object at present is not, however, to generalize in useless speculation, or to indulge
in the lengthened expression of satisfactory anticipations as to the future; but to make
some remarks upon the comparative degrees of excellence which have been manifested in
some of the various departments of horticulture, with the view to offer a few suggestions
for the consideration of exhibitors.

Uniformly, we have found the fruit at all exhibitions, as a whole, highly creditable to
our fellow laborers in the science; and forming, as it does, one of the most important
branches, this is the more commendable in them. The specimens of many varieties of

foreign grapes have been shown on several of their exhibition tables in condition, which
leaves nothing to be desired; and we question whether finer samples of this fruit have
ever graced the hospitable board of any of our readers. In point of size, the bunches
exhibited have generally been satisfactor}'; and seeing that the cultui'e of the foreign grape
under glass, to an}' extent among us, may be said to be comparatively of recent oi'igin, it
has gratified us to find them usual!}' shown with such evenl}' sized beii'ies. There is one
caution which we must nevertheless give some of our 3'oung grape growers, (a class that we
have reason to know is now ever}' day largely increasing in number,) and that is, not on
any account to cut for exhibition a bunch of grapes that is not JMij ripe. We have ob-
served in man}' instances this year, individual bunches which were not ripe, placed with
others that were perfectly so, and in some cases we have seen that this defect has been
overlooked, or ratlier disregarded by the judges, and premiums have been awarded for
them. Now this should not be. We know full well, from considerable past personal ex-
perience, that it is a very disagreeable duty in judging at Horticultural Exhibitions, to
be under the necessity of putting aside and disqualifying that which, as a whole, is a fine
collection of fruit, on account of some defect, such as unripeness in a portion of it; or
perhaps for some other requirement, which a little more time would have remedied; and
whicli was not altogether a fault arising from any controllable defect in cultivation. W'e
know that in such cases, to say nothing of the disappointment and dissatisfaction fre-
quently produced, the cause even of the rejection is, to young cultivators, often unknown;
and that discouragement and discontent thence produced, sometimes induce the exhibitor
to decline to take part in future trials of skill. But, however unfortunate this is, the
judges should never allow such considerations to influence them. The very object of all
parties engaged is the attainment of perfection in the pursuit; and although we know
that it is in degree alone, and not in the full sense of the term, that this can be obtained;
yet certain and distinct Diinimum limits of excellence should be laid down and ad-
hered to, below which no subject of competition sliould be receivable. For it will be evi-
dent, upon consideration, that unless this be done, on the one hand, the very object of
the discouragement of mediocre culture will be defeated, and on the other, the stimulus
to exertion to leacli a high standard of excellence, will be to a great extent taken away.
A far preferable mode forjudges to adopt, whenever the general appearance of the subject
of competition would appear, as compared with others exhibited, to entitle it to a premium,
but wbich it is disqualified from receiving on account of defects or deficiencies not readily
apparent to the inexperienced eye, is for the judges to attach a paper with a short note
of the reason, thus, " DisqaaUfiad by thz judges on account oj * * * — ." This
will always testify that the judges have not been negligent in the discharge of their duty;
and will generally reconcile the unsuccessful candidate himself to his misfortune. He
will regard the paper as tantamount to a testimonial by tlie judges in favor of the general
good results of his exertions, and his vanity, (or perhaps commendable pride,) will not
be wounded; and the consolation which he derives from the idea that but for the one
mischance, he would have obtained the reward of his care and skill, neutralises the feeling
of disappointment at its loss; and he resolves on more circumspection in future.

Our Boston friends who have so well earned, and so long claimed a pre-eminent position
amongst us in pear culture, will, we are well assured, join us in congratulating our culti-
vators soinetliing farther south, at their success this season. In numerous instances we
have seen a considerable increase this year in the number of good varieties exhibited by
ew-York and other growers. Doubtless every year adds to their experience as to
iticular varieties suited to their locations in our varied climate, and to this the i-e-

HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

suit alluded to is in a great measure to be attributed. Our advice to pear amateurs is,
rather to aim at confining themselves to such varieties as, upon a fair trial, are found to
afford satisfactor}' results, first and principall}', ns regards flavor and qualit)^ and second-
ly as regards the average crop, than to increase numerically the varieties they grow. In
our opinion, the rapid advances now making in horticultural chemistry, may, at no very
distant period, open to us an arcana in the laws immediately applied to the texture and
the flavoring of fruits, which may enable us bj'-and-bye to influence these particulars to a
degree at present perceptible but dimly, if at all, only in that vista of the scientific future,
which those alone who are laboring silently but nevertheless ardently upon the subject,
at present dare glance into.

Those who remember what our hot-house and green-house plants were ten j^ears ago,
must have gazed with unfeigned pleasure upon tlie many fine specimens which have this
year decked the tables of our exhibitions in all parts. The improvement in the beauties
of the courts of Flora, have been as marked as have those in the domains of Pomona.
Of the rival queens, however, we think the latter has the greater number of successful
votaries, as respects the quality, although not perhaps as regards the number of them.
For though much indeed has been done, and most worthily, in floriculture, yet much re-
mains to be done.

The time was, and is not yet so far left behind as to be out of our remembrance, when the
laws of vegetable physiology were so little known, and the principles on which successful
pot culture depends, had been so imperfectly studied, that it was considered an impossi-
bility to grow an exotic plant in a pot, Avith any approach to the perfection which the
same species attains in its natural habitat. At present, although it may be too much to
affirm that under the management of a first rate cultivator, exotics can be grown in great-
er perfection than they arrive at in the place assigned to each particular species b}' nature,
yet may it, with great truth, be asserted that we do see, under the best cultivation, a
degree of beauty and vigor, imparted to many species which, owing to adventitious cir-
cumstances, (as the extremes of meteorological changes and other contingencies,) we sel-
dom see in the same species when found in its native wilds. This consideration deserves
to be often made the subject of our recurring thoughts; because, while in one point of
view, it should operate as a stimulus to prosecute our experiments in the perfection of
such species as hitherto have been but indifferently cultivated; in another, it should re-
mind us that we must not seek bj' an undue measure of those stimulants, on which, fre-
quentl}', our success depends, to push the constitutional habits of a plant beyond its legi-
timate development. For although we cannot agree with the pure botanist who condemns
our development of the beauties of double flowers on the ground of interference with his
systematic arrangements; 3'et we have seen the injudicious persistence in a mode of cul-
ture, which to a given point was most successful, continued until the heterogeneous re-
sults produced, led from a misconception of their cause, to the abandonment of that
which, legitimately practiced, was the correct course of culture.

As connected with horticultural displays one of the greatest advantages, which the im-
proved culture of the last few years has imparted to them, is the more natural mode of
training and pruning hot-house and green-house plants. Formerly, every exotic climbing
plant was seen tied down and cramped by a frame work, so as to leave the mind of the
unscientific spectator in doubt whether the frame was a part of the plant or not. Well
do we call to mind some time back, being at an exhibition with a friend, who was a skil-
ful landscape painter, and conscqucnily possessed a ready- perception of the beautiful in
nature, who, when admiring a fine plant of Maurandia Barclayana which had been tortur-

HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

ed into covering a flat surface like a stable door, exclaimed, suddenly, "How beautiful!
What a jiit)' we h.ave not a climbing plant like it V Upon our exiiluiniug to our friend
his mistake, his reply was, " Is it possible! What a barbarian the gardener it belongs to
must be; but I am glad to find my perception of truth in nature is correct; depend on it
she makes no mistakes whatever gardeners may do." Our fiiend was right. Tlien ao-ain
ever}' green-house shrub was cut and trimmed into some domelike or conical shape, and
the vei'y beauties arising so strikingly from the varied liabits of growth in different fami-
lies of plants was destroyed, and a monotonous symmetry produced which tended rather
to weary the senses by its precision than to please them by its uniformity. And although
to a considerable extent the evil complained of is got rid of, still we see enough of this
very important error of by-gone days remains to warrant us in calling attention to it and
pointing out the M'rong principles of taste upon which it rests.

Undoubtedly this habit of cutting plants in particular shapes, arose at a time when
plant structures for the culture of exotics were themselves in their infancy; and when a
much .larger number were crowded into them, owing to the imperfect state of knowledge
as to the requirements of light, air, and ventilation, as materially important agents to-
wards success. And this economy of room, added to aquaintness of style which in those
early days of gardening, also prevailed in the treatment of out-door pleasure grounds,
doubtless induced this unnatural and inharmonious mode of adapting plants to their
habitation instead of adjusting the latter to them.

It should be ever borne in mind that the very object of exotic plant growing, is to as-
sociate with ourselves for our enjoyment and use, those native beauties of other climes,
which we cannot otherwise see, or having seen, are desirous to appropriate to the minis-
tration of our continuous enjoyment; and therefore that in their culture we should en-
deavor to adjust their treatment to their habits of growth in a state of nature; for (as it
has been well remarked) although a strict adherence to the natural conditions of a plant
in its wild state will frequently not be, in all particulars, suited to its culture under the
guidance of art, yet no system of art culture will be successful, in which those natural
conditions are wholly disregarded. The object in pot culture should be to produce a
luxuriant growth, and then to observe and conform to the constitutional requisitions of
our plants as to their periods of lest and activity. The pruning of them should, in the
early periods of their growth, be regulated by the design to produce a sufficiency of branch-
es, so as to give us a well furnished specimen of the species; but when approaching its
maturity as a worthy denizen of our green-house, we should allow the plant to assume
its natural growth, taking care that too many branches are not left to crowd each other,
and thereby prevent their perfect development. Every green-house shrub so treated, and
being in vigorous health, cannot fail to present at once an object of natural beauty and
of true symmetr}^ It is of course admitted that climbing plants must necessarily have
some support; but instead of the adoption for this purpose of special forms unknown to
the vegetable world, it will be found in the great majority of cases, that the most elegant
object will be presented by allowing them to run over the twigs of a branch of some de-
cidous shrub, placed for the purpose as a support, upon which, slight attention in occa-
sionally directing the tendrils and young shoots, will induce it to twine with all the
air}' gracefulness of natural growth.

In orchideous plants there is a wide field unoccupied in our middle and northern states
into which we hope to see soon many amateurs step forward with earnestness of purpose,
is we know a general and vague idea that these families of plants involve a q
abor and expense, to say nothing of the extraordinary skill, which people ar

WHY DO PLANTS DETERIORATE.

willing to undertake. But in this supposition there is much misconception. It is quite
true that a competent knowledge of the peculiarities of treatment is required, becau.se
they, like heaths, and some families of green-house plants, have fixed habits which can-
not be transgressed with impunity; but those fixed laws are few and soon known, and
moreover the}' involve no great difficulty in acting upon. European orchid growers have
difficulties of climate to contend against that we are free from, and with us their growth
is comparativel}' easy. It is an erroneous supposition to fancy that a high temperature is
unifornil)' necessary for their successful cultivation. What they do require is a powerful
sun at times, and in this country thej'' have it in as considerable a quantity, as many of
the most beautiful amongst them have it in their native habitat.

We hope some of our amateurs will be induce*^ to try a few of the common species, and
we doubt not their unlooked for success will induce them to go on with these magnificent
jewels of nature's toilet.

The portions of our exhibition tables devoted to vegetables, have literall}'^ groaned under
the weight of the valuable varieties with which they have been covered; and have
borne ample evidence of good culture and well directed skill. Still at no exhit)ition
that we have attended, has there been any difficulty in detecting the marked difference
between the well tended crop, and its less luck}' competitor. The fine clear skin of the
full swelled tuber, tells us unerringl}' the tale of its careful and intelligent master's toil,
as does the well bloomed geranium. But we must draw our remarks to a close, wishing
to all exhibitors, " honor to whom honor is due." B. M.

WHY DO PLANTS DETERIORATE?

BY W. ^V. VAI,K, M. D., FLUSHING.

Tins question has been often asked, and occasionallv we have been favored with an
answer; each respondent proposing his own theor}', and sustaining it by such facts and
arguments as appeared to him both reasonable and conclusive. By some writers the plant
was supposed to exhaust the soil of all its profjcr nutriment, in a greater or less time;
consequently, when that failed, it became unheallhj', and sooner or later perished, unless
that nutriment was restored. B}' others, the deterioration was not so much charged to
the lack of nourishment, as to the elimination of excrementitious matter, the throwing
off" of a foecal slime, which then became a .slow or rapid poison to vegetable life.

Of these two opinions, we give in our adhesion to the latter, because it best agi'ees with
our own observations, and is supported by the greatest amount of testimony. AVithout
insisting upon the infallibilit}' of our own views, let us see what may be said in support
of the excrementitious theory, or that which refers the unhealthiness of plants, in most
ca.ses, to their own rejections.

When first promulged, the opinion that plants discharged this deleterious matter at all,
became the subject of a very warm and animated discussion. It provoked a considerable
degree of astonishment and disbelief in the minds of cultivators; and not a few eminent-
Ij' practical men, under a conviction of its absurdity and fallac}', attempted to refute it,
and to expose its numerous inconsistencies. But time has mateiially softened the asperi-
ties of this once spirited controvei'sy, and, as the prejudices of different individuals have
been subdued or removed, it appears almost needless to bj-ing forward an)' fui
ents in its support than have already appeared, moi'e especial!}' as the mos

WHY DO PLANTS DETERIORATE.

vincin g proofs of its correctness are daily before us, both in the field and garden. We
consider it a fact perfectly incontrovertible, that plants and vegetables do emit from their
roots an excrementitious slime of a quality inimical to their health and existence. Take
a naturally good soil, and grow in it successive crops of any one kind of plant. In spite
of the application of manure in liberal quantity, that soil will become deteriorated, and
unfit for the growth of that particular plant. How is this fact to be explained.'' Why will
not the plants do as well as they did at first.'' The soil is prepared, it is well vianured, but
the result is a failure. Now to our mind, the deterioration results, not so much from the
abstraction of nutrition, as from the emission of deleterious substances. But we have
palpable evidence of this emission. Take a bulb in a growing state, and place it in a
vessel of water, but do not change the w^ter. What is the consequence? In a very few
days, the roots will become enveloped with a viscid, slimy substance, the water is thick
and ropy, and soon begins to smell un[ileasantly. Whence comes this exudation but
Jrom the roots 1 and unless it is removed by a fresh supply of Avater, the health of the
bulb will be materially injured, and its death certain. Here then is our theory, and we
believe it to be generally admitted and established, therefore a few general remarks may
be offered relating to the particular influence of vegetable foeces on certain plants, and
thence drawing some practical inferences affecting the cultivation of those plants which
are most easily and materially injured thereby.

That the soil is deteriorated much sooner by some plants than by others, must be ac-
knowledged by all who have made this subject a matter of investigation, and the reason
why they do thus speedily contaminate the earth is — that their excretions are either more
abundant, or more virulent in character. What the cause of this difference is, has not as
far as we know, been elucidated by any writer, and it 3'et demands a satisfactory explana-
tion. It is as likelj' to be the result of repletion as of anything else, — or to state the case
differently — it seems that those plants which are supplied with, and are capable of im-
bibing a larger quantit3' of liquid nutriment, must necessaril}' transfuse a greater portion
of that sustenance in the form of excrementitious fluids; and, in corroboration of this
opinion, the fact may be adduced, that all those plants possessing very strong and succu-
lent roots, the soonest cause the greatest amount of damage to the soil. If this is a cor-
rect solution of the difficulty, it follows that when a plant is b}'' any means over supplied
with moisture, it becomes so completely saturated, that an unusual discharge of refuse
matter takes place, which, accumulating about the roots, generates unhealthiness; it in
fact makes the soil what gardeners term " sour." Very frequently, plants grown in pots
are observed to be in a sickly condition, and the reason assigned is, " stagnant water."
But the true cause is, we think, to be found in the accumulation of excrementitious dis-
charges, increased by too much watering, and retained by bad or defective drainage. It
frequently happens when plants get into this sad condition, that they are taken from the
pot, some of the ball of earth removed, and then repotted in fresh soil. But no benefit
is derived from the change; they still remain sickly. The only effectual remedy is, to
clear their roots of every particle of soil, wash them in clean water, and then pot them in
entire fresh compost. Their health and luxuriance will be speedily restored, and they
will again flourish with decided energy and vigor. Again, who has not seen orange trees
lose every leaf, because their roots have been seriousl}' injured by superfluous moisture.
Take them from the tubs, carefully clean and wash the roots in weak soap-suds, and then
replace them in their tubs with a fresh soil. Now put them in a warm moist heat, and
soon they will commence growing, to be again clothed with healthy and bright foliage
Nor is this process alone confined to orange trees, for many if not most other plants may

WHY DO PLANTS DETERIORATE.

be treated in a similar manner, and with alike good results. Those who grow the pansy
most successfully, always practice washing of the roots, though they may have no know-
ledge of the principles which should govern them in resorting to the process. Many gar-
deners do things because they have seen others do them, but they often cannot tell us why
or wherefore.

Here, then, we have a few facts, and although they may not establish the opinions here-
in expressed, they at all events clearly demonstrate the existence of certain functions in
the roots of plants, by which refuse or foecal matter is discharged, and also that these re-
jections are highly injurious to the plant emitting them, if re-absorbed. We are, there-
fore, very naturally led to inquire, how shall these deleterious influences be neutralised or
destroyed.^ We believe it has been satisfactorily proved, that only to those of their own
species, are the rejections of plants injurious. To all others they are perfectly innocuous,
and very probably nutrimental. This establishes the propriety and necessity of attending
to the alternation and rotation of crops in the field and kitchen garden, and is a discovery
of no small importance to every cultivator of the soil. But how is it in the flower gar-
den? so widely different from growing vegetables. The majority of the plants are of pe-
rennial duration; therefore attention to this object is of still greater importance, and more
difficult of attainment; for no plant should be suffered to remain more than two or three
years in the same spot; if it does, degeneration is inevitable. It is especially to bulbs and
tubers these remarks will apply, for to them an occasional removal from the ground al-
together, is of very decided benefit; nor is this benefit derived solely from suspended ve-
getation, but likewise is due to a change of soil. Therefore, this latter fact should be ta-
ken into consideration and acted upon, if we desire the treatment to be as perfect as it
ought to be.

When grown in pots, plants are far more materially affected by their own rejections,
because their roots are confined, and cannot extend themselves into uncontaminated soil;
yet much may be done in these cases to remove the difficulty, or to counteract its effects.
By some writers it has been declared, but not proved, that from the tips or extremities of
the rootlets only, is this excrementitious matter voided. This may be true or not; but
assuming it to be true, the importance of an annual repotting is too evident to need insist-
ing upon. To all gardeners it is a well known fact, that at the sides of the pot these root-
lets are always found in greater or less number. In repotting, the outside surface of the
soil is generally removed, and with it is taken away the injurious matter, in the place of
which we substitute fresh and sweet earth. So with a great many plants, we find near
the surface of the ground their fibrous roots. With these the operation of top-dressing
is practiced, and with the very best effects, only taking care to remove the top soil before
making the addition of fresh compost.

But these are not the only means of neutralising or removing these unwholesome ex-
cretions. There are others of quite as much importance to the horticulturist or gardener,
to wit — a thorough exposure to the air, and a free permeation of water. The advantages
derived from the latter of these processes is too palpable to need further elucidation, and
it will readily be perceived, that in efficiently draining pots, we are doing something more
than is commonly supposed necessary. When the water is allowed to stagnate about the
roots, the plants becomes saturated, and in consequence, their rejections are more abundant.
A retention of this noxious feculence is thus inevitable, which is not only pernicious, but
very frequently destructive

has been abundantly proved, that by freely exposing the soil to the varied influences
atmosphere, the excretions of plants contained therein are thereby either evapora-

BIRDS AND INSECTS.

ted or decomposed. The great advantage then of spreading out soils to the air, and the
influence of heat and light, with frequent turning previous to their being u.sed for potting,
will be instantly perceived. From these sources, they derive the greater portion of their
electrical properties, without which vegetation would become extinct. Nor is it saying
too much to refer tlie utility of digging and ridging to the same cause, as well as the pul-
verization of the earth and the admixture of nutritive substances. With some gardeners,
it is a habit to throw away the soil after having been once used for potting plants, but
the practice is not to be commended; the rather is it a wasteful and injudicious proceeding.
Much better would it be to expose the soil for two or three years to the influences
of the atmosphere, and to turn them frequently during that time. Then, by adding
a little well rotted manure, the same soil would become again available, and equally
as good as it was before. Where the right kind of soil is scarce, and must be purchased,
this is a consideration of some moment, and deserving of no little attention. If soils are
not renovated and restored by these atmospherical influences, every portion of the culti-
vated earth would long since have become a dreary waste, and all our most valuable vege-
table productions would now be unknown.

It was once the common practice to purify the soil by burning, and it has been recom-
mended to destroy all extraneous matters by a strong heat. These processes are doubt-
less useful, but, except for the better pulverization of strong and stiff earths, they cannot
be recommended for general adoption. The atmospherical exposure and frequent turn-
ing are greatly to be preferred for their efficiency, and are entirely adequate to the com-
plete regeneration of the soil.

Enough has now been said to show the great importance of giving attention to this sub-
ject in a practical point of view, and we trust that what has been advanced will have the
effect of inducing cultivators to investigate the matter with a great deal more minuteness
than has yet been bestowed upon it. W. W. Valk, M. D.

Flushing, Sept. 11, 1852.

BIRDS, INSECTS, etc. — AGAIN.

BY J. C. H., SYRACUSE.

Mr. Tucker — In several notices which I have seen of my article on " Birds, Insects,
and other matters," published in the July number of the Horticulturist, I observe that
the writers have, as with one accord, made such haste to pick me up, that they could not
possibly wait until I was fairly down. Aiming always to express my opinions in terms
that will not admit of misunderstanding, I was a little piqued at my failure to do so in
this instance. On recurring to the article, however, I can find no cause for self-reproach
on this score; and I must set down the coincidence of error on the part of my critics, as
a kind of unaccountable epidemic.

In speaking of the utility of birds, what I said was, " It is a common belief that they
are great benefactors of man in the destruction of pestiferous insects." To this belief I
avowed my infidelitj% basing it upon the fact that, after close observation for many years,
I had never seen any of the birds with which we are most familijir, prey upon any of se-
veral species of insects which I enumerated as particularly pernicious or "pestiferous," com-
prising a greater part of those whoso destructiveness is most frequent and annoying about
gardens and orchards. What I seem perversely to be understood to say is, that birds do

BIRDS AND INSECTS.

not destroy insects at all; and then this proposition is combatted by each after his own man
ner. The Maine Farmer kindly -volunteered an essay upon ornithology, to prove for my
enlightenment that 'insects' do form a considerable article of diet for the birds, and gave
me particular instructions how to proceed to ascertain the fact, closing with a recom-
mendation that I turn my attention for a while to a course of study in that direction.
Though the studj'- would unquestionably prove both agreeable and instructive, yet I ac-
cept as a ' finalit}',' the knowledge which the science has been compelled to yield to that
writer's exemplarj' diligence and perseverance, and which he has been so generous as to im-
part, and submissively admit the feet he so confidently claims. I am the more readily
persuaded, perhaps, to make this concession, as I manj'^ 3^ears since came to the same con-
clusion, from observation as a mere outsider. I believe I provided against such exception-
al cases as he mentions, of the caterpillar being occasionally eaten by the oriole, and the
cut worm b}^ the robin, in the admission that a thousand such instances might possibly be
proved, yet with little avail, notwithstanding. Such instances in case of the robin, are
evidently mistakes, growing out of the eagerness of his pursuit of angle worms, for which
he would not like to be held responsible, were they criminal, and he would honorably
waive the credit of them, as they are not. About the time the article in question was
written, our orchards here abounded with caterpillars beyond all precedent. There was
not an apple tree which was not overrun by them. Now it so happened that on one was the
nest of an oriole, and on another that of a robin. As I had never seen a bird of any de-
scription assail this pest, these circumstances gave me an opportunity, which I felt inte-
rest enough to improve, to watch their demonstrations upon it. Though this observation
extended through a period of two or three weeks, including the time of rearing their
young, yet I never, in a single instance, saw a caterpillar molested by either of them. The
robin manifested peculiar forbearance, for while the worms lay in plasters on the limbs
leading fiom her nest, and were often seen even crawling over the nest itself, she sat upon
it in perfect composure, and apparently unconscious of their presence. Such observations
fiequently made, confirmed my disbelief as to their being great benefactors in the destruc-
tion, at least, of this 'pestiferous insect.'

" A Lady Subscriber at the West," also, with the same obliquity of understanding
which others who have favored me with their strictures have manifested, is roused to in-
expressible anger against me, and rates me soundly for something I did not say. "Why,
sir, in her delusion, she even threatens to take violent liberties with my hair! Prencz
garde, Madaviel that's a hyper-hazardous experiment, and might provoke a retort involv-
ing a trial of the christian virtue, to turn the other cheek also. I surely was not contend-
ing that the boys did not outrage the sensibilities of sympathetic ladies, now and then,
by destroying their pet birds, nor extenuating their transgression if they did, but was
claiming that their destructiveness in this way was altogether too insignificant to cause
any material decrease of insects. My own sympathies were distinctively manifested in
denouncing woe against them, should I catch them trespassing upon the birds within my
territory. I see no cause of quarrel, therefore, between the "Lady Subscriber at the
West," and myself.

The very accomplished and agreeable monthly contributor to the pages of the Horti-
culturist, Jeffreys, betrays the same inevitable proclivity to misconception. He assures
me, in the September number, with the most charming earnestness, that birds " do catch
worms— caterpillars even— and bugs, and spiders." My dear sir, my langunge was— not
they do not catch a thousand harmless insects of one kind and another, nor that
even occasionally, possibly, pick up one of the most " pestiferous" — but that

TOMATO FOR CITY GARDEN PLOTS.

are not " great benefactors" in that way. And here I not only reiterate my former de
cJaration of infidelity, but I add to its enormity by avowing my unalterable conviction
that the birds are practical!}^ guardians, protectors, preservers of the whole generation
of insect olagues. You, sir, have given, quite unconsciously, one of my chiefest reasons
for this belief, in enumerating among the insects which they destroy, that one, entirely
inoffensive to man, j^et resolute, untiring, and insatiable in his destructive pursuit of other
insects, the spider. In view of the almost unanimous avidity with which this universal
benefactor is pi'eyed upon by birds, and most especially b}' that incarnation of impudence
and voracitj', the cedar bird, who, after fulfilling his contract to strip clean our cherry
trees, falls furiously upon the spiders, as though he was under bonds to clear creation of
their presence before sun-down; in view of this avidity, if I could be provoked to raise
m}' gun against them at all, it would be, not for their depredations upon my cherries, but
that they devour my spiders. Look at their number and variety — pervading all nature,
and continually on the alert! Not an incipient curculio, passing from the fruit he has
destroyed, who has not to run the gauntlet of a dozen watchful dragons before he can
find refuge iu the earth. The winged insects, quiet and concealed by daj', and thus se-
cure from the attack of birds, are caught at night by thousands, in toils which every-
where beset them while flitting from place to place, disseminating new colonies of their
race. Gnats, flies, bugs, worms, millers, grasshoppers, snakes! all fall victims to the in-
genious entanglements, the vvil}' stratagems, the secret ambuscades, or the open assaults
of this their universal and untiring enemy. What part they performed in preserving for
our use the crops of the earth, and what proportion of them in comparison with other
insects, are destro3'ed by the undistinguishing slaughter of the feathered race, it well be-
hooves the inconsiderate adulators of the latter to inquire, before yielding to them the un-
qualified merit, so injust, so indiscriminate, and yet so fashionable, and so cheaply render-
ed, of being, if not the onl}', at least the unequalled benefactors of mankind. J. C. H.

Syracuse. Sept., 1S52.

ON THE TOMATO FOR CITY GARDEN PLOTS.

BY AN AMATEUR, NEW- YORK.

The old adage that, " where there is a will, there is a way," experience has repeated-
ly convinced me admits of exemplification, in few pursuits to a greater extent, than iu
that of gardening. Being passionately fond of everything like a fruit or a flower, the
contrivances that I resorted to frequently in earl}"^ life to indulge my inclinations in these
particulars, before I had the conveniences for their cultivation which subsequently were
at my disposal, have satisfied me, that the true enjoyment of a taste for horticulture,
may be had with a little reflection and ingenuity, at a far less cost than the world in
general suppose to be indispensible for its gratification.

My object in this paper in alluding to this subject, is to induce a recurrence to it by
others; in order that many of them who may not happen to care about tomatoes, may
by reading my observations, be led to experiment upon the application of simple means
within their reach, to the growth of other things, whether fruit or flowers, which, from
want of reflection on the subject, they may at present suppose those means to be wholly
inadequate to effect, when, in reality, it is only the idea, which they have need
enable them to apply them profitably.

TOMATO FOR CITY GARDEN PLOTS.

My house is in the midst of the city of New-York, near Union Park; and surrounded
therefore by other houses. My yard at the back of it, is possibly some thirty feet by
twenty, with narrow borders round it, and grass in the centre. The white boards which
form the fence round it, and the glare of the summer sun upon them, are not agreeable
to my eye; and in the spring of the 3'ear I was debating with myself how I could cover
them most expeditiously. How, of all things, tomatoes came into my head I know not,
but the notion struck me that tomatoes would do very well against the white boards and
would at least afford something green to look upon, which would at all events be an im-
provement upon the then existing state of things. This was about the middle of May,
when tomato plants should be ready for planting out; however, I got some seed and
sowed it in a pot, which I put in a green-house, and my plants in a few days made their
appearance. However, in the last week of May, I accidentally met with some tomato
plants, and being impatient I bought a few, for a shilling a dozen, and planted them out
against the fence at the distance of about three feet apart. I should mention that the
earth in the borders was of the commonest description, little better than sand and rub-
bish; and I therefore put about half a hat full of half decayed stable manure at the roots
of each plant as I put it in. The plants made little progress for a fortnight, when they
commenced growing rapidly. They were about a foot high, and not very strong plants,
and I placed them about six inches deep in the ground.

As soon as they had made a growth a foot long, I drove small nails in the fence at dis-
tances two feet apart, and taking a long piece of string, and commencing at one end of the
yard, I passed it over the plants about three inches below their tops, winding the string
round each nail as I came to it; and bj^ this means the plants were in five minutes secur-
ed against the boards. In another week or ten days, so rapid was their growth, it became
necessary to perform this operation of string tying again, at a greater height; and by-and-
b3'e the same thing was repeated more than once, until the tomatoes reached the top
of the fence, to which they then formed, as they at this moment continue to do, a
a beautiful verdant frieze, as though they were planted on the top of it; whilst the whole
way up the fence is covered by the foliage, with which the stems of the plants are well
furnished from the ground; and till the frost arrives my eyes are saved from the M'hite-
washy appearance which during the summer months is to me particularly disagreeable.
So far as regards ornament. But this is not all. Tomatoes are very good things, at least
I think so; and judging by the quantities which I see in the markets here, my taste in
that particular appears to be participated in, by a very numerous bod}' of my fellow citi-
zens. Now from my yard fences, for many weeks past, my table has been liberal!}'- sup-
plied with tomatoes, and the plants are still covered with them, as fine in size and in fla-
vor as I ever tasted, nothwithstandingthey have been grown thus carelessly in a city house
yard. The fence is from seven to eight feet high, and as of course the different sides of
the yard present different aspects, the fruit has taken a greater or less time to ripen, ac-
cording to the quantity of sun; and as this has applied equally to the earliest produced
on the plants, as well as to the succeeding crops, there has been a continued succession
of tomatoes ripening throughout the summer.

Let any one ask himself, is not this worth the trouble? What is the trouble, the plant-
ing two or three dozen plants which does not take one hour, and the tying them up against
the fence three or four times during the season, which does not take one hour altogether.
And what is the expense? Six pennyworth of seed if you raise the plant yourself; or
three shillings worth if you do not want that trouble. Many families pay
that every week for tomatoes; when on the above plan they may supply them

HINTS FOR YOUNG GARDENERS.

throughout the season. If half the people in New- York act upon these suggestions they
will grow more tomatoes than are now brought into their markets all the year.

I should mention that although I planted out the purchased plants, I put out by way
of experiment, half a dozen of those I sowed in May, when they were six inches high or
so, and although they were some weeks later than the others, I am now gathering equally
good fruit from them.

There is no reason whatever why the yards, (for they cannot with much propriety be
dignified with the name of garden plots,) in many of our cities should not be made availa-
ble either for ornament or usefulness. Amongst flowers, the numerous climbing plants
would any of them take off the naked appearance they now almost uniformly present,
and amongst vegetables any of the running beans would be better than doing nothing with
them. But taking into account the red spider and some other equally " kind friends,"
who take an interest in gardening pursuits, I doubt whether my tomato idea will not be
be found as good a one as many others; that they will succeed I can from experience tes-
tify. An Amateur.

HINTS FOR YOUNG aARDENERS.

BY AMERICUS.

We quite agree with our good friend Jeffreys in his remarks contained in the Sep-
tember number, that want of taste amongst us, and too much anxiety about dollars and
cents, is fearfully impeding our enjoyment of the beauties of nature, as well as depriving
us of those feelings of personal satisfaction in the results of our own well directed pur-
suits, which contribute so considerable a portion of the happiness of the leisure hours of
those who have once learned to appreciate them. But although much is undoubtedly
owing to the above causes, this state of things is in a still greater degree owing to the
want of knowledge in gardening matters which exists amongst us. Many a man who for
the first time gets hold of a piece of ground, would, we think, become a gardener, if he
knew how to make a beginning; but he don't want to incur the expense of a gardener con-
tinually, and if he buys a book about gardening, he finds so much that he thinks difficult
to effect, or too troublesome to undertake, that he lays down the book in disgust, and his
intended garden remains a wilderness.

Let us endeavor to give a few hints to beginners, of quite a homely kind, and try if we
can get them to do something that will, with little expenditure of either time or money,
put them in the way of having next year something. to look at, and something to eat also,
from those few square yards of ground that surround the pretty cottage residence in which
may reside as manly a heart, aye, and may be, for its companion, as pretty a face as ever
graced a palace.

Winter is approaching; before it comes, and without loss of time, knock together a few
boards, and make a garden frame; get a couple of glass lights to cover it, surround the
frame with earth or litter up to its edge, at least eighteen inches or two feet, all round,
and provide a cover by making a straw mat, or a wooden one of old boards, to put over
the glass at night, when the hard frosts set in. In the frame sow at once some flower
of any hardy sorts, such as Nemophilla, Candy Tuft, Larkspur, Phlox Drummon-
weet Alyssum, Sweet William, Antirrhinum, Pink, Polyanthus, Stock, Columbine,

HINTS FOR YOUNG GARDENERS.

and Pansy; and to these if you like, you may add, a small collection of bulbous roots, as
Crocuses, Hyacinths, Narcissus, &c.

It will be more convenient for the planting out in the spring, if these are sown separate-
ly in small flower pots; but if you have not pots, they may be sown in separate small
patches, leaving just room enough between each to take them up when they are to be
transplanted in the spring, with a garden trowel, or a flat piece of thin board cut into
something of that shape. During the next two months you may take off the lights all
day, except in very wet weather. When the frost sets in keep them covered with the
lights, and at night, and in snowy weather, cover them over with the mat or board cover,
but during sunshine give all the light you can in, the day, by removing the mats. In this
way you will have, when the winter has broken up, and the ground has become fit for the
spade, a nice lot of things to turn out into your flower beds, and they will soon become
gay and blooming. Manage not to fill your frames quite full, but leave a part of one light in
which, in the beginning of Februarj^, you must put some light fine garden mold, and sow
in it small patches of the following seeds for your kitchen garden; early cabbage, lettuce,
and cauliflower; sow these very thin, and when well up, pull up a few to make room for
those left, to grow stronger.

We will now leave the frame alone, and see what else has to be attended to — because,
with the above instructions, you will be able to take care of that through the winter — re-
membering if you find the earth in the pots to get dr}^, you must give a little water occa-
sionally, through the fine rose of a watering pot; but with care, for very little water
will be required.

As soon as the leaves have fallen in autumn, let them be all collected and swept together
to commence what you will find the most valuable assistant to your gardening operation
or muck-heap. To these add all the refuse vegetable matter from your kitchen, such as
potato and turnep peelings, and any waste straw and litter that comes to hand. Throw
a sprinkling of earth upon this heap, which will hasten decay, and after a few weeks turn
it all over, with the same object; for, after every time that you turn a refuse heap, you
induce fermentation. Before frost sets in, dig over deeply your garden ground, or that
which you intend to make such, and lay it up in ridges for the winter. This materially
benefits it in very many ways, some of which are well known and understood, such as
the more complete destruction of vermin by greater exposure to frost, and the rendering
it more friable and more readily worked in spring; and others, which are equally well
ascertained, but not so generally known, as for instance, the increased facility thereby af-
forded for the absorption of ammonia from the atmosphere, which the ready permeability
of the ridges of loose earth, by the atmospheric air induces, in much greater quantity than
can take place when the earth is only just turned over a few inches, and left in a compa-
ratively even and somewhat firm state.

In this way your ground may lay all the winter. If you happen to have any of the
more tender kinds of roses, as the varieties of the China or Bourbon, you will do well to
put them in the frame for the winter, where a number of them laid together, with their
roots covered over with mold, will keep well, and in a small compass, to be planted out
when you decorate your flower beds with the contents of your winter frame in the
spring. And any other common green-house plants or shrubs you may keep in the frame
also.

Your garden, and your frame, will now be in a fair way for next years horticultural
campaign, and your occasional visits to the latter, and the daily attention to the coverin
and un-covering, far from being found a labor, will often, during the dreary season of win

HINTS FOR YOUNG GARDENERS.

ter, afford j^ou pleasure. Habits are soon acquired, and then we associate with them im
perceptibly, the idea of amusement; and it is astonishing to find how soon we take an in-
terest in any subject, when once we have resolved upon prosecuting it. The garden frame
thus commenced, has to our knowledge in numerous instances, led its owner on, step by
step, until the green-house and hot-house have been found the onl}^ means of gratifying a
taste which slumbered only to be awakened to the enjoyment of those beauties which the
Courts of Flora can alone unfold to her delighed votaries.

With the above, however, fur the present as a beginning, you may if you please be con-
tent; but before telling you how to carr}' on your operations at the end of the winter, I
will describe another au.xilliar}-, which you may in the beginning or middle of March,
call into requisition to add to your enjoyments, and that is a hot-bed. And this you
may make as follows:

Get three or four loads of fresh stable manure from the stable, and shake it with a fork,
and lay it up in a heap; let it remain three or four days, and then turn it all over and
shake it up again, and let it remain for the same time in a heap; repeat this again after a
like interval, when for so small a bed it will be ready for use. Now proceed to make your
hot-bed. You will require a frame with one or two lights; mark the size of 3^our frame
on the ground, by driving a stick at the four corners. Dig out the ground for eighteen
inches deep. Throw in any old brush-wood or dry litter at the bottom, then fill it with
the prepared manure, treading it evenly down as you go on, and taking particular care to
make it firm and stead}' at each corner, otherwise when it subsides, which it is sure to do,
it will get crooked. If 3'our manure is moist, well and good; but if it appears dry, take
some water and throw on as you make it up, so as to wet it moderately. When you
have filled up the place dug out, widen the bed a foot or so all round, and continue it until
all your manure is used up, beating or treading it down evenly. Then place the frame on
the top, and the light upon it, and let it stand. In a few days, you will find it has be-
come very hot; the frame will fill with rank steam like smoke; the light should be raised
a few inches, to allow this to escape. As soon as you find this rank steam begin to sub-
side, put six or eight inches of good garden mold into the frame, which in twenty-fours
will be warmed through, and if you find no return of the rank steam in another twenty-
four hours, it is fit for use. Take care, if there is windy weather, to protect the side of
your bed next to the quarter from which it blows, by rough boards, or a screen of some
kind. Unless you do this, the wind will blow through the bed and cool it very quickly.
In this bed you may sow in March, tomatoes, egg-plants, okra, pepper, early cabbage and
lettuce, all of which will be ready for planting out in the open garden by the time that
the ground is ready for them.

Whether you make a hot-bed or not, at all events, as soon as the winter has taken
leave of your neighborhood, set about to get your garden in order. With the rake and
hoe, level down your ground, lay out your vegetable garden into beds, and sow seeds of
such as you wish to grow, and plant out from your frames a part of your stock of cab-
bage, lettuce, &c. Do not, however, put all out at once, in case of a return of a sharp
night's frost; but when you are satisfied there is no return of that likely to occur, the
sooner you get out your general stock the better. The flower beds should also be raked over ;
your frame seedlings turned out of their pots, or taken up carefully and planted into
them; and a further stock of annuals sown in the open ground to succeed the bloom of
those turned out of the frames. Any green-house plants wintered in the frames may
be turned out into the ground, or re-potted into larger sized pots, if it is desi
them for decorating the parlor or verandah; and soon will you be rewarded for

winter's care, by that loveliness of floral display, which, as in the instance of the " lilies
of the fiield," has been declared by unerring Wisdom, to exceed the array of " Soloman
in all his glory."

We had intended to add a few words upon the summer treatment of the flower garden,
but our paper is long enough, and we must postpone it for the present. Enough has been
said for all, at this time of year, to make a beginning. Americus.

DES NONES PEAR.

Luther Tucker, Esq. — We send you by express to day, specimens of a pear, new to
us, which has ripened on our grounds this season for the first time. We received the
trees from M. Andre Lerot, of Angers,
under the name of Des Nones. We have
never seen it advertised, either in his or
any other catalogue, nor met with a de-
scription of it elsewhere. We think you
will join with us in pronouncing it a pear
of the verj' highest excellence — combin-
ing in an eminent degree the high flavor
of the Seckel, with the delicious melting
qualities of the Belle Lucrative. The
tree is a luxuriant grower, forming a
handsome pyramid, and is an abundant
bearer. The fruit is uniformly as fair as
the specimens now sent. It commenced
ripening about the 10th of September;
these specimens, now lapsing into lus-
cious perfection, being among the last.
Among a hundred varieties, many of
them new, which have ripened on our
grounds the present season, we have
found no one, if we may not say that
equals it, we certainly may, that surpas-
ses it. The accompanying outline and
description pro forma, are at your ser-
vice, if you think its merits entitle it to
be placed before your readers.

Fruit — medium size, regularly turbinate

Bes Ntmes Fear.

Skin — smooth, fine clear light yellow, cov-

ered with numerous small brown dots. Stalk — from one and a half to two inches long,
slender, inserted in a very slight depression. Calyx — small, closed, and placed in a small
shallow basin. Flesh — whitish, very juicy, sweet, melting, and delicious, with an exqui-
sitely fine rich flavor and perfume. Ripening from the 10th to the last of September.

We are very respectfully, &c.,

Thorp, Smith, Hanchett & Co.

Syracuse Nurseries^ Syrycuse, Oct. 4, 1S52.

YELLOWS IN THE PEACH.

THE YELLOWS IN THE PEACH.

The investigation of the nature of this disase appears to be quite overlooked or neglected.
It seems indeed a remarkable circumstance that a malady which annually destroys many
thousand trees, and which possesses very distinct and marked characteristics — as many
believe — should have its very existence doubted by some of our most eminent pomolo-
gists, who regard the death of the trees as merely the result of neglected cultivation and
want of fertility in the soil.

Our attention has been just called to this subject by a letter from Salmon Ltman, of
Manchester, Conn., who writes, — " The Yellows in peach trees is becoming very common
among the trees in Connecticut, and unless something can be done to arrest the disease,
people will become discouraged in trying to raise them. It was introduced into this vici-
nity with trees from New-Jersey. I am informed that the yellows does not exist within
many miles of your place. I observe that you cultivate Crawford's Early and Late Me-
locoton — these varieties, with some others, I have supposed did not exist in a healthy
state, and that they were originally propagated in New- Jersey from diseased stock, and
that, remove them where you would, the native taint would develop itself in the yellows.
I have procured Crawford's Early from New-Jersey, Long-Island, Newburgh, Providence,
and Boston, and not one of all lived more than from three to eight years before they were
worthless from disease. I have never seen a Crawford peach tree that appeared to be
more than eight or nine years old, which did not show decided marks of disease. Have
you trees of these New- Jersey sorts which are more than eight or ten years old.'* If so,
what can be the influencee that prevents the developement of the yellows? It cannot be
your lime and ashes, for they are treated in New-Jersey with an abundance of lime and
marl.

" I am surprised that so little is said about the yellows in the Horticultural papers, and
pomological conventions. Would not the history of its rise and introduction into the
different sections of our country, be interesting, and lead to the proper means for guard-
ing against its introduction in new sections of the country .-* I believe there was but little
of it in this part of Connecticut, until the Morus Multicaulis speculation, which was taken
to New-Jersey in exchange for peach trees, which could be sold here at twice their cost.
They were brought here in large quantities, peddled out or sold at auction, and wherever
they were planted the yellows now prevails."

In reply to the preceding inquiry, we may state, that we have never observed any
symptom of the yellows on a single tree of the Crawford in Western New-York; but as
those observed were mostly not over eight or nine years old, we applied for further infor-
mation to H. E. Hooker, of Rochester, a very careful and intelligent observer of fruit
trees and their maladies, and he has furnished the following statement: —

"The oldest trees of Crawford's Early Melocoton, with which I am acquainted, are
standing in Mr. Schenck's orchard, a very extensive market cultivator of the peach, near
Rochester, N. Y. They have been in full bearing for near seven years, under my own
observation, and were large trees when I first knew them; they must be at least twelve
or fifteen years from the bud ; and neither now or ever have shown any symptoms of the
Yellows, as I understand that disease. I have never been able to discover a tree in all
Mr. Schenck's orchards, nor among the other smaller orchards around us, which were
th trees from him, and which he procured in New- Jersey, where the peach tree in
rchard is not expected to survive more than four or five crops of fruit. Crawford's

YELLOWS IN THE PEACH.

Late, has not been in bearing for so long a time, but I have seen no indications of disease in
tliis any more than in the former, as a variety; in fact, we have considered it a peculiarly
hardy sort.

"The Yellotvs, as I understand it, is a disease whose symptoms are, a very slender,
feeble growth of young wood, with small yellow sickly looking foliage, a feeble starved
appearance of the tree, and gencrall^^ a crop of slendry yellow shoots appearing along
the large branches; which symptoms increase for two or more years before death ensues.
I have seen this, in some orchards brought fi-om New-Jersej^, and observed the premature
ripening of the fruit, and spread of the disease until the orchard nearly or quite disap-
peared, and as I thought took with them some heretofore sound trees, which grew in
their vicinity. I confidently looked for the spread of the evil, and was prepared to blame
the man who had brought us trees from the infected district. But I am not satisfied that
it does not spread here, nor that there is no oyie diseased ti'ee (having the yellows,) within
my knowledge in Rochester.

" These facts, have quite staggered my faith in the "diseased stock " theory, and lead
me rather to believe, that the poor shallow soil, from which the peach tree rapidly ex-
hausts the elements of growth and fruitfulness, under a system of heavy cropping without
much manure, rather than the presence of any poison or virus in the system, has been the
cause of so much complaint of premature death of the peach tree in the eastern and
southern States. I am not clear that the apple trees of New-Jersey, in the peach dis-
tricts are not similarly affected, and should judge that a removal of them to Western
New-York, would increase their size and prolong their days, in the same proportion that
the health and duration of peach trees grown in New- Jersey nurseries is prolonged, by
removing them to our deeper and richer soil.

"It would be an interesting experiment, if some one in the east would try peach trees
in Western New-York, along side of some fi'om New-Jersey, and let the public know the
results. Here trees from both sections usually do equally well, so far as my observation
extends; a few exceptions, as I have said, have come under my notice."

Our chief object in furnishing these statements, is to invite investigation. There is
no question, but that much of the soil in Western New-York, is one of the best that the
peach can grow in — where we have seen those that measured a foot in diameter, and which
were probably more than forty years old, bearing fruit. Nevertheless, we have witnessed
there the prevalence of the yellows in a virulent form, and decidedlj^ contagious in its
character, among the most vigorous trees. All the usual symptoms of premature ripening,
and discolored and insipid flesh, followed by sickly leaves, and wiry shoots from the large
branches, first made their appearance on trees introduced from New-Jersey; the next year
after the first appearance of these symptoms, all the trees standing nearest to them were
observed to be similarly affected, but at first on the branches nearest the diseased tree.
By a prompt removal of those affected, the malady was checked, and it is now many years
since the last vestige has departed from this region. A further proof of its contagious
character, is the fact that a knife used in cutting a diseased tree, communicated the poison
to another; and a bud from one that had scarcely showed an appearance of decline, proved
fatal to the tree in which it was inserted. That this malady may prove more contngious
at certain times or under certain circumstances, is by no means improbable. That the
soil has a large influence in its prevention, was confirmed by the fact, that in the neighbor-
hood of Burlington, as Thomas Hancock informed us, there are flourishing trees some
thirty years old, on a favorable locality, Avhile in other places they never survive
comparatively short period. But the soil cannot be all, for an intelligent cultivat

CULTURE OF GRAPES IN VINERIES.

siding on the Hudson, at a place where the peach trees are commonly quite short lived,
informs us that trees procured where this disease is unknown, grow and flouiish for a
much longer period than those fi'om an infected region.

CULTURE OF GRAPES IN VINERIES.

EY WAI. CHORLTON, STATEN ISLAND.

Mr. Tucker — In the Horticulturist of February last, I gave an account of the cold
grapery at this place, in which was stated that there was ripened 262 bunches on 74 vines,
the season after planting. In the March number, Mr. Cleveland, of Burlington, in a very
sensibly written article, thought that the vines would be injured by such early cropping,
and requested information respecting their progress this season, which I now with pleasure
respond to. It was then stated that I expected to ripen 600 to 700 bunches this present
sea-son. The number ripened is 618. The vines showed altogether, over 2,400, many of
the shoots from a single eye, throwing out four bunches, which were uniformlj' reduced to
one, and at thinning time these further reduced so as to leave from seven to twelve on a
vine, according to supposed weight of bunch and strength of plant, so that the energj'
might be equipoised. The result has answered my expectations. The growth has been
quite as vigorous as can be wished for; the sidespurs, from bottom to top, are uniforniily
strong; the wood is now quite brown and hard, with prominent well rounded buds for
next year. If proof of quality is required, it is answered by the fact of my having ob-
tained the first premium at the last exhibition of the New-York Horticultural Societ}'-,
for the best 8 varieties, the weight respectively of which was as follows: Syrian, 2 lb.
14 oz.; Xcres, 2 lb. 3 oz.; Victoria, 2 lb. 1 oz.; Black Hamburgh, 3 lb. \{ oz.; Deacon's
Superb, 1 lb. 4 oz.; Black Prince, 1 lb. 13 oz.; Reine de Nice. 2 lb. 9 oz. ; Austrian
Muscat, T lb. 1 oz. There are now in the house many equally fine and well colored.

For the .satisfaction of your correspondent, H. B., I may state, that the first grapes
were cut well ripened on the 11th August, viz: Malvasia, a beautiful little grape which
ought to be in every collection, and Muscat Blanc Hatif, one of the best flavored grapes
in cultivation, but liable to crack when swelling to ripen. No heating apparatus of any
kind, has been used, and taking into consideration the late spring and cold summer, this
will be equivalent to the 2nd August of last year,

I am obliged to Mr.MESSER, in the September number, for his friendly hints, respecting
what he thinks should have been substituted, in composing of the borders, difTerent to
what was used, but would say that he fails to convince me that he is right. He saj's,
" it is in vain to expect a similar growth the following season, or this present season, with
ordinary rates of manuring," adding, "if one-half the quantity of bone dust and stable
manure had been used, and a suitable lot of whole bones or cattle's feet, or slaughter
house offal, had been added, the fertility of the border would have been more permanent
at less cost." To the first assertion, I answer, that last season the canes were quite as
strong as the first year's growth, and this season there is no more difference than is more
than made up b}' the strong side shoots; the top growth would have been equall}'- strong,
(and in man}' cases is quite so,) but for the very reason that the heads were kept down

on purpose to force the developemcnt laterally, which is a point not often sufB
attended to with young vines; some of the wood of the present season is three-fo

CULTURE OF GRAPES IN VINERIES.

of an inch in diameter, which is surely strong enough for vines in full bearing. Of this
he may have ocular demonstration, now the canes are swollen up. The bones used were
mostly about one-half inch in diameter, and of the size they can be evenly distributed
through every part; and as bones give out very slowly, there is no fear of permanent
benefit as far as they are conceri-ied. As to slaughter house oflfal, it has a tendency, under
some circumstances, to produce an enormous growth for a short time, but as to its per-
manent qualities, many cases might be brought forward to show that precisely opposite
effects are produced by it. I am convinced from experience, that as fine and well flavored
grapes can be grown without, as with this stinking ofifal, which Egberts, more poetically
and ridiculously, calls " the pabulum which is to supply the nectar of Bacchus." Even al-
lowing it to be more permanent, a border in which it has been used in any thing like a fresh
state, (and this is the way in which it is generally applied,) will in a short time become
a sodden mass, and more fit to puddle the sides of a duck pond, to hold in the water, than
a base for the succulent and tender rootlets of the grape vine to luxuriate in. If used at
all, it should be thoroughly decomposed, and blended with other compost before being ap-
plied. As fine grapes were grown before these substances came into fashion, and as fine
will continue to be grown when they are numbered with the things that were.

As to the second assertion, viz: less cost, I do not see how slaughter house offal is to
be collected and conveyed a distance of seven or eight miles at a less cost than stable ma-
nure, which is always readil}' and cheaply obtained near large cities, and the diflerence
in the bones is so trifling as not to be worth calculating, where a thing is intended to be
done right.

Your correspondent also seems to think, that I shall not be able to keep the wood " at
home," by the method on which the vines are pruned. I can assure him that it is just
as easy to do so as by cutting back so close, with the advantage of retaining more plump
and well swelled eyes, thereby ensuring larger and better shouldered bunches. As he
does not seem to have a right idea of it, I will explain.

In pruning in the fall, after the first year's growth, each alternate eye is disbudded on
each side o fthe cane, leaving those wanted for breaking next season, about 15 inches apart.
The next season, when pruning for spurs, the side shoots are cut back to three eyes, or
even four, according as the lower buds may be plump and well rounded. In breaking,
each bud puts forth a shoot; the most promising one nearest to the top, and
the one at the base, are allowed to remain, and the other is rubbed out. The M

top one is allowed to bear, and the fruit on the bottom is pinched out. The
fruit bearing spur is stopped three or four joints above the fruit, and the oth-
er one next to the base is also stopped, when it has grown seven or eight
leaves. They are now trained per diagram, a is the bearing shoot, and b the
one not to be fruited till next year; at next pruning, (or what is still better,
two or three weeks previous,) a is cut clean out to the base of b, and when the leaves fall
b is cut back to three eyes, as a was last season, and so on from year toj'ear. As j'our cor-
respondent, Mr. Messer, truly says, " nature will out," their will never be any lack of
eyes close to the main cane if the above is rightly performed. Notwithstanding the readi-
ness with which the grape-vine pushes fresh shoots when so closely pruned, there are some
of the larger and gross growing kinds, that fruit shyly, or produce nothing but small
bunches by such treatment — and this is one reason why some fine sorts get a bad charac-
ter. Wm. CnoRLTON, gardener to J. C. Green, Esq.

Brighton, Staten-Island, Oct. 10, 1852

'^"

FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

/nrngn ml 3^.m\\mum llntirrs.

Rough Plate Glass for the Roofing of
Hot-Houses. — For two years past, much excite-
ment has been produced in England, by a pro-
posal to roof plant-houses with a new kind of
rough plate glass, for which a patent has been
obtained there by Mr. Hartlt. This glass is
prepared by a rolling process, which destroys
transparencybut not translucency ; and the bene-
fit said to be derived from it, (and which expe-
riments made under the direction of the Horti-
cultural Society of London, appear to have
confirmed,) is the very important one, that
without obstructing the light, this becomes dis-
persed instead of concentrated, in passing
through it, and that no shading is required in
the hottest sunshine. Altogether, the subject
is so well deserving consideration, that we give
our readers the results of the experiments al-
luded to, as detailed in the Gardener's Chroni-
cle.

' ' The garden committee directed the rough
rolled plate glass to be tried in the garden of
the Horticultural Society at Chiswick. For this
purpose a small pit, unventilated except by sli-
ding the sashes, and heated by hot water pipes,
was selected. In the last week of August this
pit was filled with soft wooded plants, which can
only be kept in health in the presence of a large
quantity of light, among which were the follow-
ing, viz.- The Begonias odorata, undulata. ar-
gyrostigma, and dichotoma; Torrenia asiatica,
Pentas carnea, Adamia sylvatica, Calostylis au-
rantiaca, and Achimenes picta. The four Be-
gonias, Calostylis, Adamia. and Pentas had been
cut close back, and were leafless; Torrenia was
a cutting just struck, and of Achimenes, the
dry tubers were employed. The experiment
was thus set in action, without any special care
having been taken to make it succeed ; on the
contrary, everything was against success. It is
needless to say, that the months of October,
November and December, 1848, were more than
usually gloomy, and that neither January or
February offered any advantage over those
months in ordinary years. In addition to this,
it was often necessary to leave the plants in the
dark all day long, in conseijuence of the sashes
being covered with frozen mats, which could
not be removed. Nevertheless, and notwith-
standing these impediments, the experiment was

perfectly successful. On the plants being pro-
duced, at a subsequent meeting of the Horti-
cultural Society, by Mr. Gordon, to whom tlie
experiment was confided, they appeared in the
most beautiful health, with firm, short wood,
broad, thick, clean, bright-green leaves, and in
the case of the Gesnera and Pentas, fluwers per-
fect in color, size, and form. In short, it may
be said without the least exaggeration, that
more perfect examples of high cultivation were
never seen, and few so perfect. It was clear
that there had been no deficiency of any ele-
ment or condition which is required for the most
perfect health. This conclusive proof of the
excellence of rough plate glass, possesses the
highest agricultural interest. It shows that
gardeners are now secured effectually from the
scorching effects of the sun during summer, and
that all the costly, as well as inconvenient con-
trivances for shading, may be, in future, dis-
pensed with."

So much for the London Horticultural Soci-
ety. Mr. James Roberts, one of the most suc-
cessful cultivators in England, who has the care
of the grounds of the Duke of Cleveland, at
Raby Castle, speaks of this glass as follows:

" At the present time I have nearly 3000 feet
of it in use, and I am so far satisfied of its su-
periority, not only over sheet glass, but also
over all other kinds of glass, for horticultural
purposes, that for whatever is to re-glaze or
erect new here, I will adopt it without hesita-
tion. I use it for plant culture, melons, cu-
cumbers, propagating, &c. ,- and perhaps no one
regrets more than I do, tliat I cannot replace
the sheet in my vineries with it. It is a mistake
to suppose that it obstructs light; on the con-
trary, it collects and diffuses it better than the
clearest sheet or crown glass. Another advan-
tage which it possesses, is that there is no scorch-
ing and no shading. As to this kind of glass be-
coming dirty, that has not happened here. It
eflfects a saving of fuel, and is jjroof against the
severest storms."

Plant-houses. — Large plants in pots, may
with great advantage, be sunk into the border;
overcrowding must also be avoided in every
other structure where plants are stored for the
winter. It is fiir better at this season to throw
away the worst of the stock, than run the risk
of injuring the best plants. Favorite sorts will
be better replaced by young plants in the spring.

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

Jl ntitps nf InrittirH.

American Institute— Annual Fair.

"We attended the Annual Fair of the American
Institute, held at New- York during the past
month, for the purpose of inspecting the horticul-
tural and floral departments, and we proceed to
lay before our readers sumo remarks upon those
portions of it which appeared to us most de-
serving our notice. Before doing so, we cannot
refrain from expressing our gratification at the
magnificent display which the Fair presented of
our country's science, energy andindustry, in al-
most every department of manufacture and art,
and we have also to thank the chairman of the
horticultural committee, Peter B. Mead, Esq.,
for his obliging politeness in acceding to our re-
quest for permission to make use of bis lists of
the adjudication of premiums by the judges, to
assist us in the i)reparation of this report.

There were some fine specimens of Apples ex-
hibited, and the display of them, as a whole,
was the principal feature of tlie fruit exhibition.
The silver cup for the greatest number of choice
named varieties, was gained by John W. Bai-
ley, of Plattsburgh, N. Y., wlio exhibited 65
varieties; and the silver medal, for the second
best, by W. J. Carpenter, of Harrison, "West-
chester county, N. Y., who produced 40 varie-
ties; the third premium was given, for 23 vari-
eties, to IraCondit, of Essex county, N.J. For
the smaller collections of apples, a discretion-
ary premium was awarded for 25 varieties to
Isaac J. Underbill, of Seacaneus. N. J., a col-
lection which was highly creditable; and al-
though not nearly so numerons as those above
mentioned, we doubt whether an equal number
of such fine fiuit could have been selected from
either of the large collections. Amongst them
was a fine apple in appearance, named the Con-
gress apple, which, we were informed, was a
seedling variety, which lias not been exhibited
before the present year; and of which the flavor
is represented to be fine. If this is so, and its
bearing and keeping (jualities are good .it bids fair
to become a favorite. There were several small
collections of apples exbihifi.'d, sume of wbieli
-e notice, altbnngb wi' tbiik the jndges
cised a sound discretion in not awarding

premiums to them : because, however fine and
handsome a single small basket of apples may
be. unless it is a new rariety, or has some es-
pecial recommendation to entitle it to notice, it
is not within the intention of these exhibitions
to give rewards for a few fruits, however fine,
which are readily selected from, may be, a
large orchard. On the other band, it is not, on
that account, the less praiseworthy in exhibi-
tors to send any small contribution of the sort,
which is sufficiently conspicuous to attract no-
tice; inasmuch as it evinces a commendable in-
terest in these undertakings, and shows a de-
sire to assist in their advancement; whilst the
knowledge that, although all small exhibitors
cannot obtain premiums, the merit that is due to
their productions is not overlooked by the pub-
lic, will, we trust, encourage sucli exhibitors to
a perseverance whicli on some future occasion
may obtain for them a place by the side of their
more fortunate competitors on the present oc-
casion. For this reason we notice with satis-
faction the following, which formed conspicuous
objects: A fine basket of Belle Bamders ap-
ples, exhibited by S. E. G. Rawson, of New-
York, a label to which stated them to be a part
of 35 bushels from a single tree. Many who
admired them, will doubtless wish a fellow tree
to be growing in their own orchard. Three
plates of remarkably handsome ai)ples from
George Proceus, of Red Hook, Dutcliess coun-
ty ; some fine Newtown Pippins from W. A. IJn-
derhilt, Croton Point, were very handsome fruit,
but barely ripe. A large dish of tlie Sherwood
Seedling "Wax apple, attracted much notice,
exhibited by L. "W. Annan, N. Y. A hand-
some basket of Gloria Mundi apples, from C.
T. R. Applegate, of Hightown, N. J. A bas-
ket of very fine fruit fr«m Richard Read, of
Clarksburgh, Monmoth county, N. J. All
these collections were very pleasing to the eye,
and could not fail to sati.sfy the observer, that
the growers of them are amongst those who
meritoriously uphold our reputation for this
valuable fruit. A pyramid of apples, wliich oc-
cupied the centre of the table, contained some
good specimens, and was furnished by Cal

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

Earl. But we are not amongst the admirers of
this mode of exliibiting fruit. There is, we
tliiuk, a propriety in these matters, which con-
tributes uuicli to enhance the beauties of all
horticultural exhibitions; and we cannot help
thinking a busiiel of apples, even laidlooselj' in
a heap, present more symmetry to the eye,
than if they are tied round a post. At the
same time, we think that if a little more atten-
tion was paid by exhibitors, or by the managers
of the exhibitions, to the more tasteful arrange-
ment of the dishes of fruit on the tables than we
frequently see, a much more effective result
would be produced: for by placing the several
dishes of each collection in some order as re-
gards the size of the fruit, and its color, there
is no doubt the exhibition tables would present
a more attractive appearance. One would think
that even the disposition of a dessert on the din.
ner table might suggest enough to induce atten-
tion to this.

The Pears were not so numerous as the ap-
ples, but Messrs. Hovey, of Boston, exhibited
many fine ones, in the whole numbering 175 va-
rieties, which gained them the silver cup; and
Jeremiah Briggs, of Jamaica, Long Island, ob-
tained a silver medal for 30 varieties, the third
premium being awarded to John Tonela, of Ber-
gen. Some of the pears in smaller collections
were good: we noticed particularlj'' those exhi-
bited by Frederick Glover, of East Brook-
lyn.

"We caution exhibitors in these days of fine
fruit growing, that they must, many of them,
increase their vigilance, in taking care that their
fruit is sent in proper condition. We observed
many of the apples in some collections were
much bruised. This is carelessness in the ge-
nerality of cases, and should disqualify such
fruit from exhibition, on the same princii)le that
a bruised or broken petal does a florist's flower.
We call the attention of judges to this. Strict,
but at the same time impartial judging, is the
only way to secwre onward improvement in hor-
ticulture, be the branch what it may. The of-
fice of censor at these exhibitions is seldom a
desirable one. Well digested and known rules,
uniformly adhered to, is the only way for the
judges to give, /'as we are sure they always de-
do,) satisfaction to all — particularly as
office is one which often presents much

ground for a diversity of opinion, and must fre
quently be exercised upon nice distinctions.

The three premiums for Quinces were awar-
ded to W. A. Underbill, R. T. Underbill, and
R. L. Colt, of Patterson, N. J., for very re-
spectable specimens.

Native Gr.\pes were shown by several — and
many of them in quality and condition fine —
and which must have satisfied many who still
remain skeptical on the subject, that they well
deserve the increased care and attention that
we are now giving to them. The best Isabellas,
which obtained the silver medal, were exhibited
by R. T. Underbill, the second by W. A. Un-
derhill. and the third by Thomas R. Porter,
New-Jersey. Mr. W. A. Underbill also ob-
tained the first premium for Catawba, and R.
T. Underbill the second. The silver medal for
the best foreign grapes, was awarded to R. L.
Colt, but of these, not any really fine foreign
varieties were exhibited.

Mr. S. T. Jones, of Staten-Island, was first
in the Peach exhibition, (both for freestones
and clingstones,) which was very limited, and
nothing remarkable in quality. The second
premium for freestones was gained by H. U.
Mott.

A small box of very nice Cranberries
was sent for exhibition by John J. Webb, of
Jackson, Ocean county, N. J., but it did not
arrive until after the judges had gone over the
fruit.

When these remarks were written for the
press, the judges had not awarded the premi-
ums for the floricultural part of the exhibition,
and we will therefore defer our notice of that
branch until next month ; but we cannot omit
to notice, injustice to the fair sex, that the vi-
sitors to the exliibition are indebted to them for
several very beautiful specimens of skill in the
shape of Ornamental Vases, and baskets of Ar-
tificial Flowers, constructed both in wax,
and in paper. The advance recently made in
the beauty of construction of those made of the
latter material, by the more skillful artists, is
so great as to render them very formidable com-
petitors to those made of the more congenial
material, wax, the similarity of which, to the
texture of the natural flower, has hitherto given
it an advantage which has not heretofor
approaclied. But some of the Paper Flow

which were exhibited by Mrs. Van Skillins, 389
Broadway, New- York, evince so much taste,
and are so well maie, that the superiority of
the softness of the material employed, over the
stifness of the wax, becomes strikingly apparent.
One basket of flowers by this lady, in a large
square glass case, is of really surpassing beauty,
and is undoubtedly one of the most elegant and
successful things of the kind that ever graced
an exhibition. There were also from Mrs. E.
Nott, 349 Hudson-street, New-York, some beau-
tiful Vases of Wax Flowers and Fruit. Her
Vase of Flowers was very beautiful, and al-
though we believe more difficult to construct,
was superior to her fruit, which was not natu-
rally colored, but in other respects was good.
A very excellent vase of Wax Flowers was also
exhibited by Mrs. Alfred Sellers, of Sands-st.,
Brooklyn, the Fuchsia, Narcissus, Lilly, and
Carnation, in which were some of the best exe-
cuted specimens that we have seen for some
time.

The Vegetables, as a whole, were the more
important part of the exhibition. Several as-
sortments were in the rooms, which were most
excellent specimens of culture, and were de-
serving of all the honors they received at the
hands of the judges. For culinary vegetables,
the silver cup was awarded to H. C. Murphy,
of Yellow Hook, Long Island, in which collec-
tion the White Silver Onions, the Parsnips and
the Red Carrots, particularly called for remark;
the White Carrots were fine, but not equal to
some which were exhibited by J. L. Scofleld.
The second premium in this class was given to
J. A. Perry, New-Utica, Long-Island. For
best and greatest variety of vegetable roots for
cattle, the silver cup was awarded to Jacob P.
Giraud, of Bergen, New-Jersey. This collec-
tion gave the best practical evidence that those
scientific experiments have been eminentlj^ suc-
cessful, which we understand Mr. Giraud has
been making, in order to test the opinions of
Liebig and other modern chemists, who have
of late advocated the expediency of manuring
upon a plan bearing especial reference to the
proportion of the particular elementary sub-
stances entering into the structure of each ve-
getable production of the earth, so that the sub-
stances taken up by each crop may be restored
to the ground. Upwards of twenty sorts of

vegetables were exhibited in this collection, and
were uniformly fine and handsome. Amongst
this assortment were to be found specimens of
the unequalled collection of Indian Corn which
this gentleman has accumulated, and which
lie has enriched by several new and very desi-
rable varieties which he has originated by hy-
bridizing. This collection of corn contained 50
or 51 varieties, of which the aggregate number
of ears on the table was upwards of 1,100, pre-
senting what we believe to be the most perfect
collection in the country. For this reason we
subjoin the names of the varieties with which
we have been obligingly furnished by Mr. Gi-
raud, to whom we applied for it under the con-
sideration that these particulars will be accep-
table to be our readers.

Varieties of White Corn. — Long Island, Elon-
gated, Canada, Twelve Rowed, Flesh Colored,
White Taper, Rhode Island Cap, Giraud's Ber-
gen, Pearl, Virginia, Devereau, Chinese Tree,
Oregon, Gourd Seed, Ohio, Small Dent, Rice,
Nonpareil.

Yellow Corn. — Golden Sioux, Golden Spike,
Large Eight Rowed, Medium do. Small do.,
Canada, Jersey, Galatz, Uutton, Bowling's
Early, Maryland Buttons, Kentucky Dent,
Small do.. Orange Cone, Nonpareil.

Brown Corn. — Large Twelve Rowed, Ber-
gen Red Cone, Striata, Rice, Nonpareil.

Fancy Corn. — Several varieties mottled.

Table Corn. — Rhode Island Sweet, Stowel's
Evergreen, Hematell, Blore, Tuscarora, Early
Burlington, Early Canada, Mandan.

The second premium for vegetable roots for
cattle was gained by Mr. J. A. Perry, whose
collection was also fine and good.

Fine specimens of Beets were produced by
several exhibitors. Mr. J. A. Perry was again
the successful competitor, both for the long
blood, and the turnep-rooted varieties, and he
merited his success; whilst E. T. Jones, of New
Brighton, Staten Island, obtained the premium
for sugar beet, and Wm. Harsell, of Ravens-
wood, Long Island, had that for mangel wurt-
zell.

For the best table Carrots, Charles Williams,
of Newark, N. J., was the winner, and J. A.
Perry, for Parsneps. In Celery, R. L. Colt
was first, Urwin Stewart, at the Naval Hospital
Brooklyn, second. Many fine Onions w

the tables; Mr. Petit gained the premium for
white, and H. Skinner, of Orange county, N. J.,
for 3'ellow and red. The premium for the best
peck of seedling Potatoes was given to F.
Hunt, Long Island; and that for the best peck
for the table, to S- T Jones. In Pumpkin.i,
the premium for the largest was given to one
weighing 125 lbs. exhibited by Abraham Stock-
holm, of Bushwick, Long Island, but a still
larger arrived afterwards, too late for competi-
tion, for which a discretionarj^ premium was
awarded to J. Wilson, Bloomingdale. Ely Fer-
ry, of Westchester county, had a premium for
Crooked-necked Squash; and Dr. G. W. Cam-
mann, for the largest squash. Mr. E. Stewart
obtained the premium for White Turneps; A.
Henderson for yellow, and R. L. Colt for Ruta
Baga. We noticed also some finely grown tur-
neps belonging to Haynes Lord Discretionary
premiums were also awarded and well deserved
by John W. Duryea, for 3 extra fine heads of
cabbage, and for some Carolina potatoes, exhi-
bited by Reuben B. Clark, of Washington Mar-
ket, N. Y.

Everythig is now-a-days interesting that tends
to improve our acquaintance with the potato;
we therefore give a copy of a card, attached to
a single potato, of good shape and appearance,
that was exhibited, and which was as follows:

"One Peach Blow potato, weight 17| oz.,
grown upon a reclaimed meadow from sprouts,
no part of the potato being planted. Crop es-
timated from 250 to 300 bushells per acre; all
good size; this is one of the largest, but not the
largest ; one weighed 1 g lbs. but not so good form
as this. C. W. Forbush, Woi'cester county.
Muss. Exhibited by J. R. Pitkin, 208 Broad-
way, N. Y., who saw the crop."

This Horticultural display was altogether a
very gratifying sight, and the judges showed a
liberal disposition in the amount of premiums
awarded, well calculated to encourage exhibi-
tors to exertion for the future countenance of

the Institute.

American Pomological Society.

In our notice of tlie meeting of this society,
last month, the list of officers elected, as well
as the notice of Mr. Buist's resolution, were
not given. We copy the annexed from the
Genesee Farmer;

The following is a list of the officers chosen:
ide7it — Marshall P. Wilder, of Mass.
Presidents — One from nearly every State

and Territory, including the Canadas, Califor-
nia and Oregon.

Secretaries — F. R. Elliot, of Ohio; James
H. Watts, of New-York; II. W. S. Cleveland,
of New Jer.tsey.

Treasurer — Thos. P. Jaines. Philadelphia.

Executive Cumiiiitlce — Dr. W. D. Brinkle,
of Philadelphia; B. V. French, of Mas.sachu-
setts; Mr. Peters, Dr. H. Wendell, Albany,
N. Y.; Dr. J. A. Warder, Cincinnati; and the
President, and 1st Vice President ex-officio.

A resolution was offered by Mr. Robert Buist,
and adopted, appointing a committee to raise
a fund of $20,000 or more, in subscriptions of
$1 and ui)\vards, to be invested for the benefit
of the widow of tlie late Mr. Downing, or to
be expended otherwise in some fitting monu-
ment to his memory. The President, Robert
Buist, Caleb Cope, H. W. S. Cleveland, B.
Hodge, F. R. Elliot, L. Young, D. W. Breck-
enridge and J. A. Kennicott, constitute such
committee. ,

Pennsylvania Hort. Society.

The stated meeting of this Society occurred
on Tuesday evening, October 19, in the lecture
room of the Museum building, Philadelphia.
Caleb Cope, in the chair. The display con-
sisted of Fruits and Bouquets; of the former,
Mr. Cope's gardener exhibited specimens of
twelve varieties of Pears: Duchess d'Angou-
leme. Passe Colmar, Napoleon. Excellentissima,
&c. ; Reine Claude nionstreuse de Bavay plum,
raised under glass. Also, a new plant, Crowea
latifolia, three pompone Chrysanthemums —
Sacramento, Surprise, and La Miniature; a
basket of cut flowers, having the 93d bud of
the Victoria ; a boquet of choice flowers, and
a basket of indigenous flowers. Mrs. John B.
Smith's gardener brought a collection of fine
pears: Duchess d'Angouleme, Belle St. Mar-
tigne. Doyenne Seuille, Glout Morceau, Beurre
d'Aremburg, Bamien Van Mons, Tyson, and
the Reinette de Bretagne apple. Thomas P.
James presented pears — 12 Duchess d'Angou-
leme, weighing 18 oz., 15i oz., 14| oz., &c.
Morelle Bouche, St. Dennis, Brown and Yel-
low Beurre, all from dwarf trees. Also, Frost
Gage and October plums. By R. Kilvington,
a new plant, Microspermun Bartonoides, a
very pretty plant. II. W. S. Cleveland, speci-
mens of Hamburg and Mu.^cat Grapes; S.J.
Dick, fine Isabella Grapes; Mrs. Krider, Butter
and other Pears; M. Snyder, Fall Pippin Ap-
pies; N. W. Roe, Fall Pearmain and Golden
Pippin; A. Parker, Butter Pears; J. H
Rochester, St. Lawrence Apple. From

French, Braintree, Mass., Grapes— Diana, Ca-
tawba and Isabella.

An interesting report from the committee on
fruits, of articles shown to them since the last
stated meeting was tlien read. The chair stated
that he had much satisfaction in announcing,
that he had received for the society, the first
donation in monej' that was ever given j all the
presents which had been received were very
few relinq\iislied premiums, and books to a
limited extent to the library. Other societies
had been recipients in some instances of large
amounts and important legacies, and he lioped
this was the beginning of a new era. Thomas P.
Cope, had given him fifty dollars for the use
of the society: on motion, ordered that the
thanks of the society be tendered to the donor
for the acceptable gift. On motion adjourned.
Thos. p. James, Rec. Sec'y.

Maryland Hort. Society.
The Annual Exhibition of this Society was
held on the 22d, 23d, and 24th of Sept. The
weather was propitious, and our citizens availed
themselves largely of the attractive display, the
quality and arrangement of which, was well
worthy of their approval. Although compara-
tively young, this Society gives sulficient evi-
dence of stability, and has already done much
towards enlarging the wreaths of Flora and Po-
mona, which are rapidly encircling our country.
Dr. Edmondson, President of the Society,
contributed a very extensive display of specimen
plants, mostly of large size and rarity, includ-
ing many species of Palms, Crinums, Astrapas,
Metrosiderius, Erythrina, Cactus, Hoyas, &c.
— a fine collection of Achimenes and Roses, al-
together forming no mean display of itself, and
adding much to tlie interest of the exhibition.
Mr. John Feast furnished a choice selection
of new and rare plants, most of which are of
recent introduction, and shown for the first time
in this city.

Messrs. S. Feast &. Sons, also sent a variety
of ornamental plants, consisting of Carolina
Princeps, Coffee trees, Crinan amabile. Sago
Palm, &c. At a former meeting these gentle-
man furnished a leaf from their Victoria Regia
for the inspection of the curious in these mat-
ters. This plant has attained alarge size under
their care, and is giving a succession of its mag-
nificent flowers.

Further contributions of plants were sent by
Messrs. Pentland, E. Kurty, Esq., Mr. Fuss,
Thos. Winans, Esq., and others.

Fruit was Avell represented, both in variety
and quantity. Messrs. S. Feast & Sons, and
Mr. Jardin, of Washington City, had large col-
lections of Pears; Mr. Fuss, N. Popplein, E.
Kurty, Esq., Thos. Winans, and Mr. Kemp, also
sent some splendid specimens of varieties,
showing that the improved culture of this fruit
is not confined to the northern and eastern
states.

Foreign Grapes were sparingly produced. A
collection from G. Brown, Esq., grown under
glass, were of average merit. Black Hara-
burghs, grown in the open air, from Captain
Pracht, were noticed as very fine. Kative
Grapes were in abundance, and in great perfec-
tion; contributors in this class were numerous.
The Isabellas from Captain Pracht, and Thos.
V. Brundige; Catawbas from Mr. Mitchell and
Mr. Popplein; Herbemont's Cluster, from Mr.
Mitchell and Mrs. T. Wlieeler, were superior.
J. Barlow, R. Gibson, Mr. Mohler, Thomas
Baynes, and Dr. N. R. Smith, also exhibited
fine dishes of various kinds.

Peaches were scarce, the season for them being
nearly over. Mrs. Dr, Wolf sent some beauti-
ful seedlings, one of which weighed 12 ounces.
M. L. Young also had two samples of fine fruit.
Figs, Apples, and Quinces, several dishes of
each, were noticed as fine. Dr. N. R. Smith,
and W. C. Willson, Esq., contributed Figs; Ap-
ples from J. Regester, S. Feast & Sons, L.
Young, and Mrs. W. Jessup; and Quinces from
Mrs. H. Easter, and W. C. Willson, were among
the best. A basket of Siberian Crab Api)les,
from Dr Edmondson, were specially noticed.

Vegetables, as usual here, were of a superior
character. The principal contributors Avere Mr.
J. Regester, Messrs. J. & D. Lushby, Dr. Ed-
mondson, Mr. Whittemore; Mr. Kemp sent in
a dish of green peas; Dr. Edmondson a bushel
of St. Helena potatoes, a new variety, equal to,
and earlier than the Mercer.

Floral ornaments and bouquets, indeed flow-
ers of all descriptions, were most profuse. The
large design of the Messrs. Pentland was much
admired, as was also those of Messrs. Feast &,
Sons, and Mr. Stobie. The exhibition just clos-
ed has given an impulse, and awakened an iiite

rest in horticulture, whicli it is to be hoped will
be kept alive. ^Y. Saunders, Cor. Sec.

Oswego Hort. Society.

The September exhibition of tliis Society, was
held on the 1-lth Sept., 1852, at the City Hall.
Hon. E. B. T.4LC0TT, President, in the chair.

A.S a testimonial of respect to the memory
of the lamented Downing, the seats occupied
by the president and other officers, were dressed
with mourning.

The disi)lay of rare flower.s and plants wa.s
very creditable, and added nuich to the interest
and variety of the exhibition. Some 30 or 40
boquets and other collections were presented.
In addition to a varied and extensive display
of dahlias, verbenas, &c., by several contribu-
tors, were many varieties of roses, among tiiem
14 choice kinds by Mr. J. W. P. Allen.

The show of fruits, especially of Pears, was
very fine, and although the drouth has been
severe and protracted, this fruit seems not to
have suffered at all. On the contrary, it ha*?
inii>roved by it — and especially so in all cases
of tm/Jching.

The following varieties were exhibited by S.
Worden. Vicar of Winktield, Passe Colmar,
Beurre Diel, Broom Park, Napoleon, Beurre
de Capiaumont, Frederick of Wurtemburg,
Compt de Lamy, Louise bon de Jersey, Virga-
lieu, Bon Chretien Foi;dante,Dunmore, Summer
Bon Chretien, Stevens' Genesee, Wa-shington,
Easter Beurre, BufFum, Bartlett, Belle de Brnx-
els, Henry 4th, Oswego Beurre, Belle Lucra-
tive, Autumn Superb, Seckel, Beurre d'Amalis,
Cushing, Pratt, Onondaga, Brown Beurre, St.
Ghislain, Dearborn's Seedling, Andrews, Ju-
lienne, Winter Nelis, Flemish Beauty. Ananas,
S\van"s Egg, Crassane, Glout Morceau, Colum-
bia, Hessel— 41.

By J. W. P. Allen: Osband's Summer, Gray
Doyenne, Autumn Fig, Louise hon de Jersey,
Johnnot, Soldat Laboreur, Belmont, Beurre
de Beauchamps, Eyewood, Martin Sec. Ja-
louiso de Fontenay Vendee, Beurre de Capiau-
mont, Belle Adriance, Beurre de Malines,
Beurre Crapeaud, Enf. Cj-gene, Oswego Beurre,
Branghm. Onondaga, Chat Brule, Beurre Go-
bault, Flemish Beauty, Cliaumontel, Napoleon,
Dearbon's Seedling, Washington, Glout Mor-
ceau, Du Deux Foix Leon, Bergamot de Au-
tomne, Stevens' Genesee, Bezi de Chauniontel,

Hampshire Bergamot, Beurre Diel, Frederick
of Wurtemburg, Urbaniste, Seckel, Colmar
d'Aremberg, Beurre Bruneau, Andrews, Bon
Chretien Fondante, Bartlett, Hericart, Beurre
Chaptal, Beurre d' Anjou. Beurre Dore, Winter
Nelis, Countess de Lunay. Cumberland, Beurre
d'Amalis, Duchess d'Angouleme, Vicar of
Winktield, Epine Dumas, Summer Francreal,
Henry the 4th, Hessel, Fondante d'Automne,
St. Ghi.slain, Beurre Aurore. Surpasse Virga-
lieu, Beurre Bosc — 60.

By Gilbert Mollison: Stevens' Genesee, Au-
tumn Bergamot, Flemish Beauty, Beurre de
Capiaumont, Blceker's Meadow, St. Mismeim,
Fondante d'Automne, Frank Real D'Hiver,
Beurre Diel, Henry the 4th, Oswego Beurre,
St. Ghislain, Duchess d'Angouleme, Brown
Beurre.

In addition to the above, our citizens gene-
rally contributed many varieties of fine flavor.
Among the Pears, w^as a basket of Bartletts,
from Mr. J. W. Bissell, of Rochester. Though
very large and perfect, they were much infe-
rior to specimens of that sort on exhibition,
grown here.

A premium was awarded to J. J. Fort, for
the Bartlett — the fruit grown on an old seedling
grafted with this variety about five years ago.

There was a generous supply of Apples and
Plums. Of the last, all except two or three
kinds were seedlings, and upon these we mainly
depend f(jr a supply of this fruit. The budded
kinds, in our light, porous soil, furnish usually
but a scanty crop. On the other hand, seed-
lings and suckers produce abundantly.

Of Peaches, there Avas a moderate displaj'.
Some fine Beckwiths were shown by Mrs. F. C.
Mills. White Imperial, red rareripe Serrate,
and a few other kinds by Mr. Worden, Judge
Turrill and others. The crop of peaches in this
vicinity is extremely light this year. The pre-
valence of a destructive leaf blight (which first
made its aiipearance in 1850) seems to be the
cause; it is most apparent among the yellow
fleshed varieties.

There was a display of some choice Grapes by
Messers. Turrill, Bronson, Allen and others.
A premium was awarded to Mr. Allen, for the
Sweetwater, and to Mr. Bronson for the great-
est variety and display.

The Executive Committee of the Society

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

having been called together, J. M. Casey pre-
sented the following resolutions, which were
approved, and unanimously adopted by the So-
ciety :

Resolved, That this Society deeply lament
the distressing casualty which has removed from
the scene of his usefulness, and in the full vigor
of his ripened intellect, A. J. Downing, the ed-
itor of the Horticulturist.

Resolved, That this Society deplore his loss
as that of a distinguished benefactor of the hu-
man race. Thoroughly versed in the sciences
which he loved and studied from his boyhood,
and which he has illustrated by his writings;
imbued with an earnest zeal in their pursuit to
which his powers were consecrated — possessing
exquisite, though discriminating taste, he has
done much, vastly much, to elevate and adorn
the national character. His volumeshave gone
forth through the civilized world, replete with
sound teachings, and practical instruction.
Wherever they have been read, the impress of
his genius is visible in improyed taste — in all
the embellishments which render home a para-
dise. By the social fii'eside — in town or coun-
try— in the populous city and the sequesteied
hamlet, the traces are everywhere seen of high
culture and classic art, taught and insjtired by
the pages he has written. I] is books combine, in
an eminent degree, the utile and the du/ce — les-
sons of instruction that have been garnered into
all hearts, and that will be cherislied as " house-
hold words." Thoroughly American in his
character, all his efforts tended to mould into
symmetry and order, and to give tone and fin-
ish to the elements of the national taste. For
these efforts, which have been attended with
such signal success at home, and have given her
a name and character aboad, liis country owes
hiin a deep debt of gratitude.

Resolved, That this Society will co-operate
with the Horticultural Societies of the Union,
in any plan which may be devi.sed of testifying
by some enduring memorial, an appreciation of
his virtues, and a respect for liis memory.

Resolved, That the corresponding secretary
be requested totransmit a copy of the foregoing
resolutions to the family of Mr. Ddwning, and
that they be published and entered into the
minutes of the Society.

Massachusetts Hort. Society.
The Exhibition of this Society tlie present
season, was one of the must n)agnilicent ever
witnessed. Especially in the fruit dciiartment
it was unusually attractive. A more iavorable
scasdu has rarely been eNju'rienced, and the
specimens were not only broviglit forward in
jirofusion, but of a quality surpiisshig any pre-
vious year. Pears which beiciofore have been
classed among the small kinds, v/ere seen, of
such a size as to give them a pla'.e among the

r^:^^^:

largest sorts. Indeed, the experience of the
season has been such as to give renewed assu-
rance to the cultivators of our vicinity, that a
favorable season and proper attention will en-
able them to grow the pear to as great perfec-
tion as they are capable of bei ng produced in
this country. — Hoveifs Magazine.

At the late annual exhibition, the Fruit com-
mittee awarded the following prizes:

Largest and best collection of Pears — M. P.
Wilder, $40; Hovey & Co. $20.

Gratuities — A gratuity of $7 to A. D. Wil-
liams, Josiah Kichardson, John Gordon, Sam'l
Walker, Messrs. Winship, A. A. Andrews, J.
S. Cabot, Josiah Lovett, R. Manning, Otis
Johnson; a gratuity of $5 to J. S. Sleeper,
Azell Bowditch, Henry Vandine, W. B. Kings-
bury, William Bacon, W. P. Jenney, Jonathan
French.

For the best twelve varieties of pears — 1st,
W. R. Austin, $20; 2d, Josiah Stickney. $15;
3d. Samuel Downer, $12; 4th, Messrs. Hovey
& Co. $8.

For the best dish of pears, twelve specimens
of one variety — 1st, Samuel DcAvner, Jr., for
Louise Bonne de Jersey, $6; 2d, Josiah Rich-
ardson, for Flemish Beauty, $5; 3d, George
D. Cordwell, for Doyenne Blanc. $4; 4th, Ezra
Cleaves, for Marie Louise, $3.

Apples. For the largest and best collection
of Apples — 1st, to B. V. French, the Apple-
ton medal, $40; 2d do.. A. D. Williams &. Son,
$20.

For the best 12 varieties of 12 specimens
each — 1st, Josiah Lovett, $20; 2d, James
Eustis, $15; 3d, John Gordon, $12; 4th, J. B.
Moore, $8-

For the best dish of apples, 12 specimens of
one variety — 1st, Messrs. Hovey & Co., for Por-
ters, $6; 2d, Jcsiah Stickney^ for Melons, $5;
3d, M. H. Simi)Son, Porters, $4; 4th, Levi
Brigbam, Nonparicls, $o.

Gratuitji of the Society's Bronze Medals —
To Bowen Harrington, Cheever Newhall, Fear-
ing Burr, and Elbiidge Tufts.

Assorted Fruit. For the best basket of Fruit.
—1st, to Otis Johnson, $10; 2d, to J. F. Al-
len, $7.

Gratuity— To W . C. Strong, $7; Azell Bow-
ditch, $7; Jos. Breck. $3.

Peaches. For the best dish of not less than
twelve .-ipeciynens — 1st, to C. L. Tarbell, $5; 2d,
to J. A. Kenrick, $3.

Plums. Grutiiitij — To Geo. Wilson for Plums
$3; to Henry Yandine, $3.

Grapes. For the best five varieties — 1st,
Mis. Durl'ee, $12: 2d, W. C. Strong, $8; 3rd,
Jas. F. Allen, $5'.

For the best two varieties — 1st, Jos. Breck,
$6; 2d, H. Hazeltine, $4; 3rd, Chs. Sampson,
$2.

Ifomrstir JMiui

Sale of Mr. Downino's Residence. — The
last number of the Home Journal, has the fol-
lowiiug letter, dated " Highland Terrace," from
one of its editors, N. P. Willis, to his associ-
ate, G. P. Morris. It will be read with inter-
est by all Mr. D.'s friends:

Dear Morris: I was not well enough to
drive over to the sale of Mr. Downing's house
and grounds, though I intended to have done
so, and to have written to you of an event so
full of melancholy interest. It brought to-
gether a large assemblage of persons of taste and
refinement, I am told — more like a gathering to
exchange regrets, however, as most of those
present were already provided with such a home
as was there to be disposed of. A leisurely
sale, giving time for the chance w-ant to arrive
which it was best titted to supply, would have
been better timed, perhaps. The property sold
for eighteen thousand dollars, considerably less
than the estimate commonly put upon it. It
was bought by Messrs. Ramsdell and Betts,
two liberal and wealthy gentlemen of the neigh-
borhood, who, I understand, propose to hold it
till they can dispose of it to better advantage
for the widow of their deceased friend. It is a
kind world we live in, after all; and sweet the
inheritance of good will which some men leave
behind them unaware !

Full of enlarged love of the beautiful as was
Downing's mind, he was by no means visionary.
It was, on the contrary, quite a passion w-ith
liim, for the last two or three years, to contrive
such economies and combinations, in architec-
ture and modes of living, as should bring taste
and refined comfort within reach of moderate
means. He thought the millionaire sufficiently
cared for. To embellish and dignify, at little
cost, the homes of The Many, was the more re
cent study from which we should have heard
most instructively had he lived. The various
simple substitutes he had invented for such or-
nament as is necessary to taste in building, yet
usually too e.\ pensive, are doubtless in the pos-
session of his able professional partner. Mr.
Vaux, and to him may well be referred those
interested to know more of them. Of two only
of his practical ideas — subjects of my own last
conversation with him — I will endeavor to give
some outline, hojiing that there are those whom
it will serve, though I succeed in recording but
a hint of what he intended to convej'.

We were speaking of the new facility which
railroads afforded for living, tlie year round, in
the country, and of the difference of liospitality,

the city or out of it — the latter being a re-

of friends for a longer time and with the

addition of a bed. To have a house larse

enough for the friends one wishes to entertain
for three months of the year, is to have a house
which, for nine months of the year, is much too
large. Housewives complain of too many car-
pets and curtains, and (expense and trouble
quite aside) rooms dismantled and uninhabited
in the winter, are dismal to children and ser-
vants. A family should fill a house, as a man's
frame should fill his coat — the spare pocket or
spare bed not interfering with the general fit-
ness.

Downing thought it was not sufficiently re-
membered how completely the country sum-
mer rendered most city luxuries superfluous.
In the smallest cottage there is room enough to
dine, and tlie remaining hospitality which the
city guest comes to the country to enjoy, is
dispensed upon portico and lawn, in grove and
and garden. Grass is the carpet, sunset the
curtains, starlight the frescoed ceiling, he will
most admire. With his luxuries thus out of
doors, his in-door comforts may be put into
very small compass. A room large enough for
a bed, a chair and a wash-stand, is, with its
open window, as good as the state-chamber of
a palace. A dozen such sleeping-rooms may
be built at very little expense, and added to the
house or grounds like a rear wing, or a bowl-
ing allej' — the whole structure closed in the
winter, and forming no apparent enlargement
of the general scale of the building. A dozen
friends might thus be entertained without in-
terfering with the usual accommodations of the
family, and the hospitality of "a cottage"
mife'ht thus be quite as bounteous and agreea-
ble as that of "a mansion." Downing, I be-
lieve, had some definite plan by w-hich this
slightly built addition to the house should be
(architecturally) disposed of, but I cannot dis-
tincly recall it. and perhaps the hint is enough.

The other idea, which seemed to me very
apt and practicable, was the supplying, at
small expense, permanent city lodgings for the
occasional use of residents in the country. The
frequent errands to town, for shopping, for
pleasure, for business, or change of scene, re-
quire some better certainty of accommodation
than the risk of crowded hotels, as well as more
privacy and repose. It is inconvenient, also,
to carry wardrobe and baggage to and fro,
packing and unpacking, adding very materially
to the laboriousness of the visit. The known
home being in the country, this occasional city
resort might be in any convenient yet unosten-
tatious neighbourhood, and a large number
might be accommodated under one roof. Dow-
ning thought that a dozen or twenty families
might combine to take a house, install a house
keei)er in it, and furnish their separate lo
— a housekeeper being also a cook, who

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

supply them with such simple meals as thej'
might require. The house would thus be like
a French lodging hotel, and the yearly expense
to each tenant, of one or more rooms, would
be less than is incurred by occasional visits to
the hotels. The idea seemed to me to com-
bine economy, utility and comfort, and to be,
moreover, a very timely one, with the present
increasing taste for permanent homes in the
country.

I will conclude my letter with the hope that
some one will give us a memoir of Downing, to
be published with his collected works, and to
convey a reflex of the beautiful life he led, and
the hand-in-hand progress of his taste and his
common sense. They were well balanced, and
they kept pace and enlarged and brightened, to
his dying day. Yours, etc., N. P. W.

Remedies for the Curculio — A New One.
— The Farmers' Monthly Visitor publishes the
statement of Joshua Dean, who, at the sugges-
tion of the editor of that paper, tried with great
success a new remedy which had been used
with decided effect by an acquaintance at
Nashua. The remedy is, " an ounce of harts-
horn (sal ammonia) and a pint of soft soap, dis-
solved in three gallons of water." This is
thrown on the foliage and frut with a syringe,
in the morning, twice or thrice a week. In the
experiment described, a simple tin syringe was
used, holding about two quarts, and the prepa-
ration was applied at four different times to
thi'ee plum trees, about as many more being
left untouched, The result is. " a dozen plums
did not fall " from either of the trees operated
on, but they hung so full of fruit, that it was
needful to prop the limbs — while not a dozen
plums remained upon all the others. This, it
appears, was the first crop ever obtained from
these plum trees.

It will be observed that sal-ammoniac (muriate
of ammonia) was used, and not salts of harts-
horn or carbonate of ammonia, a more costly ar-
ticle. The sal-ammoniac was pulverized, and
mixed with unslaked lime in equal parts, mak-
ing it easily soluble in water — the cost being for
1 lb. 1-5 cents, and two cents more for lime and
soap, or 17 cents for the whole — cheap enough,
to be sure, for an effectual remedy, if this only
proves such.

This remedy, like many others proposed of late
years, is very easily tried, and the posfiblity,
even, of its success, should be a sufficient in-
ducement. In the case related, it appears to

have been eminently successful, but a single trial
is insufficient, as other causes may operate at
the same time. The application of thin lime-
wash has been very highly commended, yet we
have found it quite as much labor to keep the
young fruit coated with the lime, as to knock
down the insects daily on muslin frames. A
neighbor who had for years lost all his necta-
rines, tried the lime remedy very thoroughly,
not only syringing the trees, but applying the
lime with a brush to the fruit, whenever rains,
heavy dews, or the chafing of leaves removed
the coating ; yet, after spending about three days
in the aggregate upon nine trees, he saved only
six nectarines from the destroyers. These we
afterwards learned were from a tree under which
a calf had been kept confined, and whose pre-
sence served to frighten the curculios. If the
sal-ammoniac remedy operates in the same way,
that is by merely serving as a coating, we should
very much question its general value ; but if the
fumes of the ammonia, which are very strong
when the salt is mixed with lime, are the chief
repelling influence, it may prove quite efficient.
Perhaps the Monthly Visitor can throw some
light on this point.

Good and Bad Taste. — It is a delicate mat-
ter to find fault with those, who with great
labor and industry have exerted themselves to
add to the interest and attractions of our Hor-
ticultural exhibitions and State Fairs — espe-
cially when the great mass of the people show
so little enterprize in supporting them. It can
certainly do no harm, however, to point out
the difference between good and bad taste, and
to enable the industrious and ingenious to ex-
pend their labors to better advantage. Good
taste can never deviate from fitness and good
sense ; hence images of the human figure, built,
like cobble-stone houses, of roses and asters, are
entirely out of place. Flowers are light and
decorative merely, and can never be properly
used in constituting the solid material of heavy
bodies. The human figure may be imitated in
stone or plaster, and wreaths of flowers used
sparingly in decorating it, but never in build-
ing up its solid portions. The same objection,
that of unfitness, applies to the construction
of banners, stars, and other odd conceits, of
flowers. There must be a natural suggestion
of the one from the other, which is not the case

s

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

when the American flag is made of verbenas,
as we lately saw a most ingenious example at
a State fair. Temples and alcoves of flowers
are also objectionable for the same reason ; but
temples and alcoves decorated properly with
wreaths of flowers, not as a part of them,, but as
exterior ornament merely, may be in perfectly
good taste. We have seen some beautiful ob-
jects in the form of baskets of flowers j but
when the baskets themselves a])pear to be com-
l)osed entirely of flowers, instead of being mere-
ly filled with them, or wreathed by them, the
incongruity is at once apparent. At the late
State Fair at Utica, were some very ingeni-
ously constructed figures in human form, bui
in most singular bad taste, and which must
have cost the exhibitors whole days of labor —
while close beside them stood two handsome
empty vases, which might have been in a mo-
ment rendered infinitely more pleasing by
throwing promiscuously into each an armful of
flowers. At the late Philadelphia annual show,
there were some very richly wrought specimens
of flower temples; but we regarded with a
great deal more interest the simple structures
made of wire, and beautifully covered with
climbing plants, which had groH'n up and cov-
ered them, and were then in full bloom.

Forest Trees of America. — Amongst our
native Forest Trees, the Elm stands pre-emi-
nent. Its beauty of form, and luxuriance of
foliage, with its long and graceful branches,
renders it peculiarly fitting for a shade tree.
Its long life makes it particularly valuable, as
more than one generation can enjoy its planting.

I have ever regretted that so ruthless a dis-
position was made by the early settlers of Roch-
ester, of the beautiful forest trees which
abounded here. The Elm, Maple, Chestnut,
Oak, Walnut and Beeches, grew in abundance,
and were mostly cut down by those whose
province it was to clear away the forest. In
after planting on our streets for ornament, the
" Button Ball," or " Sycamore," was used, as
their growth was rapid. Recently the Elms,
Maples, and Horse Chestnuts, have been used,
so that in time we may enjoy the shade which
they furnish. One noble old Elm, is all that
I now remember, of much size, and that is on
South Clinton-street, a monument of past time,

when the man of the forest held sway here.
It is held in high esteem. May time deal gently
with it, and may its age increase until centu-
ries can be allotted as the period of its exis-
tence.

Rochester has been called the '■ City of Trees,"
and looking down upon it from the cupola of
the court house, it has the appearance of a
large garden studded with trees.

It is known that in Mr. Downing's life-timt3,
he gave a great preference to the native Elm
of our country, and in his work on " Land-
scape Gardening," he clas.ses it among those
objects in which all that is beautiful existed.

He had been heard to say, that under its
branches would he prefer his "last of earth,"
to be deposited — and when his numerous friends
shall perform what is the wish of many should
be done, may the chosen Elm make one of the
trees to be planted round his grave. Jas. H.
Watts. Rochester, October, 1852.

Wine and Temperance. — Much has been
said on this subject, in most of the Horticultu-
ral Journals, and all, or nearly all, in favor of
the general use of wine, as a prevention of in-
temperance. I fear sufficient caution has not
been used in making this recommendation, and
perhaps too superficial an examination has been
made of the condition of those countries where
it is extensively adopted as a drink. How did
so many instances of intemperance occur among
the ancients — which induced king Solomon to
describe its effects as "woe, sorrow, contentions,
babbling, wounds, and redness of eyes;" and as
" biting like a serpent and stinging like an ad-
der?" These were rather strong terms to apply
to the remedy for intemperance. What was it
that caused king Alexander to murder hisguilt-
less friend — and what destroyed his own life?
This same remedy for intemperance. What led
to the destruction of a whole Scythian army by
the Medes? A free use of the same remedy.
Now permit me to ask with all respect, hoping
an answer with all candor, whether^ seeing that
distillation has since greatly concentrated the
peculiar power of wine, it will be any safer now
to acquire a taste for it, with this concentrated
liquor standing ready at all times to gratify the
increased appetite often produced by habit
the first man that history informs us of,

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

ever planted a vineyard, became prostrated
from intoxication, without the addition of the
little brandy which is now applied in making
wine — a man of snch self-denial and extraordi-
nary strength of purpose, as to withstand with-
out flinching, the sneers and opposition of the
world — can we expect that the weaker portion
of the human family will 71010 do better, if we
place this drink freely before them, with half a
dozen other and stronger drinks ready to take
its place as soon as increased appetite shall ren-
der this too weak?

I ask these questions simply for the conside-
ration of the readers of this Journal — ^which I
hope I may be permitted to do as a matter of
justice, because what has been previously said
has all been on the other side of the question —
leaving it entirely with them to draw their own
conclusions. T.

Mr. Downing. — It was with heartfelt sorrow
that I learned of tlie death of Mr. Downing,
and I deeply sympathise with his family and the
readers of the Horticulturist. I consider his
loss a national calamity, and one that I fear is
irreparable ; and I now suggest to the readers
of the Horticulturist, that we raise a fund by
contribution, (by the subscribers to the Horti-
culturist,) to erect a suitable monument near
his grave, as a token of our esteem for him. I
am willing to pay $5, or whatever sum may be
thought sufficient from each subscriber. E.J.
Capell. Rose Hill, jlmite Co. Miss., Septem-
ber 25, 1852.

Great Exhibition of Fruits. — At the late
annual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society, at Boston, a " mammoth pa-
vilion," 100 feet wide and 200 feet long, was
engaged for the occasion, under which was ar-
ranged more than 1,000 running feet of tables.
These were occupied with flowers, fruits and
vegetables, about two-thirds being filled with
fruits. There were more than 3,400 dishes,
baskets, &c., many of them containing more than
a peck each, amounting in all to more than 100
bushels, about two-thirds of which were pears.
The specimens generally were the finest ever
exhibited, many being really superb. Several
collections were very large. Hovey &. Co. ex-
hibited 2-50 sorts of pears, M. P. Wilder 267,
Cabot 160, B. V. French 150, Samuel
er 145, Robert Manning 167, &c. B. V.

French had 178 varieties of apples, and others
large collections. The whole formed the finest
thing of the kind ever seen in this country.

House Plants in Winter. — " What is the
reason that my plants do not grow so well
as Mrs. Jones' ? I am sure I take a great deal
more pains with them, and water, and nurse,
and air them, but all Avill not do; they are
weak, slender, sickly, and some of my best
plants have died — while Mrs. Jones seems to
take very little care of her's, and yet they grow
and bloom beautifully !"

This appeal to us for aid and advice, which
has just been made, is not the first complaint
of this kind of ill success The truth is, some
plants are actually nursed to death. Care and
attention bestowed on plants, w/a'c/i they do not
need, are worse than nocare at all. It is know-
ing ju.it luhat to do, and doing that, and no
more, that gives some persons their success. —
Or, as a late writer remarked, there are two
great points to be attended to, 1. !Not to let
your plants suffer by neglect; and 2, not to
7i)ake them suffer by interference. We would
class the i-equisites for good treatment, as fol-
lows : —

1. Plenty of light.

2. A due supply of water.

3. Proper temperature.

Fresh air, cleanliness, and good soil, are ob-
viously of importance, but are less likely to be
neglected than the three first named wants, and
we shall therefore add a few additional remarks
under these heads.

1. Light. — Plants cannot by any possibility
have too much of this. The stand should
therefore face the window, and be placed as near
to it as practicable ; and the window should be
broad, as little obstructed in its light by out-
side trees as the nature of the case will admit.
But rapidly growing plants require most light ;
hence such should be placed more directly in
front of the window.

2. Water. — This must be given according to
circumstances. A plant in nearly a dormant
state, needs very little — those in rapidly grow-
ing condition require considerable. Too much
water will make the latter grow slender, but
they will bear a greater supply if in a strong
light. It must be remembered as a standing
rule, that dormant plants may remain compara-

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

lively in the dark, and with little water; and
growing ones should haye a good supply of wa-
ter and a full supply of light. But it must not
be forgotten that green-house plants generally
arc nearly dormant during winter, and the soil
must therefore be kept but moderately moist,
as the plants in this condition do not pump any
moisture from the soil, and little escapes di-
rectly by evaporation. Drainage, by filling
one-fifth of each pot with charcoal, is of im-
portance.

Temperature. — Many house plants are de-
stroyed by too much heat, which increases the
dryness, and both these causes together are
more than they can endure. A cool room,
never as low as freezing, is best. From 50 to
55 degrees is much better than 65 or 70, the
ordinary temperature of living rooms.

Syringing the foliage with tepid water, to wash
off whatever dust accumulates, is of use; and
the admission of fresh air, when there is no
danger of chilling or freezing the foliage, should
not be neglected.

DucHEssE OF Angouleme — A Long Name. —
Some of the names of pears, and especially those
which are pretty well peppered with French ac-
cents, are inconveniently long to most cultiva-
tors, among which is the Duchessed'Angouleme.
We observe in the last number of Hovey's
Magazine, the editor names the '"Duchesse"
among other pears ; whether it is the Duchesse
d'Orleans, Duchesse of Beri. or Duchesse de
Mars, we should not be able to decide, were we
not aware, as some others are not, that the
Duchesse d'Angouleme is sometimes called by
this name, which certainly has too much of the
" John Smith" indefiniteness about it. No ob-
jection of this sort could be made to the name
Angouleme.

The Crocus. — These are generally too much
crowded in pot culture ; a single root put in a
small pot, will give a dozen fine flowers at least,
expanded at the same time, of larger size than
will be got from three roots in the same size
pot. Those who doubt this, have only to make
the experiment to be convinced. But these
and Hyacinths or Tulips grown in pots, should
as soon as potted be plunged under coal ashes,
saw-diist or old tan, for six weeks. This may
one in a cellar or out house, and they can
be taken out any time during winter, and

be forwarded to bloom in a green-house, or
sitting-room.

Market Pears.— In planting 500 trees for
standards to constitute a market orchard, would
you plant mostly Virgalieus, as some of my
neighbors have done, or a proportion of other
sorts, and what should these be ? M. W.
Western New-York.

The Virgalieu (or White Doyenne) as grown
in western New- York, as well as in some other
portions of the country, is a fruit of transcen-
dent merit, not only for its fine quality, but for
its great and early productiveness, and for the
hardiness of the tree. But the scab and crack-
ing, which renders it "'an outcast, intolerable
even to sight," as Kenrick is designates it, in
some parts of the eastern states, has of late
years appeared to some extent, both in western
New- York and Ohio ; and it may therefore be
somewhat hazardous to plant it exclusively.
We think, under these circumstances, it would
be best to make a selection of five or six of the
best varieties, foremost of which, and in the
largest quantity, we would place the Flemish
Beauty, a free growing sort on pear stocks, and
bearing fine crops of large, handsome, and ex-
cellent pears, ripening about the same time as
the Virgalieu. The Onondaga, though not so
good, is a large, handsome and productive va-
riety, and would undoubtedly sell well. The
Louise Bonne de Jersey, which grows so well
on quince; produces so abundantly, that it
should form a large proportion of a market or-
chard. The Bartlett, for an early autumn sort,
will not of course be forgotten; and the Vicar
of Winkfield , for a late market pear, is deserved-
ly popular for its enormous crops. When the
keeping and ripening of winter pears shall be
better understood, it is not improbable that they
may form a most important class for profitable
cultivation, and among which the Easter Beurre
for long keeping, will certainly be one of the
best, the planter not forgetting that it must have
a rich, warm, and highly cultivated soil.

Cinerarias. — These are beautiful winter
plants for a green-house, and may be made
much more ornamental if they are grown in
large pots, and the flower stems of those that
are slight enough to admit of it, are gradually
pulled and pegged down to the surface of the
pot. In that way, we have seen complete

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

domes of bloom not six inches higli, but from
eighteen to twenty-four inches across. This is
the time to begin them.

The Rostiezer Pear. — We have fruited this
Viiriety for many years, and )iave always esteem-
ed it as nearly oi" quite unequalled in quality
among summer pears, standing quite as high
among these, as the Seckel does among autumn
varieties. We are therefore gratified to find in
the last number of Hoveys' Magazine, the fol-
lowing remarks by the editor, who. as is well
known, has a very extensive knowledge of fruits.

'■ The Rostiezer is certainly one of the finest
of our summer pears ; hitherto we have thought
it too small to give it a high rank, notwithstand-
ing its delicious, spicy, Seckel-like flavor; but
its smallness has been the fault of cultivators ;
this year it comes up to the full size of a medi-
um pear, being here as large as the St. Ghis-
lain, and we have seen specimens even much
larger from other places. It is an enornnnis
bearer, and hangs, as the usual phrase is, " like
strings of onions," from the tree ; we counted
no less than nine handsome pears from one clus-
ter of blossoms."'

The Potato Disease. — Any experiment that
tends to throw additional light upon the disease
in potatoes, is deserving of consideration, be-
cause, althougli it may uQt explain tlie cause sa-
tisf\ictorily. yet it is only by the accumulation of
facts, such as the apparent influence of divers
modes of growth upon it, that we can hope at
last to trace out the principles upon which the
presence or absence of thedi^aase is dependant.
A. Mens. Bayard has communicated to the hor-
ticulturists of Paris, the result of an experi-
ment made by him in an altogether new direc-
tion, the result of which he gives in the follow-
ing account: •'' Upon my property in tiie com-
mune of Jaille-Yron, in the department of the
Maine and Loire, the potatoes grown in 1850
were generally bad. Before planting, in 1851,
I cut some potatoes into sets, and forced into
each set, according to itssize, one. two or three
dry peas. A piece of ground w-as })lanted with
these sets, and an adjoining piece with sets with-
out peas. Notwithstanding the dry summer,
the peas grew strong and flowered, and the po-
tato stems pushed vigorously. The potatoes
containing peas produced a crop without disease,
which kept well through the winter, and part
them were used the present year in June, for
Part of the crop of the sets planted with-

out peas, were diseased. Whilst the above ex-
periment was going on in a field of heavy land,
a similar one was made in a kitchen garden,
where the soil was light, and the result was the
same. The potatoes with peas were healthy,
but those without rapidly indicated signs of ill-
health. During the growth of the pea stems
and potato stems, some were pulled up and ex-
amined, and it appeared that the early vegeta-
tion of the pea had carried off the excessive hu-
midity from the potato." Assuming that upon
i-epetition this experiment in other parts, is
found to give the same results, there can be lit-
tle doubt that the concluding sentence indicates
the cause, nanieh', the absortionby the roots of
the peas of a portion the water contained in the
sets. This is a strong evidence in favor of the
correctness of the now very general opinion,
that excessive moisture has much to do with the
disease. M.

Sweet Bovgh — Color of Apples. — "Does
the Sweet Bough everhave afaint blush? Some
specimens exhibited at our State Fair called
the Bough, had a blush, but I can find no de-
scriptions that mention it." J. A. D. The
Sweet Bough, in common with nearly all green
or yellow apples, has a faint blush when grown
fully exposed to the sun — and this is so com-
mon or almost universal with apples of tliis
class, thatpomologistshave regarded it as hardly
necessary to mention as a distinctive point.

Different seasons, soils, and stocks, produce
various results in coloring apples. We have
known the Rhode Island Greening, in some
years, to be a full deep green, on every part of
the tree; and in other years, to have very gen-
erally a deep reddish brown cheek. The Por-
ter is usually remarkably free from a brown
tinge ; yet during the growth of the fruit towards
the close of summer, it has been seen to have
conspicuous stripes of red in the sun, but which
entirely disappeared when fully matured. A
long warm season does not always produce the
highest color — it was observed a few years since
at one of the Ohio fruit conventions, that the
specimens from the warm region of Cincinnati
were not nearly so much reddened as those
from the cooler shores of Lake Erie at Cleveland.
An interesting incident under this head once
occurred in the case of the first specimens of
JeweVs Red which we fruited — they maintained

:?.^

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

SO green an appearance until nearlj' grown tliat,
we were led to doubt tlieir genuineness, but being
blown off by wind, tbej' were carried into a
room, where in a fortnight, a profusion of red
stripes gradually covered the whole surf;ice.

Preserving Fruit in a Fresh State. —
TVm. R. and Eliza Smith, of Macedon, N. Y.,
have devoted nearly their whole time during
the fruit season the present and past year, in
perfecting their process for preserving soft and
perishable fruits in glass jars, in a fresh state,
like that when first taken from the tree. Their
mode consists substantially in expelling the air
from the jars by heat, and then heremetically
sealing them; but there are so many minute
particulars to be attended to, that one who
should remain a whole day in their laboratory,
and closely observe every part of the process,
would not probably succeed as they do. after a
month's trial. In truth, one might as well
think to draw a fine picture without e.xperience,
by watching for a few hours the brush of an em-
inent artist. They preserve strawberries, cher-
ries, raspberries, peaches, plums, jiears, toma-
toes, &c. ; and so different are the details of the
process for each of these, that the necessary re-
quirements for one sort, would, if applied to
others, entirely spoil them. Of their fruits pre-
pared last year, when they had much less ex-
perience, some jiroved imperfect by losing a
part of tlie peculiar fresh flavor of newly pluck-
ed frnit, while other specimens which we exam-
ined, and more especially the clingstone peach-
es, could hardly be distinguished from those of
yesterday's ripening. They are particularly
successful with tomatoes, the flavor of which,
after months of keeping, we much prefer to that
of the specimens which are usually brought
eaily in snmmer from the Island of Bermuda.
They have now on hand a large collection of
jars or bottles for distribution, and wc hope they
may reap some reward for the extraordinary
labor, skill, and ingenuity which they have be-
stowed in perfecting their process.

Wintering Strawberry Beds — Raising
Seedlings. — At a meeting of the Cincinnati
lJorticuUin;il Society, (and we know that they
'f Cincinnati are not insignilicaut on this sub-
^'iciioL.vs Longworth recommended
or cii# slraw, or dead leaves, applied in

the (\xll, as the best thing to do for them. Dr
MosHER used chaff, and found it well adapted
to apply to the beds after dressing them in the
spring. Tan-bark was objected to on account
of the dirt after rains.

Raising Seedlings — Longworth would im-
pregnate a large and good pistillate, with the
best hermaphrodite, (or perfect flowered) and
plant the seeds as soon as ripe in good soil in
open ground. From 200 seedlings, he would
expect 95 staminates,95 pistillates, and 10 her-
maphrodites. They should be planted separate,
and the runners cleared till the sorts were
proved. Graham advised planting in pots,
and driving them ahead with bottom heat — his
plants proved mostly staminate. McAvoy
would plant in open ground — but select the
best plants and force them. He had one bear
a year from planting.

GRADU.'iL AND Sl'CCESSFL'L PROGRESS IN

Planting. — One of the most interesting frag-
ments of individual history we have lately seen,
especially as connected with horticultural pur-
suits, is contained in the following extract,
which we make from the " Notes on Gardens
and Nurseries," in the last number of Hovey's
Magazine:

'' Residence of Jos. Slickney, Esq., ]Vater-
toum. — Strange, indeed, is it, to see how sb'glit
a circumstance may change and mould a taste
for objects previously of no interest whatever.
Some years ago, when the taste for the culture
of that gorgeous flower, the Dahlia, was carried
to a greater extent than now, a gentleman
whose time was almost incessantly occupied in
commercial matters, and who possessed only a
few square feet of garden, in the rear of his
dwelling, in the city, was struck with the splen-
dor of one of the exhibitions of this flower, at
the rooms of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, and at mice made up his mind to buy
a few plants. Spring came, and they were set
out; — they flourished — grew, — and all the au-
tumn repaid the careful attention of a zealous
amateur, by a brilliant display of flowers. This
was grand success for a beginner. Another year
came round, and tl:e dozen sorts were aug-
mented to fifty, and still the same success. —
Delighted to find himself so well repaid, (un-
aware it was entirely owing to that love which
spared no i)ains fcu' the welfare of the plants,)
the newest and finest sorts were procured, and
another season he not only became a compet-
itor for the prizes, but actually carried some
of them off I

But with a few feet of land, alrf^ady
filled, there was no room for further at'

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

to his stock, and he must add more or grow a
less number of plants; the latter could not be
done, and another hundred feet of ground,
worth almost as many acres a few miles from
the citj', was added. But now other objects
divided his attention. The grand displays of
fruit were so rich and inviting that to be a
mere admirer would not do: why should not
success attend the growth of fruit, as well as
dahlias; there could be no doubt of it. His
resolve was made, and the corners were filled
with young pear trees. On they went, growing,
thriving, pushing up their vigorous shoots, and
spreading out their leafy branches, making sad
inroads upon the territory of the Mexicans, and
in fact showing a disposition to dispute all the
ground they had heretofore occupied. Time
rolled on, golden fruit hung from their heavily
laden boughs, and a rich harvest crowned the
efforts of the cultivator of the city garden.

And now accompanying him further, we find
ourselves on a beautiful spot, on the banks of
the Kiver Cliarles, in the pretty village of Wa-
tertown, overlooking its flowing waters on one
side, and the thickly settled plain on the other.
Terraces of immence size, covered with trees
in full bearing, all the work of half a dozen
years, rise one above another, and skirt the
river bank. Ascending by several flights of
steps, we reach a broad plateau, on which
stands the mansion, in the olden style, large,
capacious, without ornament, but with that es-
sential of the country house, comfort. It is
reached from the front by an avenue from the
Milldam road, and is screened in that direction
by a grove of gigantic pines, oaks and hickories.

Such is the residence of Mr. Stickney, who
was fortunate in purchasing, eight years ago,
the estate of Madame Hunt, containing about
thirty-five acres, accessible in 20 minutes by the
AVatertown Branch Railroad, the station being
within five minutes' walk. Few places more
capable of being made a perfect villa residence,
are to be found in the vicinity; and the posses-
sion of all this, now under a high state of cul-
ture, and affording so much enjoyment to its
owner, has been the result of his admiration of
a beautiful flower."

The English Crab, and the Apble. — Prof.
Mapes objects to the position taken hy the
Maine Farmer, that the English Crab is a dis-
tinct species from the common apple, and that
the latter did not spring from the former as
some have supposed, and as Downing and others
maintained. Scientific authority and facts ap-
pear fully to establish the entire distinctness of
the two. The celebrated English botanist, Ray,
regarded them as distinct, and later authorities
have given the following specific characters,
show them to be more unlike than many
universally admitted as distinct.

English Crab. — Leaves ovate, acute, villous
underneath ; styles bald ; fruit acerb, astrin-
gent, austere.

^pple Tree. — Leaves ovate-oblong, acumi-
nate, glabrous; styles villous; fruit more or
less sweet.

In accordance with these marked distinctions,
is the experience of centuries ; for the English
crab has been propagated from seed from taiie
immemorial, without changing its character, or
presenting any resemblance to the fine varieties
of the common apple. It may be observed that
the American crab apple, is totally distinct from
both.

The Baldwin Apple in the North. — The
Granite Farmer furnishes the information tliat
in Hanover, N. H., the young Baldwin apple
trees suffer seveiely by winter-killing, and that
it is found the cultivation of this fruit will have
to be given up, in that region. It appears to
succeed best when grafted into full grown trees.
Perhaps the mode adopted by the most skillful
nurserymen in cold-wintered Wisconsin would
be best — that is, to bud the trees instead of
grafting tliem, at three or four feet above the
ground. This answers well there.

Apple Trees killed by Potash . — Medicines
in excess become poisons. The New England
Farmer mentions the case of an orchard of one
hundred and six thrifty Baldwins, that were
washed with a solution of a pound of potash in
a gallon of water. The owner found in two days
that he had killed the whole of his beautiful and
valuable trees. Soap suds or ashes in water,
are strong enough . Guano is an excellent thing
for trees, and salt is sometimes good, but it is
one of the easiest things in the world to kill trees
with them in excess.

Profitable Pear Trees. — Wra. S. Lapham
of Macedon, N. Y., has a pear tree of the Vir-
galieu or "White Doyenne pear, standing in a
corner of his house yard, which is probably over
25 years old, and which yielded the present
ye&v fifteen bushels of fine smooth pears, which
sold on the ground at two and a quarter dollars
per bushel, or about thirty-four dollars for the
crop. One hundred and sixty such trees on an
acre — which of the size of this would not be
crowded — would at the same rate yield the
handsome sum of five thousand dollars. If half
this were the yearly interest, (and crops nearly
as large as this are often obtained) what would
be the value of the principal, that is, of one acre
of such trees.

Since writing the above, we have been in-
formed of a still larger crop. Israel Delano,
of the same neighborhood, gathered from two
trees of the Virgalieu, forty-two bushels
pears, all of which were sold at two and a
ter dollars per bushel, or 9-1 dollars for the

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

The productiveness of this variety is verj'
great, and in Western New- York it succeeds
admirably. Of late years, however, there have
been occasional indications of the scab and
cracking, whicli have rendered tliis j)earwortli.
less in some eastern portions of the Union, and
which, as we observe by Dr. Warder's Review,
is beginning to appear in Ohio. Hence tlie
prudent planter will not set out this variety ex-
clusively, but will mix in a good proportion of
those equally productive sorts, the Flemish
Beauty, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Vicar of
Winkfield, &c.

The Rot in Grapes. — The following article
was read at the meeting of the Cincinnati Hor-
ticultural Society, on the 17th of July, and
directed to be published:

From recent and careful investigation, I am
inclined to believe that the " rot,'' so destruc-
tive to the Catawba grape in our vineyards, has
its origin in the same cause that produces the
" mildew," and is in fact only that disease in
another form.

In examinations with a magnifying glass I
have discovered a small cryptogamous plant or
fungus, growing on the stem that attaches the
berry to the stem of the bunch in diseased spe-
cimens. This fungus, by obstructing the circu-
lation of the sap, causes the berry to assume
a dark mottled appearance, then to turn black,
shrivel, and fall off.

In some bunches all the berries are thus des-
troyed, in others about half, and in many but
few.

Perhaps the " speck " or '•' spot " may be at-
tributed to the same cause.

The •' mildew." as we have generally known
it, first appears about the time when the grapes
attain the size of small peas, blighting oceasion-
allj' the whole bunch, stem and all — but usu-
ally only the lower portion of it.

There is no mistaking the disease, for it cov-
ers the part affected as if dusted with flour. —
In a few days the berry and stem turn black
and crisp. When the grapes become larger,
they appear to be better able to resist tlie influ-
ence of mildew, and the part least exposed to
the light and air, the stem of the berry, is then
affected, and the fruit finally destroyed by what
is termed the " rot." The stem of the bunch,
being by this time hard and strong, is not in-
jured, and remains attached to the vine, while
the berries fall off.

These diseases are supposed to be produced
by sudden changes in the weather from hot to
cold, or the reverse — from heavy fogs — from
warm showers succeeded by a hot sun, with
but little electricity to purify the air, or wind
to drive away the noxious exhalations arising
from the earth.

An excess of moisture about the roots of the

vine in a stiff clay soil, retentive of moisture,

subject the plant to mildew, as also exces-

manuring, rigid summer pruning, or deep

"ng or hoeing of the vineyard in summer.

Experience alone can prove whether any or all
of these conjectures are right.

So much for cause and effect ; now for the
remedy. In volcanic countries, where the finest
grapes are grown, we hear no complaint of mil-
dew. Perhaps an api)lication of ashes and sul-
phur to our vineyards, by supplying to our
limestone land some of the properties of the vol-
canic soil, might, to some extent, prevent mil-
dew and rot. I therefore recommend as an
experiment, on a part of the vineyard, a light
top-dressing of ashes in the spring, before hoe-
ing; and to scatter flour of sulphur over the
ground, and a part on the vines, the last week
in May or the first in June, and again about the
first week in July. These applications may
possibly prevent mildew to some extent ; they
can certainly do no harm. Sulphur is freely
used in vine-houses to destroy mildew on foreign
grapes, and ashes are strongly recommended
by one of our most intelligent cultivators. Dr.
L. Rehfuss,.as a means of supplying to the soil
the alkalies drawn from it by the grape.

I have tried sulphur on one square of my
own vineyard this season, with good effect, al-
though it was not applied at the proper time.

I would also recommend to avoid stirring the
ground after tno first hoeing in April or M:iy,
to omit high manuring, and to avoid too rigid
summer pruning, as all or either may, perhaps,
cause injury to the crop of fruit.

I make these suggestions witli diflSdence, be-
ing aware that I am addressing vine dressers
of more experience than myself; but I respect-
fully refer such to my own vineyard for an ex-
ample of the practical results of my recom-
mendations to others

In the culture of our native grapes we have
much to learn, and it is only by careful and
judicious experiments that we shall attain the
rightknowledgeat last. R. Buchanan. Cin-
cinnuti, July 17, 1852.

^iiHiurrs tn CnrrrsiinnkMitH.

Dahlias.— T'/io?»as R. We believe the best
seedling Dahlias shown this year by the English
growers, have been. Turner's Sir John Frank-
lin ; Bragg's Miss Matthews, scarlet tipped with
white of great depth; Pope's Lord Byron, rosy
salmon, new in color; Turrill's Lady Dalrymple,
Edwards' Unanimity, a fancy striped variety;
colors, scarlet and deep yellow. But we ad-
vise you to wait till they come here ; the chances
are, Thorburn & Co., of New- York, will liave
them in the spring. You are not aware per-
hajts, that if you write to London for them now,
as you contemplate, you would have to pay at
least $20 or $25 a piece for roots of them
account of their being at present only

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

hands of tlie original growers or raisers of them ;
whilst you will get them here for a dollar each,
when they come over and are propagated here
in the spring by the importer.

Hollyhocks. — A Gardener. "We have no
doubt, if you grow these from seed, you will
raise both new and desirable varieties, but you
should plant a dozen plants of opposite colors
together in a bed ; and next year cross impreg-
nate them , and from that seed you may expect
better flowers, than from what you buy in the
seed stores.

Geraniums. — Frederick S. If you wish j'our
specimen Geranium plants to blow as early as
the first week in May, you should put them
in their blooming pots in December, and not
stop them afterwards. Those you do not wish
to bloom till June, you may keep in small pots
through the winter, and re-pot the end of Jan-
uary. In either case, be sparing of water till
February.

Calceolaria. — T. E. The seed may still
be sown, but it would have been better, had
you put it in a month ago or so.

PiTTOSPORUM. — Edward. The common va-
riety that you allude to, will live through the
winter, in a frame covered with shutters over
the glass, if it is not very damp.

"Winter Bulbs. — W. T. The earliest bulbs
you can get into bloom, are the double roman
and paper white Karcissus, and Van Thol tu-
lips; and these j'ou may grow in a room. —
Lachenalia tri-color, and Hyacinths, you may
have to follow them.

Polygala. — G. You have been keeping this
too wet, which is the reason the stems turn
yellow. It is a fine green-house plant, but not
desirable for your conservatory, which you
wish to .«how well in the evening by lamp-light,
because the flowers become inconspicuous. On
the other hand, you will flnd Epacrisimpressa,
much more showy at night than in the day, in
that situation.

Pear Tree. — I. S. Cut back this winter a
considerable length, say one-third of every one
of tlie large branches of your old tree, and
then put ininu'diately a load or two of stable
manure round it ; not close to the stem, but in
; of the diameter that the head of the
before you cut it back. Next year you

will have fine young wood, and the following
year fine fruit. We have practiced this with
the greatest success on very old trees. In the
spring just turn in the manure or cover it with
earth.

NiGHT-scENTED Stock. — Jas. Spark. We
have not seen that delightfully sweet plant,
" Matheola tristis," or night-scented stock, for
years. In a visit to England we found it in al-
most every green-house. On referring to three
or four catalogues of our best growers, we do
not see it. Can any of our correspondents in-
form us where it is to be met with? Its fra-
grance in the evening is most exquisite, and it
is of the easiest culture.

Tuberoses. — Silas C. "When you take up
your tuberoses, diy them thoroughly in a green-
house or window exposed to the sun, before
you put them away. We have no doubt you
did not attend to this last year, or else you kept
them in a damp place.

Rhubarb. — James. If you put large roots
into good garden soil, under the stage of your
green-house, and cover their crowns over with
old boxes or large flower pots, you will have
rhubarb early in the year, long before you can
get it out of doors, and much better also for
pies.

Franciscea. — C. 0. T. There are several
varieties; the old Franciscea Hopeana, although
generally treated as a hot-house plant, will bear
a cold gi-een-house, from which frost is exclud-
ed ; in that situation it will do very well, and
give its fragrant bloom all the summer, but it
must be kept very dry in winter.

Double Primrose. — T. B. Your primrose
and polyanthus will winter much better in
frames, than they would in your green-house.
Doubtless if you have kept them in the latter it
has been too waini for them. But the frames
should be well covered in severe frost.

Insects in Hot- house. — E. B. By no means
veture to syringe the plants with the liquid re-
commended to you. "We never heard of the
one you name; but we well remember seeing a
house of fine plants, some years ago, burnt up
by being syringed with a liquid, which the un-
fortunate gardener had been recommended by
•''a friend;" and which wc found, on ccamina
tion, to be a weak mixture of muriatic acid
water.

JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.

€\}t :^.%lili5lirr'5 /nrmrll.

(PIX and a half years ago the plan of The Horticulturist was matured and
^ brought before the public. Many of its supporters and subscribers have been so
from the commencement, and are famirar with its history ; and all know the melan-
choly fatality which renders its removal expedient. It now goes into other hands, but
its mission and its sphere are unchanged. We bid it not adieu ; for we trust to meet it
often — and greet it as a powerful co-laborer in the cause of rural improvement. It
has begun a good work, and got strong hold on the good will of all who have been
familiar with its pages.

The Horticulturist was a pioneer work, and has held its ground almost without
competition. It has formed a taste for the scientific pursuit of Horticulture in all its
branches, and has exerted no inconsiderable influence in placing the arts of taste upon
a new basis. The design of this Journal has proved to be one of those happy thoughts,
which come only now and then, and lead one to wonder why it had not occurred be-
fore— a thought which, though new, strikes favorably upon public sentiment, and soon
becomes as common property, as though it never had an originator. The extent to
which the editorials in The Horticulturist, have been copied, and the high eulogiums
which have everywhere been passed upon them, prove this to a demonstration. The
united voice of the country has uttered no unmeaning to tribute to the memory of
Mr. Downing. Every one felt that a tongue, eloquent of beauty, and a pen power-
ful of good, wei'e motionless, and all became more fully conscious of the influence
which had silently but surely been exerted on them, and discovered numerous ways
in which this influence had wrought out improvement and added to the sum of hap-
piness. Such sad occasions afford epochs from which one dates back and reaches for-
Avard, anxious to gather, in the teachings of the past, hope and encouragement for the

is said that he who rescues a principle from oblivion, or starts a new one

Dec. 1, 1852.

No. XII.

THE PUBLISHER'S FAREWELL.

life, and brings it home to the hearts of his fellow men, is more a benefactor of his
race, than he who defends the rights of his country, or fights its battles. This being
the case, Mr. Downing and The Horticulturist, are inseparably connected with
the refinement and prosperity of our country ; for as are the homes of a people so
are their lives. It is true that when the political and ecclesiastical history of this
century is written, the name of Downing may not appear, but in that unwritten his-
tory of social progress, in the councils of the fireside, which often stamp the character
of the man upon the child — in the record of the posthumous judgment of future years
we shall find that he was the champion of

" a truth,
Which woke to perish never."
A beautiful home, as an antidote to the restless roving tendency of the times, — the
love of nature instead of the ambition of display — the culture of the mind and the
soil, instead of the perilous haste to be rich — these are the principles which distinguish
Mr. Downing and The Horticulturist.

The Horticulturist has done more than to inculcate the principles of taste and teach
the pleasures of rural life. It has been a scientific and practical work, and by exci-
ting a generous rivalry among gardeners and amateur cultivators, has raised the stan-
dard of Horticulture and increased the number engaged in its pursuit. To be assured
of this, one need only refer to the reports of Horticultural exhibitions in the early
volumes, and contrast them with those of the present year. The competitors, the
varieties of fruits, flowers and vegetables grown, and the products, have increased
four-fold — and we are only new beginners. One needs a prophetic vision to say what
the future of Horticulture in this country is destined to be. Favored, as we are, by
soil and climate, we may certainly anticipate brilliant results.

As we have before intimated, The Horticulturist will have our best wishes in
the future, as it has had our best eff'orts in the past. We shall rejoice in its success
as arguing well for the stability of society, and affording a well grounded hope for the
permanence of our institutions. We shall watch its progress as a sure evidence of
the spread of general refinement, and a proof that the germ of a healthy, social Ameri-
can character, which has so auspicously pixt forth its shoots, is springing up into fresh
life and beauty, and promising a maturity rich in good things. We have full confi-
dence that those who are, hereafter, to have this journal in charge will sustain in a
good degree its high reputation and deserve well of its former patrons.

With sincere thanhs to all those who have sustained the Horticulturist by their
contributions and subscriptions, we commit it to other's hands and other's watchfulness,
trusting that it will long be sustained to accomplish its mission and spread beauty and
happiness over our land and in our homes.

OF WHAT USE IS RURAL TASTE ?

OF WHAT USE IS RURAL TASTE?

BY B. iMUNN, NEW- YORK.

Strange, but not less true, are the inconsistencies of human nature! While most of us
are ready to admit the limited extent of our knowledge, how different is our practice from
our theory. In the face of this free admission on our part, are we daily arguing, aye,
and acting too, upon immatured thoughts, drawing conclusions from false premises, and
regulating our conduct upon them, as though our ha^sty opinions were the unerring de-
cisions of minds possessed of infallible wisdom.

We have been led into this train of thought from the circumstance, that it is not un-
frequent still to hear the question asked, " of what use is rural taste." It will be found
that the inquir}' proceeds either from those w^ho have not devoted, perhaps, an hour to
tlie consideration of the subject, or whose position in life has not afforded them opportu-
nity for the observation, much less the appreciation of the amenities of country life, and
the attractions of rural beauty — now it might well be supposed that the advantage, or
" Msc " of rural taste is so apparent, as a means to an important end, that this truth
would occur to the mind as quickly as thought presents the question to it. Experience
tells us this is not the case, and therefore, we propose to discuss it.

Let us, however, before we proceed to answer the question, thoroughly understand
what we are about to discuss; and ask the previous question, what do we mean by " rural
taste.^" For few things conduce more to the elucidation of an argument, than a distinct
apprehension of the subject at starting.

By "rural taste, " then, we mean that perception of the combination of beauty loith
utility, in adapting the wilds of nature to the wants of civilized life, which is agreeable to
our feelings. So that each natural feature when brought into the foreground of our obser-
vation, may be so presented to us, that whilst it is made subservient to our purpose, it at
the same time is introduced under a pleasing aspect.

Let us now proceed to our principle inquiry, " of what use is rural taste.' "

It is not too much to advance, if we assert that rural taste is itself a necessary adjunct to
civilization, the advantages of which the purest utilitarian will admit and advocate. For
the practice of rural taste is only the application to rural economy to the very same prin-
ciples which in cit)' life we regard as too completely matters of course to admit of ques-
tion. From what source have originated the palace residences of our city merchants,
with their go7geous furniture, their tapestried carpets and their embroideried hangings, but
from the indulgence of that taste in domestic affairs, which when directed to rural econo-
my expends its energies in drawing out the beauties of nature for our admiration — wiiile
Ave apply her productions to our use, instead of (as in the former case) availing ourselves
of the discoveries of art. Yet, however much we may hear the prudence of particular
individuals, called in question, for lavish expenditure upon their town residences, we sel-
dom hear the propriety or the utility of the elegancies of life which they possess, called in
question; unless it be by some cynic whose jaundiced eye and ill regulated mind, has been
distorted by the suggestions of avarice, or by some pharisaical enthusiast, who seeks to
find a merit in refusing the enjoyment of those results of the skill of his fellow men,
which the conventionalities of social life have provided for his use.

Let it ever be borne in mind, that the lavish expenditure of the man whose diligent
labor has given him the means of surrounding himself with a large portion of the luxuries
is the stepping stone to riches for those of his fellow countrymen whose hand
berality purchases. The ascetic miser may by niggardliness increase his abi

OF WHAT USE IS RURAL TASTE?

accumulating in the ejes of his associates; but, it is the man who receives with one hand,
to syteud prudently with the other, that in every social community, is the advancer of the
wealth of his country. Because he, it is, that in so doing, provides the market for the labor
of industry, and the money to pay the well eained wages of the gifted artisan.

But do these principles apply to the question before us? Undoubtedly they do, for if it
be conceded that these couvenienciesof life are proper, and tend to the increase of national
prosperity when applied to city life, they will be found equally true when directed to
country life and rural taste. Because in the latter case as in the former, it is impossible
to put them in practice without some expenditure, be it greater or less, which again
affoi'ds the means of livelihood or of increased comforts to those engaged in the produc-
tion of its refinements.

There are other considerations of equal and even of greater weight, which evince as
distinctly the " use " of rural taste. Diligence and activity of body and mind are no
less benePicial to us, in thepersuit of our innocent amusements, than they are instrumental
to our prosperity in business occupations; and whether we turn our thoughts to the private
gentleman, or to the merchant retired from busy life — to the farmer, or to the artizan in
his cottage, we shall not be disappointed in our expectation, if we calculate upon finding
that each one, who employs his leisure hours, be they many or few, in the embellishment
of his country home, adds thereby daily accessions to his stock of health, while he at
the same time imparts renewed elasticity to his mental energies by their healthy exercise
in his favorite pursuits. And we are sure it will be granted that to add increased health
to body and mind is to make good " use " of our time, whatever be its employment.

Another and a great "use," (the importance of which it is scarcely possible to over-
estimate,) in the cultivation of rural taste, is to be found in the powerful influence which
experience bears testimony to its exercising, over the social intercourse of a neighborhood.
"We could, in support of this view, instance numerous parts of our country which, happily,
are ever present proofs of its truth. The kindly relations, the good offices, and the in-
terest in each other's rural enjoyments, which the practice and extension of rural taste in
any neighborhood, never fails to draw forth, are ample proofs, that if it be commendable
" to love one another; " to contribute to the comforts of our neighbors; and to associate
our rising generation with a state of things around them that is calculated to call forth
their study of the adaptation of nature to the social wants of man: if these objects are
commendable, then rural taste has its " use."

Moreover, if we have failed to convince by om- arguments, we have only to appeal to
the unerring evidence of the history of the world, to find a proof that there is a " use"
in rural taste. For that, be it what it may, which experience shows to have been a constant
requirement of every succeeding generation of man, must, by us in our generation, be
admitted to be a ivavt of the human race. And that which supplies a Mant which has
proved so constant as to be universal in its extent, must be admitted to have its appro-
priate use. From the garden of Eden to the gardens of Sol&mon, who " phinted himself
vineyards, and made gardens and orchards, and planted trees in them of all kinds of
fruits, and pools of water therewith, to water the wood that bringeth forth trees; " and
again, from the hanging gardens of Babylon to those of the Athenians, (who Meason ob-
serves " preferred a lesidence in the country, and in villa gardening borrowed from Asia
Minor,") the evidence of history, both sacred and profane, bears one continued stream of
testimony to the love for and pursuit of rural taste. The direction of it, has varied with
time and place, but its influence upon man has been as continuous as the return
seasons. ' B. Mu

STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

DK. HULL'S PAPER ON STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

BY SAMUEL AV. JOHNSON.

The ngricultural and horticultural publications of the present day, are teeming with
the applications of science to the processes of husbandry and gardening. This is a fact of
happy signiificance, and indicates how deeply the true means of advancement have taken
hold, in the intelligent mind of the community.

Ordinary experience is the most usual, and an invaluable means of attaining excellence
in the art of vegetable production.

Extraordinary experience or experiment, is a necessary adjunct to the former.

It is easy to make experiments and to multiply observations. It is just as ea.sy to specu-
late upon them : but to make complete and exhaustive observations, and to plan and con-
duct strictly pertinent experiments, is quite another thing; as is likewise the arrival at
Truth, which, to even the most patient and profound, often is liable to be confounded
with speciousness.

Dr. Hull has made experiments, and written a lengthy article on the "nutrition of
strawberries." I propose to inquire dispassionately — what are the merits of his investi-
gations?

The article opens with a quotation from Prof. Emmons' " j^griculturc of New- York,"
as follows : " The soil must possess all the inorganic substances, as well as organic, which
are essential to the perfection of vegetables; if any one is wanting it must be supplied."

It will be necessary to remark somewhat upon this statement of Prof. Emmons. It is
m a .sense true, and is true as Prof. Emmons intended it to be understood, yet standing
alone, it is capable of gross misconstruction.

The soil must contain all the inorganic substances that are essential to the growth of
the plant, or the plant will refuse to mature. It must also contain all the organic elements
of the plant in order to a profitable growth, but to grow the lemon, it must not neces-
sarily contain citric acid, because citric acid is essential to the perfection of the lemon;
nor need it contain morphine to produce the poppy, although morphine is essential to the
perfection of the poppy plant.

In addition to all the inorganic substances of the plant, the soil must contain a quan-
tity of decayed vegetable matter, in order to make it profitably fertile.

Such I deem a true expression of the sense of Prof. Emmons' proposition.

Dr. Hull remarks substantially, that although this rule is apparently true, and con-
forms to common sense; yet in its ultimates it admits of exception.

He states the groimd of exception as occurring with reference to tannic acid, and al-
ludes to other data bearing on the point, which di.sclose " evidence of the caprice of plants
in imbibing nutrition at proportional variance with their analysis."

He says, further: "These discrepancies from the general rule, and the desire to
awaken inquiry and experiment to the highest degree, in order to mature the finest fruit,
have rendered me a little presumptuous, perhaps, in suggesting another rule of specific
nutrition :

" That some fruits — whatever the organic or inorganic analysis of the plant or of the
fruit may disclose and seem to require — possess one or more special constituents, each
one of which is demanded as an increased, correspondent, and specific nutrition that bears
no proporti^ to that of the exact analysis."

STRAWCERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

As I understand the above, it implies that certain plants flourish best when supplied
with one or more ingredients in quantity greater than indicated by their composition.
This is undoubtedly true in some instances. From the experiments of Prof. Way, it
appears probable that ammonia is a means of supplying silica to plants, and therefore may
be required in much larger quantity for the growth of highly silicious plants than would
be indicated by the nitrogen found in the mature plant. But our present object is to ex-
amine Dr. Hull's proofs for his presumed rule. His first statements refer to the inor-
ganic ingredients of the strawberry. Three analyses are quoted, one of the fruit, and
two of the plant.

His brief observation, on these analyses, which I need not quote, is sufficiently true —
that in " the two analyses of the plant, the analysts coincide in the proportion of thepota.sh;
the discrepancy as to the other constituents is striking. In the analysis of the fruit by
Jiichardson, the predominance of sot/a will excite some surprise, although the pofos/t holds
a second and ver}'^ important position. At the same time the united analyses of plant and
fruit exhibit as the proportion of potash, 59.72, and that of soda only 3G.28." I may
add that the analyses show in round numbers from 9 to 20 per cent, of phosphoric acid,
and 12.26 per cent, of lime.

" j/ffirtnativc of the general rule," an experiment is adduced as follows: Last year,
"a large bed was prepared and divided into three equal portions; one containing po/asA
neutralized by muck; another ashes, treated in the same manner; and last phosphate of
lime, (bone dust.) Lines of the same plants, extended across the three soils. Boston
Pine," and 14 other varieties, " displayed a sturdy growth throughout this entire triple
tract; at the same time they exhibited a positive preference for the potash over the ashes;
for the ashes over the bone-dust. The section of the triple tract, charged with potash,
manifests an advantage this season much more conspicuous, the plants and fruit having
gained at least one-fourth over their associates."

In the preceding experiment, certain varieties furnish different results, which Dr. Hull
considers " exceptions to the general rule." " Black Prince and Buir's New Pinebe(;ame
almost worthless in the same potash tract; while runners of 1850, transferred from these
same plants to the natural soil of my ground, well enriched with ordinar}'- stable manure
and street sweepings, have this year produced specimens of fruit nearly, if not quite equal
to their best reputation. Buist's Prize also failed under potash nutrition, and devloped
tlie richest foliage and finest fruit in the department of phosphate of lime (bone dust.)
llovey's Seedling failed in a tract of j)hosphate of lime, yet rejoiced with its luxuriant
foliage and fruit in a tract of soil, supplied with lime as its main element."

Keference is next made to a recipe for keepiiig old strawberry beds in bearing, from the
JTriend's Review. The application, attended with remarkable results, was as follows:

" Of nitre, of potash, of glauber's salt, and sal soda, each one pound; of nitrate of
ammonia, one-quarter of a pound — dissolved in thirty gallons of water. One-third was
ai)plied at a time," to a bed oO feet by 40. Three applications being made at intervals of
a week. Frequent waterings of soft water, were also used in dry weather.

Various statements are next noticed, from Prof. Johnston's lectures, with regard to
the efficacy of potash and soda.

Dr. Hull concludes from these data, that " the results confirm in the main, the general
rule for specific uniform nutrition. Potash, the major ek^ment of the analysis, holds the
highest representation in the production of plant and fruit; ashes, (potash and lime — tlie
hitter, also, an impoitant substance in the analysis) present the next claim, and j)ho
of lime (holding a questionable or minor place in the analysis) produces the least

STRAWBERIES AND THEIR NUTRITION.

factory impression. Yet the careful obserrer will perceive, that the potuoU alone, is quite
equal to all the requirements of the plant in the department of inorganic constituents,
and even here enforces its place as one of the special constituents, which is demanded as
an increased, correspondent and specific nutrition, that bears no proportion to that of the
exact analj'sis."

Let us see. The potash of the anal3'sis of the strawberry is, or ought to be, chemi-
cally pure; that of Dr. Hull's experiment, was commercial potash, containing all the
soluble constituents of wood ashes, sulphates, carbonates, phosphates, and silicates of pot-
ash and soda, together with salt of lime and magnesia, and chlorine. This potash, itself
containing nearly every inorganic ingredient of the strawberry, is neutralized with muck,
which presents the same inorganic composition as wood ashes, and in addition, a large per
centage of organic matter.

Dr. Daija says that the addition of potash to muck, furnishes a material equal
in all respects to cow-dung, so that the plants which flourished so admirably under
" potash nutrition " were supplied in addition to the substances contained in the soil, and
no doubt abundantly, with a manure, including all the inorganic, and all the organic sub-
stances requisite for the most perfect production! It is easy to see that Dr. Hull's
potash is synonymous with good stable manure, and "alone, is quite equal to all the re-
quirements of the plant in the department of inorganic constituents," &c.

It is not surprising that ashes, treated with muck, should be less valuable than potash
if used in equal proportion, because they contain less soluble matter; and mere bone-dust
cannot be supposed to exert the beneficial action that is exhibited by a manure abounding
in more soluble phosphates, and all other required ingredients.

In the case of the application of nitre, potash, glauber salt, sal-soda, and nitrate of
ammonia, we have potash, soda, and ammonia; sulphuric, nitric, phosphoric, silicic,
and carbonic acids. Quite a variety of nutriment, the main efficacy of which is probably
due to ammonia and nitric acid; at any rate there is no reason to ascribe it exclusively
to potash and soda, as seems to be done by Dr. Hull.

The exceptional cases are in some sense interesting. It is useless to speculate upon the
causes of the apparent anomalies, without a basis of repeated and com[)rehensive experi-
ments, made with a full knowledge of the conditions that may affect their accuracy.

Reserving to the close of the article, some further observations suggested by this part
of the subject, I shall notice briefly Dr. Hull's remarks on the organic nutrition of the
strawberry. He quotes an analysis, representing the organic constituents of the straw-
berry to be " citric and 7tialic acids, and a large proportion of mucus sugar." This
mucus sugar is undoubtedly a mixture of grape sugar, and some combination of pectic
acid. Dextrine and woody fibre must be added to the list on analogical grounds. The
analysis is obviously incomplete.

Dr. Hull, on the authority of Prof. Mapes, adds tannic acid to the list of ingredients.
Prof. Mapes asserts, that it exists "in the cortical or external surface of the fruit, that
he has detected it by subjecting a large quantity of these surfaces to the appropriate
chemical tests. He attributes the flavor and fragrance of the strawberry te the specific
property of this acid, and has found tan-liquid, a most valuable watering for the plant."

Dr. Hull adduces various instances of the beneficial effects of tan-bark as mulchlirg,
and of tan-liquid as a watering. He assumes, with Prof. Mapes, that tannic acid is a spe-
cific nutrition for the strawberry.

Every chemist knows that a solution of one part of pcr-chloride of iron in 200,000
of water, gives a characteristic blucish-black tint with tannic acid, and that the 800,000th

may be detected. I know no reason why the converse of this statement is not true
why one two-hundred thousandth part of tannic acid niaj' not be detected by the salt of
iron. If with this exceeding! j^ delicate means of discovering tannic acid, Prof. Mapes, could
only find it by using a large quantity of the cortical surface of the strawberry, it may be
questioned whether the tannic acid has a very large influence on the flavor of that fruit!
Tannic acid is however readil}"^ detected in the leaves and stems of the strawberry, as I have
this day observed, by the use of the above mentioned test. Still the quantity is small, as
nothing of the intensely bitter taste of tannic acid can be perceived. In order to test this
predicate, (Prof. Mapes' presentation of tannic acid as a constituent of the strawberry,)
and the comparative powers of the citric and malic acids, as " nutrition for the strawberry,"
Dr. Hull made a series of experiments, on " three rows of each variety, of four different
kinds of strawberries, which traverse his triple bed of inorganic manures. The liquids
were applied from May 18th to June 23d, twenty-five times. The liquids were: —

Tannic acid — in the fom of tan-brark liquor, one gallon to one Imndred of water j

Citric acid — juice of one lemon to four gallons of water;

Malic acid — one pint of cider to four gallons of water;

Manure water — manure licjuid of the barn-yard;

Poudrette water."

I must refer the reader to the August Horticulturist, for the details of these experi-
ments. The general result was that the tan-liquor produced the best yield always, as
regards quantity, and generally M'ith respect to quality.

This result has its practical value, which cannot be denied; but has it received the cor-
rect explanation } Without assuming to give the correct explanation on so insufficient
data, I beg to indicate some reasons, that in my mind show that it is j'et unproved, that
tannic acid has produced these effects. I do not deny that it may be the principal agent;
but I conceive that Prof. Mapes' assertion, though having a degree of plausibility, re-
mains to be demonstrated.

What is Dr. Hull's tannic acidl Is it the very nearly pure substance? It is tan-
liquor — whether fresh or spent, furnished by oak, hemlock, sumach or catechu, he does
not tell us !

May there not be many other substances present in it besides tannic acid ? We know
that the bark of trees is rich in inorganic bodies. Can they be excluded from participa-
ting in the effect } The ready passage of tannic acid into gallic acid is well known. Is it
not worthy of consideration ? It has recently been discovered in the Giessen laboratory,
that tannic acid is a compound of gallic acid and sugar, and since it readily decomposes into
these two bodies, they may Avith as much propriety be concerned in the nutrition of the
plant. However, we know nothing about it.

In two cases, the strawberries in Dr. Hull's experiments, that he fed with malic acid,
were adjudged to possess the highest flavor. What is Dr. Hull's malic acid? Cider!
containing, according to Dr. Salisbury's analysis, alcohol, sugar, dextrine, malic acid,
phosphates and sulphates of the alkalies, with a little tannic and gallic acids.

Says Dr. Hull — "Here arises an important inquiry — how much of the flavor
allowed to the malic acid, must be attributed to the tannic acid which the cider contained.'"
It may not, perhaps, be irrelevant to inquire what part of the flavor of cider, or of cider
apples, may be due to tannic acid .'

What eff"ectniay the alcohol, sugar, and alkaline, phosphates, and sulphates have had on
the strawberry flavor ?

Hull does not specify the age of his cider, a matter of much importance; fo
known that malic acids and its salts easily enter into decomposition.

THE PKLARGOMUM.

Tannic acid is adduced by Dr. Hull, as one of those substances that "is demanded
as an increased, correspondent and specific nutrition, that bears no proportion to the ex-
act analysis," because the strawberry contains but a trace of it, Avhile it seems to be so
largely appropriated by the plant.

But where is evidence that tannic acid has anv thing to do with the nutiition of the
strawberry? Have not other cultivators produced strawberries equaling tiiose of Dr.
Hull, without application of tannic acid ?

I conclude, therefore, that Dr. Hull's experiments furnisli no sati.sfactor}' evidence of
the truth of his closing statement, that tlie [iractical cultivator caii perfect the finest fruit
in abundance and richness, by selecting potash from among the inorganic, and tannic acid
from among the organic constituents of this delicious gift from the " Givei- of all good."
At the same time, abundant teslimonj' is furnislied of tlie efficacy of tan-bark as a mulch-
ing, and of " potash neutialized with muck," as a fertilizer.

However valuable Dr. Hull's experiments may be, practicall\-, the}^ are entirely too
vague to have an}' effect in establishing theory.

His fertilizing applications are either of very complicated, or of almost unknown com-
position. Necessaril}' the quantities of each are also unknown. Tlie soil is unanalysed.
Organic and inorganic manures are used on the same jilants. The physical and physio-
logical conditions of the plant are not taken into the account. In fine, the sources of enor
are so numerous, and so little understood, as to be incapable of elimination.

Thus much of criticism, I have thought due to rational culture, and conclude by ex-
pressing a hope that I have not misunderstood nor misrepresented Dr. Hull's statements.

Samuel W. Joiixsox.

De(p River, Lewis co., N. Y., November, ls.5-2.

ON THE PELARGONIUM.

BY AN AAIATEUR FRO."\I ENGLAND.

I am one of those who have been, of late years, in the habit of growing that magnifi-
cent flower, the Pelargonium, for exhibition at the Horticultui'al Societies in London,
where those Avho have attended them, know the engraving that you have given to
your readers in volume 5, page 201, of the Horticulturist, is by no means an exaggerat-
ed representation of the general character of the geraniums produced there. I long to
see this, my favorite flower, grown in the same state of excellence in this country, and
I bj"- no means despair of having that pleasure; for I Avas gratified to see some specimens
at the exhibition of the New-York Horticultural Society, at jMetropolitan Hall, in June
last, which, although very fiir behind the standard of perfection which I am desirous to
hold forth for attainment, were, notwithstanding, very fiiirlj' grown, and evinced in their
general appearance an acquaintance with the plant, which will, I doubt not, enable the
grower of them, whose name I do not now recollect, to progress to the highest excellence
in their cultivation. I am happy to accord him my meed of praise; and I shall also be
glad, if he should not happen to be acquainted with the details of English practice, if I
can offer him any suggestions which can further his success.

I hope that upon those who are not aware of the beauties of this famil}'- of plants,
the geraniums I have just been referring to, will have the effect of creating a desire to
possess in their own green-houses and gardens similar specimens. For when properly

'm^'-

THE PELARGONIUM.

grown, the Pelargonium assumes an importance and produces an effect which is gorgeous
in the extreme; and can only be equalled, by a fe\r of the inmates of other families in our
best collections.

They can be grown in the greatest perfection, without a great demand upon the time
of the gardener; with only fire-heat enough to exclude frost; and by judicious pruning,
and by propagation early in the season, the bloom can be prolonged over a lengthened
portion of the year; and although not at all times in the same perfection, yet always
with enough success to well repay the cultivator for his trouble.

I propose in this paper, to give a histor}' of the improvement of the Perlargonium, during
the last few years, which I think maj^ interest the present amateurs of the flower, and
show what may be done by perseverance and well directed experiments.

The modern history, if I may so call it, of the Pelargonium, may be said to commence
with a flower, which some thirty years ago made a great sensation in the tioricultural
woild of London, which was raised there, b}- a well known florist named Davky, and
was called by him after himself, " Daveyanum." It was a dark crimson variety, of small
poor shape, and not equal in that respect to some others of the day, which had broader
and more substantial petals; but the color was remaj-kably attractive, possessing a velvet
gloss and depth of tint which was then novel and much admired. Davey, (who Mas
an old florist, and well knew how to make the most of a good flower,) is said to have made
a thousand pounds sterling by this geranium, which amount is probably over-rated,
although my own acquaintance with what was done by some nurserymen, at the height
of the Dahlia-mania in England, a ftiw years ago, by no means renders the supposition of
his having done so absurd. Another florist, about the same time, of the name of Moohe,
brought out a flower which he called " Victory;" this was in shape and quality, much on
a par with the Daveyanum, but in color it approached a scailet, and possessed a good com-
pact habit, and an elegantly shaped leal, much like the common rose scented geranium.
These two flowers, with a white variety, named Macranthon, were the giants of thatdnj^,
although, I fear their pigmy character, in comparison with our present favorites, would give
a very unfavorable impression to modern amateurs, of the tastes of their predecessors.
About the year 1824, a flower made its appearance, which may be regarded as something
like the first ancestor of the existing race of Pelargoniums. I do not mean to assert that
such was literally the case; but that it bore some approach to those points of excellence
which have since been improved upon, and brought prominently out in the flowers of the
present day. This was a white flower called the " The new Duchess of Gloucester," of the
character of Macranthon, but so much better a flower, as wholly to supercede it. The
amateuis were inad after it, and at three guineas a plant, it found among them ready
purchasers; and so popular did it become, that I well remember finding in a nurse-
ryman's, one day in the second or third year it was out, a green-house some 30 or 40 feet
long, entirely filled with plants of " The new Duchess," and upon my remark at the
large stock of one plant, he said he could find a ready market for as many more if he had
them.

For some few years after this, no great move was made, to mark particularly the progress
of the geranium culture; although each year brought out its new candidates for public
favor, which they possessed in a greater or less degree according to their merits. At this
day it is not fair to pass judgment upon them; so completely have our notions of the
qualities of a really good Pelargonium, been revolutionized in this age of revolutions,
looking over a few dried specimens, which I preserved of the flowers of that day,
ding among them the celebrated " Daveyanum,") I cannot say much in their favor

THE PELARGONIUM.

One of the prettiest, which I recollect was a great favorite with rne, although a small
flower, was named " Queenii," in which the softened color of the petal added to a pe-
culiarlj^ neat habit of growth, combined to give an effect of elegance which was very
engaging to a florist's eye. There was another, "Eldonii," which was one of the first
that possessed the deep suffused blotch of color covering the whole of the upper petals,
and wliich feature in our modern plants, forms one of their most marked characteristics : but
that variety was not in other respects a bit better in quality than the others of the time.

About the year 1834 or 1835, (for I have no exact record of the date,) the floricultural
world were generally surprised and delighted by the advance made in the culture of this
family, b\' Mr. Fostkr, a gentleman residing at Clewes, near Windsor, some 25 miles
fiom London, who it appeared had for some time directed his attention to hybridizing the
perlargonium, and who then sent out his " Gem." This flower, with reference to its pre-
decessors, was an enormous stride towards the shape that was desired, namely, a perfect
circle; and to which it was a much nearer approximation than anything that had been
seen before. The color was good, and the foliage and habit large, and ever}' thing that
could be desired. Two other flowers Mr. Foster produced, I think the same season,
which, although not equal to his " G:)n," were still such marked improvements as to
excite much interest. But the " Gem " had one great fault, which, no less then than now,
was considered fatal to its reputation. The petals " burnt," as it was technically called
by the growers; that is a moderate share of sunshine caused a change of color and texture
to take place in the upper petals of the bloom, just at the line where the deep blotch of
color shaded oif into the lighter colored margin. The great advance, nevertheless, in the
the plant as a whole, and also as a variety from which to continue the course of hybridi-
zing, created a great demand for it, and also induced many florists, both in and out of the
trade to commence, what they had never before thought of, or else had regarded as too
uncertain in its results to engage their attention, the sj'stematic improvement of the
flower by careful hibridization. There was another flower, which about this time made a
great noise in the floral world, as the great man fjom whom it took its name did in po-
litical, namely " Washington." The color oif it was a fine crimson, and it had the
much esteemed qualit}' of being a good one to force early in the season, for which reason
it was mucin in request.

Mr. Foster's success, thus begun, did not forsake him. " Alicea " was the name given
b}'^ him the following season, to a seedling which followed in the steps of his " Gem," as
regards general good qualities, but of a distinct class as regards color. This flower was
sent at the price of three guineas to the public; in stating which circumstance, it should
be added, however, that it was generally understood in the fancy, (and I have no doubt
that the fact was so,) that Mr. Foster, who is a man of property, did not sell his flowers,
but gave the stock of his plants to a nurseryman under some restriction as to the time
and mode of disposing of them; and that thus he was the founder of the fortune of one
of the nurserymen of London, who is considered to have made an independence principally
fiom this source, and ceitainly from its instrumentality.

The impetus given to the Pelargonium culture by these flowers, was very great, and
thus it was that for the first time the specimens every year assumed an increased size,
and in the high degree of culture which the engraved specimen in the "Horticulturist "
referred to in the beginning of these remarks indicated.

I was myself at the exhibition at which that sjiecimen was exhibited, and I can testify-
to the accuracy of the delineation, and the truthfulness of the general idea of the
conveyed by it. The name of that variety was " The Priory Queen,'' and I pas

THE PELARGONIUM.

wnlking-stick through the bodj' of the flower just above the pot, and found that both ends
of tlie stick, (which is within half an inch of three feet in length,) were concealed by the
foliage. This M-as from front to back of the plant; the width was at least a foot greater
in extent; so that some idea may be formed of the mass of magnificence which is pre-
sented to the eye. It was not, nevertheless, the size of the plant that gave it its impor-
tance so much as the more than ordinarily large quantitj^ of flowers which had expanded
at once. In point of size, other genariums both at that and many other exhibitions of the
time were to be found. They weie grown in very large pots, and indeed took up, from
their magnitude so great an extent of space on the exhibition tables, that the two prin-
cipal Horticultural Societies at London, about that time limited the size of the pots for the
prizes offered for Pelargoniums, to eight or nine inches, with the view to discourage the
continued extension of their magnitude, which was intruding too materially upon the
claims of other families of plants, for room to exhibit their beauties.

To return from this digiession to my historical sketch. !Mr. Foster's success having
as I have remarked, set others upon the scent, it was not long before they, like him,
were rewarded b}' the audition of fine varieties. Mr. Gaines, a nurseryman, brought
out man}' new varieties, some of which were very good, but many of little value, among
which was one in his catalogue for 1838, now before me, he sent out at five guineas, a
price that I well remember was thought at the time <(far beyond its merits. A clerg)'^-
man of the name of Garth, was one of the most fortunate; his " Perfection " was a
much esteemed variety, and the circumstance of its flowers being supported upon stiff
foot-stalks, which held them up erect above the foliage, a quality wanting in many of
Foster's early flowers, which consequently had to be held in position by sticks, was a
valuable acquisition. Ever}' year now brought forward several really fine and distinct
new varieties; and the emulation which arose between these, the two fathers of modern
geranium growing, as they are fully entitled to be called, Foster and Garth, occasioned
much interest to their admirers, as I doubt not it did to themselves.

So matters went on until it was first whispered (about in 1840,) and then announced
by Foster's " publisher," (as we should say had it been a book,) in a flaming advertise-
ment, that the philosopher's stone was discovered; that Mr. Foster had outdone himself,
and that he had produced a flower that was the ne plus ultra of perfection. Intense was
the interest and anxiety to see it; the price at which it was to come out,^i5e guineas, was
only calculated to add fire to the flame of the enthusiasm; while the name " The Sylph,"
served to re-eng.'ige in aid of his favorite pursuit, all the tender feelings which the amateur
had been able to steal from his floricultural affection, to devote to the softer sex ! I, for
one, went off to Catleugh's place, (that was the name of Foster's nurseryman,) and never
sliall I forget the pleasure with which I first gazed on the mass of plants of the " Sylph,"
which he had congregated together, and which filled up a large space in one of his long
green-houses. The character of the flower was decidedly new, the colors also, while the
habit of the plant, when well groM'n, was unexceptional. At length this variety got into
general cultivation, and great were the disputes as to its merit.s. While one part of the
amateurs lauded it to the skies, another as unqualifiedly condemned it. The truth, as is
often the case in a ^war of oninions, rested between the two. It was undoubtedly in many
points a most desirable flower, and it had so distinct a character also, that its good quali-
ties became the more valuable. On the other hand, while it flourished most luxuriantly
with some, others could not get it to throw a good head of bloom. This arose prin-
, from its requiring rather more warmth than most geraniums, at one
growth.

APPLE ORCHARDS IN ENGLAND.

It would be tedious to enumerate the names of one in twenty of the flowers, wliicli
succeeding 5'ears have introduced, but those I have above referred to, may be deemed to
mark epochs in the history of the improvements of this splendid and now gorgeous
fumiI3^ I shall, in conclusion, do little more than record the names of the persons to
whose industry and love for it we are principally indebted for the advanced state of. beauty
in wliich Ave possess it at present, b}' the ardor for carrying on, which I am glad to an-
nounce is in no way declining; for I am continual!}" receiving from my old geranium
friends in England, news of the "good things coming."

The next lemarkable era, was the appearance of Bkck, of Isleworth, then a new name
to the admirers of tlie flower, but one which soon made itself lespected. For Mr. Beck
had a most fortunate run of success, and for some three or four years he originated varieties,
which in a great measure, threw into the shade even Mr. Foster and Mr. Garth's produc-
tions; and he has from his first start, maintained up to the present time his standard of ex-
cellence. Mr. Foster, however, like a "good man and true," did not allow the more than
ordinary success of his worthy competitor to damp his courage, and by steady perse-
verance he has regained his position, as one of tlie foremost champions of the present da}",
as he is the veteran who has uniformily borne the brunt and heat of the battle. During
tlie last three or four years, he has brought forward some splendid sorts. One more
name demands honoiable mention too meritoriously, to be passed by. I mean Mr
IIoYLK. lie has produced many excellent varieties; and the man who has given to the
floricultural world such a flower as " //o)//(;'s Crusddcr,'' can well afford to rest upou
his laurels and let others gather a wreath for themselves.

There are numerous others and very deserving growers, who well merit the laige share
of success that has attended their efforts; but having refeired to the leading friends of the
geranium, I must draw my remaiks to a close. B.

APPLE OPtC HARDS IN ENGLAND.

BY FRHD. LAW OLM.STED.*'

There are but few orchards in England, except in certain districts, and in these they
abound, and are often very extensive. The inquir}' naturally arises. What has given those
districts their distinction in this respect ? Have they any natural advantages which makes
oichaiding more profilable in them than in other parts of the country? In repl}", I learn
that the orchard districts are all distinguished for a comparative]}' mild climate. Tliey aie
nearly all in the south and south-wcstein counties, while in the northern and eastern
counties I do not know of any. Hereford is a a somewhat hilly county, and, as I have
remarked, wheie the hills are too sleep for easy cultivation, it is usual to plant orchards; but
the south side of sucli hills is preferred to the north, and, even here, a crop is sometimes en-
tirely lost by a late and seveie spring frost. A south-east slope is prefeired , the south-cast
winds being the driest. I suspect another reason why it is found better, is that the south-
west winds, coming off the ocean, are the stronger. My own observation has led me to
think that the apple-tree is much affected by an exposure to severe Avinds. Most sorts
of trees do not thrive very Avell upon the sea-shore, and this is usually laid to the account
f salt spray or "salt in the air." It will be found, however, that trees grown inland

* From .second series of ■■ AViilks and Talks of an Ainericiiii Fanner in England."

APPLE ORCHARDS IN ENGLAND.

upon very exposed sites, have the same peculiarities with those in the vicinity of the sea;
that is, they are slow of growth and scrubby.

Another important circumstance to be noticed, as distinguishing the apple districts, is
in the nature of their soils. These are found, however, varying otherwise, invariably to
have a large proportion of lime, and generally of potash, in their chemical composition.
AVith reference to this I quote the observations of Mr. Frederic Falkner.*

" Great light has been lately thrown upon the adaptation of soils to particular plants,
and it is now easy to account for the predilection, so to speak, of the apple-tree for soils
that abound in claj'S and marls. All deciduous trees require a considerable proportion of
potash for the elaboration of their juices in the leaves, and are prosperous, or otherwise,
in proportion to the plentiful or scanty suppl^"^ of that substance in the soil. Liebig has
shown, that the acids generated in plants are always in union with alkaline or earthy
bases, and cannot be produced without their presence. * * * Now the apple-tree,
during its development, produces a great quantity of acid; and therefore, in a corres-
ponding degree, requires alkaline, and, probabl}', earth}' bases also, as an indispensable
condition to the existence of fruit."

Again, the same writer:

" It cannot be denied that ammonia, and also the humus of decaj^ng dung, must have
some influence on the growth of the tree in such soils, and also in the development of the
fruit; but it is most certain, at the same time, that these alone would be perfectly ineffi-
cient for the production of the fruit without the co-operation of (the alkaline bases.)
The size and perhaps the flavor of the fruit may be somewhat affected bj'' the organic part
of the manure, but its ver}' existence depends upon the presenc§iin the soil of a sufficient
quantit}' of those inorganic or mineral substances which are indispensable to the forma-
tion of acids."

But it is also found bj' analj-sis that lime enters into the composition of the loood of the
apple-tree in verj'^ large proportions. By the analysis of Fresenius, the ash of the wood
of the apple contains 45.19 per cent, of lime and 13. G7 per cent, of potash. B}' the anal3'sis
of Dr. Emmons, of Albany, N. Y., the ash of the sap-wood of the apple contains of lime
18. G3 per cent, and 17.50 per cent, of phosphate of lime.

But it is not wherever soils of the sort I have described (calcareous sandstones and
marly clays) abound in a district, that you find that the farmers have discovered that it
is for their interest to have orchards; nor are they common in all the milder latitudes of
England; but wherever you find a favorable climate, conjoined xoith a strongly calcareous
and moderately aluminous soil of a sufficient depth, there you will find that for centuiies
the apple-tree has been extensively cultivated. Evelyn speaks, 1G7G, of the apples of Here-
fordshire, and says there were then 50,000 hogsheads of cider produced in that county
yearly. Theancientcapitalof modern Somersetshire, one of the present "Cider Counties,"
was known by the Romans as Avallonia, (the town of the apple orchards.) It would
not be unlikely that the universal ceremony in Devonshire, of "shooting at the apple
tree," (hereafter described,) originated in some heathen rite of its ancient orchardists.

To obtain choice dessert fruit, the apple in England is everywhere trained on walls, and
in the colder parts it is usual to screen a standard orchard on the north by a plantation
of firs. There is no part of the United States where the natural summer is not long
enough for most varieties of the apple to perfect their fruit. In Maine, and the north of
New-Hampshire and Vermont, the assortment of varieties is rather more limited than
elsewhere, I believe; but I have eaten a better apple from an orchard at Burlin

* Jourii;>l of llie Royal Agricultural Society, vol. iv. p. SSL

APPLE ORCHARDS IN ENGLAxND. r,r>i

Veiiiiont, than was ever grown even in the south of England. We may congr.itulate
oui'selves then, that all that we need to raise the best apples in the world, any where in
the northern United States, is fortunately to be procured much more cheaply than a long
summer would be, if that were wanting. The other thing needful, juilging from the ex-
perience of England for a length of time past record, in addition to the usual requisites
for the cultivation of ordinary farm crops, is abundance of lime. This is experience; and
science confirms it with two very satisfactory reasons : first, that apple-tree wood is made
up in a large part of lime, which must be taken from the soil; and, second, that before
the apple-tree can turn other materials which it may collect from the soil and atmosphere
into fruit, it must be furnished with a considerable amount of some sort of alkali, which
requisite may be supplied by lime.

There is but little else that we can learn from the English orchardists, except what to
avoid of their practices. The cider orchards, in general, are in every way miserably
managed, and the greater number of those that I saw in Herefordshire were, in almost
every respect, worse than the worst I ever saw in New England. The apple in England
is more subject to disease; and I should judge, from what was told me, that in a course
of years it suifered more from the attacks of insects and worms than in America. The
most deplorable disease is canker. This malady is attributed sometimes to a " cold, sour "
soil, sometimes to the want of some ingredients in the soil that are necessary to enable
the tree to carry on its healthy functions, sometimes to the general barrenness of the soil,
and sometimes to the " wearing out of the varieties." The precaution and remedies used
by gardeners (rarely by orchardists) for it, are generally those that would secure or re-
store a vigorous growth to a tree. The first of these is deepening and drying the soil, or
deep draining and trenching. The strongest and most fruitful orchards, it is well known,
are those which have been planted upon old hop-grounds, where the soil has been deeply
tilled and manured for a series of years, with substances that contain a considerable
amouut of phosphorous, such as woolen rags and bones. The roots of the hop also de-
scend far below the deepest tillage that can be given it; (in a calcareous gravelly subsoil
they have been traced ten feet from the surface;) a kind of subsoiling is thus prepared
for the apple by the decay of the hop roots. In some parts it is the custom to introduce the
hop culture upon the planting of a young orchard, the hops occupying the intervals until
the branches of the trees interfere with them. Nothing is more likely than this to ensure
a rapid and healthy growth of the trees.

I recommend to those who intend planting an orchard, to have the ground for it in a
state of even, deep, fine tilth beforehand, and to plant in the intervals between apple or
pear trees some crop, which, like hops, will be likely to get for itself good feeding and
culture for several years. Peach trees, and dwarf apples (on Doucain stocks) and pears
(on quince stocks,) answer very well for this, and will make a handsome return some
years before the standard apples and pears come into bearing.

With regard to the richness of the soil, however, it is said that " although high and
exciting modes of cultivation may flatter for a while by specious appearances, it is a
grave consideration whether they do not carry serious evils in their train." This caution
will remind the American horticulturist of Mr. Downing's recommendatioi\ to those
planting orchards on the over-deep and rich AVestern alluvial soils, to set the trees ui)on
hillocks. The danger apprehended is in both cases the same, that of too succulent growtli.
Mr. Williams, of Pitmaston, a distinguished English horticulturist, has found deficient
ripeness of the young wood to be the prime piedisposing cause of the canker. II
commends every year the shortening in of each shoot of the young unripened wood,

ON INDIAN CORN, &c.

he sa3's will preserve trees of old " worn out " varieties, as " perfectly free from canker
as those of any new variety."

An impenetrable bottom of stone, at not more than three feet from the surfiice, is frequently
made as a precaution against canker. I have been told that in the ancient orchards attached
to monasteries, such a flagging of brick or stone is often found under the whole area of
the orchard. This would seem at first sight to be directly opposed to the other precaution,
of thorough-draining and deepening the surface soil; but it may be considered that the
injuiy which stagnant water would effect is in a degree counteracted when the roots do
not descend below the influence of the atmosphere and the lieat of the sun. It is not un-
likely that these influences -would extend to a depth of three feet from the surface, in a
soil that had been so thoroughly trenched and lightened up as it necessarily must be to
allow of a paving to be made under it. The paving does not probably much retard the
natural descent of water from the surface, nor does it interfere with its capilliary ascent;
the tienching makes the descent of super-abundant water fiom the surface more rapid,
while the increased porosity of the trenched soil gives it increased power of absorption,
both from the subsoil and the atmosphere, as well as of retention of a healthy supply of
moisture. The paving also prevents the roots from descending below where this most
favorable condition of the soil has been made to exist. The eftect would doubtless be
greatly better if thorough-draining were given in addition; but so far as it goes, the under
paving and trenching is calculated to effect the same purpose as deep drainage; to secuie
a healthy supply of heat, light, and moisture to all the roots.

It is evident that the precautions and remedies which have been found of service against
canker, whether operations upon the roots or the foliage, are all such as are calculated to
establish or replace the tree in circumstances favorable to its general thriving, healthy
condition.

This suggests the idea that canker maybe the result of a general constitutional debility
of the tree, not occasioned by any one cause or set of causes, but resultant from all and
any circumstances unfavorable to the healthy growth of a tree; and it is a question
whether the same may not be thought of the peculiar diseases of other trees, the peach,
the pear, the plum, the sycamore, and perhaps even of the rot of the potato.

ON INDIAN CORN AND THE IMPROVED CULTIVATION OF LAND.

BY B. M., NEAV-YORK.

In Agriculture and Horticulture, as in all other sciences, nothing is so well calculated
to reward the practical man with a remunerating profit for his labor, as is thorough exam-
ination of the subject of cultivation, which, for the time, engages his attention. Tliis
observation will appear, possibly to many, to involve such a self-evident truism, as to be
needless. It is nevertheless not so: foi- although it is quite true that every one engaged
in the culture of land intends to give full thought and proper consideration to his suliject,
and supposes that he not onhj intends but actually docs it, yet frequently this is fur from
being, in point of fact, the c;ise.

In this rich country we possess thousands of acres of land, which require but little care
to return us crops willi which the grower is satisfied, as he gets a fair profit. And with
is content. But this should not be all. The question is, does he get from hi
at, ivith the time, labor and capital employed, it is capable of giving

I

ON INDIAN CORN, ice.

Whether, in fact, he has judiciously expended these upon the object to be attained. The
answer to this question may be in the negative, without necessarily involving in it, any
iinpeacliuient of the judgment of tlie agriculturist. For he may have exercised his calling
in the matter, witli all the judgment, and in the full exercise of all the knowledge he pos-
sesses. W'lierefore, then, it may be asked, is it that the time, labor and capital has not
been judiciously emidoyed .' The answer is, it has not been judiciously employed, if,
upon a moi-e extended knowledge of the subject, it shall turn out, that if the samz amount
of time, labor and capital had been differently applied, it would have yielded a larger re-
turn. The idea that the beaten track is the only one that can be followed, is no less in
horticultural and agricultural pursuits, than in others, the enemy to progress. For, of
what utility is the advance of science, and the discoveries of the chemist, unless they can
be praclically applied. The genius of a Fulton, or a Watt, would not have been less
worthy of admiration, if prejudice or indolence had refused to appl}' steam to the uses of
the manufacturer; nor would the ingenuity of a Stephenson have shown with less bril-
liancy if, in order (as some one once gravely proposed) to " keep up the breed of horses,"
we had refused to be conveyed from New Orleans to Boston by a locomotive engine. But
had such follies been committed, the fact could not have been justified to the sound judg-
ment of mankind, by a statement that the manufacturer, without his steam engine, got a
remunerating profit, or that the journey from one end of the country to the other was
performed as speedily as horses could do it. These principles are equally applicable to the
horticulturist and to the farmer; and when applied to him, it will be perceived that the
natural consequence resulting from them is, that he is lagging behind the manufacturer in
intelligence, as well as in solid judgment, unless he takes care to appropriate to his prac-
tical use the discoveries made from year to year in the sciences allied to his calling, and
varies his course according to their advance in the age in which he lives.

I have been led into these reflections b}^ the perusal of a paper I met with in turning
over the pages of the volume of the Transactions of the American Institute of the city of
New-York for 1851, which has just been issued, upon the cultivation of Indian corn, by
Mr. JacobP.Giraud, Jr., of Bergen, N.J. In this communication I found that gentleman
made, at the commencement of his observations, the remark that "a portion of the land
employed " by him, " has, for thelast/our years, been imder cultivation for this exhaust-
ing crop." This sentence, added to the intelligence indicated in the writer, by the general
character of the paper, induced me to go to the Fair of the Institute, which was at the
time open at New-York, to see whether any specimens of corn of the same person's growth
were exhibited by him this year. I was gratified that I did so; for I found there a large
collection of his, consisting of forty or fifty different varieties of corn, the production, as
I was informed, of this very same land that had grown the four preceding crops mentioned
in the Transactions referred to. I examined the corn carefully, and I found that the grains
were swelled out and full to the end of the cob, showing that there had been no lack of
food for the plants; and the ears were very large (in some varieties that I measured
the}' were 18 or 20 inches long) and well ripened. Altogether the collection was the most
complete and interesting of its nature, that I have ever seen.

These circumstances induced me to give the matter further consideration, and on turning
again to Mr. Giraud's communication in the Transactions of the Institute, I found a refer-
ence in it to a paper in the Transactions of a previous year, containing the detail of the
system of culture under which these successive crops have been year after 3'ear obtained.
In that account I find the statement, that the corn was grown on " clayey loam, an
nured in the hill with guano and charcoal, in the proportion of one part of the form

ON INDIAN CORN, &c.

four of the latter, and the bulk of six table-spoonsful applied, (to each hill T presume)
which is covered with from one to two inches of soil before planting. The seed is dropped
about six inches apart at right angles, forming a square, with an additional seed in liie
centre, which, in case all germinate, is removed; more than four plants never being allowed
to stand in one hill. The furrows are deeply drawn four feet apart." It is further stated
that the ground is cross-plowed and hoed three times. At the second hoeing a handful of
unlcached wood aslies is distributed round each hill, and if the season should be wet an
additional quantity may be advantageously used. At the second hoeing the ground is left
level, but at the third a moderate hill is formed, so graduated that the elevation is only
slightly perceptible. Mr. Giraud further states, "It is my custom, as .soon as the corn
is glazed, to top the plants at the first joint above the cars, and strip off all the leaves be-
low them, which, when cured at this stage, I am of opinion, contain as much nutriment,
as the entire stalk at the period it is usually cut, when topping is not practiced. The
husking is performed on the field, and the eows turned in to eat the husks; thus leaving
nothing but the naked stalks, which, as soon as the active farming operations are over are
cut down, separating them at every joint, (when in large quantity acutting machine may be
used) and covering the field with them, they constitute what I consider a tolerable coat-
ing of manure; thus returning to the soil a portion of what it had produced; and if an-
swering no other purpose than that of assisting to keep the ground loose, it is the besj;
disposition that can be made of this, the coarsest and least valuable part of this important
plant. If the ground will permit, they are immediately plowed in; they offer no obstacle
to succeeding cultivation. As regards quality, perhaps the best I can say of it, that all
I could spare was purchased by seedmen at six shillings per bushel of ears."

Such is the account given of this experiment in cultivation, and I have thought it both
interesting and profitable to biing it before the readers of the Horticulturist; in the first
place, as presenting a mode of culture well worthy carrying out, and in the second, as
showing the benefit to be derived from theoretical scientific knowledge, when combined
Avith practical experiments, in the tillage of the earth.

My purpose is not at present to state at greater length than I have above done, the
details of the system pursued; they will be found in the volumes alluded to; but rather
to call attention to the great importance of the increased study of the true principles of
real economy in cultivation, namely, how to get the greatest return fur the time, labor
and capital employed.

The experiment which I have detailed is only one of very many made of late years,
both here and in Europe, all of which point as evidently and as truly to a similar result;
although they have not been exemplified in a subject with which we are all so familiar as
we are with the present. And I have not the least doubt of the correctness of the con-
clusion arrived at by the above scientific gentleman in his paper on the subject, that ''the
important rank occupied by this grain (Indian corn) in the agricultural products of our
country, its great capabilities for sustaining animal life, and its being (as I believe is now
conceded) indigenous to our soil, it justly claims the attention of every tiller of the land,
and notwithstanding the great improvement made by cultivation, we may still suppose
that it is far from its zenith, and its capabilities for production not yet fully known. Of a
grain so important too much cannot be known, and whilst testing the capabilities of a
large number of varieties grown under circumstances equal, some good results may be ob-
tained; or at least it is worthy of the effort."

re is good sense in these observations. The time has gone by when experience
be the fitting guide of the farmer or of the gardener. The sciences of veg

PEACHES AT THE SOUTH.

I)h3'siolog3' and of horticultural chemistr}', have of late years added largely to our knowledge
of the natural laws by which the productions of the earth are brought forth; and nothing
short of wilful ignorance, arising from unjustifiable indolence, can be urged by any man
in these days of cheap books and extended education, as an excuse for his want of knowl-
edge on these subjects.

But if the principles on which the above experiments were made have been correctl}''
acted upon in the culture of one crop, they can equally be used as guides to improvements
in others. All good cultivators now know that the constituent properties of land required
for the production of cereal and of root crops are different. And I would instance the
above experiments as inducements to horticulturists, and the agriculturist also, to follow
up with other crops the line of inquiry suggested by them. That much may and will be
done is undoubted; and it is only a question who is first to reap the benefit, and claim the
honor that ever}' man so eminently merits, who like Mr. Geraud, seeks to add to the
prosperity of his countrj"- b}' a description of knowledge so intimately connected with the
great source of her wealth, as her native products. B. M.

New-York, October, 1 852.

PEACHES AT THE SOUTH,

BY \VM. N. WHITE, ATHENS, GA.

The Peach is the favorite, and in many instances almost the only fruit tree cultivated
bj' our planters. Requiring a soil of but moderate fertility, its culture is so eas}'^, its
enemies and diseases are so few, and the return so speedy, that there is no excuse for being
without good peaches.

We escape the yellows and the curl entirely, except in our northern importations, and
even these generally recover, though checked for a season. We have the borer, but not
abundantly, though he is on the increase. The worm in the fruit itself, is also very trouble-
some here, being much more common than at the north. This insect seems to have a
preference for certain white fleshed varieties, and the two kinds most to his taste, appear
to be the White Blossomed Incomparable, and Morris White. Of these two varieties,
you will hardlj' find a fruit, without from one to three or four of these insects about the
stone.

There is also a species of borer — a white grub, about an inch long, that eats directly
under the bark, completel}'' through the sap-wood, entirely around the limb or trunk,
generally taking those not over an inch in diameter. Concealed by the bark, he eats quietly
through the new wood, and very likely the first intimation you may have of his presence,
is that your j'oung peach, cherrj', plum or perhaps elm trees, (for he is a general feeder,)
are broken square off by the Mind or their own weight. Happily, this insect is not very
abundant.

Of the above enemies to peach culture, the borer and the worm in the fruit are the most
serious, but fortunately they are easily managed. If the ground about the tree be kept
clean and free from weeds, the borer will not usually attack it, still less if the stem be pro-
tected b}' a few quaits of lime or leached ashes, placed around the collar of the tree in the
si>rinf

lodgment be already effected, the worm can either be cut out, as he lies near the
face, or hot water can at this season of the year be poured about, and into his haunts,

PEACHES AT THE SOUTH.

which will destroy the grub without any injury to the tree. The worm in the fruit, is
much less frequent in oichards where the pigs are permitted to consume the fallen fruit.

Another somewhat serious difficulty in peach culture, is a result of bad pruning. It is
the tendency to overbear and break down, from the excess of the crop. More peach trees
in this vicinity, aie destroyed or seriously injured from this cause, than any other.

If the tree be properly shortened in, it will not overbear, and if the branches are not
allowed to divide in forks, the tendency to break and split off in case of a full crop is
prevented.

But in seasons like the present, the loss of peaches by decay while approaching matu-
rity, is more annoying than anything else in peach culture. When the season is warm
and wet, very few kinds of peaches will ripen well, especially on moist or very rich soils.

Indeed, the most suitable soil for the peach, is quite the reverse of that which is best
adapted to the apple or quince. These delight in low rich valleys or bottoms, and in such
soils, the tree and fruit will continue growing vigorously until late in the season, and
apples fi'om such locations may be kept well in the winter. But the peach, to ripen sound
and high flavored, requires a dry and but moderately fertile soil; a hill-side being as good
a situation as any, and it is all the better if it faces the north.

"When the trees are planted, the holes may be made large and enriched, to give a good
growth of wood, but afterwards applications of lime, ashes or leaf mould are much better
than those which excite rank growth, as they do not impair the flavor of the fruit, or
cause it to decay.

It is the general belief here, that this fruit can be propagated from seed, with consid-
erable certainty of procuring good peaches. Not that by planting a peach stone, you will
invariably get a peach precisely like the one from which it sprung, but the chances are in
favor of such a result, while it is still more probable that the variation of the seedling,
if an)', will be merely in size or time of ripening. But in very many cases, the seedling
is prccisel}' the same as its parent. For example, there is a peach known here as the White
English, a cling of good quality, described hereafter. It reproduces itself from the seed
with remarkable uniformity. Dr. Camak has pointed out to me three trees, all seedlings
of this variety, and the stones from three different sources, all remarkably uniform in
size, shape and quality, and identical with each other and with the fruit from which they
oiiginated.

Tliere is also the Blouton cling, described below, that is propagated from seed, with
the same certainty. Other instances might be mentioned. From the facts that have
come to my knowledge, I am inclined to believe that the stone of a cling is more likely
to pioduce a tree identical with its parent, than one from the free-stone varieties. It is
also, the general opinion, that a stone from a seedling, is more likely to reproduce its kind,
than if taken from the fruit of a grafted or budded tree. Still free-stone peaches will
often reproduce their kind from seed. I have a small free-stone peach, of about second
quality, a flue bearer, and one of the earliest, which is very common about here, and inva-
riably raised from the stone. It is much hardier than the first rate budded peaches gene-
rally, of the same season, bearing a fine crop the present year, when most of the imported
varieties were cut off by frost, a quality which renders this peach desirable.

At the north, I believe, the free-stone peaches are universally preferred, and the trees
are mostly propagated by budding. Here most tastes decidedly prefer clingstone peaches,
and the great majority of trees are seedlings. There I suppose one would be laughed at
should resort to seedlings, with the hope of getting from them a supply of fir;
s. Here, until very recently, it was the common, and in truth a tolerable success

PEACHES AT THE SOUTH.

fill practice. Is it owing to the difTerent class of peaches cultivated in each section, that
this diversity of belief and practice exists .'

Here the peach does best budded or grafted on its own roots. Plum stocks they would
soon overgrow and break off, while probably they would be no more safe from the borer.
"\A'e can begin our budding in June, on seedlings planted the previous fall, and as soon as
the bud starts, the top being headed down, if on good healthy stocks, they are frequently
quite large enough to transplant the ensuing winter, or in a twelve-month from the time
the seed was planted. Budding may be continued through the season, until about the
middle of October, but early budding is most practiced.

We find it better in budding to leave attached to the bud not only the leaf stalk, but a
small portion, say about half an inch, of the lower part of the leaf itself, as it is found that
this attracts the sap, and the budding is more likely to be successful. But if we wish to
keep tlie scion a day or two before use, we remove all but the foot stalk. Peaches are not
often grafted with you. Here fine trees are raised by cleft grafting in the root during the
winter. They may be planted out where they are to stand, and if well cultivated will
make a fine growth the ensuing summer.

Communications appeared some time since in the Horticulturist, from Mr. Whitfield and
Mr. Harwell, the tendency of which was to create doubt whether the peach tree from the
north is not, from its period of blooming, unsuited to a southern climate. In fact there
exists here a prejudice against all imported fruit trees, arising from the general want of
success with the northern winter apples, which, if it was confined to the latter, it would
not be worth while to combat, as a large amount of money has been expended upon
them with no other benefit to the country than to establish the fact of their general want
of adaptation to this climate. But to tell us that the pear or peach from the same source
is unsuited to this section, is sheer nonsense, for trees planted here in 1836, and almost
every season since, are living witnesses that it is not true.

Since Mr. Harwell's communication was published, two blossoming seasons have passed.
There seems to be here a slight but observable difference in the time of inflorescence be-
tween the native and foreign varieties, still the latest blooming native peaches continue in
flower until the earliest imported ones come into blossom. But upon the whole the native
varieties are about a week earlier than the others, in blossoming. The first peach blos-
soms that appear are usually natives in their first season of flowering, which are generally
in full bloom before full grown trees in the same aspect show a single opened blossom.
Probably these young trees, not throwing their roots so deeply into the earth, the soil
about them becomes sufficiently warm to quicken circulation and bring on inflorescence,
while full aged trees throw their roots more deeply in the underlying soil, still cold, are
not so easily affected by atmospheric temperature. Or perhaps the constitution of the
young tree may be more susceptible to excitement from the spring warmth.

In ordinary seasons here, this difference in the time of blossoming between native and
foreign varieties is not of much practical importance. Both were cut off in 1849 by the
same frost, unless where protected by buildings adjacent, or some accident of site or ex-
posure. But it might happen if both were equally hardy, that the later period of flower-
ing would give us a crop of the northern peaches, when the others being more fully in
blossom were cut off. But practically this is of very little consequence, as both blossom
early enough to produce a good crop, except in case of frost, when, as a general rule, we
find the high flavored budded peaches, whether native or not, are more tender and easily
ffected than our common seedlings. The latter were almost the only ones hardy en
thstand uninjured the frost of last spring.

CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY.

Til endeavoring to establish the opinion that the south must look to her native fruits to
fill her peach orchards, would it not be well to limit the boundaries where this becomes a
necessity to those sections of country lying upon the gulf of Mexico and its tributaries.
It is from that quarter chiefly that "we hear of the ill adaptation of northern peaches.
Here no such difficulty is experienced, and it would be folly to give up George IV, Early
York, &c., to fall back upon the hog peaches, or even the best natives we could get, until a
list equal to tho.se rejected could be obtained. It is true that there are some few peaches,
native here, nearly or quite equal to the best imported. But the peaches required to make
a collection equal to that offered by almost any nurseryman, are scattered from Virginia to
Texas, and when gathered at great expense, it is doubtful whether they would be found
hardier or better in any respect than those we have. One of our earliest peaches is a na-
tive. The best that ripen with us after the middle September are natives, and are just
merely good peaches, but our best varieties ripen in June, July, and August, and are generally
imported varieties. About twenty five varieties will give an abundant succession from
the 20th of June until the 1st of November, and the whole collection, freight and all,
(except budding five or six natives) will hardl3'Cost five dollars. Now, to gather a collec-
tion as valuable, how much money would be required, how much travel in the peach sea-
son, how many trees would have to be planted, budded, fruited and thrown away as
worthless ?

"Who would reject the Grosse Mignonne from his list, because it did not happen to origi-
nate here. A native of France, it is in England the best peach grown, and here the only
peach approaching it in flavor is George IV, a northern variety.

These notes will be concluded in another number, giving the names of the peaches here
cultivated, their quality and time of ripening here, and with select lists for cultivation.

Very respectfully yours, Wm. N. AYhite.

Athens, Ga., October 'iOth. 1852.

ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE ST RAW BEERY.

BY AN ENGLLSHMAN.

Mr. Tucker — Although I have done but little as a contributor to your valuable periodi-
cal, I have been a " constant reader " of it for many a day, and I have been much amused
with the papers upon the much vexed strawberry question. Whether in England we
get the same quantity offiuit that Mr. Longworth does fiom the same number of plants,
I will not pretend to say; but as the size and flavor of our strawberries leave nothing to
be desired, and as they are grown in very large quantities for the London market, I think
it may not be uninteiesting to many of your subscribers to know something about the
mode of growing them there. But the more special reason which induces me to trouble
you with this paper, arises from the remarks, which I have seen in many of the numbers
of the Horticulturist, upon the qualities of several of the English varieties of the straw-
beny, and which show that as they are at present grown in this country, they are far
from realizing the beautifully luscious and aromatic taste that several of my American
friends, who have eaten them in London, agree with me in attributing to them. The dif-
ference in this particular is so important as of course to render tliem here valueless; and
tlcss aiiscs fi-om Die difference of climate, which we all know influences matei
fruits even between England and the north of France; consequently we need

CULTIVAION OF THE STRAWBERRY.

surprised at the effects produced, where the meteorological chances and the range of them,
are so much more sudden and extensive as they are in this country, when compared with
England. One of the material diiferences which operates prejudicially upon this fruit in
this climate, is the much gieater rapidity of the change from the intense cold of winter to
the heat of sun)mer. The strawberry, when roused from its dormant state in spring, re-
quires but moderate warmth to develope its flower stalk and bloom, and again, but a
slight addition to that heat lo swell and ripen its fruit. Then, again, when it is in bloom
and the fruit is just setting, it lequires an ample supply of water; and this, in England,
it generally gets, and the size of the fruit is very decidedly less if the spring there happens
to be dry and hotter than in ordinary yeai-s. I can see no reason, however, why gentle-
men in this country, who have greenhouses and other plant structures, should not grow
strawberries early in the year in pots, and produce fruits equally fine in every particular
with that which is grown in the same way in England; because, in those circumstances,
the heat of the house can be regulated so as to avoid the prejudicial natural effects which
here operate upon them under open air cultivation. I propose, therefore, to give you the
system which I pursued as an amateur when in England, (and it is the same as is usually
adopted by the gardeners round London, who force this fruit for the early spring market)
and by which I had always fruit fully ripe bythe second or third week in April.

I must first make, however, a remark upon the varieties of the stawberry to be used.
Upon the whole, no variety is found so useful, all things considered, for the earliest crop
of fruit as the true Kean's Seedling; (for there are many round London not true;) this will
bear more heat in forcing without loss of flavor, or in quantity, than any other. The
usual plan adopted by growers of moderate extent, is either to confine themselves to this
variety, and Myatt's British Queen, or to grow their principal stock of these two varie-
ties. There is no question about it, that in England no variety can compare to the British
Queen, either for size, flavor, or product; but it will not submit to be rapidly forced, and
in the open ground, it is impatient of too much rain, which will injure its flavor and also
cause it to burst when just ripe. The flavor of this variety there, is exactly like a straw-
berry and pine apple combined; and as regards size, I have seen twelve strawberries ex-
hibited which weighed one pound avordupoise; and I will undertake to say that a person
walking through London, the end of June or beginning of July, may, without difficulty,
at any fruit store, find this variety averaging from 16 to 20 berries to the pound. I be-
lieve it to be perfectly possible to grow it here in the same perfection, and simply by trying
the following plan which (as befure stated) is tliat pursued in England:

In the month of August, small pots measuring two or three inches diameter are filled
with good loam, and placed upon or sunk to their rims in a strawberry plantation; a run-
ner is placed on the top of each pot, and a stone put upon it to keep it there. These are
watered occasionally, if dry weather, and in six weeks the plant will have filled this
small pot with its roots. It is then cut off from the mother plant and immediately re-
potted, of course without breaking the ball of roots, into a pot six inches diameter, in good
rich loam, not sandy, if it can be had, (f)r in that I have seen the best fruit grown) and
if not, then into a compost of the best garden soil that can be got, and old hot-bed manure,
half and half. The pots are then placed in a situation where they get the morning sun
only, and being kept moderately waterd they remain until the end of the year.

About the first week in January, these pots are brought into the green-house or forcing
house, and placed upon a shelf close to the glass. This is essential: success must not be

pected, unless they are kept uj) at the top of the house, and feeders, or pans for
placed under each. At first, they mnst not be subjected to much heat; only

THE ROSE AND ITS CULTURE.

moderate temperature at night, letting the sun increase it by day; and at first, also, the
supply of water must be moderate, not giving enough to allow it to stand in the pans;
but as the plants begin to throw up their blooming stalks, the supply of water may be
increased, and the temperature also, but very gradually. When the plants are just com-
ing into bloom, they should be syringed over well every morning, but as soon as the bloom
pips begin to open, the syringing should be discontinued until all the fruit is set. As soon
as this has taken place, syringing may be resumed while the fruit is swelling, and during
this period of growth the feeders should be kept well supplied with water. When the first
berries begin to color, the syringe is dispensed with, and the supply of water should not
be so profuse, although care must be taken that the plants do not suffer for want of it,
and the heat while ripening may be slightly increased. The degree of heat throughout
the growth, after the first month, is not of so much consequence, as is the maintenance
of a gradual development of the energies of the plant, by avoiding a rapid increase of
temperature at any period, for that will usually be fatal to the result.

It is a common thing for these forced plants, when they have yielded their crop of fruit
in the month of April, to be put in a cold frame for a fortnight, and then in May, turned
out of the pots into a freshly dug piece of ground, where at the end of July, they give a
moderate crop of fruit, thus giving two crops before the plant is quite twelve months old.
Then from their layers a renewal of the plants takes place, and the same round of culture
is resumed for the following year.

Such is the present course of strawberry forcing pursued around London; and yet, I
remember twenty years ago, or thereabouts, it was usual, and thought necessary to grow
the plants two 3'ears in pots, before they were fit to be placed in the forcing house.

I do not think it possible to grow the British Queen in perfection in this country out
of doors; but I see no reason why it should not be so in houses, or in flued pits or frames.

AiX Englishman.

Aew-York, November, 1S52.

THE ROSE AND ITS CULTURE.

CV WAI. CACO.X, RICHMOND, MASS.

The rose is " every body's" flower. The ease with which it is grown makes it so; for
it xvill live, as thousands of starved, deformed, sicklj^ plants, put in the out-of-the-way
room around the old farm-houses — choked by grass and overrun by weeds, and cropped
ofi" by cattle, fully testify. Its beauty makes it a favorite. Ej^es whose perceptions are
dull in discovering the tasty proportions of form and likeness of color in other flowers,
sparkle forth its praises, even when its most perfect developments are seen in the misera-
ble specimens whose parent branches have drawn their sustenance from the same exhaust-
ed soil for half a century — dwarfed down to comparative insignificance, and starved into
disease. " As beautiful as a rose," has been a commonplace expression from the time
to which our memory gocth not back, and it has been uttered with a dignity of expres-
sion which fully indicates the force of the comparison it is meant to establish.

Its fragrance justly entitles it to commendation. When the gentle dews of evening drop
their richness on its opening petals, it gives back to the stifled air odors rich in luxury and
health. And the gentle breezes of morning waft its perfume to gladden and refresh
who inhale its pure and delicious sweets.

THE ROSE AND ITS CULTURE.

It has always been a wonder to us, as much as this plant is professedly admired, as
numerous as its claims are, and as easy of cultivation as it is, that it has, by the mass
of mankind, received no more attention. True, almost every country door-yard has a
bu.sh or two of some humble, unpretending variet}', introduced perhaps by a female mem-
ber of the family, who, on advice of "the lord of creation," a class far too apt to suppose
that any embellishment to the homestead, beyond a plot of beans or a hill of potatoes, as
frustrating the designs of Providence, or as coming directly in opposition to his own utili-
tarian views of things, has given it a location in a sterile and unfrequented corner, where,
struggling with quack grass and pruned b}^ ruminating animals, it struggles on in gloomy
uncertainty betwixt life and death — doubting in spring whether its feeble energies can pro-
duce a bud or unfold it to a blossom. If it does give a stinted bloom, it is such a sad
abortion, compared with what it would have produced under favorable circumstances,
that it is no wonder that the parent shrub, if it lives at all, lives on umambitious of future
beauties and future sweets. Yet every one is loud in their praises of the rose — hailing its
beauties with rapture from the first rich tints its opening bud discloses, inhaling its sweets
with expanded lungs amid loud panegyrics to its worth, until the beautiful and perfect
flower falls into decay.

A beautiful and perfect rose ! ATill it be uncharitable to suppose that three-fourths of
the population of our country have never seen so rare and fascinating a flower ? If they
have, it must have been at some floral exhibition, Avherethey were so much occupied with the
beautiful and wonder-exciting things around them, where the)' gazed in extatic astonishment
on things in general, without going into detail of rare and beautiful olijects in particular.
It is certain the ill-formed, half-starved objects we have alluded to, cannot belong to this
class, and it cannot be supposed that more than one in ten of the landholders in this
countr}' are in possession of any other.

Now, although there are a large number of varieties of the rose, and many of them ap-
proach some other variety of the species so closel}' that it requires the eye of a connoisseur
to trace the difference; and though all may be so cultivated as to become perfect in their
variety, yet there are varieties which, constitutionally, will admit of greater perfections
than the rest, under similar circumstances. These, it should be the object of the cultiva-
tor to obtain. Although the first cost may be a trifle greater, they require no more ground
and no more labor in cultivation than ordinary and inferior kinds, while one bush of the
best will yield more satisfaction than half a dozen sickly, mean, almost good-for-nothing
plants.

In its demands on cultivation, the rose is modest in proportion to the remunerative satis-
faction it affords. It loves a deep loam; so if the soil is shallow, it should by all means
be trenched. If straw or coarse manure is laid in the bottom of the trench, a benefit will
be found from the continued lightness of soil it will aftbrd, and by its drainage in taking
ofFsuperflous water in heavy storms. The soil round the roots should be kept light and
free from weeds. Like all plants and animals, it must have a sufficient territory to occu-
py, and healthy aliment. To afford a desirable supply of food, rotten manure .should
be forked into the soil around the roots to give an abundant and healthful wood for the
next year's bloom. Mulching with leaves or coarse manure, alter the ground is put in
order for the season, is highly beneficial, as it preserves an equilibrium of cold and heat,
dry and moisture, essential to the health of the plant.

Its greatest enemy of the insect tribe, that we know of, is the Slug, which fastens on
der side of the leaf, and feasts upon its juices, until it is reduced to a skeleton, dis

uring the plant. The best remedy Ave know of for its ravages, is found in keeping the

EXHIBITION AT CHISWICK.

the plant in good health, so as to insure a vigorous flow of nutritive sap and a firm growth
of leaves and wood. With us it is has succeeded admirably, and we commend it to all
whose bushes are affected with a troublesome and wasting enemy.

Yours truly, W. Bacon.

Elimvood, September, 1S52.

AN EXHIBITION DAY AT CHISWICK.

BY AMERICL'.S.

Last summer, business took me to England, and as I went well provided with letters
of introduction, I soon found myself domiciled in the family circles of the "Merchant
Princes " of London, as they clioose to call themselves. I will do them the justice to say,
so far as my experience of a few weeks spent amongst them goes, that they at least treat
their friends with much hospitality; and appear to enjoy the opportunitj'- of discussing
our affairs, and satisfying their curiosity as to our habits, institutions, and progress. I
arrived there early in Ma}', and I soon found from the fair portion of my new friends, that
the fashionable world were at that season of the year, all busy with preparations for the
horticultural exhibitions, of Avhich there are several during the j'ear; the principal ones
taking place in May and June. The price of admission is about a dollar, which is high;
but it has the effect, in accordance with English notions and habits, of confining these
meetings to the middle and more aristocratic classes of the community; consequently Ihe}^
are deemed by the latter, " fashionable; " and although not one person in ten maj^ j-eally
care about horticulture, every body who wishes to be thought fashionable, goes; in the first
place, because his friends and acquaintances do the same, and in the second place, to show
their silks and satins; for it must be understood, that the fashion of the thing is, for every
lady to attend a horticultural exhibition there, as the French say, "en grande toilette."
Being myself a real lover of flowers and fruits also, and desiring not to miss so good an
opportunity to see the beau monde of England, I readily yielded to the pressing invitation
of my fair friends, to take a seat in their carri.ige on the " Chiswick day."

I must now anticipate a little, in order to put my readers in possession of some infor-
mation which I obtained after ttie day was over, in reply to mj^ inquiries as to the way
in which these exhibitions are got up and managed. I saw, as I shall presently describe,
such vast quantities of things for exhibition collected together, I was not a little cui'ious
to ascertain how, in so short a time, so magnificent an assemblage was got into order. For
there were some six or seven immense tents, some of them Avith double rows of tables,
extending the whole length of them, covered with plants; numbers of which were in
pots or tubs so large and heavy, as to require two, and some four men to lift them. It
appeared, in answer to my questions, that the Chiswick gardens have been formed by the
Horticultural Socictj' of London, and are under the superintendence of Dr. Lindlet, one
of the principal directors. They occupy about 20 acres of ground, a large part of which
is laid out as pleasure ground, and is planted with such rare exotics, as are hardy enough to
bear the Avinter's frost; and the remainder, is devoted to pomology and kitchen gardening.
These two last named departments, are principallj' used for the trial of experiments, and
the propagation of new fruits, plants and vegetables. There are numerous plant-houses,
forcing-houses, hot-pits, and other requisites for that purpose; and from these departments,
wliateveris obtained new and valuable, is distributed over the country, through the mem-
f tlie societ}', many of whom are nurserymen. In the suinmer months, three
tions are held in the gaidens, and it is with these that we now have to do.

EXtliniTIOX AT CHISWICK.

person is at liberty to send objects for exhibition, whether a member of the society or not.
A printed list of the premiums intended to be given during the year, is issued annually some
months before the exhibitions begin; so that all growers may see what they are, and regu-
late themselves accordingly. When the time arrives, several large exhibition tents are
set up in the gardens, and on the morning of the exhibition, but not before, at a very
early hour waggon loads of plants, &c., begin to arrive, accompanied by their owners,
" anxious for the fray, and eager for the fight." Proper officers of the society are there
to give directions as to the particular tent appropriated to each collection of plants, and
a spot is pointed out to each exhibitor, as that in which he is to exhibit, and then the latter
and his assistants proceed at once to set up their collections. In this way, between four
o'clock in the morning, and 10 o'clock, the whole of the large tents are filled: and the
persons appointed to adjudge the premiums, proceed immediately to the discharge of the
duty assigned to them. This tliey get through in about three hours, so that b}^ one
o'clock, P. M., the liour at which the public are admitted, the whole of the tents are
read}'', and no one would suppose from the finished neatness of the place, that for the pre-
ceding five or six hours it had been a perfect maze of confusion.

Now to return to my fair companions, whom I left rather ungallantly, while I have
been giving these details of preparation, for me to acconipan}' them to the exhibition.

Half an hour's drive through the noisy streets of London, put us fairly out upon the
road leading to Chisvvick, which is about four miles from Hyde Park. The hour was about
two o'clock; and before we arrived within two miles of the gardens, we found we formed
one continued line of carriages, which reached the whole of that distance. Of course the
other end of this line of vehicles was depositing the occupants at the garden as they arrived
there, and consequently our progress onward was anything but that of a railwa}' express
train! Onward, however, we went, and at length found ourselves safely deposited at a
small mean looking door in a wall, which once passed, opened to our view indeed a con-
trast with the outside. A fine large spreading lawn was before us, upon which was dis-
tributed at short intervals, specimens of exotic ever-greens, the foli;ige of most of which
swept the verdant carpet of velvet herbage beneath; and between these elegant shrubs,
were interspersed flower beds of all sizes and shapes, filled with herbaceous plants and
new annuals, the bloom of which appeared to rival the rainbow in variety and brilliancy.
But lover as I am of flowers, for once ni}' attention, after a hasty glance over them, was
involuntarily arrested and completely transfixed by the animated portion of the scene
around me. Walking amidst these beauties of the floral world, was such a bevy of the
" fair daughters of our mother Eve," as I confess induced me to feel but little regret that
I was born in these last days of the world, instead of the early ones, when fair Eve herself,
" with sweet attractive grace," adorned the earth with lier presence.

I noticed in the beginning of my remarks, that the style is for ladies to go in full dress,
and here was before me the " elite " of " Albion's fair daughters," radiant in their native
beauty, and decked in all the splendor that luxury could suggest, or mone}' purchase.
The gardens were filling rapidly; and the tickets taken on that day at the doors, showed
that upwards of eleven thousaiul visitors had attended thcexhibition. And as upon these
occasions, the softer sex always [iredmninates considerably over our own, some idea may
be formed of the effect such an assemblage was calculated to produce. The one thousand and
one nights of our Arabian friends, have introduced to the acquaintance of many of us, a
sketch of marvels which we have often in boyish mode, longed to see reiilized, but un
btedly few if any other seen than a Chiswick exhibition day, can approach so
ncy's sketch " of such a realization.

EXHIBITION AT CHISWICK.

My fair friends were evidently much pleased with the meed of commendation which the ap
pcarance of their countrywomen called forth from me; and after having politely addiessed
to me some flattering tributes to the attractions of some of my own countrywomen of their
acquaintance, they proposed that we should pass through the tents to inspect the
plants. We therefore bent our steps to the quarter of the garden in which the tents were
placed. They were filled to excess with visitors, who were proceeding in one direction
round the tables, so that each one in turn could view the plants. Down the length of
each table was erected a frame work covered with green cloth, forming aback ground to
the flowers, Avhich consequently were distinctly visible without difficult}'. The tables
themselves and the barrier round them were covered with the same material, "which gave
a finish to the whole, that was not only pleasing, but which relieved the eye in a great
measure from the glare arising from such masses of brilliant flowers.

I will now endeavor to give some idea of the contents of these temporary museums of
Flora. One of the largest tents was devoted to general collections, amongst which was a
most superb assortment of plants from Mrs. Lawrence, the wife of the surgeon of that
name, whose celebrity has become world-wide. This lady is the most enthusiastic plant
cultivator of that part of the world ; and she has for many years been one of the chief con-
tributors to these exhibitions. Amongst her plants I noticed one enormous plant of our
Pimelea spectabilis, Avhich was one perfect globe of flowers from the surface of the pot,
and of which the head of bloom was at least four feet in diameter. Another equally con-
spicuous plant was an Epacris grandiflora, fiveor six feet high and four feet across, covered
with its elegant tubular flowers. An Ixora, with its vivid scarlet blooms, bore ample
testimony that the skill of the lady's gardener in the hot-house was not behind his green-
house culture; whilst a white Indian Azalea, seven feet high, and forming an immense
pyramid from the pot upwards, was so smothered by its myriads of snow-white flowers,
that it was impossible to see one inch of the stem, or the half of a leaf upon it. But to
notice each of the beauties of this collection would be to tell of every plant in it. I must
proceed, or I shall not within my limit, get half through the day. From the general col-
lections, we passed on to a tent filled with orchideous plants. Here, within a space of a
few hundred feet, were collected what have been properly termed " Flora's Jewels," from
all parts of the world. The Brazils, the Cape of Good Hope, the East Indies and China,
had contributed to enrich this gorgeous collection. The very atmosphere appeared alive
with flowers; for in many of them the long slender flower stalks were not observable to
the eye, whilst the butterfly character of the others added to the fragrance which emanated
from them, served to perfect the illusion; and apparently to bear unerring evidence, that
in the air around was to be found the " local habitation" of these flying flowers.

From this scene we entered the Geranium tent, from which all other plants were ex-
cluded, and well might the happy possessors of such specimens pride themselves on
the reward of their perseverance. The worst plant amongst them (if worst was there)
was a model of beauty; and none who have not been present at such a sight, can picture
to their imagination the elegance and softness of the shading which many of the specimens
of this family of plants presented. I observed particularly that the visitors passed more
slowly through this part of the exhibition than any other, and the attraction extended to
myself as well as to those around me.

Perhaps, of all the objects which delighted me on that day, the tent of Ericas, was that
which excited in me the greatest surprise. One of the most diflicult families of plants to
n our own country, from the nature of its climate, I was not prepared to expect
feet bushes as they were. Many of them were very dwarf, but of three or fo

CULTURE OF DWARF FRUIT TREES.

diameter, and covered with their delicate foliage to the edge of the pot, while their crowns
were entirely concealed b}' their flowers. I learned that two different systems of pruning
this family of plants, are adopted by those who grow them extensively. Some cultiva-
tors aim at i)roducing a circular head to these plants, so as to present to the eye a dome
of bloom; while others, (and they are now among the best growers,) prefer giving the
plant a more irregular tree-like outline. I saw man}' trained in each way, and I give the
preference to the latter, as the more truly symmetrical, because the more natural form.
Amongst these heaths some of the most striking were Cavendishii, Perspicua nana, Ventri-
cosa, Superba, Densa, Ilartnelli, Splcndens, Cerinthoides, and Boweana, which I name in
the hope of seeing more attention paid to this family amongst ourselves. By keeping them
principally in a north aspect, out of the hot rays of the sun, in the summer months, I have
succeeded here in growing plants of them in a very fair state of perfection; and I by no
means despair (as I see my plants improve daily) of in time having them as large as is
convenient to an amateur whose collection is limited. AYe afterwards passed on to the
Fruit tent, which was filled with forced fruit of all descriptions, from the pine apple to
the cherry. Many more were the floral wonders of the day; but I must pause, having
noticed those principal ones which commanded the greatest share of admiration. There
is a very handsome conservatory in the gardens, which is some forty or fifty feet in height,
filled principally with Australian and hard-wooded plants, which do not require a very
high temperature in winter. Some of the Acacia family flourish there in great per-
fection. After inspecting the flowers we joined the promenade of fashionables in the Ar-
boretum, wiiiLst tliree military bands belonging to the regiments of guards stationed in
London, appeared to vie with each other for the palm of excellence in " discoursing sweet
music," with a degree of rivalry equal to that evinced by the horticultural competitors.

At six o'clock the exhibition closes. The exhibitors and their gardeners take posses-
sion of the tents; and in two hours more, there is scarcely a plant left of the hundreds
which adorned them; whilst the company linger on the lawns until the shades of evening
warn them that the pleasure of each happy day must have an end. Such was my "day
at Chiswick," and long will the hours I passed there present pleasing reminiscences to my
memory. Americus.

CULTURE OF DWAllF FRUIT TREES.

BY P. BARRY, ROCHESTER.*

The attention given at the present time to the culture of dwarf fruit trees, both in the
garden and orchard, in all parts of the country, renders the subject one of the most im-
portant in the whole range of horticulture; and at a hazard of repeating what we may
have heretofore said, we will take this occasion to ofter a few hints on their management.
We are well convinced from hundreds of letters received from those who are engaged or
engaging in their culture, that witli all the information that has been in various ways
elicited within a year or two past, there yet exists a very general want of that particular
kind of knowledge — and not only knowledge, but of that earnestness and appreciation —
so indispensable to success. A vast number of persons who never before gave a thought
to fruit culture, are all at once tempted into it by the irresistible attractiveness of some
(g dwarf trees, not over three or four years old, Avhich the}' have seen loaded with

* Fioin liie Genesee Farmer.

CULTURE OF DWARF FRUIT TREES.

nificent fruit in a neighbor's garden. The}' look upon this as an example of fruit culture
" made eas}^" and as a proof — as proof it is — that half a life time need not be spent in
waiting for their trees to bear. A resolution is at once formed to plant a garden, perhaps
an orchard. The ground is plowed after a fashion, the nearest oracle is consulted in re-
gaid to the best sorts, the trees are procured and planted; and there the work ends.
The next year, or j'ear after, the trees are expected to be loaded with such beautiful fruit
as those which first awoke their enthusiasm and enticed them to become planters; but
alas! where are the.y.'' Not one to be seen, perhaps; and not only that, but the trees
generally are wanting in that vigorous, luxuriant appearance, that indicates a perfect state
of health; they are, in fact, unthriftij and uvfraitful, looking quite as much like dying
as living. At this stage of the proceedings, it is suggested by a knowing one that these
dwarf trees are a " humbug." " I told you so." Thus results, and thus will result, the
hast}'', ill-advised planting enterprizes of a multitude of persons. We are by no means
drawing upon the imagination in this matter, and we have not the least doubt but that
many who read this will recognize the course of proceeding pointed out as bearing a strik-
ing resemblance to theirs.

We are very far from being disposed to aggravate the difficulties of fruit culture, or to
try to persuade people that there is any mj'stery in the art of good cultivation, or any obsta-
cle in the way, that common care and skill cannot remove. On the contrary, we aim, and
have always aimed, at giving every encouragement in our power consistent with the truth.
We must confess, however, that we are frequently surprised at the comparative reckless-
ness with which people embark in planting — spend perhaps ten, twenty, or even fift}' dol-
lars for trees, without possessing a single correct practical idea of their treatment; with-
out having consulted any reliable work, or engaged the assistance of a competent person;
relying merely upon the uncertain light of a few vague ideas picked up from some very
questionable sources. What else can such people reasonably expect but a failure."* And
if a failure happen them, they should at once take the blame to themselves, and has-
ten to make amends.

Having thus alluded to what may be termed mal practice, we will sketch very briefly
the course we would recommend. When a plantation of dwarf trees has been determined
upon, whether of 10 trees or 1000, the following considerations should be carefully
considered, and all the information in regard to them be obtained from the most reliable
sources :

First, Tkc Soil. Is it of a suitable character for the purpose? Is it too wet, or too
dry.'' Does it require draining, subsoil plowing, or trenching and manuring? It should
always be understood that dwarf trees require a soil of the best quality; and that, too,
kept in the best condition. The roots do not extend like the roots of standard trees, and
must obtain a liberal supply of food from a small compass. When the soil is right in re-
gard to dryness, depth, and richness, the next consideration should be —

The Trees. These should be on stocks most suitable for dwarfing the species; they
should be healthy, vigorous, and of such growth as to be easily moulded in to the form
in which they are to be grown. The matter of stocks is one of the most important, and
should be considered as though the entire success of the undertaking depended upon it.
There is j'et, even among experienced growers of trees, a very great want of knowledge
on the subject. Most people act with a degree of impatience tliat in many cases proves
fatal to their success. They must have large trees — bearing trees. Tree dealers, as a
general thing, say: "Our customers want Zarge trees, above all." No man who pro
ceeds upon this principle, can make a fruit garden or orchard that will be either success

FOREIGxX GRAPE UNDP^R GLASS.

fill or satisfactory. What is it to wait a year, or two years even, compared to having
beautiful instead of unsightly trees? We know a gentleman who is at this moment root-
ing up a plantation made on the principle of the " larger the better," to make room for
young well shaped trees. Taste and experience will lead to this in time.

Next comes the question of Varieties. Here, instead of making out a list of the best
without regard to circumstances, such should be chosen, and such only, as have been
proved to succeed well on the stocks used for dwarfing, and are of such habits of growth
as will make their training a thing practicable. In order to secure these objects, it may
be necessary to dispense with favorite and first rate sorts: for it is f;ir better to succeed
locll with a good or second rate sort, than to fail with one a degree better. Neither
should a large number of varieties be made a special object; for that and entire satisfaction
otherwise can rarely be obtained.

Next comes the arrangement and the planting, involving many practical details to which
we cannot now refer particularly.

And when all this is done, there is the jJftcr Culture; for trees can take care of them-
selves no more than domestic animals, and more especially when it is desired to maintain
and enjoy a high state of artificial culture. An annual pruning, and pruning and pinch-
ing at intervals', are necessary; the nature and objects of which must be studied until well
understood. Then there is manuring, which must be done in such a way as to meet tlie
wants of the tree, keeping in view the nature of the soil; for the same quantity or kind
of manure will not be applicable in all cases.

We will close by recommending to all who are cultivating dwarf fruit trees, to mulch
them with half decomposed stable manure from three to six inches deep, on the commence-
ment of winter. This excludes the frost from the roots near the surface, and the snow
and rains dissolve it, and send down its best soluble parts to be taken up by the roots
the following spring. This supplies the exhaustion of the previous year, and the trees
are sustained in an uniform vigor. Thus mulching accomplishes a two-fold object, and
may with great advantage be applied to other than dwarf fruit trees.

THE FOREIGN GRAPE UNDER GLASS.

BY A. MES.SER, GENEVA

It has been often remarked, in the best publications of the day, that there is advance-
ment in the science and the art of horticulture. The evidences of the truth of this are
numerous and satisfactory. And while floriculture and pomology have received a large
share of attention, the cultivation of the grape has not been forgotten. This is true, both
of the native and foreign varieties. I speak not now of vineyards, planted for the purpose
of producing wine, and which are becoming a prominent feature in our agricultural histoiy,
especially in that of Ohio; but I refer to the raising of the best varieties of grapes for the
table. It is said, that in a neighboring city, there is almost no garden, however small,
but has its Isabella or Catawba grape vine. It is gratifying to learn that there is one
city so far " in advance of the age;" and if there be others which have made equal pro-
gress, let it be published in the Horticulturist.

Here a query presents itself. Have all who have a suitable space, and opportun
the foreign varieties under glass, attempted to do so ? Have they ordered astr

FOREIGN GRAPE UNDER GLASS.

from the manufacturer in Westchester county, or in Flushing ? Or if another mode is pre
ferable, have they bought their materials, engaged their mechanics, and in the meantime
laid down a rich, well-drained and substantial border ? But, says my neighbor, " it will
never pay; it may do well enough as an amusement for the rich, who are visionary and
eccentric in their tastes and mental habits, but it will prove an unprofitable speculation."
True, it may not make returns in cash, dollar for dollar; and yet it is said that good llam-
burghs and Muscats sell readily in New- York at six to eight shillings per pound. I do
not believe a fine and cultivated taste is to be monopolized wholly by the "upper ten
thousand" in the great metropolis. If this beautiful and delicious fruit will not bring the
money again, it is better than gold or silver. "Who expects to make out the cash value of
his luxuries, in dollars and cents ? I would say to my neighbor, who is beginning to think
seriously on the subject: you can not expect a good vinery, 30 feet long by 15 feet wide,
handsomely glazed, to cost less than $150 to $'170. But if it be properly attended to,
and you sell the product for five years after fruting, you can pay the interest on the out-
lay twice over. But my friend, have you no unprofitable investments, or expensive luxu-
ries .'' Did that well-furnished coach and matched horses cost less than six hundred dol-
lars ? And when I passed through his splendid mansion, and saw the tissue of his carpets,
the lustre of his mahogany and rosewood furniture, and the five-hundred-dollar piano,
and then going through the garden, I saw the poor, half-starved grape vine, bearing a
small crop of fruit, the berries of which were as large as pistol shot, and almost as hard,
too, I said to myself, " 0 consistency, thou art a Jewell"

But, says another, " I can not incur additional expense at present; I have a family to
be supported, and children to be educated, and everything costs money." The education
of children I admit to be an important duty. But what is education .' Not a certain
given amount of grammar, or Latin, or French, or algebra. Education is effected or ob-
tained by every process which goes to discipline the mind, and enlarge and strengthen its
faculties. Take your children with you under the crj-stal roof, some fine day in April,
when all is bleak and lealless without. Take a leaf in one hand, and a microscope in the
other, as did the lamented Downing, a self-taught man, and read to yourself and children
a lesson from that theme. Describe to them its nature and tissue — -its ofBces and uses.
There are wonders in that leaf. You are making progress in the study of vegetable phy-
siology, and begin to see its connection with the theory of horticulture. You may easily
imagine yourself a priest of Nature, standing on the vestibule of her temple. Is it nothing
that you have so good an opportunity to guide and allure the minds of your children to a
study of such beauty and sublimity ?

But, says another, " I have no children to love or provide for; I can not incur this
expense, and devote my time to attend upon a graper}', which I may not live to enjoy;
and when I am gone, I have no assurance that it will pass into the hands of an amateur
vine-dresser, or one who will appreciate the gift." You have no children ? Then you should
adopt some without delay, or something in their stead, to love and care for. Take some
exotics — strangers from llie old world, whose parents came from the classic banks of the
Rhine, or the gardens of Fontainbleau. or the sunny slopes of the hills in the south of
France. There are numerous families; the Ilamburghs, the Frontignans, the Chasselas,
and the Muscats, all good. You will find them more docile and manageable, than many
children. They will never be refractory, being easily trained; and befoie you are aware,
their adhesive, insinuating tendrils will twine and cling about your heart, and you will be
so happy as when in their company. Plant vines now, and deal kindl}'- with
every drop of paiental tenderness has exuded from your heart.

WATERING PLANTS IN POTS.

If we cultivate the foreign varieties, even in cold houses, we may have fruit matured
and readj'^ for the table by the 15th of August. Then the native grapes come into use
about the Ist of October, and may be kept till January, so that the season of this deli-
cious fruit, has a duration of four and a half months. Some prefer the flavor of our
natives, because it is so iiighly aromatic and pungent, and agreeably seasoned with acid;
but others choose the European, because of their perfect sweetness and superior delicacy,
and because thcj'- are crisp, melting, and free from a tough core. I think, however, all
will agree with me in choosing a large variety, rather than being shut up to one sort. And
when your friends call, and you invite them to look into the garden and conservatory,
would it not be gratifying to treat them with the fruit not only, but with a panoramic
view of the finest countries of the Old world!

" The quality of mercj' is not strained,

It droppetli like the gentle dew from heaven,

Upon the earth beneath ; it is twice blessed ;

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes."

And this sentiment you may illustrate, by sending a few fresh clusters to that sick
fiiend, who is languishing with fever, and to whom they will be more refreshing than
the fabled nectar of the gods. It is no mean emblem of the millennium so long foretold,
when " every man shall sit under his own vine and fig-tree, and none to molest or make
him afraid." A. Messer.

Chneca, N, 1', November. 1852.

ON THE WATERING OF PLANTS IN POTS.

BY AN OLD AMATEUR.

IMany of my friends, who are commencing floricultural persuits as an amusement for
their leisure hours, are continually applying to me, as an old amateur, to know how and
when to give water to plants cultivated in pots. The subject is perhaps to the novice,
one of the greatest troubles that besets him; although to the experienced, one of the least
so. A few general instructions, I think, may elucidate it suflBciently to guide in some
measure the young amateur, although from its nature, there is no possibility of giving
specific rules by which to act.

All plants, because they are in pots, by no means require the same supplies of water;
and consequently the indiscriminate watering of the general collection of plants, which
usually constitutes the amateur's collection, is at all times injudicious, and frequentl}"-
very injurious to their well doing. A little reflection will satisfy any one that this must be
so. In their natural state, some of our floral favorites are inhabitants of hills, and others
of swamps and valleys; some of light sandy soil, others of stiff clay, or of decayed veg-
etable matter; some again are evergreen, growing more or less all the year; others are
deciduous and dormant for many weeks together; some natives of places where the rain
falls for months, others of a humid moist climate. From these considerations it must be
evident that for plants to be preserved in health and vigor, when confined to the limit of
a small pot, upon the contents of which alone it is dependent for the support of vegetable
life, the supply of water must be varied to the different species, so as to approximate in
some degree to that condition of growth, for which they have been respectively fitted by
nature.

vot. VII. 8.

WATERING PLANTS IN POTS.

The instructions I am about to give will be better understood, by making some general
divisions of the subject, and I shall therefore treat of watering under the following heads:

1. Evergreens. — And these must be treated as regards such as are succulent, as Gera-
niums, &c. — such as are lif!;neous as Camelias.

2. Deciduous plants. — As Fuchsias, &c.

3. Herbaceous plants. — As Calceolarias, &c.

4. Bulbous rooted plants.

5. Aquatics.

There are are a few general principles applicable to all plants, which I shall in the first
place notice.

The great point is, to keep the earth in the pot in such a state of moisture, as will sap-
pi}' all the wants of the plant and no more; with this object, the following remarks must
be constantly borne in mind.

Whenever water is given to a pot, it should be in a sufficient quantity to wet the soil
equally through. If the earth in which the plant is potted is, in order to suit that par-
ticular plant, of a stiff loamy texture, it will require less frequent supplies of water
than if it be light sandy loam, or composed principally of leaf-mould or decayed vegetable
matter.

If the quantity of roots in a pot is small, with reference to the size of the pot, much
less water is required than when the pot is full of roots; because in the former case, the
roots will gather moisture for some time from the surrounding soil; in the latter, all the
water that is not taken up by the roots soon after the plant is watered, drains away.

If a plant, whose roots do not nearly extend to the sides of a pot, be watered more fre-
quently than the roots absorb it, the surrounding soil becomes saturated with water,
which remains in a wet state, wholl}'' unfit for vegetation; the result of which will be de-
cay of the roots of the plant.

When i)lants have been cutback or pruned, the supply of water to them, should always
be considerably lessened; because, the quantity of roots remaining the same, the}' have,
until new shoots are made, a much less quantity of branches and leaves to support, and
the want of leaves cuts^off the source by which the water is dissipated in the atmosphere
after it has supplied the wants of the plant.

When plants are growing rapidly, that is making their annual supply of shoots for the
year, and throwing out and perfecting their flower buds, they require much more water
than when in a dormant state.

AV'ith refeience to my last remark, it must always be remembered, that inasmuch as
both indigenous and exotic plants are very variable, in the seasons of the year at which
the above occurrence takes place, so the use of the watering pot must be regulated by the
judgment of the florist, and not by the season of the year, solely; although, undoubtedly
both such plants as are dormant, as well as such as are vigorous in their growth in the
summer season, will require a more liberal supply, (having regard to their habit of growth)
than the same species would require in the winter under the same circumstances.

Thus much I wish to inculcate as general principles; and I will now proceed to make
some remarks on the treatment under each of the above heads.

Lst. EvERGnv.Kiis.-^Such as are succulent; suchasare ligneous. — The succulent class of
evergreens require a libeial supply of water during their growing state, (particularly such
of them as bloom in the hot months of the year,) but a very scanty supply in winter
uius for instance, when they aie shooting up for bloom, should be watered on the
ce of the soil, at least three or four times a week; then in another month, every morn-

AVATERING PLANTS IN POTS.

ing; and syringing over head will be found daily beneficial to this, and all similar classes
of''plants at this stage of their growth. In the hot summer months, they will require
water morning and evening. In autumn, the quantity of water must be materiiilly
lessened; and from the setting in of winter until tlie middle of February, it is scarcely
possible (if they are kept during that time in a place no warmer than is sufficient just to
exclude frost,) to keep them too dry. If succulent plants are found to turn black and
mouldy, either in the stem or leaf, that is evidence that they have had too much water,
with reference to the tempeiature at which they have been kept. The principal things,
for geraniums and other succulents of similar growth, in the winter months, are light and
sun, with all the air that can be given them without exposure to frost. The only chance
of saving a plant that has partially become black and mouldy in the leaf from over- water-
ing, is to place it in a warm room for a week, where the air is dry, so that the water con-
tained in the soil of its pot may evaporate as speedily as possible. If these kinds of plants
are kept too short of water in winter, their leaves will, many of them, turn yellow, and drop
off. But of the two extremes, (excess of water or the want of it,) this one is compara-
tively of little moment, because in the spring, presuming the stems and roots to be sound,
new shoots clothed with luxuriant foliage will come forth; but on the contrary, if the
plant be over-watered, the succulent stem being saturated with moisture, which alow
temperature prevents it from throwing off by evaporation, the fibres of the stem decay,
and its texture is destroyed. These observations apply to all succulent evergreens.

With respect to the ligneous class of Evergreens, they do not require so large a quan-
tity of water during summer, t?i proportion to their size, as the succulent; although they
also at that season, must be liberally supplied; but in winter, they require more in pro-
portion than the succulent. The great point in ligneous evergreens, is to have a good
drainage at the bottom of the pot; and to plant them in a soil of open texture, so that
the water may pass freely through it, as soon as it is given to the plant. In winter, these
plants will require water in a moderate quantity, perhaps once a week or ten days; but
much must depend on the size of the pots. The larger the pot the less frequently will it
require water. The camellia, the acacia arnata, corneas and epacris, may be instanced as
families to which these remarks apply.

Evergreens should never be allowed to stand in feeders or pans to catch the surplus
water, so as to keep the soil in a saturated state.

2d. Dfxiduous Plants.— From the time that this class of plants lose their leaves,
until they shoot again, they require but very little water; many will do without it alto-
gether if their pots are of tolerable size, as the moisture contained in the pot when their
leaves fall is often enough to keep the roots in a healthy state. Others, and such as are
in small pots, will require a moderate supply occasionally, but only just to prevent the
soil becoming dust dry. As soon as they show signs of growth, and commence shooting
into leaf, water should be very gradually supplied to them, and the quantity increased as
their shoots grow and their leaves become developed. As soon as they have acquired a
" new coat" of foliage, they should be treated as ligneous evergreens during the summer
months. Many deciduous plants are among the most beautiful we have, and as they do not
require much light in their dormant state, they may then be placed in any convenient situ-
ation, where they are out of the reach of frost.

3d. Herbaceous Plants. — This class require to be watered much on the same system
as the succulent evergreens; but in the fall and winter months, particular care should be
not to allow water to get into the centre of the plants, or into the socket at th
their leaves; because, unless it quickly evaporates, the water will there become stagnan

WATERING PLANTS IN POTS.

and rot the stem of tlie plant. Many herbaceous plants, with thick large foliage, should,
in ver}' liot weather, be shaded the whole of the day, or only have the morning sun for an
hour or so.

4th. Bulbous Rooted Plants. — Many of this class of plants vegetate and bloom in the
fall and winter months. At whatever season of the year a bulb vegetates it should be
planted in moist soil; but very little water should be supplied until it has shot up an inch
or two; then the water should be given more liberally, and increased in quantitity as the
plant grows. When in full bloom, the water may be lessened, (taking care, however, to
keep the soil constantly moist) in order the longer to enjoy the beauty of the flower. As
soon as it is out of bloom, water must be freely supplied in order to enable the
leaves to be matured, and the bulb to become thereby re-established. Most young florists
err upon this subject. Upon the proper growth and maturity of the leaves, after bulbous
rooted plants are out of bloom, depends thejormation of the flower-hud within the bulb for
the e7isuv)ig year; and unless this important point is duly attended to, no after treatment
can induce the blooming of that bulb, until an intervening 3'ear's growth of leaves has
given the plant the opportunity to form its bloom.

After a plant is out of bloom, therefore, water should be continued in good quantity un-
til the ends of the leaves turn yellow, which, under such circumstances, is a certain indi-
cation that the bulb is matured preparatory to its state of rest. This, in common bulbs,
as Hyacinths, Narcissus, &c.. will be in from one to two months after their bloom. From
that period the supply of water should be gradually lessened, and in a few days altogether
discontinued. Then the pots may be laid on their sides, when the soil will dry, and the
leaves and true roots will wither. The bulbs may then be taken up and put away, to be
rejilanted at the proper season.

5th. Aquatics. — Plants of this class are either such as are wholly submerged under the
water, throwing their leaves and flowers to the surface, or such as, when in a growing state,
like to have their roots only constantly in water. Of the former sort but few enter into
the amateur's collection, and they require but little notice, because they either in their
natural state remain evergreen, or they retain their submerged situation during their dor-
mant state. The other class of aquatics will, many of them, submit to the ordinar}' treat-
ment of herbaceous plants whilst in their state of growth. The well known lily of the
Nile, or Calla, will serve for an example of them. But this class is much benefitted b}'
having a feeder or dam of water constantly under their pots, for the whole of their season
of growth; the ceasstion of which is indicated by the ends of the leaves turning yellow, as
witli the bulbs. Whilst in a dormant state the soil should be kept just moist ; by which
term I mean that it should only contain so much water as will allow of its being crum-
bled between the fingers without adhering to them.

Yours, An Olb Amateur.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Duiiirbiir J/iutirrs.

Massachusetts Horticultural Society. —
Being at Boston last niontli, we availed our-
selves of the opportunity to visit the weekly
exhibition of this celebrated society, at their spa-
cious hall in School street. The exhibition was
principally confined to pears, apples and grapes.
To particularise is needless, for every specimen
on the tables was of the most recherche charac-
ter, and exemplified to the practiced eye, in an
especial manner, the advantages which, after a
time, result from those exhibitions when they
are conducted upon sound principles. We
mean that the consequence of a continued series
of exhibitions by a society that awards its pre-
miums with impartiality, and upon competent
adjudication, is certain to produce in a neigh-
borhood a high standard of excellence, as that
which alone will satisfy the public mind. Thus
from Imbit the taste of all around is refined, and
the public reap the benefit \vhich naturally
flows from this state of things. For when peo-
ple are in the habit of seeing good fiuit upon
the exhibition tables, they soon require from
growers that their marketable commodities of
the samekind, should bear an appearance which
indicates a relationship to these favored ofl".
springs of Pomona. There was at the exhibi-
tion a full attendance of the members and friends
of the society; indicating that there is no want
of interest in the subject where the thing is well
done. "We hope the New- York Horticultural
Society will next year progress with increased
vigor, and continue with energy the work they
liave so well and satisfactorily begun. In the
Massaclnisetts Society they have a good exam-
ple, and evidence tliat they have only to perse-
vere to succeed. ^Ye shall accord them our
best support most willingly.

Chrysanthemums. — How beautiful are the
Chrysanthemums at this season. The Lillipu-
tian varieties also, recently introduced, possess
an interest which is peculiar to themselves. The
best of this class, of diff"creiit shades of color,
are La Fiancee. Bijou, Bouton de Versailles,
Bozard, Eliza MlcUiez. Amongst the best va-
rieties of the large Chrysanthemums that we
have noticed this year, are Lycias, King of

Crimsons, Charlemagne, Malvina, Queen of
England, and Reine des Bacchanale. All we
have named are truly magnificent.

Seedling Camillias. — No information is
more welcome to the really enthusiastic Flori-
culturist than that which tells him where to
meet with something good that he cannot get
elsewhere. Last April we paid a visit to Mr.
Boll's nursery, in 51st street, New-York, to
see his Seedling Camellias, and as we have not
unfrequently gone upon similar errands, with-
out being very well satisfied with their re-
suits, we rather demurred at tlie long walk up
Broadway. In this instance, however, we had
no cause for regret. Many of his seedlings are
good, and some of them decided acquisitions
in color as well as shape. Our dollars always
become restless in our pocket when we see a
really good thing, as well as new, in the shape
of a flower; and we consequently Avished to get
one or two of these seedlings. But so unlucky
were we in our choice, that some we fixed upon
were not to be had until this season. As soon
as they are in bloom, we intend to renew our
visit, and we doubt whether any one who fol-
lows our example will repent it. But we advise
all to do one thing, namely, leave their purse
at home, for whatever good resolutions they may
form, they will otherwise assuredly come home
with it lighter than they went.

Eed Spider in Yineries.— The following is
the mode adopted by one of the best cultivators
of the day, to get rid of this pest of gardens.
It is the .system of Mons. Gresson, the head
gardener of the forcing houses at Versailles. —
Mix a pound of the flower of sulphur with an
equal quantity of fresh slacked lime; when well
mixed put them in an iron or glazed earthen-
ware pot with five pints of water; boil it ten
minutes, stirring it all the time; remove the
pot from the fire, and when it has settled, about
four pints of the clear liquid can be bottled for
use. To use it, mix one part of this mixture
with one hundred of water. With this diluted
liquid, Mons. Gresson syringes his vines
they are in flower; again after the ben

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

growing, and again a tliiid time, should
there he any signs of the malady.

SvNONYMS OF Pears. — In your Octoher num-
ber, you ask in an editorial note, " Why is it
that the English and Belgian Pomologists do
not accept our name of Beurre d'Arembcrg for
the pear that the French call Glout Morceau,
and our Orpheline d'Engheira?" and you go on
with some further remarks. There is, I think,
some misconception or misplacement of words
in your article, and if you will state the ques-
tion anew, I will reply to it ; as it is a matter
that ought long ago to have been rectified by
the party in error. Yours respectfully, TVai.
R. Prince.

Our correspondent has misunderstood the
question in the letter we published from Andre
Leroy, to be our own. There appears to have
been a typographical omission in his question.
It should read, " AYhy is it that the English
and Belgian Pomologists do not accept our
name of Beurre d'Aremberg for the pear that
the first call Glout Morceau ? And Ori)heline
d'Engheim, for the pear called by them the
Beurre d'Aremberg?"

Damson Cheese. — However much we may
advocate fruit culture in our pages, we leave
the cooking department toothers; but there is
no general rule without an exception. There
are many ways to do many things, but there is
only one way to make good Damson Cheese.
Whence it took the name of cheese, we know
not, unless it be from its firm, cheese-like tex-
ture, when well made — which it will be if the
following receipt is adhered to:

Put the Damsons in a stone jar, which place
in an oven or on a stove until the juice runs
freely, the fruit is perfectly tender, and the
stones separate from it. Remove the stones
with a silver or wooden spoon ; measure the pulp
in a preserving pan and place it on the fire and
boil, until the liquid is evaporated, and the fruit
left dry. Whilst this is doing, have ready a
quantity of white loaf sugar, allowing half a
pound of sugar for every quart of pulp, as
measured when put into the pan. Let this su-
gar be rolled fine, and then heated in the oven
in a pan until it is so hot that the hand can not
kept on it. In this hot state, mix the sugar
ghly with the dry pulp, also hot from the

fire. It will become very firm, and does
quire to go on the fire again. Put it into jars
or glasses whilst hot, and when cold, cover and

put awaj-.

Fruit Catalogue of the American Pom.
Society. — We have been favored, promptly,
with the Transactions of the American Pomo-
logical Society, at its session in Philadelphia in
September last. It makes a handsome pam-
phlet of 168 pages, and will be read with inter-
est by fruit growers throughout the country.
We copy from it the annexed catalogue of fruits,
which are now placed on the Society's list:
Fruits worthy of general cultivation.
Apples.
American Sum'r Pearmaiii, Graveiislei]),

I !a Id will,

Bullock's Pippin,

Diinveis Winter Sweet.

Early Harvesl.

Early fjlrawberry,

Fall Pippin,

Faineuse,

.Summer Rose,

.Swaar,

V.Mulervere,

AVliite SeeU-no-Furllier,

Wine Apple, or Hays,

Wiiiesap,

Hubliardsloii Nonsuch,
Large Yellow Kougli,
I.ady Apple,
Porter,

Red Astraclian,
Rliode Island Greening,
Roxlinry Russttt,
And for particular localiiief.
Canada Red,
Eso|)us l^pitzenburg,
Newtown Pippin,
Norllieni Spy,
Yellow Belle Fleur.
Pears.

Ananas d'Ete, JNIadeleine,

Andrews, Paradise d'Aulomne,

Belle liUcralive or Foiidante Rosliezer,

d'Aulomne,
Beurre d'Aiijon,
Beurre d'Aremberg,
Beurre Bosc,
Bloodgood,
BufTum,

Dearborn's Seedling,
Doyenne d'Ele,
Flemisli Beauty,
Fulton,

Golden Beurre of Bilboa,
Louise Bonne de Jersey,

Breda,
Large Early,

Downlon,
Early Violet,

Bergen's Yellow,
Cooledge's Favorite,
Crawford's Late,
Early York, serrated,
Early York, large,
George the IVtli,

Bleecker Gage,
Coe's Golden Drop,
Frost Gage,
Green Gage,
.lefierson,
Lawrence's Favorite,

Belle Magiiifique,
Black Eagle,
Black Tartarian,
Downer's Late,
Downtoii,

Seckel,

Tyson,

Urhanisle,

Uvedale's St. Germain, for

baking,
Vicar of Winkfield,
William's Bon Cretien or

BartleU,
Winter Nelis,

And for ■particular localities.
Grey Doyenne,
White Doyenne.
Apricots.

Rloorpark.

Nectarines.

EIruge.

Peaches.

Grosse JNIignonne,

jNlorris Wliite,

Old i\Iixon Free,

And for particular localities.

Heath Cling.

Plums.

Purple Gage,

Purple Favorite,

AVashinglon,

And for particular localities.

Imperial Gage.

Cherries.

Ellon,

Early Riclimond, for cook
(jraffion or Bigarre
Knight's Early Blac
May Duke.

DOMESTIC NOTICES.

Grapes.

Under Glass, M'liite Frniitigiinii,

Black Hiiinimig, While Muscui ol'Alex'dria.

Bliick Priiire, 0)>eii Culture.

Black Fioiiligiiaii, Calawlja,

Chas«ela« de Koiilaiiiebleau. Isaliella.
Grizzly FroiUignaii,

Raspberries.
Fa>ti)lf, Reil Antwerp,

Fraiicoiiia, Yellow AiUwerp.

Strawbetrits.
Boston Pine, Jeiiiiey's Seedling,

Hovey's Seedling, Large Early Scarlet.

Currants.
Black Naples, AVliiie Dutch,

May's Victoria, AVhite Grape.

Red Dutch,

Gooseberries.
Crown Bob, Houghton's Seedling,

Early Sulphur, Iroii-nioiiger,

Green Gage, l.aurel,

Green Waliiut, Warrington,

Red Champagne, AVoodward's While Smith.

New varieties which promise well.
Apples.
Autumn Bough, Mother,

Hawley, Norllierii Spy,

Melon, Smoke House.

Pears.
Brandywine, liimon,

Brande's St. Germain, Manning's Elizabeth,

Beurre Gifl'ard, Nouveau I'oileau,

Chancellor, Onondaga,

Doyenne Boussock, Oit,

Doyenne Goubault, Pralt,

Ducliesse d'Orleans, Paradise d'Automne,

Ducliesse de Berii, St. Michel Arcliange,

DiUer, Ste\-en«' Genesee.

J alouisedeFoiilenay Vendee, Striped Madeleine,
Kinlaiid, Van Asseiie.

Plu^ns.
McLaughlin, Rivers' Favorite,

Prince's Yellow Gage, St. Martin's Quelche.

Cherries.
Bigarreau !\Ionstreuse de Early Purple Guigne,
Bavay, Reine Hortense.

Grn/KS — Diana.
Rrjspherries — Knevelts's Giant.
Straivberries — Burr's New Pine.

To onr Volume.

Go little volume, M'ith thy brolhers join,
Advise the world — nor deem thy mission small.
Would that the hands that early traced
Thy first born pages, had too, penned thy lastl
' Twas not to be. The great omniscient mini>
Who fixes, well for us, each age's weal.
Recalled to Peace, the energies addressed
Through many a year to Rural Beauty's Shrine.

Jealous that one whose hand had on her Banks,

Ofl drawn forth Beauties she knew not her own.

Our glorious Hud.son claimed his ebbing life,

And hushed his last soft sigh in cradled sleep 1

Regret not, friends, the loss of one we loved;

Remember thai our loss is gain to him,

And think more kindly on his favors past.

Which Dealh has hallowed to sweet Memory's care.

A Downing lived : — A Downiiig's dead!

His country mourn's a loss slie can't redeem,

And Nature smiles, remenib'ring that his life

Was through her spent in Wor.'-hip to her God.

Vines in Grape House.?.— Sir: I beg to claim
yottr indulgence, while I trouble you with a few
questions, an answer to which, either yourself
or some of your able correspondents, will per-
haps, kindly furnish through the Horticulturist.
I entered a situation near this city, on the 2nd of
August last; I have under my care threegrape
houses — the houses have a lean-to roof, and the
vines planted some in the house and some out;
the greater part of the vines are foreign; some
Sweet "Waters planted three or four years ago,
bore a few bunches — but every leaf on the vines
dies,scorched very much ; some young vines,also
foreign, planted in the spring of 1851, were the
most miserable things I ever saw, every leaf
burned and scorched, and only made two or
three feet of miserable poor wood. I have had
vines under my care for twenty years in Eng-
land, and never saw anything like this. I only
arrived in this country last May, and conse-
(juently have not had any experience here. The
border, I am told, is thoroughly drained and
made of rotten manure, and light sandy peat;
I am told by my predecessor, that the vines
have been liberally supplied with water; I have
no thermometer, but I am sure the heat must
be above 100° often, and my impression is that
the sun is too powerful for them ; in this, my
predecessor does not agree. I may say the
Isabella and Catawba grapes, are in a flourish-
ing state by the side of these vines: the vines
have been pruned on the spur system. I
should be glad to know of a radical cure for
this. I should be glad to know if any of your
correspondents have had any experience with
canvass for a shade for foreign vines. The
situation is near the lake shore; the sorts of
foreign vines are Muscat, Black Hamburg, St.
Albans, Frontignan, &c. I see no difference in
the sorts. The vines are trained some on raft-
ers and some on the back wall. I am, sir, your
obedient servant, C. Chicago, III.

Mr. Dunlap's New Store in New-York. —
111 passing up Broad waj' a few days since, we call-
ed in to see the new establishment Mr.Tlios. Dun-
lap has opened opposite his former premises,
and were agreeably surjirised to find attached
to his seed store, a well proportioned green-
house, recently erected, into which a select
collection of plants for winter and early bloom
in the year, were just removed. The jilan

1

looldng well, and the place altogether had an
appearance of neatness and order well calculat-
ed to induce the residents of the upper part of
the city who may call once to repeat their vis-
its.

5l!i5uirr5 tn (TnrrropnhiitH.

Hickory treks from nuts. — A subscriber.
(Berks co.. Pa.) The nuts, without being per-
mitted to become dry, should be mixed with
moist peat, covered with leaves, and in this con-
dition be exposed to the winter frosts. If care-
fully cracked in spring, tlieir germination and
growth would be insured.

Bones for Vine Borders. — L. B. — (Oak
Creek, Wis.) Bones, although liighly useful,
are not absolutely essential to a good vine bor-
der. When broken, they .serve the two-fold
purpose of assisting drainage, and promoting
fertility. They are much more efl'ective when
ground, and still more so, if dissolved by sul-
phuric acid. Tliey are chiefly valuable for their
I)hosphate of lime, which may be also applied
in the form of guano, which contains a large
portion of the phosphate. The addition of a
moderate quantity of lime, leached ashes, and
gypsum, are useful. These, and the guano es-
pecially, should be well mxied with the earth,
turf, and other materials. Stable manure should
form the chief fertilizing ingredient in every
vine border — we have known some excellent
graperies where this constituted nearly all the
manure.

Cacti. — /. Jahjison. The tall varieties of
Cacti should be grown in rich light compost. —
The old system of starving them in lime rub-
bisli, is quite exploded by good gardeners.
They will live through the winter very well in
any house from which frost is excluded. Give
but little if any water in winter, and very spa-
ringly in spring, until the bloom buds are visi-
ble. Then give them more, and while the buds
are forming place them near the glass, so that
they may have all the sun and light tliey can
get.

Winter Bulbs. — Jane. You will find direc-
tions for the cultivation of winter bulbs, in an
article on the Narcissus in our September num-
ber for this year.

IxiAS — Thomas M. Ixias are from the Cape
of Good Hope. They must be allowed to rest
during several months. Withhold water from
them as soon as you perceive the end of their
leaves turn yellow. You need not re-pot them
more than once in five or six years; they gene-
rally bloom better than when disturbed every
year. Leaf and decayed vegetable mould with
some white sand will grow them well.

Correas. — /. S. Correa speciosa is the best
taken altogether. Three parts black peat or
vegetable mould, and one part good loam, not
too stiff, and a little white sand is the best com-
post for them. Give good drainage.

LiLiuM Lancifolium. — Edward SniUh. —
You should let your pots of the Japan Lilies
stand quite dry until the end of December.
Then pot them, for they begin to grow at the
root about that time. They do not require
vegetable mould. They grow stronger and finer
in good rich compost, half loam and half well
rotted manure.

Geraniums. — T. Eoseson. Those that are
shy in breaking after being cut back, (like
Orion,) should never be stopped until the
pot is well filled with roots, and the plant in
vigorous growth. Beck's Aurora is a fine flower
in its best state; but it is very uncertain, and
on that account scarcely worth growing; be-
sides there are now better flowers nearly of the
same character.

Dahlias. — D. F. From your remarks, we
expect that when you take uj) your roots you
injure them by pulling them out of the ground,
when only half lifted by the spade. Kever do
that ; let the top be first cut oft" near the ground,
then with the spade raise them entirely out of
the ground ; but do not pull them.

Martynia Fragrans. — James. This delight-
ful scented plant, requires as much heat as you
can give it when young, if j'ou want to bloom
it early in the summer. It will do well out in
the open ground in the hot weather.

GENERAL INDEX.

A.

Abel ia rupestris, 19

Acacia (lealbata, hardy in Fiance, 271

Acliimeues, cullure ot", 354

Acer circinalum, 141

— villosuin, l-l'i

Agapanthu?, culture of, 220

AgnciUiurej our improving, . 70, 173

— and Horliculture, boundary line

between. 489

Ailauthus, down with it, 315

Albany, University of, 48

— and Ren?. Horl. Society, offi-

cers of, 119

Winter Exliibitionof.. . 149

Exhilntons of. 342, 300

Autumnal Exhibition of, 4S0

Amateur, how to make, 411

American v~-. British Hort., 249, 36(5

— Institute, Hort. Exhibition of, 520

— Pomological Society, Proceed-

ings of, 473

Fruit Catalogue of, 574

Officers of, 523

Anemone japonica, 18

Annuals for beds and masses,. . . 226
Apricots, select lists of, 91, 152

— in Egypt, 431

— List of American Pom. Soc'y, 574
APPLES :

Atlhe South, 315

And English Crab, 533

Astrachan, 437

Baldwin, 534

Color of, 632

Dwarf, 390

Grown near Rochester, ... . 191

Hawley or Douse 4S4

List of American Pom. Soc., 574

Porter, 217

Orchards in England, 549

Milam, 431

Northern Spy, 192, 484

Remarks on, at Philadelphia, 475

Select lists of 90, 152

Sweet Bough, 5.32

Apple Tree Borers, 2.38, 329

Botanical description of, . . 534

— Trees, insects on, 3S6

Killed by potash, 5-34

AVash for 344

ARCHITECTURE, RURAL:

Country houses, Hints for, C2, 173
Church in the Lombard style, 380
District School House, desisn

for, 48, 162

Entrance Gate, 400

F>»e School, design for, 144, 213
Kiosques or Summer Houses, 339
Messina, on the Hudson, 230, .328

Remarks on, 129, 213

Southern or PlaiUa'n House, 451
School House, English Na-

oiial, 288, 369

ansas, cold winter in, 383

Republic, 73, 174

us, culture of, 483

Auriculas, culture of, 488

Azaleas, Chinese, 55

— Care of, 488

Bangor Hort. Society, officers of, 343

Barns, w.ash for, 200

Beautit'ul in ground, 105, 211

Birds. Insects, &c., 312, 367, 415, 507
Blackberry. worthy of cultivation, 484
BOOKS; '

Clovernook 162

Cottage Residences, 2.32

Heat and Venlibttion 40

Rural Architecture, by L. F.

Allen, 399

Transactions i\. Y. S. Ag.

Society. ISO

Walks and Talks of an Amer-
ican Farmer m England, 135

Borneo, vegetation of, 142

Boston, Country Se.ats near, 126, 168,

240, 267. .38.5. 463

Be tanical names, pronunciat'not", 49

Botany, study of, 200

Boundary between Horticulture

and Agriculture, 489

Box, varieties of, 239

Brown Houses and lightning con-
ductors, ■ 201, 327

Buffalo Hort. Society, officers of, 151

exhilmions of, 246, 342, 392

Buildings, color of, 15, 160

BulLis, summer flowering, 218

c.

Cacti, a word for, 212

— culture of, 576

Calceolarias, culture of, 208

Calystegia puhescens, 431

Camellia, Yellow, .386

— seedling, 573

Caterpillars, to destroy, ,344

Cattle, sale of high bred, 341

Ceriron Tree of Panama, 142

Celery, blanching, 47

Cerasus Carol inieiisis, 52

Champlain Valley Horl. Society,

exhibition of, 392

Cheese, Damson, 574

CHERRIES.— Best market va-
rieties, 496

Bigarreau jNIonstreuse de

Mezel, 100

I/ist of Am. Pom. Society,. . 574

New Black Bigarreau, 100

New Hardy, 380, 462

Remarks on, 475

Select lists of, 91, 152

Triumph of Cumberland,. . . 100

Tested .it Boston, 484

Cherry Trees, stocks for, 104

destroyed by insects, 244

Chester co. Horl. Society, offi-
cers of, 200

Chestnuts, grafting, 294

Chinese plants, .336

— Primrose, 4-39

— AVislaria, 439

Chiswick, exhibition day at 502

Chrysanihemums, culture of in

China, 337

— Good varieties of, 487. 573

— New daisy, 54, 133, 573

Cincinnati Hort. Society, 472

Cinerarias, culture of, £31

Citizens retiring to the coun-
try, 57, 172

Columbus Hort. Society, officers

of, 247

tribute to Mr. Downing. . . 429

Country Life, remarks on, 57

— seals, entrance for, 400

near Boston, 126, 168, 2-10, 267,

385, -163
Crab, English and American, .. . 534

Cranberries on dry land, iiS

Critique, on Jan No., l-'JO

on Fob. No., 372

on March No., 211

• — on April No., 265

on May No., .327

on .lune No., 366

on July No., 413

on Aug. No., 460

Crocus, culture of, 531

Cryptonieria Japonica .338

Cucumbers, culture of, 431

Cunningliamia lanceolata, 338

Curculios, ashes for, 51

Destroyed by shaking trees,. 4.33

Habits of, 52S

Lime and sulphur for, . . 350, 432

New remedy for, 528

Remarks on, 312

Warfare on, 46!

Currant, fertile of Palnau, . . . 425

— List of American Pom. So-
ciety, 575

Cypress, evergreen, 21

— Funereal, .3.37

— Vine, to make seeds vegetate, 344
Cytisus lacemosus, 439

D.

Dahlias, new sorts of, 535

Damson Cheese, 574

Daphne Indica odorata, 223

— rubra, 4.36

Decline of Plants, 113, 212, 504

Deodar Cedar, 20

Detroit Horticultural Society, offi-
cers of, 247

Dogs, chapter on, 25, 161

DOWNING, A. J., death of.. . . .' 393
Col. Wilder's eulogy on,. . . . 491

Monument to, 431,' 484, 5.30

Residence, sale of, 482, 527

Tributes to memory of 417, 427,

471. 480, 526

Draining, importance of thorounli, 194

Duiilap"s store,

Dwarf Fruit Trees, culture of,. . 505

E.

Educatinn, Agricultural, 49, ^G•i

— Home, 9, 159

— Plan for Industrial, 306, 414

Enjrland, cold spring: in, '235

— First glimpse of, 13fi

F.pacris, virieties of, 440

Euology on Mr. Dovvnina:,. .. . 491
Evergreens, culture of, 272, 368, 432
Etiects of winter on, 255, 307

— For screens, 218

— Grafting, 343

— Insects on 393

— Notes on, 20, l(iO

— Remarks on 152

— Their use and culture, 272, 368, 432

— Time to prune 200

— Transplaiuiiig,' 238

Exliibition daj' at Chiswick, .... 5G2

F.

Farmer's wife, note from, 4.36

Fish, artificial breeding of, .. 45, 102
Flower markets of .St. Peters"gh, 44
Flowers, hloomijig by magic,... 149

— for beds 200, 226

— for early .spring, , . 489

— in beds, 294

— to keep fresh, 104

Fruit rooms, construction of, 110, 4.57
Fruits, culture of in Georgia, . . . 364
at the South, 389

— Catalogue of the Am. Pom.

fSocit'ty, 574

— Great Exhibition of, 530

— Growing at the youth, .. 321, 415

— Models of 298

— On selection of, 175

— Of Western New- York, 191

— Pre.serving in a fresli stale,. . . 533

— Selection of best, 69

— Select lists of. 104

— Tested at Boston, 484

— vs. intemperance, 420

Fruit trees, dwarf, culture of,... 565
Fuchsias, 55, 288, 487

— New varieties ot; 101

Fnrniiure, house and cottage, .. , 321

G.

Gardeners, liints for young, 511

— means Ibr the improvement

of, 100, 176

— scarcity of good, 149

Gar<lening, pleasures of, 397

— Suliurban, 447

Garden walks, to prevent weeds

in 314

Gardens, foreign, 44

— Kitchen, notes in, 176

Genesee Valley Hort. Society, ex-
hibitions of, 296, .340

summer exhibitions of, .. . 391

Irihnle to .Mr. Downing,.. 429

Georgia. Frnil trees in, 361

German greens, cullnre of 176

Geraniums, fine varieties of, .... 4:i9

— Hisiory of. 515

— miniagement of, 536

Gladiolus, culture of 2.34

Gla<s, rough plate, for hothouses, 519

Good and b,-ul tasle 52*

Gooseberries, culture of, 56, 160, 266

— Pruning of. „ 107

— List of Am. Pom. Society,. . . 575

— Mildew on 439

— Tan-liMrk for, 310

GraliingChesinuts, 294

— Evergreens .343

— Old Orchards, 104

Grafts, how to keep 248

GRAP1';S— variclics:

Allen's New .Seedling,. 11.3, 211

GENERAL INDEX.

Grapes— California, 17, 160

Charier Oak 417

Dr. Valk's Seedling,.. 290, 416

Comments on, ..,,... 389

Reply to, 433

Foreign Seedling, 339, 416

For a cold vniery, 414

In Vineries, management of, 95.

109, 192, 211, 2.39, 211, 252;

322, 416, 418, 444, 517, 575

List of Am. Pom. Society, . . 575

Quick growth of, 47

Sage, not a humbug, 87

— A humbug, .... 88, 175, 211

— J. F. Allen's opinion of,. . 308

Rot in, 5.35

To preserve fresh, 195

Grape Houses, construction of, . . 218

Hints about, 488

Mr. Green's, 94

Mr. Messer's, 418

i\Ir. Suydam's, 419

Grape Vines, borders for, ... 94, 576

Protecting, 49

Pruning, 418,518

Summer Pruning 370

Soap suds and hen manure

for, 382

LTuder glass, 567

Green-house Plants, sum'er treat-
ment of, 294

Green-houses in Winter, 48, 55

Rough pl.ite glass for,. .. . 519

Tcmperalure of, 104

Grounds, on laying out, 465

Guano, value of, 144

H.

Habrothamnus corymbosus, .... 13
Hares and Rabbits, to prevent in-
jury from, 172

Hartford Hon. Soc'y, officers of, 296

Healhs, culture of, 343

Hedges, Osage Orange for, 104, 245,
374, 437

Hemlock for Lawns, 20

Hickory Trees from seed 576

Hints for Young Gardeners, 511

Hollyhocks, an acre of, 234

— To raise from .seed. 536

Hom"^ Education of the Rural Dis-
trict*. 9, 159

Horse Chestnut, scarlet flowering, 49

Horse Shoe in a tree, 436

Horlicullural Exhibitions, com-
ments on, 22, 161

at Paris 47

— reply to, 191, 196

notes on, 500

— Novelties at Exeter, 97

— Societies, rules of, 146

Horlicullure and Agriculture,

boundary line between, .... 429

— in Illinois, .372, 462

House Plants in winter, 531

Houses, color of, 15, UiO

— heating and ventilating, 40, 161,

217

— ventilation of, 161

How to popularise the tasle for

pUinling 297, 413

Hyacinih, niaqnificent, 199

Hydraulic Ram, value of, 98, 170, 267

I.

Illinois, horticulture in, .372, 462

— notes from, 388

Improvement of vegetable races, 153

Indian Corn, varieties of, .522

cullure of, 552

liidigofera decora, 19

Insects on Evergreens, .392

^■not destroyed by birds,. . 312, 507

Insects not destroyed by birds con-
troverted, 387, 415

Ixias, 576

J.

Jokes, Agricultural, 54

K.

Kiosques or summer houses, .... 339

L.

Landscape Gard'nig, designs for, 232

in New England, 33, 161

notes on, 92, 175

remarks, 105, 465

Large trees, 237

— trees in the Slate of New-

Y'ork, 380, 462

Laurel, Carolhia, 52

Lawn and Park surroundings, . . . 454

Lawns, how to make, 104

— Grass seeds for, 243

Lemon trees, care of, 221

Ligtning conductors and Brown

houses, 201, .327

Lilium Lancifoliura, 4.35, 575

Louisville Hort. Society, 343

M.

Maccaroni, manulaeture of, 2-35

Magnolias, hardy varieties, 184

Maine, seasons in, 303

Manures, green crops for,. . 340, 375

— Liquid, 335

— remarks on, 151

Martinia Fragrans, 576

Maryland Hort. Society, annual

exhibition of, 524

Massachusetts board of agricul-
ture, 102

— Hort. .Society's tribute to Mr.

Downing, 427

Annual exhibition of, 526, 530

AVeekly exhibition of, ... . .573

Melons, best sorts, 248

— tested at Boston, 484

Messina, a country seat on the

Hudson, 230, 329

JMicbigan, Horticultural notes

from 209, 327

Mildew, remedy for, 293

Money found in peat earth, 435

Moiilreal Horl. Society, officers

of, 296

Mosses, varieties of 237

IMowiiig machines for lawns, ... 197

Mulching, tan for, 200

Mushrooms, growing in winter,. 56

N.

Narcissus, culture of, 422

National Ag. Convention, 295

Nectarines, select list of, 91

— List of Am. Pom. .Society, . . 574
New Haven Hort. Society, offi-
cers of, 247

New-Vorlc Hort. Society, officers

of, 199

June exhibition of... . 296, .343

Autumnal exhibilion of, .. 477

testimony to Mr Downing, 428

Nursery, Hos:g iV Go's, 485

— Thorburii\fe Co.'s, 485

— AVm. Reid's, 482

Nutrition ofStrawb'ries, 355, 461, 541

0.

Oak, evergreen, 45

Ode on llie death of i\Ir. Downing, 427

Ohio .State Pom. Convention, ... .391

— — Society, 4sl

Orchards large, on Grand Island. 179

— In England 549

Orchard Planting, 198

Orange trees, care of, 221

Osage Orange, liardiness of, 104, 245

Hedges in Illinois 374

Value ot; 437

Oswego Hort.iSociety, officers of. 342

."Summer exhihition, . . . 440

aiuunm exliibition of,. . 525

inliiileto JVlr. Uowjiing, 52G

— nuius from 2S9

P.

Palestine, climate of, 431

Pahii House at Kew, 1<)0, 2CS

Peaches, select lisis ofj 91, 152

— cultivated in Georgia, 555

— seedling, superior hardiness ol, 476

— list of Am. Pom Society, .... 574
Peach Trees, curled leaf on, de-
scribed, 63, 145, 173

diseases ofj 156

l-.ow to tr.ini, 78

northern at the south 345

temperature at which buds

of, are destroyed, 103, 146,
147, 304

worms in, 248

yellows in, 101, 515

PEARS — varieties :

Archangel, 48

Ananas, 48

Henrre Moiret, 48

— Goubault, 49

— Langelier, 54

— d'Aiijou, 90, 474

— d'Aremberg, 90

Bonne des Zees, 48

Bartlett, 90, 122

Belle Lucrative, 90

Bloodgocxi, 122

Brown Beurre 122

Best for markets, 531

Calhoun, 54

Cracked, 290

Doyenne Goubault, 48

— Grisde Hiver Nouveau, . 54

— d-Eie, 474

Dix 54

Duchess d'Orleans, 54, 474

— d'Angouleme, 54, 90, 123, 153

Dallas 54

Dearborn's Seedling,... 90, 473

Dwarf, for marketing, 4S7

Des Nones, 514

Kvewood, 54

French .Jargonelle, 122, 483

Glout JMorceau 54

Howell, 54

How to keep, 457

Lawrence 54, 90

Louise Bonne de Jerspy, 54, 90.

192

Largest desert, 158, 2G6

List of Am.Pom. Soc'y, 574, 575

Long names of, 531

AFocc.ns, 54

.MaiMiing's Elizabeth, 54

Monarcli 104

Marie I-ouise, 122

Notes on, 48. 5.3, 212, 120

Nouveau Poiieau, 54

Nonsuch, 123

Onondaga, 125

Orange Bergamot, 126, 178, 215,
267, .328

On quince stocks, 292

Paradise of Autumn, 90

Rosiirzer, 90, 5.32

Remarks on, at Philadelphia, 473

It Uiica, 475

Soldat Laboreur,. ... 14, 54, 1.59

St. Michael, 48

Steven's Genesee, 123

GENERAL INDEX.

Pears— Select list of, 152

Seckel, 123

.Synomns of, 4^3, 574

Summer, 482

Triornphe de Jodigne, ... 54
VanMon'sLeon IcClerc, 54, 123

AVinter Nelis, 90, 123

AVliite Doyenne,. . 122, 531, 534

Washington, 474

AVhich growbeist on Quince, 477
Pear trees, blight in, freedom from

at Bosi()n. 54

Prof Turner's theory

of, 103, 260

caused by insects, 259

not caused by insects, 301,

341, 367, 372

Burnt bones for, 289

culture of in France, .... 448

Old near Detroit, 209, 327

Pyramidal, 54

Profitable, 5.34

Results of maimre on,. . . . 420

Renovation of, 536

Pelargonium, improvement in,.. 545
Pennsylvania Horti'ral Society,
monthly exhibilions, 54, 103, 150,
199, 246, 295. .342, 391, 440, 523

officers of, 103

tribuletoMr. Downing, 428

Pie plant, culture of, 483

Pigs, a talk about, 378, 462

Pittsburg Hort. Soc'ty, officers of, 296

tribute to Mr. Downing, 428

Planting, how to popularise tlie

taste for 297, 413

— Sacred and classical,. . . . 276, 369

successful progress in,. . . . 5.33

Plants, Chinese, a36

— Destruction of by frost, 405

— Half hardy, 55

— Hints on culture of, 219

— in pots, watering, 569

— Liquid fertilizers for, 2.53

— Management of in winter,. . . 530

— Notes on new, IS

— Vital powers of, 113, 504

— AVhy do they deteriorate, . . . 504

Pleasures of gardening, 397

Plumbago Larpentiae, 55

PLUM.S.— Varieties:

Best for the South, 401

Grouiidacre, 49

List of Am. Pom. Society,. . 574

Montgomery, 49

Select list of, 91

Plum trees, black knot on 245

Poetry — ode on the death of Mr.

Downing, 427

The gardener's mission, .... 291

Yankee whittling, 98

To our volume, 575

Pomological meetings at Utica, . 475

A'^t Philadelphia, 280, 369

Congress, committees of,. . 294

Proceedings of, 473

Officers of, 523

Potato, disease in, 5.32

Poudrelte, value of, 144

Preserving fruit in a fresh state, . 5.33

Pruning, Mr. Young's theory of. .37,

67, 207, 319, 327, 415

— Science of, Ill

— Evergreens, 200

— Gooseberries, 167

— Grapes 370, 485

— Ill autumn, .390

— Peach trees, 78

— Root 488

Publisher's Farewell, 537

Q.

Quercus Agrifolia, 45

Qumce, Angers for stocks, 152

— Salt for, 269

E.

Raspberries, notice of, 392

— List Am. Pom. .Society, 575

— tested at Boston, 484

Reaping machines, Hussey's,.. . 98
REVIEWS:

Clovernook 182

Cottage residences, 232

Heat and venlilation, 40

Rural Architecture, 329

Transaciioiis N. Y. Slate Ag-
ricultural Society, 180

Walks and Talks of an Amer-
ican farmer in England... 1.35
Rhubarb, culture of, 177

— to have early, 536

Rice paper, manufacture of,. . . . 235
Rome Hort. Society, officers of, 290
Roots, extension of, 4.39

— pruniitg, 488

Rose, and its culture, 560

— black, 104

— budding, 3-14

— Chromatella, 387

— culture of, 560

— Microphylla, 435

— New Tea, 341

— rhapsodies about, 3.38

— select list of, 103

— Tea, whitering, 2.38

— to destroy Slugs on, 294

— to propagate from cuttings,. . . 4.32

— yellow, 291

Rural Taste and its Mission, .... 441
of what use is it 539

Sacred and Classical Planting, 276,
369

Sago, manufacture of, 2.36

San Francisco, climate of, 381, 463

Salsify, cullure of, 177

Salt for Quinces, 289

School Houses, teaching in,. .. . 145

Scientific Gleanings, 2.36

Sea Kale, culture of, 177, 469

Season in Maine, notes on, 303

Shade Trees in Cities, 345, 460

Snake Plant in South America, 188,
267

Spiders, red, in vineries, 573

Stocks, culture of, 488

— for grafting, 152

STRAWBERRIES:

Aii.-dyses of, 2.37, 292

Beds, management of,. . 382. 533

— tan-bark for, .' 192

British Queen, 340, .303

Crescent Seedling,.. 21, 161, 240
cullure of. 200

— in England, .558

— near Rochester, 432

Goli.iih 371

in England 144

list of Am. Pom. Society,... 575
noles on, 463

— on forty-four varieties, 351,

461

nutrition of, 355, 461, 541

pomological convention on, . . 475

Rival Hudson 4.35

seedlings, raising, 5.33

tested at Boston, 4'i4

Suip'te of ammonia as a fertilizer, 385
Summer Houses, 339

T.

Tanbark for strawberry beds, ... 192

— for mulching, 200

— is it a fertilizer, 241

Tannic Acid, for strawberries, 359,
541

Taste, good and bad, 5'i3

Taxodium sempervirens, 21

Temperance and Wine, 529

Timber, duration of, 437

Tomatoes, culture of, 293, 509

Transmutation of wheat into

cliess, 292

Transplanting Evergreens, 238

— large trees, 445

— remarlis on, 146, 344

TRKKS:

Best works on, 151

Deep holes for, 14fi

Forest, of America, 529

Great variety of native, 263, 367

Half hardy, 392

In cilies, 345

Large, 237

— in Slate of N. York, 3S0, 462

Old, management of, 222

Ornamental of Panama, .... 141

Planted too deep, 152

Stunted, how to treat, 248

To protect from rabbits, &c. 61

Tribute well deserved, .3S3

Tributes to Mr. Downing, 393, 417,

427, 471, 4S0, 526

Tuberoses to keep in winter,. . . . 536

GENERAL INDEX.

TJ.

University of Albany, 48

— Plan for Industrial, 306, 414

V.

Vegetable life, remarks on, 327

— Physiology, 11], 212, 319

— Races, improvement of, . 153, 265
Ventilation, how effected, 217

— neces.sily for, 40, 147, 161

Verbenas, culture of, 344

Vermicelli, manufacture of, 2.35

Victoria Regia, at iNIr. Cope's,. . 52,

54, 204

flowers of, 237

Luxuriance of, 327

Vineries — Borders for, 94

Construction of, "218

Grapes for, 444

Hints about, 488

Management of 95, 109, 192, 211,
239, 241, 252, 322, 416, 41S, 517

Mr. Green's, 94

Mr. Messer's, 418

Mr. Suydam's, 419

Quick growth of grapes in,. 47

Remarks on, 98

Vines for verandahs, 288

— insects on, 294

— to keep bugs from, 293

Vineyards, statistics of, 215

Vital powers of plants, 113, 212, 504

w.

Wants of our readers, 210

Wash for barns, 200

Watering plants in pots, 569

Wells, ice water in, 434

Western New-York, horticulture

of, 224

What will the edifice cost,. 129, 213

AVhiltling, poetry of, 98

Wine and Temperance, 529

AVinter, effects of, 145, 214, 200

at Cincinnatli, 245

on Evergreens, 255, 307

in the West 193

in Georgia, '. 213

in Illinois, .388

ill northern New-York, . . . 243

Y.

Yankee Whillling, 98

Yellows in Peach Trees,. . . 101, 515

Yew, American, 3!i2

Yucca, as a hardy ornamental

plant, 227

z.

Zauschneria Californica, 324

INDEX TO CORRESPONDENTS.

INDEX TO CORRESPONDENTS.

A.

An Amateur, New- York. ... 40. 226,
•253, 448, 509
A Working Gardener, PhiladeU

phin 22,194, 268

A f^ubscriher, Mass., 87

Allen, J. Fiske, iSalem, Mass.,. . 108,

145

Allen, L. F., Black Rock,. . 120. 215,

321, 378, 451

An Inqnirer, Cincinnati, 144

A Practical Man, New-York,. . . 176

A Lover of Flowers, 196

Adair, William, Detroit, 209

A. D. G„ Clinton, 217

A. R. C, Rhode Island, 23S

A Novice, NewEngland, 2:i0

A Subscriber, Boston, 240

A Philadelphia Amateur, 242

A yuljscriber, Lexington, Ky., . . 292

A. C, New-York, 340

Alplia, England, 354

A Philadelphia Subscriber, 382

A Subscriber at tlie West, 3S7

Americus, New-York, 436, 409, 511,

560

An old Amateur, 569

A Farmer's Wife, 436

An Englishman, 558

An Amateur from England, 545

B.

B. F. N , New.York, 49

Barry, P., Rochester.. . 101, 111, 565

Buisi. R., Philadelphia 145

Blalciiford, T. W., Troy, 195

B. B., Pennsylvania, 198

B.. Nazareth, Pa., 290

Bacon, Wm., Richmond, . . 290, 560

Buckley, S. B., Dresden, 381

Buchanan, R, Cincinnati.. . 438, 535

B. M., New- York, 465, 477, 500, 520,

5.02, 552

c.

Cooper, Jas. Fennimore 15

Chorllon, Wm., Staten Island, 94, 192,
2.52, .389, 517
Cleveland, H. W. S., Burlington,

N. J., 107

Cousin, David, France, 129

Carey, Alice, 182

Clarke, Joseph, Ohio 193

Coppock, W. R., Buffalo 224

C, Louisville, Ky., 240, .370

Clute, J. AV., Schenectady, 293

Casey. .1. M., Oswego, 342, 440, 515
Codman, A,, Roxbury, Mass , . . . 484
Capell, K. J., Mississippi, 530

C, Chicago, 575

D.

Delano, .T., Fairhaven 245

Deniiig, W. H., Presque Isle, . . . 203

Desporles. Baptiste, France, 271, 425

D. T., Greatfield, 434, 435, 437

E.

Emerson. Dr., Pliiladelphia, .... 52
Eaton, John B., Buffalo, ... 246, 342

Ernst, A. H., Cincinnati, 301

Elliot, C. W., New-Haven, 445

F.

Fahnestock, A., Syracuse, 48

French, Henry F., Exeter, N. H. 70,

471

Fortune, Edward, England, .... 347

G.

Girardin, J., France, 61

Goodrich, C. E., L'llca, 63, 145, 147
Gabriel, George, New-Haven,. . 247

Grigon, James, England, 246

Gowan, James, Philadelphia, . . . 375
Gibbons, Dr., California, 3S1

H.

Hackett. J., 51

Horticola, Boston, 126, 168

Hodge, B., Buffalo, 178

Hall, F., Elmira, 199

H. B., New- York, 241

H. G., Boston, 322

Hull, Dr. A. G., Newburgh, a55

Huiusman, G. W., Flushnig, 463

J.

Jaques, George, AVorcester, .... 33

J. J. T., Macedon, 53

James, T. P., Philadelphia, 54, 103,
150, 199, 246, 295, 342, 391, 428, 523

J. W., Iowa, 98

Jeffreys. 159. 172, 211, 265. 327, .366,
41.3, 46U

J C . H., Syracuse, 312, 507

J. M. S , Kenansville, N. C.,. ... 341

J. M. W., Syracuse, 385

J. N. F. W., Pittsburg, 386

J. B. M., War.saw, 111., 388

Juveiiis, New-York, 422

Johnson, .Samuel W., 541

J. C. AV., AVeverton, Md., 427

K.

Kirtland, Bilius, Poland, O., 292

Kennieoit, Dr., Illinois, 372

L.

Ludlow, T. AA'. Jr., Yonkers, . . 170,

218, 432

liivermore, W. AV., New-A'ork, 194

Li)idley. Prof. England, 405

Leroy, Andre, France, 483

M.

.Miller, Samuel, Pennsylvania, 89, 100

Mehan, Thomas, Phil., 92, 204

jAlanley, Wm. R., Newport, N.Y. 244

M. A.. Chapel Hill, N. C, 291

Messer, A., Geneva, 418, 567

Mujin, B., 539

N.
N. Y. H., Philadelphia, 411

Olmslead, F. L., Staten Isl'd., 14, 549
O., South Carolina, 52

Patrick, Major 11

Pardee, R. G., Palmyra, 21, 240, 321,
351

P. P., New-A'ork, 89

Paxton, Thomas, Staten Island, 100

P. B, Rochester 101

P., Hartford, Ct., 2.39

Piatt, Phineas, Ct., 293

P. B. M., Brooklyn, 447

Prince, W. R., 574

R.

Richardson, Jas.. Jr. Dedham,

Mass., .' 272, 291, 420, 432

Reagles, C, Schenectady, 484

Saul, John, AVashington.D.C 78, 241

Safford, C. C, Cleveland, 101

Siewers, C. G., Cincinnati, 146

Sargent. H. AV., Fishkill Land'g, 255
Scott, E. J., Columbia, S. C, . . . 325

Stokes, AVm., Penn 350

Smith, J. M. J., Arkansas, 383

Smith, Charles, Mass. 384

Saunders, AV., Maryland, 524

T.

T. A. S., Syracuse, 17

Townley, John, AA'isconsin, .... 113
Turner, Prof, Illinois, 163, 259, 306
Thompson. J. C, Staten Island,. 166

T. P., Watertown, Mass., 192

Tomliason, D. H., Schenectady, 243
Tomlinson, D., Schenectady,, , . . 245

Testis, Georgia, 364

Trapilo, AValtham, Mass., aS5

Thomas, Dr. J., SmjTna, 4.31

Thorpe, Smith, Hanchett & Co., 514
T., 530

V.

Vaux, Calvert, Newburgh, .... 73
Valk, AVm. AV.,. . 200, 397, 433, 504

w.

AA'illiams, S. K., Newark, . . 49, 444

AVilliams, H. H, Cincinnati, 49

AVilder,M.P.,Boston,110,292,293,491
AVinchell, J. M., Syracuse, 144, 145

AV 156

AA'atts, J. H., Rochester, 191, 342,

431, 433, 484, 529

AA^illard, J. H., Troy, 195

AVhite, Wm. N., Athens, Ga., 243,

315, 389, 401, 555

W. A., Oswego, 289

AVillis, William, Portland, Me.. 303
AA'illis, N.P., .' 527

Y.

A''oung, L., Louisville, Ky., 37, 67
207, 319, 485

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONo.

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

LIST OF PLATES.

Design for a District School House, Frontispiece to January number.

Birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh, do February.

New Palm House at Kew, do April.

Messina, on the Hudson, do May.

English National School House, do June.

Kiosques or Summer Houses, do July.

Church in the the Lombard style, do August.

Entrance Gate, do September.

Southern or Plantation House, do October.

Portrait of Mr. Downing, do November.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

BUILDINGS.

Diagrams of Fruit Rooms, 458, 460

First floor of Southern house, 452

Chamber plan of do., 453

Plan of carriage house 453

FRUITS.

Apples — Early May, 317

Horse, 405

Red June, 317

Striped June, 318

Pears — Des Nones, 514

Duchess d'Angouleme, 158

Soldat Laboureur, 14

Strawberries — British Queen, 363

Goliath, 372

PLANTS.

Anemone Japonica, 19

Daisy Chrysanthemums, 134

Habrothamnus Corymbosus, 18

Narcissus, 423

Yucca Gloriosa, 228

Zauschneria Californica, 324

MISCELLANEOUS.

Design for gi'ounds, 233

Grapes, 518

Gooseberries, 167

Machine for mowing lawns, 197

Training and Pruning Peach trees, 81, 82, 83,

84, 85

New York Botanical Garden Librar

3 5185 00265 5262

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