LIBRARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE NO ^t>_5_ 3 DATE__lr_]_?.5_v) souRCETflirs. Uev\ L\^co\-Y> •er OM, ^. ^^r€€t^ t4/t^C^ '^t-'^ ^^ .^^ .v^^^::;- •■' ^- - ,r V r->4 ^ ■ ^'-V :.>.^x ,,,')^-^-^ ^AX .-^x ~->, \ THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE, BOTANY, AND ALL USEFUL DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEIMENTS IN RURAL AFFAIRS. " Je voudrais ecbauffer tout I'univers de mon gout pour les jardins. II me semble qu'il est impossible qu'un mechant puisse I'avoir. II n'est point de verlus que je ne suppose a celui que aime a parler et a faire des jardins. Peres de famille, inspirez a jardinomanie a vos enfans."' — Pnnce de Ligne. VOL. X X 1 1 1 . 1857 (vol. III., THIRD SERIES.) Edited by C. M. HOVEY. A.UTHOR OF THE "FRUITS OF AMERICA." BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY HOVEY AND CO., MERCHANTS ROW. 1857. A il HENRY W. DUTTON AND SON, PRINTEKS, 37 C0XQRE88 Street, Bostok. CONTENTS. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. GENERAL SUBJECT. The Progress of Horticulture. By the Editor, 1 The Literature ol Gardening. Bj' W. Flagg, 11, Obseryations on Forest Scenery, by Kev. \V. Gilpin, . . . .14 The Elm. By Wilson Flagg, . . .27 Our Ornamental Trees. By the Editor. 9. The Virginia Fringe Tree, . • 33 10. The Siberian Pea Tree, . . .73 11. The Laburnum, . . . .13.5 12. The Snowdrop Tree, . . . .225 13 The Judas Tree, - . . . .321 14. The Sassafras Tree, . . . .418 15. The Shrubby Trefoil, . . . .454 16. The Broad Leaved Euonymus, . . 550 Mr. Simpson's Grape Culture By the Editer, 49 The Birches. By Wilson Flagg, . 63 The Cherries. By Wilson Flagg, . . 131 The Science of Calithonics, . . .• . 149 The Poplar. By Wilson Flagg, . . .170 The Hardy Evergreen Trees. By the Editor, 193 Color of the Outside of Buildings. By W. Flagg, 202 The Late Mr. Downing. Bv A. D. 6 , . 206 The Willow. By WUson Fiagg, . . .221 The Importance of Water in Vegetation. By the Editor, 241 Choice of a Situation. By Wilson Flagg, . 246 The Oaks. By Wilson Flagg, . . 265, 312 The Art of Clearing a Wood with Reference to Landscape. By Wilscn Flagg, . . 297 Whortleberries. By Wilson Flagg, . . 343 The Improvement and Preparation of Soils. By the Editor, 385 On Landscape. By Wilson Flagg, . 389, 438 The Maples. By Wilson Flagg, . . . 403 A Chapter on Trenching. By the Editor, .433 Tree.s in Mount Auburn- By Wilson Flagg, 449 The Diosoorea and Chinese Sugar Cane. By the E.litor, 481 Influence of Drainage on Climate. By Wil- son Flagg, 487 A Scene in Nature. By Wilson Flagg, . 521 Preparation for Winter. By the Editor, . 529 Prospects. By W. Flagg, ... .535 HORTICULTURE. Fruit and Fruit Trees of Michigan. By T. T. Lynn 54, New Varieties of Potatoes. By J. F. C. Hyde, Spring Management of Fruit Trees. By the Editor, American Pomological Society, firstinterme diate report on native fruits, . The Kitchen Garden. By the Editor, New Pears. By T. Rivers, Descriptions of Select Varieties of Pears By the Editor, 160, Fondante de Malines, Gerando, Beurre Kennes, Catinka, Bezi d'Esperen, Col- mar d'Alost, Easter Beurre, Des Nonnes, Des Chas- seurs, Ananas d'Ete, Summer Management of Fruit Trees, By the Editor, The Cultivation of Dwarf Pears, Grape Vine Protector, . ... Management of Fruit Trees in Pots. From Gardeners' Chronicle, . . . . Gathering and Ripening the Early Fruits. By the Edkor, On Grafting, The Catawissa Raspberry. By Prof. C. G. ^'age, The Gravensfein Apple. By Capt John De Wolfe Pear Culture in Belgium. By M. J De Jonghe, Pomological Gossip, 24, 117, 255, 301, 397, 123 58 102 145 153 506 FLORICULTURE. 16(1 506 289 211 251 269 337 354 396 444 492 515, 542 The Rose. By Prof. C . G. Page, 67. 129, 175, 261 How to Treat the Oxalis Bowiei. By Q. Q. 69 The Manetti Rose Stock. By T. Meehan, . 126 The Culture of Roses in Pots. From the Gardeners' Chronicle, .... 269 The Chinese Azalea. By the Editor, 361, 407 The Petunia. By Prof C. G. P;ige, . . 448 Floricult'l Notices, 70, 178, 274, 317, 413, 456, 544 Suburban Visits, . . ... 367 IV CONTENTS. LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. TREES AND PLANTS, 17- Pyramidal Azalea, 16. The Judas Tree, . 7. The Laburnum, 18. The Sassafras Tree, 19. The Shrubby Trefoil, 2. The Siberian Pea Tree 14. The Snowdrop Tree, 1. The Tirginia Fringe Tree, 24. The Broad-leaved Euonymus, 23 Ananas D'Ete, 10. Beurre Kennes, FRUIT. Pears. pose . .366 . 322 . 136 . 418 . 454 . 74 . 225 . 33 . 551 514 416 .fi? pae'- 12. Bezi D'Esperen, 167 11. Catinka, 166 5- Church, 113 13. Colmar d'Alosf, 169 22. Des Chasseurs, 512 21 Des Nonnes, ...... 510 20. Easter Beurre, 508 8. Fondante de Malines, .... 161 9. Gerando, 163 4. Huntington, Ill 3. Ontario, 110 6 Parsonage, 114 VIEWS AND PLANS OF BUILDINGS. 15. Grape Vine Protector, .... 25-3 LIST OF PLANTS. In the body of the Magazine, a few errors occur in the spelling of the botanical names, the capitalizing the generic and specific names, their derivation and accentuation ; these are all cor- rected in the following list of plants. List of new Achimenes, .... 414 List of Azaleas (Chinese) of various colors, . 408 List of Carnations, 71 List of new Fuchsias, 413 List of Geraniums 275 List of new Gladioluses, . . . .456 Lists of new LantAnas, . . . 413, 437 List of new Verbenas, 178 Lists of fine Phloxes, . . .427, 428, 462 List of Pelargoniums, 317 List of new Petunias, 318 List of Pasonies, 334 Lists of Roses, . . 67, 129, 829, 381 423 List of Roses of various kinds, . . . 274 .4'bies 4Iba, 199 Argvrea hirsuta. 72 balsAmea, 200 Ar.auciria imbricita, 530 canadensis, 199 jlristolochia siptio. 333 clanbrasiina. 369 jlVum integrifolium, .561 DougliS!?, 368, 373 326 A.stilbe rubra, 275 excelsa, 198 Azilea amoe^na. 70 Kfe'mpferi, 326 Anderson!!, 284 nigra. 199 ilba lutescens, 284 pin.*apo, 326 Chelsonjf, 284 piimila. 369 cri.-;piti6ra. 2S5 pygmea. 369 decora, 284 r^mithtdna. 268 Gledstanesu', 332 Wellingtonta, 326 Glory of Sunning Hill 284 Abutilon Mbum, 472 magnificens, 284 j4cicia verticillita, 284 phoenicea, 284 AVer dasycirpum, 406 prsestantf-ssima. 284 pennsylv4nicum, 406 Reine Beige, 284 riibrum, 403 Reine Hortense, 284 saccharinum. 404 oecidentilis. 648 Achimenes picta, 460 Befiria Mathews;?', 417 Adhaloda cydonaifolia, 277 Begonia Griffifhu', 415 Aerides crispum. 326 heracleifolia. 414 A^gave densiflora, 548 jasminoides, 285 Amaryllis forraosa, 284 niauicita, 284 Andromeda flsribiinda, 285 ,.368 microptera. 320 pulvurulenta, 368 picta. 285 Aphelexi,^ sesamoides. 3.32 Wagcnendna, 416 Arauc^ria imbricita. 374 Bcrberis aquifolium, 231 Ardisia crenulita fructo Betu\a 41ba, 63 albo, 472 excelsa, 63, 65 £ctula lenta, 63, 64 nigra, 63, 65 papyricea, 63, 66, 236 populifOlia, 63, 188 236 Bleti'a hyacintha, 285 BossiajV macrophylla, 2*4 BurtoQj'a scabra, 460 Cictus Landrethn', 331 Ceanothus L6bbi(, .327 papillosus, 327 Ciltha palustris, .36 Calystegia pubescens, 2.35 sepium, 235 Camellmreticulitaflorepl. 320 reticulata, 178 Cara^dna arborescens, 73, 75 Ca,«tinea chrysophylla, 181 fedrus Deoddra, 388 Cephalotixus Fortuni, 368 Cerasus boreilis, 131,134 obovita, 131, 133 pimiila, 131 scroti n a, 131 Cercis candensis, 321 Chamtcrops humilis. 472 Chioniuthus virginicus, 33 Chvsis Limminghi, 327 Cissus di.scolor, 192, 319, 472 Clematis lanuginosa, 332 Coboe^a sc4ndens, 333 Codonopsis rotandiflora, 72 Coleus Bliimei 319 Oorrw^a Je plus ultra. 284 Crinum amcricinum, 427 Cryptomeria JHponica, 374,472 Cupressus funebris, 374 Goven'ana, 374 macrocirpa, 374 thyoides, 201 Cyanophylhun magiiificum,327 Cycas revoluta, 472 Cypripedi'im hersutissi- mum, 417 Cytisus Adam?, 324 Laburnum alpinus, 135 Laburnum, 135 purpureas, 325 Testita, 284 Delphinium cardinile, 317 Dendrobium calceolus, 2S4 Deiitzia scibra, 2S4, 285 Dioscor^'n haidtas, 481 pan dura ta, 427 Doronicum Bourgaei. 458 Echeveria canaliculita, 415 E'pacris autumailis, 284 £rica dlba, 284 Bothwellfdna, 332 ciffra riibra, 284 Cavendish!/, 285 florida, 284 grandinosa, 284 intermedia, 283 niutibilis, 332 princeps, 284 reflexa, 332 Sandrydna, 284 tricolor Wilson?, 381 ventric6=a superba, 332 Westphaliana, 284 Erythrina crista gilli, 472 Eacharis amazonica, 319 grandiflora, 314 Euonymus americcinus, 550 latifolius, 550 Farfii^ium grinde, 327 Forsyth'i su^pensa, 458 Tiridis-ima. 285, 458 Francisrea latifolia, 285 Gardenm citriodora, 416 Fortanf. 472 Gleichenj'a flabellita, 326 Grevillea alpestris, 549 Gynerium argenteum, 544 nalesia tetriptera, 221 Hedy'chium Gardnendnu»i,471 iiippomaue spinosa, 327 Iloya coroniria. 279 Hydriingea japonica varie- gita, 00 Hypericum oblongiflorum, 180 7^ris Susiina, 284 /asminum nudiflorum, 71 Jiiniperus chinensis, 201 communis, 201 hibemica, 201 suecica, 201 virgioiana, 201 CONTENTS. K41n /a latifolia, 351 iJhododendron calophyl V Loelid cinnabarina, 326 ♦ lum 564 purpura ta, :i26 campy locArpum, 278 Lantina Abbe Touvre, 427 Madden;, 547 rosea elegans, 427 maculAtum nigrum, 285 Laiirus sassafras. 417 ponticuni. 285 Leperizia latifolia. 180 Thompsonj, 459 Liniria cymbaliria, 424 VeitchJ, 327 Linum grandiHorum, 182 VeitchidnM7n, 457 Lobelia cardinilis, 276 Windsor/, 549 splendens, 276 Rhopila Skinner/', 327 texensis. 277 Ribes sangulnea. 284 iysimichia nutans, 72 Rnndeletia speciosa, 472 Magnol/rt conepicua, 285 Sabbat/a campestris. 179 oboTita, 368 Saccalobium curyifolium, 326 purpurea. 333 Scheeria lanita, 277 Soulingeana, 285,332,533 Sinning/a Young/dna, 181 tripetala, 535 Sonerilla elegans, 414 triiimphans. 368 S'piraj^a arioefolia, 421 Mandevilleff suaveolens. 464 callosa, 421 MarAnta Zebrina, 319 Lindleyd/io, 421 ,533 Melistoma dentioulatum, 182 Reevesid//a fiore pleno ,283 Jl/yrica cerifera. 350 Stephanotus floribunda. 472 iVemesia compActa, 179 Stokes/'rt cyanea, 278 Nieremberg/a filicaulis. 285 Sy mphoricArpus miorophy 1- JVymphse^a caerulea, 471 ,472 lus 320 Nyssa sylvatica, 79 Taxodium sempervirens, 374 Oncidium altissima, 284 TAxus elegantlssima, 368 O'robus Fischeri, 73 rhuja aurea. 200 O'xalis Bowie (', 69 occidentAlis, 200 Passiflora tinifolia. 182 orientAlis, 200 Paulown'rt imperiilis, 283 plicAta, 200 Pelargonium triste. 332 Wared// , . . .79 Books. Dowriiiii^'s Fruits and Fruit Tree.". 553 Buildings, Ci.lor of the Outside of, . '. 202 Catalogues, &c , received, . . 138 Cherries, the ...... 131 Clearing a Wood, the Art of, . . . 297 Climate, Influence of Drainage on, . 487 Coniferae, Effect of the Geological Position, 373 Crystal Palace Horticultural Fete, . . 328 Dioscorea and Chine.Je Sugar Cane, . . 481 Downing, the late Mr., .... 206 Eaton. lion. Lewis, Death of, . . . 438 Elm, the, 27 Exhibitions, the Fall, . . .426 Fern Growing, ...... 465 Floricultural Notices, 70, 178, 274, 317, 413, 456 Flowering Hardy Shrub, the handsomest, 421 Fruit and Fruit Trees in Michigan, 54, 123 Crop and iVeather in Georgia, . . 281 Massachusetts, . 281 Fruit Culture, enormous Profits of, . . 519 Fruit Tree Borders, effects of a Black Sur- face on, 230 Fruit Trees; Spring Management of,. . 97 Summer Slanagement of, . . 289 Fruits, Gathering and Kipening the Early, 337 Garden, the Kitchen, .... 145 Garden of H. II Ilunnewell, . .867 Gardening and Gardens around Paris, 76, 227 Literature of, 14 Gooseberries, new, ..... 516 Grafting 354 Grape Vine Protector, .... 251 Grape Culture, Mr. Simpson's, . 49 Grape, Rebecca, Hardiness of, . . 282 Grapes, large Crop of, . .80 Grass, Pampas • . 544 Greenhouses, the Government, . . 424 Horticulture, Progress of, . . .1 Horticultural Operations — January, ...... 47 February, ...... 95 March, ' 142 April, 190 May, 238 June, 286 July, 324 August 382 September, 430 October, ...... 479 Novembpf, 527 December, ...... 567 Landscape, on. . . . 389, 433 Maples, the, .403 Michaux's Bequest to Mass. Agii. Soc, . 138 Moutans. Grafting, 329 Mowers and Reapers, Field Trial of, . . 330 Mushrooms, ...... 185 Nature, a Scene in, . . . . . 521 Oak, the, 265,312 Obituary, 13 Orange Trees, Culture of, . . . . 185 0.sage Orange for Hedges, .... 425 Oxalis Bowiei, how to treat, . . . 330 I'aulownia imperiali.s, blooming of, . 283 Tear Culture in Belgium, .... 482 Pear, unique description of, . . . 397 Pears, all new, not worthless, . . . 515 Descriptions of Select Varieties of, 160, 506 How to keep from Wasps, . . 426 Fine, at the Mass. Ilort. Soc. Exhibition, 517 New, 158 The Cultivation of Dwarf, . .211 Peach Trees in Pots, management of, . 307 Petunia, the, 448 Phloxes, 451 Plants, a splendid collection for sale, . . 236 Dr T. Edmond.soa's collection of, . 139 Mr. Cope's collection of, ... 331 Bedding, pegs for, ..... 467 Poplar, the, 170 Pomological Gt)ssip, 24, 117, 255, 301, 397, 515 Pomegranate and Oi'ange. Culture of, ' . 282 Potatoes, new varieties of, . . . .58 Prospects, 535 Raspberries, 234 Raspberry, the Catawissa, .... 390 Rose, the 67, 129, 261 Rose Stock, the Manetti, . . . 126, 420 Rose, new American, .... 329 Isabella Gray, .... 378,426 Roses, the New, 422 in Pots, Culture of, ... . 269 Seeds, why they do not Grow, . . . 279 Society, American Pomological, Intermedi- ate Report of, 102 American Institute, .... 560 Californi.-v State Agricultural, . . 563 Cincinn iti Horticultural, . . . 140 Fruit Growers of Western New York, . 81 Hartford Horticultural, . . .237 Illinois State Horticultural, . . .81 London Horticultural, great Exhibition of Fruit of, 303, 326, 542, 556 Massachusetts Horticultural 35, 82, 141, 188, 237, 283, 380, 426, 469, 526,564 Award of Premiums for Dahlias, 564 Flower Committee, Report of, . 42 Fruit Committee, Report of, . 82 Garden Committee, Report of, . 35 A'egetable Committee, Report of, 92 Finance Committee, Report of, . 188 Opening of the Hall, . . .285 29th Annual Exhibition, . . 471 Annual Election, . . . 526 Massachusetts State Agrieultural, . 559 Maryland Horticultural, . . . 238 Michigan State Horticultural, . . 563 New York State Agricultural, . . 139 Horticultural, . . . 561 Worcester County Horticultural, 140 United States Agricultural, . . 331, 467 Season of 1856, 80 Science of Calithonics, .... 149 Situation, choice of, . . . ■ . 246 Snapdragon, the Ivy -Leaf, .... 423 Soil, Improvement and Preparation of, . 3^*5 Strawberries, new, 122 in Washington, 330 in Baltimore, ..... 331 Stock, influence of the Scion upon, . . 324 Sugar Cane, Chinese, .... 237, 481 Temperature, Experiment in Altitudinal, . 375 Tree Guards, ..... 464 Trees, Apple with Pink Blossoms, . . 379 How to prevent .Moss growing on, . 183 Introduction of California, . . . 138 in Mount Auburn, .... 449 Manuring Forest, .... 463 Our Orna'l, 33, 73, 135, 225, 321, 417, 454,550 the Broad-leaved Euonymus, . . 550 the Hardy Evergreen, . . . • 193 the Judas, 321 the Laburnum, . . . . 135 the Sassafras, 417 the Shrubby Trefoil, . . . .454 the Siberian Pea, 73 the Snowdrop, 225 the Virginia Fringe, • ... 33 Trenching, a Chapter on, .... 433 Vine, multiplying by Cuttings, . . . 371 On Ringing, 377 Violets, ..,.-... 229 Water in Vegetation, Importance of, . . 241 Whortleberries, 343 Willow, the, 221 Winter, preparation for, .... 629 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. THE PROGRESS OF HORTICULTURE. The horticultural progress of the year, though not pre- senting any prominent or marked improvements, has, not- withstanding, been such as to gratify all who are the least interested in a science so eminently conducive to the luxu- ries, the enjoyment, and even the comfort of so large a class of the community. Our pages have chronicled everything worthy of especial note, and to them we must refer our readers for a detail of what has been accomplished. Some general hints and incidental information, as well as random suggestions in regard to the future, we now embrace the opportunity to present in our brief summary of the year. First, in regard to the season, we give a condensed ac- count, which, as compared with previous ones, may not be without its value. Perhaps, in the whole history of Horticulture in our own country, no year has been so disastrous over so large a space of our widely extended domain as the last. It will be a year of sad recollections to the cultivators of the West, sweep- ing off as it did the labor of years spent in planting fine orchards and beautiful gardens, and requiring a long time to place them in the same thriving condition they exhibited in the autumn of 1855, promising the most liberal crops. But a winter of unprecedented severity neither spared crops nor trees, and in many localities the latter were destroyed to an extent unexpected, and altogether beyond the supposition of the most experienced cultivator. Fruit trees which, in the, coldest parts of New England, rarely sustain any injury in a temperature 30^ to 40^ below zero, were killed outright, or VOL. XXIII. NO. 1. 1 'A THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. lost a great portion of their younger growth. To us, judg- ing only from our own experience, with no opportunity to examine these injured trees, it seems that the subject should receive the most careful attention of intelligent cultivators, and the causes assigned for such wholesale destruction of the same kinds of trees, which for centuries have v/ithstood unharmed a more intense cold than that experienced in the West last season. We are likely, at some future time, to experience the same severity, and now is the time to ascer- tain, if possible, the cause of so much injury, that it may be guarded against hereafter. Throughout Nevr England the winter of 1855 and 1856, though of long duration, was not so intense as we have often experienced. The peach, which is the first tree to indicate a severe winter, produced a more than average crop in the eastern portion of Massachusetts. Of other fruit trees we hear of no injury whatever. January was a cold, dreary and severe month, with the temperature below the freezing point every morning but one, below zero four times, the lowest 8^ below, and the average temperature lower than any January for several years. More than twenty inches of snow fell, covering the ground at the close of the month. February continued exceedingly cold, the highest range of the thermometer being 40*^ at sunrise, and that but once, on the 12th. The lowest was 4*^ below. Three inches of snow fell, which, with that of January, formed a thick cov- ering to the earth. The month of March seemed but a continuation of Feb- ruary. On the 2d the thermometer was 2° below, and the highest range of the month at sunrise was 33°. The last three days were exceedingly cold, with the thermometer from 20 to 25°. The first week of April was very cool, but on the 9th the temperature became milder, indicating 00°, the first really warm day since the last of November previous. With it the last of the winter snow disappeared. It was then frosty again till the the 17th, when truly April weather set in. JANTTART. 3 After this, easterly winds prevailed, and the month closed more variable than usual. May was more seasonable, though still rather cold. A heavy rain set in on the 9th, lasting three days; after this it became warm, with the temperature at 80°, and on the 15th the cherries and pears began to bloom. From this to the close of the month the weather was more favorable, without frost, and accompanied with fine showers. The early part of June was cooler than usual, and accom- panied with heavy rains. But after the middle of the month the weather became more favorable, and the latter part was exceedingly warm and very dry, the temperature ranging from 80 to 99°. July commenced quite cool, and with light and refreshing rains. On the 17th, however, the temperature suddenly changed, with the thermometer at 98°, and the remainder of the month was clear, dry and hot. The temperature reach- ing 100° on the 25th and 26th, and 101° on the 27th. Vegetation began to show the effects of the hot July weather, but fortunately with August came a very great change. The wind veered into the east, with a cool rain, and upwards of four inches fell in less than twelve hours. This was succeeded by warm though still showery weather, and on the 19th another easterly storm of three days' duration saturated the ground. More than twelve inches of rain fell in August. September was cool in the early part, but became warmer towards the close of the month. It was wet and showery throughout. October was also cool, with a light frost on the 5th, though not sufficient to do much damage. The first de- structive frost was on the 15th. After this it was fine to the end. November was a mild month, with considerable rain, and but few frosty nights, the lowest temperature being 20°. The month. closed with a light snow storm, in which about two inches fell. December was cooler, with dull and cloudy weather, and 4 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. two or three inches of frost in the ground. On the 18th the mercury suddenly sunk to 7° below, and the 19th to 4° below, being the lowest range for this month since 1836. As we close our account, (December 22d,) winter appears to have set in in earnest. A hasty comparison of the past season with that of 1854 and 1855 will show a marked difference in regard to its temperature, moisture, and general characteristics. The seasons of 1854 and 1855 were as remarkable for their dryness as that of 1856 for its moisture, more rain having fallen in the two months of July and August, in 1856, than in the same months in both of the previous years. This variation, however, was local, being confined chiefly to New England and the Atlantic coast, while in Western New York and the Western States generally, the summer of 1856 was attended with a greater drought than either of the preceding years, cutting short crops of all kinds, and especially the fruit crop, small as it was, from the effects of the cold win- ter. In this neighborhood the pear was the only fruit which produced a fair supply; the apples were almost an entire failure. Grapes, owing to the heavy rains, and cool weather of July and August, did not ripen, only in very warm situa- tions, with the exception of the Concord, which was thor- oughly matured by the middle of September, ten days before the first frost. HORTICULTURE. In the production of new fruits, and in the superior culti- vation of all kinds, more especially the pear, the year has shown a steady advance over preceding ones. The atten- tion of fruit growers is turned to the raising of seedlings, under the conviction, that, as a general rule, they are better adapted to our climate than those of foreign origin. This opinion, which we long ago advanced, and have become convinced is founded in truth, is now generally acquiesced in, and has induced our zealous amateurs to make renewed attempts in the production of new varieties. The grape to which we shall more particularly allude, as well as the pear, have had some valuable accessions the past year. JANUARY. 6 It is thought by many cuUivators that we already have too many varieties of fruits; and that a reduction of sorts rather than an increase is to be desired. But this we think is a mistake. It is true our catalogues may be pruned of many inferior kinds; they are yearly undergoing this opera- tion; and they will eventually contain only those of real merit ; but there is ample room for new and improved seed- lings, and the production of such as shall comprise all the qualities necessary to constitute a choice fruit must be a slow process, requiring time to fully prove them, and amount in the end to only a fraction of all that must be raised. What we want is a collection of varieties, excellent in qual- ity— vigorous in growth — hardy in constitution — withstand- ing our summer heat and winter cold — of good size — matur- ing readily, and keeping well. To combine all these char- acteristics is the object now in the growth of new varieties. The Grape, that most delicious of fruits, so abundant in France as to be within the reach of every peasant, has for a long time, owing to the unfavorableness of our climate, been confined chiefly to the gardens of the wealthy, wliere it could alone be produced by artificial means. But, thanks to our enterprising cultivators, the time is coming when we may have them in as great abundance, and of as fine quali- ty, as the inhabitants of Southern Europe. Our native grape, alone adapted to our variable climate, is, after a while, yielding to the ameliorating influence of cultivation through the seed, and we are no longer compelled to eat the half- matured Isabellas, so long the only variety of any value. The Diana, the Concord, the Delaware, the Rebecca, the Carter, and other varieties of promise, can now be obtained, which produce their fruit with as much certainty as the Baldwin apple ; and every individual who possesses a rod of ground throughout New England, may now enjoy the luxu- ry of fully matured grapes. The warm and the cold grape- ry, may, and probably always will be, necessary appendages to every complete garden ; but the same advancement made in this fruit that has been made in others, the Strawberry, for example, will render these structures no longer indispen- 6 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. sable, as they have hitherto been to all who would possess good grapes. In our opinion it is doubtful whether any of the foreign grapes, unless we except the Muscats, exceed the Rebecca in quality. And even the Concord, in the size of its berries and beauty of its clusters, is to be preferred to an ill-matured Black Hamburgh. Mr. J. F. Allen's efforts at hybridization promise well, and if his grape sustains the same reputation under open culture it has received under glass it will quite supersede the growth of the Chasselas and other common grapes. The American Pomological Society has given to the pub- lic the result of its deliberations at its Fourth Session, held in Rochester in September last, as published in our volume for 1856. We have in a previous summary alluded to the labors of this Association, as tending to aid materially in correcting the nomenclature of our fruits, and making known their good qualities. The mere assemblage of so many cultivators from such extreme sections of our country, and the simple exchange of opinions, is in itself a subject of congratulation. The cultivation of the pear upon the quince is of such ancient date, and has so long been successfully practiced in that great pear-growing country, France, that it appears somewhat absurd to see it attacked at this late day, as it has been by individuals, who, either from want of expe- rience, or other causes, have not succeeded well in its cul- vation on this stock ; and hence would deny to a great portion of the community for a series of years, so delicious a fruit as the pear, for in no way can it be obtained in any abundance except upon the quince, for nearly half a genera- tion. An intelligent correspondent has shown the fallacy of the arguments made use of to disparage the quince stock, and it would be useless to go over the ground again. As he has truly said, " Let gentlemen botanists have their own way in disputing about it, on we shall go," reaping an abundance of fruit, while they are cavilling in regard to a fact long ago established by the experience of men, not mere tyros in the work, but who had made the question a study of their life. JANUARY. 7 We have hardly space to allude in a proper manner to the only important scientific experiment of the year, Mr. Simp- son's mode of growing grapes, which we gave a full account of in our last volume, (XXII. p. 153.) He is now matur- ing his fourth crop of eight months each, and Avithout any diminution of vigor of the vines or excellence of the fruit. As wo intend soon to visit his grapery, and report upon the progress of his vines, we shall leave the subject, only re- marking that Mr. Simpson intends fully to establish his system, or acknowledge it a failure. It is gratifying to learn that our recent remarks on keep- ing and ripening fruit, accord with the views of several cul- tivators who have had some experience upon the subject, and have been observant of the modes generally adopted. That much that has been written is without any value is readily admitted ; and so surrounded with difficulties has the ripen- ing of our winter pears generally been pronounced, that some such simple rules are necessary to disperse the mysticism which has been so prominently claimed for the perfection of this fruit. We ought not to pass over in our review the advancement of gardening in the remote State of California. The Second Annual Fair of the State Society was held in October last, and the display of fruits, considering the recent settlement of the State, now scarcely half a dozen years, was most re- markable. Possessed of a climate as genial as it is even in its temperature, all our fruits appear to flourish with unusual vigor, and reach a bearing state at a period almost incredible to those who have waited years and years for the produce of their trees. According to the short experience of some California cultivators, the apple and pear begin to bear freely at the age of four and five years ! How much would one as zealous as Van Mons in raising new fruits accomplish in a lifetime with such results ! We may look with interest to this land of golden treasures and exuberant vegetation, for choice acquisitions to our stock of fine fruits. Our Pomological Gossip for the year has gathered up all that is interesting among new fruits, and a review of the 8 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. volume will save the recapitulation of what has already ap- peared. FLORICULTURE. In the general diffusion of a taste for flowering plants there is a marked improvement ; but in a love of the rare and beautiful plants of exotic growth which need the pro- tection of the greenhouse or hothouse, there is not so much zeal manifested as it would give us pleasure to note. While we would 0)1 no account neglect the cultivation of all those objects which add so much to the ornament of our gardens and parterres in summer, we would not forget the elegant productions which require the artificial temperature of the greenhouse, embracing as they do the Camellia, the Pelargo- nium, the Cineraria, the Azalea, the Heath, and the multi- tude of plants from milder regions. In a climate where the frost holds undisputed sway for four or five months of the year, a greenhouse affords one of the most agreeable sources of amusement as well as instruction, gratifying the eye with its blossoms of varied hue, and regaling the sense by their refreshing odor. In summer, when nature arrays herself in robes of beauty, and spreads with lavish hand her landscapes before us, we find abundance for enjoyment without the aid of flowers and plants; but in winter, when these scenes no longer greet us, the greenhouse or conservatory compensates for their loss, and the contemplation of the vegetation of other climes, which our own forbids, only by means of an artificial temperature, becomes a new source of delight. In no department of Floriculture is there so little zeal as in the cultivation of exotic plants. In this we are far behind our transatlantic friends. We have in two articles in our last volume spoken a few words for the annual and perennial plants, both of which are too much neglected in the prevaihng taste for gaudy masses of verbenas and other bedding plants. The latter, as we have already remarked, are indispensable additions to every beautiful garden, but not to the exclusion of every- thing else. It is the judgment in selection and taste in arrangement which makes the most interesting garden scene. JANUART. V Specialities maybe permitted in the grounds of every cultiva- tor, but the garden which shall please the most and retain its beauty the longest, must include the whole range of flowering plants, and specialities should be the exception and not the rule. The Rose, that most beautiful of all garden shrubs, has found some excellent advocates in our last volume, whose advice, in regard to its culture and the selection of varieties, is of great value. Our correspondent, Professor Page, who is a zealous cultivator, will continue his remarks in our present volume, to which we, as no doubt our readers do, look with great interest. The rose is a favorite flower, but the introduction of the finer varieties does not receive enough attention. In too many gardens we still find only the older and inferior kinds. True, we would not discard them with haste, merely to sub- stitute new ones without regard to their merit ; but in the immense number of sorts which the French, with a prodi- gality beyond belief, bring to the notice of fanciers, there are many which are a great improvement over the old kinds^ and to add these to their gardens should be the object of all who would possess a fine collection. We would here, also, speak a word for the Annual roses, which are likely to be neg- lected for the so-called Perpetuals ; the latter we fully appre- ciate, but in the passion for these we should not forget the former, which produce a mass of bloom in June that no other class can equal, and no Perpetuals repay by their scat- tered auturnnal flowers. Let us advise every lover of roses not to neglect the Annual bloomers, however so much he may admire the Perpetuals. The Rhododendron, the Azalea, the Kalmia, and the Tree Paeony are garden shrubs of the greatest magnificence. We long ago remarked that we could not let a year pass without advocating the extended cultivation of such ornaments to every garden of any pretences to beauty. Some zealous amateurs appreciate their worth ; but it is with regret that we add, too many know nothing about them. While in Eng- land the merit of a fine residence is appreciated in proportion TOL. XXIII. NO. 1. 2 10 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. to the extent of its American plants, we, in our ignorance of what that beauty consists, pass them by unheeded, and fill our grounds with imported shrubs, to the exclnsion of our own natives, or their innumerable hybrids. The greatest attractions of the London exhibitions are the American plants; the most interesting feature of their suburban places is the American garden. How long will it be before our own cultivators will appreciate the real elegance of these shrubs, and make them indispensable to the decoration of their gardens and grounds. For the variety of new plants introduced to Europe and added to our own collections we must refer to our Flori- cultural Notes. ARBORICULTURE. Laboring to increase the taste for trees and shrubs, we have devoted many articles in our last volume to a complete description of all the principal ornamental trees, with en- gravings of some of the more rare and less known ; and be- lieving that nothing has so much prevented the formation of ornamental plantations as the want of a knowledge of the many trees which are suitable for the purpose, we intend to continue the series of papers by our correspondent, Mr. Flagg, as well as our own articles, in our present volume. The information which they will convey will, we hope, in- duce our amateur planters to introduce them into their grounds, that they may give that variety which is the charm of every garden landscape, but which they have heretofore rarely possessed. The Magnolia, the Tulip tree, and the Virgilia, all hardy native trees, are as little known as if they were natives of a foreign clime. With such a number of fine trees as our country supplies, in addition to those of exotic growth, there can be no want of variety in the most limited pleasure ground. The introduction of Evergreen trees into Ornamental plantations is becoming more general, both for purposes of effect and for shelter, and they embrace a greater variety than heretofore. All the known really hardy sorts are more sought after, and there is an eager desire to extend the JANUARY. 1 1 list as rapidly as they can be well ascertained. Among the great number of species, coming from the high eleva- tions of warmer climes, that have been recently brought to notice, it is difficult to know which are hardy; for while the native habitats of some would indicate that they are, experience proves the contrary ; while others, which from the same cause are supposed to be tender, prove the reverse, and may be classed among our hardy trees. The high mountain ranges of California, it is believed, will yet enrich our gardens with some fine species ; so far, however, all that have been received are too scarce and rare to risk a fair trial. The Washingtonea it is feared will not prove hardy. As soon as we conclude our articles on " Our Ornamental Trees," we intend to take up the Evergreens in the same manner. LANDSCAPE GARDENING. We are gratified to notice that there is an increasing de- sire with those who are laying out new residences or im- proving old ones, to place the work in the hands of those who make some pretensions to landscape art. We are aware that there are very few who are able to undertake this task or carry out the work in a thorough and artist-like manner; this cannot be expected at present; but to have some ap- proach to the true principles of landscape is better than the crude attempts that are made by those who have no correct ideas upon the subject. When a few good examples can be referred to for inspection we have no doubt it will be- come the general practice of gentlemen of wealth and taste to secure the advice of professional men before planting their grounds. In order to make our readers acquainted with the history as well as practice of Landscape Gardening in England, wliere it has attained such perfection as to be designated the English or Natural Style, our correspondent, Wilson Flagg, has given a brief review of all the works of any note that have been written during the last century upon this interesting subject. They contain a great fund of information, and useful sug- gestions touching the principles and practice of Landscape ii THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Gardening. A careful perusal of these articles, which con- tain the peculiar views of each author, and the substauce of their practice, will materially aid every amateur who is desir- ous of cultivating a taste for Landscape Art, As some of the works reviewed are not easily to be procured, the ab- stract of those presented by Mr. Flagg will be the more acceptable. One thing we must object to, which we have seen in plans of new grounds ; this is the introduction of grotesque or fanciful figures, scattered promiscuously over turf, without any reference either to their own groups, or with surround- ing objects. It is in the worst possible taste ; a circle is generally admissible in almost any situation, because it har- monizes with every curved line ; but diamonds, stars, trian- gles, and other similar forms, make an incongruous mass, impossible to dispose in any harmonious manner with curved or even straight lines. HORTICULTURAL LITERATURE. The principal publications of tha year have been new editions of previous years. The few new works are the fol- ing : — Gardening for the South, by Wm. N. White of Athens, Ga., which we have noticed. The American Grape Grower's Guide, by Wm. Chorlton. Noxious Insects of New York, by Dr. Fitch, published by the authority of the State. Studies in Field and Forest, by Wilson Flagg, which, though not strictly Horticultural, treats upon sub- jects so immediately connected with rural life that we enu- merate it here. The second volume of the Fruits of America has been completed, and the first number of the third volume will appear in February. The two volumes contain ninety-six beautifully colored plates of the finest pears, apples, peaches, cherries, and plums, cultivated in the United States, with full descriptions of each, and numerous engravings, illustrating the habits of the trees, &c. It is published at great expense, and we hope will receive the support of all who are interested in the growth of fine fruit. Its dissemination among our nurserymen would be the means JANUARY. 13' of preventing many errors which are now so common. In addition to these we may mention the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1855, which contains a large amount of vahiable information to the agri- culturist. It is a volume alike creditable to the Society and to Col. Johnson, the able corresponding secretary who pre- pared it. The Patent Office Report for 1855 is of a sim- ilar character to those which have preceded, containing useful information, but mixed with much that is of no im- portance whatever. The Genesee Farmer has passed into the hands of Joseph Harris, an able writer on agricultural matters. obituary. We have already recorded the death of Dr. T. W. Harris, the eminent Entomologist. We have now to announce, among those distinguished for their interest in Agriculture or Horticulture, who have died the past year, the name of the Rev. J, O. Choules, of Newport, R. I., who died suddenly in New York. Dr. Choules was deeply interested in agricul- ture, and all that pertains to its kindred arts. He was for a lor]g time a prominent member of the American Institute, and one of the committee of managers. His circle of friends was large, and his loss will be greatly lamented. Mr. N. J. Becar of Brooklyn, N. Y., died suddenly at his home in August last. Mr. Becar was widely known to the Flori- cultural world, as one of the most successful amateur culti- vators of the camellia, having produced some very beautiful seedlings. His collection of plants has frequently been no- ticed in the earlier volumes of our Magazine. Of late years he had turned his attention to the raising of stock on his farm in Smithtown, and at the time of his death, in con- nection with Mr. L. G. Morris, owned some of the finest Durham cattle in the United States. His loss will be great- ly deplored by the friends of agriculture and horticulture throughout the country. Hon. Elijah Vose, of Dorchester : Mr. Vose was for many years President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, having succeeded Zebedee Cook, Esq. in 1835. He labored zealously for the interests of the So- 14 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ciety, and aided in placing it in the prominent position it now holds. He was an excellent cultivator, and prorlnced many fine specimens of fruit from his garden. He also contrib- uted to the columns of the old New England Farmer, and our Magazine. His article upon the Strawberry in our Vol- ume for 1836, (H. p. 89,) is one of the best we have ever published on the growth of this fruit. Of late years he lost all interest in horticultural pursuits, and rarely if ever attend- ed the meetings of the Society. Though absent for so long a period from his old associates and friends, his memory will be cherished and his death lamented. THE LITERATURE OF GARDENING. BY WILSON FLAOG. No. XI. " Observations on Forest Scenery." By Rev. Wm. Gilpin. This is one of the most pleasing productions of the Eng- lish press on the subject of Forest Scenery which is treated by the author, both as it relates to the art of painting, and to the art of planting for ornamental effects. The literary merits of the work are of a high order, and it ranks among the standard productions of English literature. To the student of the art of landscape painting, the perusal of this work may be considered as indispensable, and the lover of nature will always read it with a lively interest, on account of its excellent analysis of the beauty of trees, and its ingen- ious remarks on the art of grouping and arranging them in landscape. Our author considers a tree the grandest and most beauti- ful of all the productions of the earth. In the former of these epithets nothing contends with it, for rocks and moun- tains are but a part of the earth itself; and though among inferior plants, shrubs, and flowers, there is great beauty, yet they are beautiful as individuals, and are not, like trees, JANUARY. 15 adapted to composition in landscape, nor to receive the effects of light and shade. In like maimer the splendid tints of the insect, however beantiful, must yield, in elegance and proportion, to animals of a higher class. Trees are not to be compared with animals in their spirited attitudes, charac- ter, and motion ; but, in point of variety, Nature has been kinder to trees than to living forms. Though every animal is distinguished from its fellow, by some little variation of color, character, or shape, yet, in all the larger parts, in the body and limbs, tile resemblance is generally exact. In trees it is just the reverse : the smaller parts — the spray, the leaves, the blossom, and the seed — are the same in all trees of the same kind; while the larger parts are wholly diifer- ent. You never see two oaks with an equal number of limbs, the same kind of head, and twisted in the same form ; and it is from these larger parts that the most beautiful varie- ties result. There is also as much difurence in the beauty of trees of the same kind as there is in human figures. The limbs of some arc awkwardly set, their trunks are disproportioned, and their whole form is unpleasing. The same rules which establish elegance in other objects establish it in these. There must be the same harmony of parts, the same sweep- ing line, the same contrast, the same ease and freedom. All forms that are unnatural displease. A tree lopped into a May-pole is disgusting. Clipped trees and pollards, for the same reason, are disagreeable. Even natural forms, when they bear a resemblance to art, sometimes displease. Hence we are seldom so well pleased with the conical or pyramidal trees as v\'ith those whose forms are less constrained : almost everybody prefers the shape of an oak to that of a fir. Lightness is also a characteristic' of beauty in a tree. Its extremities must in some parts be separated, and hang loosely from the fulness of their foliage that occupies the middle of the tree, or the whole will be only a large bush. The horse- chestnut, in this respect, is commonly mipleasing. A tree must also be well balanced to be beautiful. It may have form, and it may have lightness, and yet lose all its effect 16 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. by wanting a proper poise. The boll mnst appear to support the branches, not necessarily with the perpendicular firmness of a column, but it should never lean so much that one side is plainly overbalanced. Yet beauty often arises, under cer- tain circumstances, from an unbalanced tree ; but the pecu- liarity of the situation must give it a local propriety. A tree, for instance, hanging from a rock, though totally unpoised, may be beautiful, or when we see it bending over a road, because it corresponds with its peculiar situation. Without these requisites, therefore, of form, lightness, and proper balance, no tree is beautiful. Besides these requisites of beauty in a tree, our author enumerates other things, of an adventitious kind, which often add great beauty to it. Many of these are derived from injuries the tree receives, or the diseases to which it is sub- ject. What is more beautiful, for instance, on a rugged fore- ground, than an old tree, with a hollow trunk, or with a dead arm, a drooping bough, or a dying branch ? Our author cannot, however, intend to apply these remarks to trees in real landscape, though they may be very applicable to those employed by the painter. A tree which has those deformi- ties that indicate its great antiquity, it will not be denied, may often add impressiveness to a scene in real nature. As the author remarks, these splendid remnants of decaying grandeur speak to the imagination in a style of eloquence which the stripling cannot reach. The author considers the mosses, lichens, and other para- sitic plants that grow upon the trunks and branches of trees, as adding greatly to their beauty in many cases. In the damp climate of England these appendages to the trees are probably a great deal more luxuriant than in our dry climate. All these parasites, under whatever names distinguished, add, in the author's opinion, a great richness to trees ; and when they are blended harmoniously, as is generally the case, the rough and furrowed trunk of an old oak, adorned with these pleasing appendages, is an object which will long detain the picturesque eye. But, besides the appearance of moss upon the trunks of trees, it creeps among the branches, and ^ome- JANUARY. 17 times takes possession even of the smaller spray. In winter this often has a fine effect, when the whole tree, turned into a beautiful piece of straw-colored coral, appears against a dark wood, or some other background which gives it relief. The author calls these mosses and lichens the ornaments, while the foliage is the dress, of a tree. Mr. Gilpin's description of the blasted tree is highly poeti- cal, and we shall quote it verbatim : " The blasted tree has often a fine effect both in natural and artificial landscape. In some scenes it is almost essential. When the dreary heath is spread before the eye, and ideas of wildness and desolation are required, what more suitable accompaniment can be imagined than the blasted oak, rugged, scathed, and leafless, shooting its peeled, white branches athwart against the gathering blackness of some rising storm ? Thus the poet treats it : — ' As when heaven's fire Hath scathed the forest oak, or mountain pine, With singed top, its stately growth, though bare, Stands on the blasted heath.' " The rooting of trees is also a circumstance on which their beauty greatly depends. Old trees generally heave their roots above the soil, and the appearance is certainly very picturesque. The more they raise the ground around them, and the greater number of radical knobs they heave up, the firmer they seem to establish their footing upon the earth, and the more dignity they assume. An old tree rising tamely from a smooth surface, as we often find it, covered with earth, in artificial ground, loses half its effect. It does not appear as the lord of the soil, but to be stuck into it, and would have a still worse effect on canvas than it has in nature. To the adventitious beauties of trees we may add their susceptibility of motion. The waving heads of some, and the undulation of others, give a continual variety to their forms. In nature, the motion of trees is certainly a circum- stance of great beauty. From the motion of the tree proceeds that pleasing appearance of the checkered shade formed under it by the dancing of the sunbeams among its playing leaves. VOL. XXIII. NO. 1. 3 18 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. We shall pass over the remarks of the author concerning individual trees, and proceed to that part of the treatise in which he considers them under their various combinations, among which clumps are the simplest. What number of trees make a clump no rules of art prescribe. In scenes brought near the eye, we call three or four trees a clump ; but in distant and extensive scenery, we scruple not to use the term for any smaller detached part of a wood, though it may consist of some hundreds. The author distinguishes two kinds of clumps, therefore, — the smaller and the larger, con- fining the former chiefly to the foreground., and considering the latter as the ornament of the distance. The chief beauty of the smaller clump arises from con- trast in the parts. In single trees, each must have its charac- teristic beauty. It has nothing else to depend on. But, in combination, the beauty of the individual is not required : the whole clump together must produce the effect. In the first place, the relative situation of trees with regard to each other should be considered. Three trees or more, standing in a line, are formal. In the natural wood you rarely see this formality. If three trees do not stand in a line, they must stand in a triangle, which produces a great variety of pleasing forms. If a fourth tree be added, it stands beauti- fully near the middle of the triangle, of whatever form the triangle may be. As the trees increase, their different modes of growth, the swelling of their roots, the habits they con- tract from winds, their ramification, their lateral branches, and other accidental circumstances, introduce endless varie- ties among them ; but, after all, the artificial clump will rarely attain the beauty of the natural one. If the clump consist of still more trees than four, a greater variety among the stems will take place, — double triangles, irregular quincunxes, and other pleasing shapes, which may be seen exemplified in every wood of natural growth. The branches, also, are as much a source of contrast as the stem. To be picturesque they must intermingle with each other without heaviness ; they must hang loosely and variously from every side ; and if there be one superior apex, there JANUARY. 19 may be two or three others that are subordinate, according to the size of the clump. If trees of different species are mixed, they ought not to be planted, as they often are, alter- nately, but each kind together. Contrasts also arise from the mixture of trees of unequal growth, — from a young tree united with an old one, a stunted tree with a luxuriant one, and sometimes two or three trees which, in themselves, are ill-shaped, but, when combined, are pleasing. Inequalities of all these kinds are what chiefly give Nature's planting a superiority over art. The form of the foliage is another source of contrast. But, whatever beauty these contrasts exhibit, the effect is totally lost unless the group be well balanced. This is as necesaary in a com- bination of trees as in a single tree. The group is consid- ered as one object, and the support of the whole must depend on the several trunks and leading branches of which it is composed. Unless the group have suffered some external injury, it is seldom deficient in balance. Nature always conducts the stems and branches in such easy forms, wher- ever there is an opening, and fills up all with so much nice contrivance, and, at the same time, with so much picturesque irregularity, that we rarely wish for an amendment in her works. So true, indeed, is this, that nothing is so danger- ous as to take away a tree from a group. You are liable to destroy the balance, which can never be restored. From clumps the author proceeds to park scenery, which is generally composed of combinations of clumps, interspersed with lawns. When it consists of large districts of wood, it rather takes the name of forest scenery. The park, which is a species of landscape little known except in England, is one of the noblest appendages of a great house. Nothing gives a mansion so much dignity, nor contributes more to mark its consequence. The beauty of park scenery is best displayed on a varied surface, where the ground swells and falls, where hanging lawns, screened with wood, are con- nected with valleys, and where one part is continually play- ing in contrast with another. As the park is an appendage to the house, it follows that it should participate of its neat- 20 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ness and elegance. Nature, in all her great landscapes, observes this accommodating rule. She seldom passes ab- ruptly from one mode of scenery to another, but generally connects different species of landscape by some third species which participates of both. A mountainous country rarely sinks immediately into a level one ; the swellings and heav- ings of the earth grow gradually less. Thus, as the house is connected with the country through the medium of the park, the park should partake of the neatness of the one, and of the wildness of the other. The most natural inhabitants of parks are fallow deer, and very beautiful they are ; but flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, are more useful, and, in the author's opinion, more beautiful. Sheep, particularly, are very ornamental in a park. Their color is just that dingy hue which contrasts with the verdure of the ground, and the flakiness of their wool is rich and picturesque. They ought, however, to wear their natural livery, — not patched with letters, nor daubed with red ochre. To see the side of a hill spread with groups of sheep, or to see them through openings among the vales of trees, at a little distance, with a gleam of light falling upon them, is very picturesque. The wild scenes of nature lastly occupy the attention of the author, — the wood, the copse, the glen, and the open grove. Under the term ivood, he includes every extensive combination of forest trees in a state of nature, but defers the description of such scenes for the purpose of examining the smaller combinations. The copse is a species of scenery composed usually of forest trees, intermixed with brush- wood, the last of which is periodically cut down once in about fourteen years. In its dismantled state, nothing can be more forlorn than the copse. The area is covered with bare roots and knobs, from which the brush-wood has been cut ; while the forest trees, intermingled with them, present their rugged stems, despoiled of all their lateral branches, which the luxuriance of the surrounding thickets had choked. In a very short time, however, all this injury is repaired. The next summer produces luxuriant shoots, and two sum- JANUARY. 21 mers more restore it almost to perfect beauty. We rarely expect more from the copse, however, than a shady, seques- tered path, which it generally furnishes in great perfection. In distant landscape, the copse hath seldom any effect. The beauty of wood in a distant view arises, in some degree, from its tuftings, which break and enrich the lights, but chiefly from its contrast with the plain, and from the ground shapes and forms occasioned by the retiring and advancing parts of the forest, which produce vast masses of light and shade, and give effect to the whole. From the copse he proceeds to the glen. A wide, open space between hills is called a vale. If it be of smaller dimensions, we call it a valley. But when this space is con- tracted to a chasm, it becomes a gloi. A glen is, therefore, most commonly, the offspring of a mountainous country. The circumstances which form the glen, it is evident, admit of infinite variety. It may be more or less contracted. It may form one single sweep, or its deviations may be irregu- lar. The most beautiful circumstances that attend the inter- nal parts of a glen are the glades or openings which are found in it. If the whole were a thicket, like the full- grown copse, little beauty would result. An agreeable shade only, in that case, must satisfy our expectations. But the glen, whose furniture is commonly of more fortuitous growth than that of the copse, and not so subject to periodical defal- cations, exhibits generally more beautiful scenery. Particu- larly it abounds with frequent openings. The eye is carried down from the higher grounds to a sweep of the river, or to a little gushing cascade, or to the face of a fractured rock, garnished with hanging wood, or perhaps to a cottage, with its scanty area of lawn falling to the river on one side, and sheltered by a clump of oaks on the other ; or, still more beautifully, perhaps, the eye breaks out at some opening into the country, enriched with all the varieties of distant landscape, a winding stream, plains and woods melting together, and blue mountains beyond. The open grove is composed of trees arising from a smooth area, which may consist either of pines or of deciduous trees. 22 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. The pine grove will always be dry, on account of tlie pecul- iar quality of its leaves; but, in lightness, variety, and gen- eral beauty, the deciduous grove excels. The op'ju grove seldom makes a picturesque appearance. In distant scenery, indeed, it may have the effect of other woods ; for the trees of which it is formed need not be separated from each other, but, being well massed together, may receive beautiful effects of light. When we enter its recesses, it sometimes wants variety. And yet, a walk upon a velvet turf, winding at pleasure among these natural columns, with their twisting branches, and their spreading canopy of foliage over the head, is pleasing, and, in hot weather, refreshing. Some- times we find the open grove of natural growth. It is then more various and irregular, and a more pleasing scene. And yet, when woods of this kind continue, as they sometimes do in unpeopled countries, through half a province, they become tiresome, and prove that it is not wood, but variety of landscape, that delights the eye. The pleasing tranquillity of groves has ever been in high repute among the innocent and refined part of mankind. Groves were planted to console at noon The pensive wanderer in their shades. At eve The moonbeam, sliding softly in between The sleeping leaves, is all the light he wants For meditation. Indeed, no species of landscape is so fitted for meditation. The forest attracts the attention by its grandeur, and the park scene by its beauty; while the paths through the copses, dells, and thickets, are too close, devious, interrupted, and often too beautiful, to allow the mind to be at perfect rest. But the uniform sameness of the grove leaves the eye dis- engaged, and the feet, wandering at pleasure where they are confined to no path, want little direction. The mind, there- fore, undisturbed, has only to retire within itself In the pristine ages of the world, the groves were the only temples in which the Deity was worshipped, and to this templutn nemorale one of the earliest forms of the artificial temple seems to have been indebted. Many learned men JANUARY. 23 have tliouglU the Gothic arch of the cathedra] churches was an imitation of the natural grove. It arises from a lofty stem, or from two or three stems, if they be slender, which, being bound together, and spreading in every direction, cover the whole roof with their ramification. In the close recesses of the beechen grove, we find this idea the most complete. The lofty narrow aisle, the pointed arch, the clustered pil- lars, whose parts, separating without violence, diverge grad- ually to form the fretted roof, find there, perhaps, their earliest archetype. The forest, which is the subject next considered, is an extensive wood, with all its natural accompaniments. There are few extensive forests that do not contain in them a speci- men of every species of woody landscape. The wild forest- view, indeed, differs essentially from the embellished one, though we sometimes find even the forest lawn in a pol- ished state, when browsed by deer into a fine turf, and sm*- rounded by stately woods. Beauty, how^ever, is not the characteristic of the forest. Its peculiar distinction is gran- deur and dignity. The scenes we have hitherto considered are all within the reach of art, and, in fact, have all been the objects of improvement. But the forest disdains all human culture. On it the hand of Nature only is impressed. The forest, like other beautiful scenes, pleases the eye ; but its great effect is to rouse the imagination. The permanent beauties of a distant woody scene arise, first, from its form. There is as much variety in the form of a distant wood as in that of a single tree. We sometimes see continuous woods stretching along the horizon, without any break. All seems of equal growth ; the summit of the ■wood is contained under one straight line. This, except in very remote distance, is heavy and formal. The shape of distant woods is picturesque only when it is broken by a varied line. This variation is, in some degree, occasioned by the different sizes of trees ; but, as the size of trees, where the distance is great, has little effect, it is chiefly, and most essentially, occasioned by the inequalities of the ground. A line regularly varied displeases as much as an unvaried one. 24 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Among the permanent beauties of distant woods may be reckoned, also, the various kinds of trees of which they are often composed. Unless the distance be great, this mixture has its effect in the variety it produces both in foiTn and color. Large bodies of fir, also, and other species of pines, have often a rich appearance, in a distance, among deciduous trees, but they must be of the round-headed species. The spiry-headed race, the spruce fir, the silver fir, and the Wey- mouth pine (white pine), have a bad effect. Single, they are sometimes beautiful, but the author thinks they are never so in large masses. In general, however, the picturesque eye is little curious with regard to the kind of trees which compose a distant scene, for there are few kinds that do not harmonize together. It matters more, in this bold kind of landscape, that the masses of each different kind should be large. The opposition is then strongly marked, and the contrast striking. If different trees are grouped in small bodies, the effect is totally lost in distance. POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP, The Barbarossa Grape. — Some time since we noticed the exhibition of two fine clusters of this grape before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, from R. S. Rogers, Esq. of Salem. At a late meeting of the British Pomologi- cal Society, (Nov. 6,) a handsome bunch was exhibited, weighing Jive pounds seven ounces, (5 lb. 7 oz.) It is a pop- ular and valuable late grape. The Bowood Muscat Grape. — This is a new va.iety, raised at Bowood, the seat of the Marquis of Lansdowne, between the Cannon Hall and the Muscat of Alexandria. It differs somewhat from both of its parents ; although it is a week or ten days later in breaking in the spring, the fruit ripens rather earlier than the common Muscat. The bunch- es are broader and shorter ; every bloom sets, even in a JANUARY. 25 temporature comparatively low. This is a marked feature, and the bunches arc invariably compact, and regular in con- sequence, and must be well thinned out to allow the berries to attain their full size. The berries are oval ; when grown in a light house we find them pear shaped, more than oval, large, and of a bright amber color when ripe. The habit is scarcely so vigorous as that of the common Muscat. It is very productive, there being frequently three and four bunches on a shoot. Such is the account of this variety as grown by Mr. Spencer, the intelligent gardener. To this Mr. R. Thompson of the London Horticultural Society adds the following : — This is a very fine thing and perfectly distinct. The bunch is very large and well shouldered, with strong foot- stalks. Berries very large, inclining to obovate, one and a- quarter inches long by nine tenths of an inch in diam&ier ; the skin is greenish yellow, or of the same color as that of the White Muscat of Alexandria, but it was evident that the berries had not acquired the color of complete maturity. The flesh is firm, juicy, with a rich sugary Muscat flavor : Seeds, 2 — 4. This variety, from its being an abundant bearer, and a free setter, forming magnificent well shoul- dered bunches, appears to be well deserving of cultivation. The Editor adds : We have never seen a variety of great- er promise. The appearance of the bunch and berries is most magnificent. The quality much the same as that of the Cannon Hall. With such threefold evidence of the Bowood Muscat, it would appear to be a great acquisition, and destined to re- place the Cannon Hall, the noblest of the Muscats, but too uncertain for general cultivation. Stockwood Golden Haiuburgh Grape. — This is another new variety, said to have been raised from the Black Ham- burgh, impregnated with the Chasselas or Sweet Water. Th3 growth of the vines resembles the male parent, but the foliage is similar to the Hamburgh, being large, five lobed, with the veins and footstalks tinged with red. The bunch- VOL. XXIII. NO. I. 4 26 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTUKE. es are large, loose, branching and shouldered, varjnng from six to nine inches long, and the footstalks are sliort and stout. The berries are large and hang loosely on the bunches, an inch long, seven eighths of an inch in diameter, and of a uniform oval shape. The berry stalks are long, stout, and considerably warted. Skin thin, tender, of a pale yellow color, but, when fully ripened, of a pale amber. Flesh deli- cate and melting, very juicy, and remarkably rich and vinous. Though apparently, from this description, a valuable va- riety, it is not so remarkable a seedling as the Bowood Mus- cat. It will be well, however, for our grape growers to give it a trial. Summer Virgalieu Pear. — In the summer of 1854, Mr. C Downing sent us specimens of a pear under tlie above name, which proved to be a very fine early variety. We immediately inquired of Mr. Downing in regard to its origin. But he could give us no other information, than that it was sent to him from Dutchess Co., and that the name was prob- ably a local one. He thought it a foreign variety, but from what reason he did not state, and he considered it distinct from any kind he had in cultivation. It is of medium size, and in appearance somewhat resembles the JuHeime, though more tapering to the stem. We consider it an acquisition to our summer pears. It ripens the last of August. The Washington Apple. — For three or four years a beau- tiful apple has been shown at the Exhibitions of the New York State Agricultural Society, called the Wasliington County Seedling, having originated in that county. It was of large size, remarkably beautiful, of the finest quality, and well worthy of extensive cultivation. Three years ago we made a drawing and description of it, which we intended to have published ere this, but have been waiting to add some account of its origin. Not yet having been able to do so, we briefly notice it now, and shall give a full account of it in our present volume. It is a late autumn or early winter apple, and a valuable addition to any collection. JANUARY. 27 THE ELM. BY WILSON FLAOG. Notwithstanding the many important defects of the American chii, I must confess that I partake of all the admi- ration, which it has so generally received in the New Eng- land States. To me no other tree seems half so beantiful or so majestic. It does not exhibit the stnrdy rnggedness that distinguisiics the oak; it is not so evidently defiant of the wind and tempest ; it seems indeed to make no outward pretensions of strength and power of resistance ; it bends to the breeze which the oak defies, and the resistance it makes against an assault, resembles that of the civilized captain, rather than that of the rude and ignorant soldier. The American elm, indeed, is a fair symbol of a well-bred New England country-gentleman, who has strength without rude- ness, politeness without effeminacy, and courage united with a mild and gentle deportment. There are many such men among our intelligent yeomanry : and when I look upon a noble American elm, with its broad arms extended over Arhole roods of land, exhibiting outwardly the grace and pliability of the willow, while it possesses an inward strength and toughness that surpasses that of the oak, I am re- minded of that combination of moral traits which are so pleasingly emblemised by this magnificent tree. The elm is peculiarly a New England tree. It forms the most remarkable and the most distinguishing arborescent feature of our landscape. If there are in any other section of the country as many elms, they are mingled with the forest and are not conspicuous. In New England the elm has been planted and cherished from the earliest period of our history ; and the inhabitants have always looked upon it with delight, and valued it as a landscape ornament above every other tree. Our soil is favorable to its growth, and the latitude of Massachusetts is the region in which it seems to be most abundant. Hence nature has assisted the efforts of the inhabitants in multiplying it over all our New Eng- land plains and valleys. 28' THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. No species exhibits so great a variety of shapes in the manner of growth of different individuals as the white elm. In this respect the trees may be ranged under five different heads. The first, as Emerson has remarked, iacludes those of the vase form ; the base of which is represented by the roots of the tree that project above the ground and join the trunk ; the middle of the vase by the lower part of the prin- cipal branches, as they swell out with a graceful curve, where they emerge from the shaft, and then gradually di- verge until they curve outwardly, and form a top encircled with the drooping spray of the exterior terminal branches. The second division embraces those of the umbrella form, as represented in those trees which rise up with a single straight shaft to the height of thirty feet or more, and then send out a multitude of slender branches, diverging rapidly, and forming a convex and circular drooping head of branches and foliage. Under the third head are comprehended the palm-shaped elms, found mostly among those which grew up in the forest, and were left in the clearing by the woodman. The shaft has acquired the length of fifty feet or more before it is subdivided, and the principal branches, instead of diverg- ing at a wide angle, run up in close proximity to one another, until they suddenly spread out into a flat top of foliage and spray, bearing, at a distance, a strong resemblance to a tall palm tree. They are likewise often seen inclining a little from a perpendicular line, — a position which is fre- quent among palms. The fourth division consists of the round-headed elms, which send out their branches very near the ground, and extend them forward in a more horizontal direction than is general, causing the head to be very nearly of a globular or hemispherical shape. The largest elms are included in this and the first division. The most remarkable of all these varieties are those in- cluded under the fifth head, which resemble a single or com- pound plume. The trees of this division, instead of being repeatedly subdivided into branches, increasing in slender- JANUARY. 29 ness until they terminate in a long and drooping spray, are only once subdivided. The shaft runs upwards to the height of forty feet or more, and then sends forth from three or four, to eight or ten principal branches : but these branches remain single and undivided, and are covered on all sides with a fringe of vine-like branches of only a few feet in length and extremely slender, resembling a parasitic growth, and covering the whole tree with a wreath of vinery. It would seem as if the branches had been pruned of their proper and natural growth, and that afterwards some luxu- riant vine had been trained from the root of the tree, up- wards and outwards to the extremity of every limb. It may be remarked that elms of this shape have no spray. One of the most remarkable trees of this variety may be seen in the north part of Danvers, near the place where the Essex railroad crosses the Ipswich river. Sometimes the tree consists only of a single tall and slender shaft, without any branches, except two or three small ones at the top, and wreathed from the root to its summit with this peculiar embroidery, and representing one single enormous plume.* This peculiar growth of vine-like branches may be seen garlanded around the trunks and lower branches of a great proportion of the elms in the interior, where the scraper and the pruning knife have not been applied to them, and early in summer it is highly ornamental in its appearance. But it seldom clothes the branches of a tree, except at the expense of what may be considered its normal growth. I have seen occasionally a pitch-pine tree wreathed in a similar manner. I know of nothing more beautiful in nature than this embroi- dery of the elm ; and I am at a loss to account for its effect on the mind, but it seems to have the same charms for every beholder. The effect does not arise from its singularity ; for the still more singular habit of those trees which have an inverted growth, like the weeping ash, is apt to strike the beholder with disgust, like all other monstrosities. The * 51y atleiilion was first directed to these varieties in the growth of the elm, by Mr. S. P Fowler of Danversporl, to whom the pubHc has been indebted for many ing^enioiu observations on the different branches of Natural History. 30 THE MAGAZINE OF HOETICULTURE. effect of this abnormal growth of the ehu undoubtedly arises, in part, from our habit of associating the appearance with the idea of a bounteous and luxuriant vegetation, and with the little snug retreats which it affords to tlie smaller birds, whose nests are often enclosed within this tangled vinery. It is not uncommon to hear an exclamation of regret that this custom of planting the elm should have been so uni- versal in the New England States, and that otlicr species had not been planted to an equal extent. If besides the elms already in existence we had also as many of every other species, we should have a sufficient cause for rejoicing : but I shall never lament that in the place of an elm we have an oak, a maple, or an ash. With all its defects of foliage it has charms unrivalled by any other tree ; a variety in its forms not observed in any other species ; a dignity which the oak catmot rival ; a grace which the slender birch cannot surpass, uniting the lofty grandeur of the palm with the majesty of tiie cedar of Lebanon. The elm, like other American trees, is not celebrated in history and romance. But though it has never been conse- crated by the muse, or dignified by making a figure in the paintings of the old masters, the native inhabitant of New England associates its varied forms with all that is delightful in the scenery of his own land, or memorable in its history He has beheld these trees forming many a noble avenue, when standing in rows in our villages, or by the rustic road- side : he has seen them extending their broad and benevolent arms as a protector over many a spacious old farm-house, and many a humble cottage, adorning alike the most rude and the most cultivated scenes, and equally harmonizing with all. He has seen them on public grounds of the city, with their ample shade and flowing spray, inviting the weary traveller to linger under their cool protection in summer; and in winter he has beheld them among the rude hills and mountains, like spectral figures stalking amidst their wintry desolation ; and on the waking of the year suddenly trans- formed into towers of luxuriant verdure and beauty. Every JANUARY. 31 year of his life has ho seen the beautiful hang-bird weave his pensile habitation upon the long and flexible branches of the elm, where it is secure from the reach of any livnng creature. From its vast dome of interwoven branches and foliage he has listened to the songs of the earliest and latest birds ; and beneath its umbrageous canopy he has witnessed many a merry-making assemblage of village children em- ployed in the sportive games of summer. A remarkable trait in the character of the elm is, that, nnlike otlier trees, it seldom loses its beauty by growing up in the dense forest. It is simply modified into a peculiarly slender shape, and is caused to assume the lofty attitude and feathery summit of the graceful palm tree. Its habit of put- ting forth at the termination of its shaft, whether it be long or short, a number of divergent and equal branches, causes it, even v/hen crowded among other trees of the forest, to assume a shape that is always beautiful. Ehiis, therefore, may be left standing after tlio remainder of the wood has been cleared away, and still become finely formed and ma- jestic standards in the course of a few years, dilfcring from field-elms only by having a longer shaft. Other trees, as every one has remarked, when they have grown up in a forest, have nothing but a round head of branches at the summit of a very tall and awkward trunk. The principal defect of the elm is observed in the latter part of summer, in the early fading of its foliage, and in the want of any remarkable beauty of tints in the autumn. Its foliage, early in August, begins to fade into a din-gy green, and gradually turns yellow in September before it falls from the tree. But this yellow tint is never very brilliant or attractive. When the tree is completely disrobed of its foliage the elm again appears in all the graceful majesty of its form, surpassing in its denuded state almost every other tree of the forest. This beauty is occasioned by the great length and repeated subdivision of its branches, which run up at very acute angles near their junction, and bend very gradually uiuil they form noble semicircular arches, and ter- minate in a long sweeping spray. 32 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Very early in April the elm puts out its flowers, of a dark purple or maroon color, in numerous clusters fringing the long, slender terminal branches. They appear simultane- ously with the bright crimson flowers of the red maple, and give the tree a highly beautiful, though not a brilliant ap- pearance. As the leaves begin to sprout the flowers fade, and soon ripen their seeds, which are quite mature before the foliage is entirely expanded. The seed, called asamcwa, bears a general resemblance to that of a parsnep, and being exceedingly light is carried to great distances by the wind. During the month of June, soon after the leaves are ex- panded, the elm appears in its greatest beauty, and exhibits a very brilliant verdure. However defective its foliage may be in the latter part of summer, no tree surpasses it early in the season in the liveliness of its verdure, or in the luxuriant manner in which it is v/reathed upon the branches, and falls in graceful drapery around the principal stem. The slippery, or red elm, ( Ulnms falva) is inferior to the other in size, and has not in general its droophig habit ; but it is a handsome tree, and remarkable, like the white elm, for the beauty of its spray. The English elm (Ulnms camjjest/is) difl"ers exceed- ingly in its mode of growth from the American tree. It is never subdivided like the latter, but sends up a single shaft to its very summit, and gives out its branches laterally and horizontally like the oak. This habit gives it an ap];earance of stateliness which is not so apparent in the white elm. There is only one respect, however, in which the European elm is superior to the American species. Like all other Euro- pean trees, compared with allied species belonging to the New Continent, it puts out its foliage earlier in the spring, and retains it later in the autumn. Indeed the hard frosts of November often sear the foliage of the Et;glish elms on the Boston Common before it is sufficiently mature to drop from the tree. The Scotch elm (Ulnms montana) also differs from the others, with a more compact growth and very large foliage. JANUARy. 33 OUR ORNAMENTAL TREES. by the editor. 9. The Virginia Fringe Tree. (Chionanthus virginicus. ) Having in our articles in our last volume given a full ac- count of several of the more rare ornamental trees of large size, we now continue our descriptions of some of the smaller growing species, or scarcely more than shrubs, which attain the height of 10 to 20 feet, but which include some of the most beautiful of which our gardens and pleasure grounds can boast. They are perhaps more generally useful than I. THE VIRGINIA FRINGE TREE. the larger trees, as they may become the ornament of every shrubbery, while the others reach so large a size, that they can only be introduced where there is abundance of space, on lawns or avenues, in belts for shelter, or in extensive plantations for picturesque effect. The Virginia Fringe Tree, (fig. 1,) is one of the most beautiful of all our larger shrubs or small trees, and deserves a prominent position in the grounds of all who appreciate VOL. XXlll. NO. 1. 5 34 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. rich foliage, and fine flowers and symmetrical growth. In the former respect it almost rivals the Magnolia, having leaves of a very large size, while its long drooping panicles of snow-white, fringe-like flowers, displayed in profusion from its blunt erect shoots, give it an elegance possessed by no other hardy shrub. It is a native of the Middle and Southern States, its north- ern limit, according to Nuttall, being the borders of the Bran- dywine, near Westchester, in the vicinity of Philadelphia. To the south it extends as far as Florida. It attains the height of 10 to 20 feet, with a diameter of 10 to 12 inches. In the Bartram Garden there is a specimen nearly a century old, which is 20 feet high, and 32 inches in circumference. In this neighborhood there is a fine old specimen at Pine Bank, the residence of E. N. Perkins, Esq., and another at Oakley place, Watertown. It is, however, rarely seen in the grounds of our suburban residences. It was introduced into England in 1796, and the largest plant, according to Loudon m 1835, was at Syon, which was only 10 feet high. The Fringe Tree is of rather slow growth, with stout, blunt, pale colored shoots, and presents, when full grown, a roundish spreading top ; the leaves are opposite, oval, point- ed at either end, entire, green and smooth above, and, when under good cultivation, a foot long, and about half as broad ; ordinarily they are 6 or 7 inches long, and 3 broad. The flowers appear in pendent paniculated racemes ; the petals are narrow, and 6 or 8 inches long, which give them their fringe-like apj^earance. It blooms in June, and at that season nothing can be more singular and elegant. The blossoms are snowy white, and, when they fall, the ground appears covered with a carpet of white shreds. The flowers are often succeeded with the fruits, which are dark purple drupes, in clusters, and form a pleasing contrast with the d ep green foliage, which retains its verdure till late in the autumn, when it changes to a yellowish hue. The Fringe Tree is of easy cultivation, but thrives best in a deep, rich, and somewhat moist soil. Its foliage is then very large, and retained in perfection for a long period. In JANUARY. 35 light, dry soil it often curls up, and drops earlier in the autumn. It is usually raised from seeds, which arc readily obtained, and is the best mode to increase it. It does not grow readily from layers, requiring three or four years be- fore they root. It may also be grafted on the ash, as is practised in Europe, and when worked standard high, the specimens have a fine appearance. The seeds should be sown in light, loamy soil, in boxes, in the autumn, and have the shelter of a. frame. They will vegetate in the spring, when they should be carefully tended during the summer, and protected again the next winter. In the spring of the next year they may be planted out in nursery rows, where they will soon make nice young plants. As an ornamental shrub the Fringe Tree has few or no equals. Perfectly hardy, growing freely, and transplanting safely, with a foliage almost as conspicuous as the Magnolia, and retaining its beauty all the season, it should be intro- duced into ornamental plantations, and have a prominent situation on the lawn or near the house, where it will at all times be a splendid object. Passafljusctts |)ortitiiIturaI Societg. Saturday, Dec. 27th, 1856. — The adjourned meeting of the Society was held to day, — the President in the chair. We have only room to give the reports of the Garden and Flower Com- mittees. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GARDENS, AWARDIiSG PREMIUMS DURIiNG THE YEAR. The first visit was made April 24th to the grape-house of Mr. M. H. Simpson, Saxonville. Not being able to join the Committee on that day, we copy entire the notes kindly furnished us by another member: — " The visit was made on a genial day for the season, and, in-donrs, we found all as neat and well cared for as might be expected under the eye of so diligent a cultivator. Mr. Simpson is fortunate in the selection of so good a gardener as is Mr. Burns, one who lis ever ready to carry out the wishes of his employer, however arduous the task allotted of constant watch- fulness both day and night, for successfully, under the plan adopted by Mr. Simpson, of growing two crops a year, or three crops in two years. " The grapery is seventy feet in length, divided by glass in the centre. 36 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. In the first house were the vines under our especial visit, having been started December, 1855. The wood, foliage, and grapes, denoted a healthfulness seldom surpassed in houses where only one crop a year is grown. " Of the quality of the various varieties of grapes we speak from experi- ence, having luxuriated on the product at a well-spread table, with the vines for a canopy, during the interim of a train of cars. " Mr. Simpson is of opinion that there is no necessity for the customary period of rest for the vines, and that a period of three or four months is quite sufficient; and, acting on the suggestion of a similar period of rest for vines in Syria, he determined to adopt a course somewhat new. That he has successfully attained his object is evident to every visitor. Of its feasi- bility, from the enhanced cost of growing grapes to ripen in mid-winter, must alone be determined on by those who grow them as a luxury. Your Committee are ready to bear testimony to its having succeeded in the houses of Mr. S., and merely confine themselves to the plan adopted by, and in the houses of, Mr. Simpson, offering no recommendation for others to adopt a like undertaking, if they are disposed to count the cost." The second visit (May 30th) was to Salem, by invitation of our President, Hon. J. S. Cabot. Mr. Cabot received us, in his usual free and social man- ner, at the depot, from which we were conducted to his family mansion, a goodly structure of the olden times, witli its gable roof and spacious hall, wearing the air of comfort and cheerful hospitality. Having partaken of the bounty and abundance of our host, we proceeded to the duties of our visit. Mr. Cabot's garden comprises about two acres, all under the neatest and most finished cultivation. It is, more especially, a flower garden, and in it the lovers of flowers and herbaceous plants cannot fail to receive grati- fication and enjoyment. The bed of tulips (some one hundred and twenty feet long by seven wide), with all the choicest varieties, Avas a special object of beauty and loveliness ; and we could not but regret the absence of our Chairman (Hon. Samuel Walker), whose taste and love for the tulip stands preeminent. The display of peonies, of various kinds, in large, distinct beds, was not, perhaps, any less attractive ; and the pansies were so large and showy as to rivet the attention at once. The collection of shrubbery, plants, and herbaceous peonies, is very extensive, and many of them rare, including the varieties of Mr. Jas. Parmentier. We noticed the Trillium in variety ; Phlox divaricata, Caltha palustris, Thalictrum, Anemonies in vari- ety ; also Hepaticas, and many others, too numerous to particularize if we could remember their names. The walks were very neat and spacious, edged with box, two years out, free from winter kill, and looking very thrifty and uniform. The fruit department was not so extensive as we had expected to see, owing in part to the fact that another lot, at some distance (and which we had not time to visit), is appropriated to fruit trees, and also to the presence of large elms in the rear, on the outside of the garden, which extend their greedy roots in all directions, drawing all the moisture within their reach, and effectually paralyzing the healthy growth of fruit trees. It is true the flowers, plants, and shrubbery, did not show any evil effects, and the tulip bed was on the side nearest to the elms ; but, at any rate, from some cause, JANITART. 37 which neither Mr. Cabot nor ourselves could unravel, the pear tree did not flourish well with him, and many old standards seemed to be dying out. We noticed the same fact in regard to a garden adjoining, which formerly produced unsurpassed fruit, and whose proprietor had been noted for his enormous applications of manure. It is quite probable that the inordinate use of stimulants, at some former period, may in part account for the sickly appearance of the trees now. One of the most gratifying features in Mr. Cabot's garden was the entire absence of patches or straggling rows of seedlings. We like to see a gentleman's private garden unmixed with the nursery business ; or, if he has a special fondness this way, for his own benefit and amusement^ we like to see a spot by itself, appropriated to this alone, and, if outside of the garden, so much the better. Having lingered long among the flowers, we next, by invitation of Mr. Allen, visited his graperies and lily-house. Mr. Allen's graperies have been so frequently visited and reported upon by former coaimittees, and his fame is so extensive, we will merely remark that his industry and zeal are not one whit abated, as he gave us ample evidence in the rich show, under glass, of peaches, figs, and nectarines, besides his usual variety of the grape. Not an inch of groimd is unimproved, and we even noticed tomatoes, to fill chinks. Perhaps the point of economy or profit may be nearest attained in this way ; but, if we look to neatness and elegance of cultivation alone, we should say things had a crowded look, and needed more sea-room. We saw the vines which had been treated after Mr. Simpson's plan ; but, whether from want of wool-waste, or other cause, the experiment did not work. It eeemed to us that the difficulty of supplying sufficient nourishment to such a labyrinth of roots as there must be where vine and trees are so near together, might be one cause of failure. Mr. Allen is much interested in grape seedlings, of which ho has quite a number, and we trust some of them will repay his labor. One important quality they certainly, thus far, mani- fest, viz., hardiness : standing side by side with the Isabella, which in some instances has been winter-killed, they remained thrifty and unharmed. Mr. Allen's lily-house having been described by Mr. Walker, in a previous report, the Committee will only remark that there are other objects of inter- est besides the Victoria Regia. Hanging on one side of the apartment, as you enter, is seen what at first sight might be taken for Indian trophies, or curiosities from Herculaneum, but which, on a nearer approach, wo found to be old pieces of wood, from which grow out, like an excrescence, flowers or plants, drawing their only sustenance, apparently, from wood and air, entirely independent of Mother Earth, and adhering to the wood with as riuch tenacity as a barnacle to a ship's side. In the same tank with the Victoria Regia may be seen the African lily, and, in other parts of the apartment, various rare plants and flowers. The water in the tank looked green and slimy, like a stagnant pond ; and the air, though Avarm, seemed damp and uncongenial. We took our leave of good old Salem in the five o'clock train, well gratified with our visit. Our next trip was to Fall River, to visit the garden of Mrs. F. B. Durfee. Being the first invitation from a lady, the Committee felt much interest to 38 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE, see how well a place could be cared for under her guidance and adminis- tration, and the result of the examination proved that woman's sphere need not be confined to any one department, but may, when necessary, extend to the soil and pleasure grounds, to which she can do ample hcwor. The grounds of Mrs. Durfee consist of about two acres, tastefully laid out, and combining most of the leading varieties of fruits and flowers, s^hrubbery and ornamental trees, grass-plats and banks, walks, hedges, and three grap- eries. The grounds are undulating and varied, with dense clumps of shade trees and shrubbery, and winding, circuitous walks, giving the appearance of a much larger place, and almost needing a pilot. The greatest point of interest and merit we found to be the graperies, and here it will be but jus- tice to give great credit to Mr. Young, who has been gardener to Mrs. Durfee some nine years, and evidently understands his business thoroughly. The two graperies are forty-eight by twenty-four, span ro f, moderate pitch, with twenty-four vines in each, and about twelve different varieties of grape, the Black Hamburgh predominating. In the forcing-house, the fruit was just in perfection, the clusters hanging in rich profusion; and the visitor, on entering, is at once impressed with tiie perfect order, neatness, and good management. Nothing seems crowded, each vine has space enough, and the eye rests upon no object to mar the beauty of a legitimate grapery. In this house, some five hundred pounds are cut yearly, some of the bunches attaining the great weight of five pounds two ounces, and the average usually weighing about two pounds. In the cold-house, the same master- hand is apparent, and the show of young fruit looked very promising. Besides these two, the old grape-house, of smaller dimensions, is still kept in use, and has in it a variety from Greece, the slips of which were sent home by Dr. King (name not recollected), of enormous size, rather egg- shaped, and resembling, some, the Black Hamburgh in flavor and color. All the vines looked clean and healthy. Mr. Young informed us that he used common house-soap in washing them, and never any other alkali, — that he took the entire care of the graperies himself, and carried the key in his pocket, where he could always find it. Having said thus much for Mr. Young's superior management of the grape, we must next do him equal jus- tice for the neatness and perfection of his grass-plats and banks, showing a knowledge of lawns acquired only in the old country. Mr. Young does the jnowing himself, using an English lawn-scythe, short, but broad blade, — cuts often, say every two or three weeks. He prefers the common street- sod, and, by using no manure or top-dressing of any kind (except when absolutely necessary, to arrest drought), he gets a soft, fine grass. The fruit trees were generally thrifty, but did not show (particularly the pear) that evidence of skill, care, and close pruning, so apparent in the grape- house, there being too much wood on many trees. We noticed some plum trees had been cut back, to get rid of the black wart, and new heads were growing, which, thus far, had escaped from it; but the pest will no doubt come again, and we still think the only remedy is to cut the whole tree down. It Avould give us much pleasure to speak of the airy location and fine JANUARY. 39 views of the household, kind hospitality and generous entertainment, but this beii;g no part of our province we must take our leave of our kind hos- tess, by assuring her, in the words of our Chairman, that " this visit will be among our most pleasing reminiscences." Having a little time to spare we made a friendly call on Dr. Durfee ; — he not being at home we made a hasty examination of his garden, attended by his nephews, and found the peach-house sustaining its high reputation. These grounds having been visited last year and reported upon, nothing further need be said here. July 24th, the Committee visited the residence of Mr. Charles Copeland, at Wyoming; — this lovely spot borders on, and overlooks on the west, the beautiful little lake called " Spot Pond," giving to the place that peculiar enchantment afflrded by a near water view. The grounds contain between five and six acres artistically laid out, and under neat cultivation , — about half an acre, sloping to the north-west, and closed in with an Arborvitse hedge, is devoted to a fruit and vegetable garden ; — we noticed the pear trees were of the tall, slim kind, requiring stakes, and illy calculated for our high winds, besides the exposure of a long stem to winter frosts, and the heat of a scorching sun in summer; — the smaller fruits were abundant, and the fruit trees generally thrifty, and another year or two of growth with care and attention will add to the interest of this portion of the estate. At the lower end of the grounds stands a large hot-house with octagon ends ; one of which is devoted to the Camellia, and contains several large and costly phmts. We like this way of having things by themselves, and we noticed the flowers were planted out, each prominent variety in a bed by itself, where its beauty could be best seen ; — on the borders, and some parts of the ground a greater licence prevailed, and fancy trees and shrubbery were intermingled with plants and flowers, and wanting only time and growth to give increased attraction. Mr. Copeland has a Avindmill on his barn, which operates a pump that forces water from the pond into a reservoir in the barn loft; — this water supplies a very pretty fountain near the hot- house, and also several jets about the grounds, and is very convenient for watering with a hose. The walks and driveway were neatly kept, and the lawns, grass plats, and flower beds, all in fine order; with so much natural beauty and variety of scenery, and a large amount of artificial and expen- sive aid, it was gratifying to see that the main chance was not lost sight of, and that economy and thrift was equally combined with a laudable ambition for taste and display. Mr. Copeland owns a farm of about seventy acres, a short ride distant, which he invited us to visit, but the day being very hot, and our business not being with farms, we merely rode to it, and under the shade of a large tree unanimously conceded that all was right on the farm, and expressed our willingness to return to the cool shade and com- fortable seats we had just left. Having some lovers and connoisseurs of stock among us we took a walk after dinner to the pasturage to see the cows ; — they were fine specimens of natives and cross breeds, and good milkers ; — the skim milk goes to the pigs, in the raising of which Mr. Copeland has been very successful, having sold about one thousand young pigs within the last two or three years of 40 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. the Suffolk breed, most of them for ten dollars a piece. We cannot close this brief notice without expressing the satisfaction and pleasure we expe- rienced from the visit, and which we trust was mutual. July 31st, the Coinmittee visited two of the oldest and most famed seats in Massachusetts, viz., the Governor Gore estate in Waltham, and the " Oakley Place," or Pratt estate in Watertown. On entering these grounds the visitor is impressed with the vast space and grandeur of all around hitn ; — the spacious lawns and noble forest trees of a century's growth, and the large and airy dwellings bespeak the olden times when land was sold by the foot only on the sea board, near the large cities. Our visit was more especially to the Governor Gore estate, now owned by Mr Walker, who had given timely notice (within our rules) for an official visit. Mr. Pratt had also expressed his desire to see the Committee, and we accordingly made him an incidental call on our way, and had time served should have been pleased to have made a more extended examination. It will be enough, perhaps, to say of this well known place, that it maintains, if it does not surpass, its long e itablished reputation. We found the garden, the lawn, the conservatory, and the graperies, all in the finest order, and if there was any one thing more than another worthy of especial notice, it was the graperies and flower department ; — the grapes hung in thick clusters equally dispensed, and the quality or flavor of the berries surpassed any we had this year eaten, owing partly, no doubt, to the high and flivorable loca- tion of the houses, and the root borders being high above the level of the ground. A rich profusion of flowers ornamented the garden, and met the eye in all directions, and in the conservatory were many ricli and fine spe- cimens. It was very apparent that Mr. Pratt possessed a natural taste for flowers, and had gratified it to a liberal extent ; — leaving to an editorial gentleman with us to do justice to the extensive views and natural beauties of tiiis old and noted residence, we must proceed on witli our notice to Waltham. t Tlio Governor Gore estate, now owned and occupied by T. W. Walker, Esq., consists of some one hundred and forty acres; — about thirty-five acres of this, called "the manor," pertains to the mansion, and the rest is devoted to farming ; a large portion of it is under tillage, and the rest in grass, grain and woodland. We must speak first of the manor lot, which comes under the head of Horticulture. This is divided into shade grounds, an extensive lawn, a large fruit and flower garden, greenhouses, vegetable department, with the usual walks, drive-ways, out-buildings, &c. The garden being large and roomy, the tastefully arranged flower beds and fancy walks showed to good advantage, and in better taste than when attempted on a smaller scale. In the centre of the garden stands a lovely little gera of an arbor or bower, of unique and most perfect construction, at once rural, artistic and appropriate. The flower beds were neat, rich and varied, and the grass plats in the garden short, fine, and well kept. The extensive lawn, sloping from the mansion to the road, Mr. Walker designs to bring into fine grass another year, and intends importing from England a newly invented machine for close cutting, gathering in> and rolling, all at the same JANUARY. 41 time. At the lower end of the garden is a hot-house, in which are some well trained fig trees, with a good show of fruit on them. On a high hrick wall, and also on a circular trellis, were a number of trained pear trees ; although neatly trained they did not (with one or two exceptions) look thrifty, nor were the varieties generally of the best ; — they had evidently been sometime out, and probably had been allowed to bear too much in former years. In passing on to the vegetable department, the evidence of skill, care, and thorough knowledge, was strikingly apparent ; — all the most choice vegetables were seen in high perfection, and the egg plants were especial objects of comment; — we ought, perhaps, to state here that Mr. Walker has been fortunate in retaining the service of Mr. Robert Murray, who has been Superintendent, and had the general care of the place for twenty-one years, and is a very industrious, intelligent, and zealous cultiva- tor, as well as a capable and most worthy man. Did it come within our rules we could speak in detail of the good management and good order of the farm, and especially of Mr. Murray's system of accounts, but deferring this to the agricultural committee, we must leave it again to our editorial friend to speak of the many objects of interest about this rich old mansion, and of the social and happy hour, after our examination, passed with its generous owner. The last visit (August 28th) was to the grounds and nurseries of the Messrs. Hovey, Cambridge. A pleasant ride on the horse-railroad took us near the residence of Mr Hovey, and we at once commenced our examina- tion. We first looked into the principal conservatory, a building 84 by 22, span roof, and devoted to pot plants, and also containing some thirty grape vines, which have produced this season from four to five hflndred pounds of grapes. There are also three or four large conservatories used for flowers, pot plants, &c., all showing much care and attention ; — some mem- bers of the flower com'mittee present with us e: 4 00- 3 00 3 00 2 00 6 00 4 00 3 00 5 00 4 00 3 00, 5 00 4 00 3 00 5 00 3 00 2 00 5 00 3 00 8 00 6 00 4 00 3 00 44 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Class II. — For the best twelve distinct varieties, to W. C. Strong, For the second best, to J. Breck & Son, For the third best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., Class III. — Hardy Perpetual Roses. — For the best ten varieties, to J. Nugent, ..... For the second best, to Wm. J. Underwood, For the third best, to Galvin & Hogan, Climbing Roses. — For the best display, not less than six varieties to J. Nugent, ..... For the second best, not less than four, to E. S. Rand, Jr., Summer Phloxes. — For the best ten distinct varieties, to Hovey &Co., ...... For the second best, to J. Breck & Son, Carnations and Picotee Pinks. — For the best ten varieties, to A. Bowditch & Son, .... For the second best, to Dr. C. F. Chaplin, For the third best, to J. Nugent, Hardy Rhododendrons. — For the best display of the season, to E. S. Rand, Jr., ..... For the second best, to Hovey & Co., Double Hollyhocks. — For the best twelve varieties in spikes, to Hovey &- Co., ..... For the second best, to P. Barnes, . For the third best, to J. Breck & Son, Double Balsams. — For the best eight varieties, in spikes, to W. J. Underwood, ..... For the second best, to J. Nugent, . For the third best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., PaLOXES. — For the best ten distinct varieties, to Hovey & Co., For the second best, to J. Breck & Son, For the third best, to J. Nugent, German Asters. — For the best thirty flowers, not less than ten varieties, to Evers & Bock, For the second best, to Hovey & Co., For the third best, to J. Nugent, For the fourth best, to A. Bowditch & Son, . Dahlias. — Division A, Premier Prize. For the best twelve dissimilar blooms, to P. Barnes, Specimen Bloom. — For the best flower, to H. K. Oliver, Various Colors. — For the best yellow rose, tipped and striped, to H. K. Oliver, ..... For the best crimson ; very dark ; and scarlet, to Hovey &, Co., Division B. — Class I. — For the best twenty-four dissimilar blooms to P. Barnes, ..... For the second best, to H. K. Oliver, Class II. — For the best eighteen dissimilar blooms, to P. Barnes, For the second best, to H. K. Oliver, $5 00 3 00 2 00 5 00 4 00 3 00 5 00 4 00 5 00 4 00 00 00 00 00 00 5 00 4 00 2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 5 00 4 00 3 00 2 00 8 00 3 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 JANUARY. 45 Herbackous Perennials. — For the best display through tlie sea son, to P. Barnes, For the second best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., For the third best, to J. Breck &, Son, For the fourth best, to F. Winship, . Annuals. — For the best display through the season, to P. Barnes For the second best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., For the third best, to J. Breck & Son, For the fourth best, to W. J. Underwood, Flowering Shrubs. — For the best display through the season, to P. Barnes, .... For the second best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., For the third best, to J. Breck &. Son., For the fourth best, to Galvin & Hogan, Bouquets. — For the best display through the season, to J. Nugent For the second best, to Galvin & Hogan, For the tliird best, to J. Winship, %* The awards at the Annual Exhibition have been reported in volume (XXII.,) p. 480. $8 00 6 00 4 00 3 00 8 00 6 00 4 00 3 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 our last gratuities for displays at the weekly exhibitions. To Galvin & Hogan, To Evers & Bock, To James Nugent, To Parker Barnes, To Hovey & Co., To M. B. Williams, To E. S. R?nd, Jr., To Bonnard Dennis, To Mary R. Richards, To W. J. Underwood, To R. M. Copeland, To Curtis & Cobb, To J. F. Allen, To W. E. Carter, To T. Suiallwood, To E. A. Story, To J. Breck & Son, To Thomas Page, To C. F. Jones, To Mrs. W. J. Underwood, To George Dodge, To J. S. Cabot, To Mrs. Ashby, To W. C. Strong, To Annie C Kenrick, To Messrs. Burr, $22 00 9 00 19 00 23 00 14 00 7 00 33 00 3 00 3 00 14 00 4 00 1 00 10 00 6 00 2 00 14 00 15 00 12 00 11 00 5 00 1 00 2 00 3 00 7 00 4 00 3 00 46 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. To J. A. Kenrick, . 3 00 To J. C. Chaffee, 1 00 To Miss Russell, 5 00 To E. G. Kelley, 1 00 To J. Hyde & Son, 3 00 To A. Bowditch & Son, 9 00 To H. Vandine, 2 00 To E. Stone, 4 00 To M. P. Wilder, 2 00 To Mrs. E. B. Grant, 5 00 To Mrs. Holman, 4 00 To Miss Sarah D. Fiske, 1 00 To F. Winship, 10 00 To J. McTear, . 4 00 To Mrs. Chaplin, 2 00 To Public Garden, 1 00 To Miss Bird, . 2 00 To Robert Murray, 2 00 To Spooner, 2 00 To E. S. Holbrook, 1 00 To Bowen Harrington, . 2 00 The floral displays of the season have been all that a successful .com- mencement indicated. From the time of the opening of the hall to the annual exhibition no weekly display has failed to be such as not only to attract and gratify visitors, but also to reflect credit upon contributors and the Society. From season to season the marks of improvement are visible, and the production of seedlings, and the introduction of new plants, give evidence of a constantly growing interest and continued progress on the part of cultivators. The displays of Roses, Phloxes, Asters, Dahlias, and especially of seed- ling Japan Lilies have been fine, and deserve commendatory notice. The change, which a few years has wrought in some of these flowers, has been both striking and gratifying. The extent of this change may be in some degree appreciated by contrasting the prize asters of only half a decade since, with the perfect and very beautiful specimens that tliis season filled the prize stands of the society. Gratifying as the marks of progress may be, candor compels us to admit, that no inconsiderable portion of the merit is due to the skill of foreign cul- tivators. While we are availing ourselves of everything foreign, both of production and discovery, it is well to be watchful, lest we become too greatly dependant upon others, and forget our ability to accomplish some- thing for ourselves. With every variety of climate, with taste combined with the ample wealth at our command, no reason exists why our own pro- ductions should not only bear a favorable comparison with, but even rival the best results of, foreign skill and experience. JANUARY. 47 Should the same liberal encouragement given by the Society for the pro- duction of new seedling fruits, be also given to our florists for the produc- tion of new seedling flowers, there can hardly be a doubt tliat it would be attended by equally gratifying results. For the Flower Committee, Fearing Burr, Jr., CJiainnan. iorticiiltiirri #ptrattons FOR JANUART. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. December has been a cold and rather disagreeable month, with much cloudy and unfavorable weather for forcing. The latter part of the month was very severe. All out-door operations were closed early, and those who had not finished their autumn work have had no opportunity to do do. For- tunately a pleasant November left little to be done. Grape Vines in the early houses will now be in bloom, and at this, the most critical season of the year, should have particular attention. The temperature should be as regular as possible, not too high, especially at night, and air should be admitted in good weather. Syringing should be dispensed with as soon as the flowers begin to open, but damping the floors and walks should be continued. Grapevines in the greenhouse now at per- fect rest, should be cleaned, if not already done, and washed with oil-soap to destroy insects ; they will then be in readiness to grow in February. See that the borders are well protected by a covering of manure. Peach Trees in pots may now be brought into the greenhouse or grape- ry, for early bearing. If they need larger tubs let them be shifted at once. Grape Vines in pots may be introduced into the grapery, or greenhouse, for an early crop. Keep them freely syringed till all the buds are well broken. Seeds of strawberries, grapes, or other fruits, may now be planted in pots or boxes in the greenhouse. Scions may be cut now whenever the opportunity offers, and packed away in earth or moss in a cool cellar. Pruning fruit trees may be commenced with the new year, and continued as leisure permits till the work is done. Where there are large collections of trees it saves valuable time. flower department. With the month of January the greenhouse assumes a gayer aspect, and by the close of the month many of the finest plants are in full bloom. The acacias, camellias, lauristinus, azaleas, and abutilons, among the more con- spicuous, and the monthly pinks, primulas, verbenas, cinerarias, &c., among 48 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. those of lesser growth. The season brings with it an abundance of work. Seeds are to be sown, plants shifted and young stock propagated. Nothing should be neglected, and the careful gardener Avill forward everything as rapidly as possible. Camellias will now be coming into full bloom. Keep them well wa- tered at the root and freely syringed. Young plants may be repotted this month, and, if straggling or ill-shaped, may be headed in. Seeds may be planted now. Azaleas will begin to bloom: water more liberally, and syringe occa- sionally. Pelargoniums now begin to push their young shoots ; keep them near the glass in an airy situation, and water carefully at this season. Top the rapid-growing shoots for the last time, unless on late blooming plants. Cinerarias will need attention. Fumigate often to keep down the green fly which infests this plant more than any other. Repot as soon as the plants show that they need it. Calceolarias will need another shift this month : keep them in a cool airy place near the glass, or they will run up too rapidly. Monthly Carnations will now be in bloom : such as need it should have a shift into the next size. Keep them liberally watered. Fuchsias may now be turned out of the pots, the earth shaken from the roots and repotted in light fresh soil : prune in the tops to make good shaped heads. AcHiMENES and Gloxinias should now be potted, placing them in the warmest part of the house. Japan Lilies will begin to grow soon, and should have a good situation where they will not dra^v up too fast. Pansy seeds for early blooming may be planted now. Verbenas in pots may have a shift into the next size. Chinese Primroses in small pots may be removed into the next size. RosEs should be freely watered and often syringed. Fumigate for the green fly. Lantanas now beginning to grow should have a situation in the warmest part of the house. Salvias, Petunias, and other summer blooming plants may now be propagated for a spring stock. Heaths should have attention. Keep them in a cuol and airy place. Young stock may be propagated now. Cactuses should be rather sparingly watered now, except the Epiphyl- lum tribe which are in a growing state. Weigf.lia rosea. Azaleas, and other plants, taken up in the autumn for forcing, may now be brought into the house. Rhododendron seeds may be planted now. Orange Trees beginning to grow, should be liberally watered, occa- sionally using liquid manure. MR. SIMPSON'S GRAPE CULTURE. A RECENT visit to Mr. Simpson's grapery to witness the successful result of two more crops upon his vines, on the plan which he has adopted in their growth, induces us to give some account of his achievements, and a brief review of the progress of grape growing during the present century; that we may be better enabled to judge of his success, and the benefits which similar management will confer upon the cultivation of this delicious fruit. It is unnecessary for us to say that all we stated in our last article upon the subject, in our volume for 1856, (XXII., p. 153), has been more than accomplished. Then we were witnessing the product of the third crop upon the same vines within the space of two years ; now we regaled our- selves upon that of the fifth crop, two having since been grown, one in September, and the other now mature. No diminution of vigor was observed either in the condition of the canes, the amplitude of the foliage and the abundance of the crop in one house, or the breaking of the vines for the sixth crop. All were stout, robust, and as redolent of health as any vines we have ever seen. Our visit was made on the 6th of January ; the crop had been ripe for upwards of a month, the first bunches of the earliest sorts having been cut Dec. 3d, and those of the Syrian, the latest, not yet ripe. The Hamburghs and Frontignans were just in perfection, and better flavored grapes we have rarely, if ever tasted. They were plump, fresh, saccharine and rich : not soft and watery, as is too often the case, but with that brittle and crackling flesh indicative of the finest condition of this fruit. What surprised us was the intensity of color, for the black sorts were really black, and not red and green as more than two thirds of the grapes usually are. No summer ripened grapes were ever better and few as good. The vines on which these ripe clusters were growing are VOL. XXIII. NO. II. 7 50 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. the same that we saw in fruit in March last, just ten months ago, and which were then scarcely ripe. In April the grapes were mature, and all were cut in May. The vines were then allowed their usual rest of four months, till the 15th of August, when they were started again with the result we have above given. This was in what Mr. Simpson calls the north-house, the range being divided transversely, in the centre, by a glass partition. The other vines were, at that time, just breaking, and the canes had not been tied up to the rafters. The crop was mature in August and Septem- ber, and the vines allowed to rest ; these were started Dec. loth. At the period of our visit, January 6th, they were , nearly in bloom ; and the fruit will be ripe in April again. The morning of our visit the thermometer was at zero, and the temperature of the house was 60°. Such is a short ac- count of the progress and present condition of Mr. Simpson's vines. The roots, which owing to the cold day we could not easily look at, Mr. Simpson informed us were in better order than they have ever been, and without this statement from him the vines themselves would be sufficient evidence of its truth. Thus while five crops have been taken from the vines in three and a half years, they have improved under this system, and show none of that decrease of vigor which so many old cultivators fondly anticipated would be the efi"ect of the increased number of crops. Mr. Simpson has, with great liberality, invited all who are interested in grape culture to examine his vines. Every- thing is submitted to their inspection, even to the condition of the border. His object is to show that what he has undertaken can be accomplished by skill, close attention and unremitted labor. He does not pretend to do it short of this : expense as well as any other consideration he has not kept in view, the actual demonstration of the system being his main object : its details and the best way of effecting it may afterwards be discussed and the most economical modes of proceeding put in practice. To grow a crop of superior grapes in our cold New England climate every EIGHT MONTHS, ou the samc vines, is what Mr. Simpson FEBRUARY. 51 intends to show can be done with certainty and with suc- cess. His whole course of culture he has promised us when he can give the results of his sixth crop. Passing from these details we proceed to review the modes adopted in England, where grape growing has been carried to such perfection, to procure grapes at all seasons of the year. To do anything like justice to the subject would require an entire number of our Magazine : we only intend to refer to some of the methods pursued to procure extra crops, that they may be compared with the plan adopted by Mr. Simpson ; for though we are indebted to him for thoroughly establishing, beyond all doubt, the practicability of his sys- tem, it has been successfully accomplished before, though quite unknown to him ; thus not only substantiating the feasibility of the plan, but setting at rest the fears of those professional or amateur cultivators who have predicted a failure from a course of culture so apparently contrary to the natural habit of the vine. Under the older school of grape growers, of which the celebrated Spechly may be said to have been the father, forcing was rarely commenced before December, and the crop was usually mature in May and June. Loudon in his Endycopcedia, after summing up the views of the best culti- vators says, " Attempts are made by bold speculators to lay forward for a crop in March, by beginning to force in August, and getting the fruit set before November ; but such labor and experience is often lost!" The short days .and dull weather of the British climate render such early forcing even more hazardous than with us ; for though we have ex- cessive cold to counteract, we are aided by brilliant sun- shine, on which indeed rests in a great degree the success of the experiment. Consequently grape growers, who were required to have grapes through the winter, accomplished this by keeping one or more houses as backward as possible, allowing the vines to come forward with the natural season; and by selecting the late ripening and good keeping sorts were enabled to have grapes as late as February. As soon as the cool weather of autumn set in, ripening was accele- 52 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. rated by fire heat, and an equal and dry temperature kept up by which the fruit was preserved in good condition half of the winter. But later practitioners were not content with this mode of preserving grapes, and, desirous of having them with all the freshness of maturity, adopted various methods to accomplish this, all, however, upon the one crop system, but with different sets of vines for a succession. One of these modes was to plant a row of vines on the back wall of the house, with a glass partition immediately in front, so as to shut them completely out up to the roof. These vines were the first ones forced. The wall was flued at top and bottom, and the vines were trained imme- diately under the glass. When forcing was commenced the partition was removed until the crop was ripe in April, when it was put up again and remained till December. The second crop came from vines planted inside of the front wall, and trained up the rafters ; the fruit on these ripened in June and July, and as soon as the grapes were gathered the vines were taken out of the house, through moveable sashes for that purpose. The third crop was from vines planted out- side the house and brought in when the last were taken out ; the crop from these ripened in September and October, and the vines were taken out in December, when those growing on the back wall were forced again by removing the glass partition. This was one mode practised for some years at Hungerton Hall, in Lincolnshire. Another similar plan was practised at Essex for ten years with complete success, and three crops produced every year from three sets of vines. It only differed from the last in having the vines for the first crop planted inside of the front wall, which were forced in February. Those for the second crop were planted outside, and introduced in March or April. That for the third crop was from one vine planted at the end of the vinery outside, which was introduced in September, by removing the whole end of the house, as long laterals were trained down each rafter. Three hundred bundles of fine Hamburghs were cut from this vine in February. Other methods have been given in the various gardening FEBRUARY. 53 journals of Great Britain, but they all follow the succession system, and no attempt was made to procure more than one crop a year till 1S3C, when Mr. James Waldron, gardener to the Archbishop of Armagh, described a plan, similar to that first suggested by Mr. Simpson, of growing two crops in one year. This Mr. Waldron actually did, and even more. We shall give his experiment in his own words, as detailed in Loiidoii's Magazi?ie for 1836 : — " I now send you a short sketch I promised you of my mode of treating the vines that were under my care at Elm Grove, Roehampton, and which produced two crops in the year. I shall not attempt to give a detailed account of the management of all the houses here, but I shall confine my- self to two pits, each 52 feet long. When I went to Elm Grove, on the 15th of April, 1833, I found that my prede- cessor had been forcing the vines in these pits since Novem- ber, 1832 ; and that the grapes in both pits did not exceed 5 lb. In November, 1833, I began to force the west pit, and by the end of March, 1834, I had a pretty good crop of grapes, according to the strength of the vines, fit to cut ; and by the end of April all the grapes were gathered. I immediately threw open the west pit, after pruning the vmes, and filled the border with night soil. About June the buds began to push, and they appeared strong. I then shut up the pit and gave very little air, and plenty of water, but no fire ; and in December, 1834, I had a fine crop of grapes, fit to cut, and well colored ; besides my vines having made good wood,, and the other pit coming in, as before, in succession. In the autumn of 1835, I had another still larger crop of finer fruit, with better wood, and the other pit in succession ; and if my employer had not been so very much alarmed at the expense of about £12 ($60) for coals, I should have had another crop, fit to cut, this last February, which would have been four crops in one year and eleven months, and the vines as strong again as they were when I first had the care of them, and producing double the quantity of fruit." This, we should suppose, would be ample proof of the 64 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. capacity of the vine to produce at least three crops in two years, and is strongly corroborative of all Mr. Simpson claims for his system, now in the third tear, with the SIXTH crop approaching maturity, without diminution in the quantity of fruit, or loss of vigor to the vines. But, admitting that Mr. Simpson has shown beyond doubt that the grape may be raised upon his plan, say many culti- vators, will not the expense be too great ? Expense has nothing to do with the establishment of the important truth, which Mr. Simpson is laboring to prove, viz., that the period of resting the vine may be shortened four months. Yet, as the question naturally arises, it may as well be answered by simply stating, that on no plan can ripe grapes be produced, in our climate, in the winter season, only at large expense. There must be a warm border, and whether this can be best attained by means of flues, wool waste, or horse manure, is merely a question of comparative cost. The results, then, of Mr. Simpson's system may be summed up as follows : — 1. That he has proved the capacity of the vine for pro- ducing a crop of fruit every eight months. 2. That, in consequence of this, there is a saving of one third the time and expense in producing grapes. 3. That fruit of the very finest quality can be grown in our climate in the coldest winter months. 4. That, in accomplishing this, no other essentials are requisite but what are necessary to raise the grape in winter on the old system of one crop annually. FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES IN MICHIGAN. BY T. T. LYON. PLYMOUTH, MICH. The climate of central and southern Michigan is very similar, in most respects, to that of the famous fruit region of Western New York ; although, surrounded as we are by numerous and extensive lakes, we are perhaps liable to greater and more sudden vicissitudes. With the exception, FEBRUARY. 5S however, of the past two seasons, those variations have never been so great as to produce any serious injury, beyond the occasional loss or thinning of a crop of fruit ; while it is believed that our bright, warm summers are happily adapted to the production and development of a high degree of both color and flavor. Morello cherries are everywhere cultivated, and with the most perfect success. Dukes, also, appear perfectly hardy, although they are believed to have been but imperfectly tested. Heart and Bigarreau cherries are more uncertain ; although trees of these classes, fifteen or twenty years old, are not uncommon. The chief difficulty in their way is, the burst- ing of the bark, and, frequently, the wood, also ; which is usually followed by the exuding of gum, and, finally, the death of the tree. It is observable, however, that it chiefly aff'ects those that have previously made an inordinate growth, and, in consequence, have ripened their wood less perfectly. In all cases, however, it is observable that a wound, once opened, becomes annually larger, until the tree finally falls a victim. This may fairly be supposed to result from the collapse occasioned by the severe cold of our winter, acting upon the newly-formed wood of the preceding summer, which, being resisted in the direction of the diameter by the more dense and mature heart- wood, must of necessity shrink in the direction of the circumference ; and, as the firmness of the wood increases toward the heart, the cleft often extends nearly or quite to the centre, — a fact of frequent occurrence among forest trees. It is further obvious that the wound, once opened, will be reopened each successive winter : thus setting at naught the healing process, if, indeed, the exuda- tion of gum were not, alone, sufficient to produce that effect. The finer varieties of cherries are so imperfectly tested here, that the disasters of the past two winters, although certainly discouraging, can hardly be allowed to settle the case ; especially in view of the fact, that, prior to 1854, their success was apparently perfect, while so severe a 56 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. winter has not before occurred during the occupation of the country. Past observation would seem to indicate that the proba- bility of success would be increased by attention to the following particulars ; viz., an ope?^, free exiposure^ a dry^ but heavy, rather than light soil, low heads, and a moderate, healthy growth. The following varieties, with no essential difference in either exposure or soil, have suffered, with me, about in the following order, the first having suffered most, viz., Sweet Montmorency, Black Tartarian, May Bigarreau, Holland Bigarreau, Napoleon, China Heart, Flesh-colored Bigarreau, Elton, Bigarreau, Early Purple Guigne, — the last two having suffered but slightly. Many others have suffered, but the number of trees of each is too iew to indicate fairly their relative hardiness. Independently of the ravages of the curculio, the finer varieties of the plum are very liable to drop their leaves prematurely. Indeed, this often happens at so early a date as to injure, if not ruin, the quality of the fruit, as well as to seriously diminish the vigor of the trees. A limited obser- vation would seem to indicate, that this malady is most troublesome in the wettest seasons ; while liberal manuring has been known to secure an entire exemption. The summer of 1855 having been unusually wet, the plum trees were stripped of their leaves earlier, and more completely than usual ; and the present season has devel- oped the fact, that nearly every tree that was so stripped has failed to withstand the severity of the past winter, while those not so denuded have escaped with comparative impunity. Until within the past two years, peach trees, with us, have been considered entirely hardy ; and trees can now be shown that have survived the hazards of nearly thirty years, while they are believed to be generally longer lived than is usual in the famous peach regions of the Middle States. Our chief difficulty is the winter-killing of the fruit buds. The warm weather which we frequently experience in FEBRUARY. 57 autumn, after the trees are denuded of their leaves, is some- times sufficient to stimulate the fruit buds so far that tliey fall an easy prey to the cold, or, perhaps, merely to the changes of winter. During the past tM''0 winters, the mercury was repeatedly down to 20° or 25^ below zero. The effect of the first of these winters was, to destroy nearly the whole of the previous year's growth, and so far to retard their starting in spring, that the subsequent growth was continued till late in autumn, — a difficulty which was aggravated by the unus- ual wetness of the season. Upon the heel of all this, came the past winter with redoubled severity ; and the effect has been the destruction of probably one third or one half our peach trees, root and branch, while a share of the balance prove hardly worth preserving. It is worthy of remark, that trees have escaped most per- fectly in open situations, and on heavy soils. Pears, whether upon their own or upon quince stocks, appear perfectly at home with us, and seem to enjoy an almost entire exemption from blight, whether of leaf or tree. As evidence of the adaptation of our State to the growth of pears, it will be sufficient to point to the old pear trees (mementoes of a departed generation) which still dot the margin of Detroit river, and annually, as in the days of the old habitans, contribute their luscious fruits to the markets of our metropolis ; and which may, with no great stretch of the imagination, be supposed to link us with the days of Pontiac and Tecumseh. The old adage, " He who plants pears, plants for his heirs," still lingers upon the minds of many among us, and has doubtless withheld many from planting as freely as they would have done ; but, in this respect, a new era appears to be dawning. The pear has, probably, fewer hisect enemies to contend with than any other fruit we cultivate. But dwarfs are fre- quently planted by inconsiderate cultivators upon our light, sandy, opening soils, without a thought that the quince, upon which they are worked, never succeeds without clay, VOL. XXIII. NO. II. 8 58 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. either naturally or artificially applied. Such experiments, of course, must end in disappointment. Young pears appear to have suffered, in common with other varieties of trees, from the severity of last winter. Although standards have by no means escaped entirely, the effect is more observable among dwarfs, which, during the past summer, have in many cases put on a sickly appear- ance, and made very little growth ; while some have died outright, and others still, in the course of the season. Trees suffering from this difficulty have generally shown no injury more than others above ground, while the heavy body of snow kept the earth, throughout the winter, entirely free from frost. It is difficult to account for this result, unless we suppose that, on account of the comparative feebleness of the quince stock, the dwarfs were less able to recuperate. In accordance with this hypothesis, it is observable that the difficulty has been more fatal among varieties of the greatest natural vigor. In an orchard of four hundred pear trees, half standards and half dwarfs, about ten per cent, will require replanting. The fruit buds, generally, were much injured; although Swan's Orange and Sterling bore heavy crops, and Le Cure, D'Aremberg, Winter Nelis, and others, more or less specimens. NEW VARIETIES OF POTATOES. BY J. F. C. UTDE, NETTTON, MASS. The following report upon several new varieties of pota- toes, exhibited by Messrs. Hyde & Son, of the Walnut Grove Nursery, Newton, Mass., at the annual show of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in September last, was furnished at the request of the chairman of the Vegetable Committee, Mr. D. T. Curtis. It will be read with interest by all who appreciate the importance of cultivating the best varieties of this valuable product of our agriculture. — Ed. FEBRUARY. 69 Dear Sir : — At your request we send you the following, concerning some of the varieties of potatoes shown by us at the late exhibition. We have for a few years been quite interested in the culture and improvement of this vegetable, and have produced many new seedlings, some of which are quite promising, and of which we may speak at some future time. Our remarks must necessarily be brief. First, in regard to the Davis Seedling, which is one of the most profitable and best for general cultivation. It yields well, and is of good size ; does not rot much ; requires a full sea- son to mature. Color light red, white flesh ; in shape nearly round. Should be grown largely for a winter potato for market, being far superior to most of the potatoes found in the market at this season of the year. The State of Maine is one of the best in quality, equal to the famous Caiter ; but, unfortunately, somewhat like it in another respect, being rather unproductive, unless in very rich soils. Shaped somewhat like White Chenango ; white outside and in ; more liable to rot than the Davis. Yery dry and mealy, and of good flavor. Early. Jackson White. — A comparatively new variety with us, but quite promising ; early and fine ; seeming almost, if not quite, equal to the Carter in quality, and far superior in productiveness. Thought by some to be identical with that sort. Worthy of trial. White Chenango. — An old and favorite sort with many, especially for early planting. Has rotted badly for several years past. It is a variety that cannot well be spared, though with us quite unprofitable for winter use. PoGiEs. — A dark-colored variety, but really of good quality, and by some preferred to all others. Productive, and gener- ally hardy. Color, blue outside and white inside, when cooked. Will not sell as well as a white potato. Late. St. Helena. — We find this variety quite productive, of fair quality, good size, and with us not inclined to rot. Color white. Late. Churchill. — We do not consider this variety worthy of 60 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. cultivation, though productive. Flesh yellow, white out- side. Often sold for State of Maine. Riley, Dover or Worcester Seedling. — This old and well-known sort is very fine, nearly equal in quality to the Carter, and more productive, though not by any means so productive as the Davis ; not more so than the State of Maine. Color red ; in shape nearly round ; deep-sunk eyes ; white meat. Late. Hill's Early. — An old variety, not much, if any, earlier than the White Chenango, and of ordinary quality. Should not recommend it. White. Stone Hill. — Seedling of the above, and a better kind. Not so early, but more productive. Color white. Vermont Whites. — A very poor variety, raised to con- siderable extent in the back country. Rots badly. White outside, yellow within. Not worth growing. Laby Finger. — An old sort, but a poor one ; fit only for baking, and not worth growing for that. White. Black Chenango. — A pretty good potato ; keeps remark- ably well ; seldom rots. Color, outside nearly black, inside purple, which is an objection to it. Yields well. Late. Mexican. — -Handsome white variety ; rots badly ; should never recommend it. Lapstone and Fluke Kidney. — Both these sorts we con- sider worthless. Yellow flesh ; yield small, and rot badly. Imported from England two years ago. Jenny Lind. — Large pink and white sort ; quite produc- tive ; rather coarse, though raised by many for table use. Late and hardy. Rhode Island Seedling. — Resembles, and, we think, is identical with, the last named ; same color. Nova Scotia Blue. — This old sort is still pretty good, though it is subject to rot. Yields well. Color blue ; white meat. Long Red. — This variety has somewhat improved, but we do not rank it very high. Has rotted badly. Peach Blow. — This sort is grown in large quantities for Boston and other markets. It is a potato of passable quality. FEBRUARY. 61 Red outside and yellow within, when boiled. This sort should be displaced by the Davis, which it resembles some- what. Yields and keeps well. Late. Pink Eyes, Calico, Rohan, Irish Cups, Trescott, Veto, AND Old Kidney, should all be classed as poor sorts, and unwortliy a place even in large fields. California Red, White Cups, Early Blue, and Cristy, are varieties of fair quality, but unprofitable ; and therefore we should not recommend them. We might speak of many other kinds that we cultivate, but it would be of little interest to the public. Of the many seedlings we have, we are in hopes to get at least one that will be superior to sorts now cultivated. In closing, we would recommend the Davis Seedling as one of the best kinds to raise extensively for the market, for a winter and spring potato. Not because it is of the very best quality, but because it is a good eating potato, and possesses all the other good qualities, being productive, hardy, of good size? &c. Next, we would recommend, for those who want a first rate potato, let them cost what they will, — the State of Maine, Carter, Riley or Worcester Seedling, and, perhaps, the Jackson White, after further trial. These comprise the best varieties known to us. Care should be used in planting, as most persons are liable to seed too high with the State of Maine, and then com- plain that the potatoes are small. The Carter is unpro- ductiv^e, but fine. For stock feeding we should recommend the Jenny Lind. It is surprising that so many will raise such worthless sorts as Pink Eyes, Vermont Whites, &c., when there are so many better sorts that will yield as well or better, and bring a third more when they get them to market. May resume the subject at another time. [The Worcester Seedling, so called, and recently intro- duced as a new potato, is one of the oldest sorts in cultiva- tion ; a gentleman of our acquaintance informs us that his father raised it sixty years ago. — Ed.] 62 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. THE BIRCHES. BY WILSON FLAGQ. On the sandy plains of many parts of New England, some of the most conspicuous objects, in the winter season, are the coppices of slender white birch trees, frequently inter- mingled with the less graceful yellow pines. These trees are seldom more than three or four inches in diameter. They rise to the height of about twenty-five feet, with a greyish-white trunk, and a dense spray of slender, purple branches. This spray is full of pendulous aments, all ready to expand their flowers with the first warm days of April. The trees thus described are the common white or grey birch (Betula populifolia). They are well known to all persons, and may be considered a fair type of the Betulaceous tribe, being possessed of more of the peculiarities of the birches than any other species. This species is confined almost entirely to New England, where it is often called the grey birch, and* sometimes the poplar birch. Its Latin name, populifolia, is derived from the tremulous habit of its triangular leaves, which closely resemble those of the aspen. The white birch of this country is supposed to be identical with the European white birch (B. alba). It was probably brought from Europe, some centuries ago, by the early settlers of New England, and has not yet had time to spread beyond the limits of this section of the country. Another fact that serves to corroborate this opinion of its foreign origin, is the habit of this species of continuing in leaf some days longer than our indigenous trees in the autumn, and the very imperfect coloring of its foliage at this season. In this respect it bears no comparison with the Canoe birch, which is undoubtedly the true American representative of the European white birch. The white birch is a tree of rapid growth, and highly worthy of cultivation for fuel, as it is very excellent for this purpose. Though incapable of affording so much heat as the heavier kinds of wood, it makes a firm and solid coal, and burns without any snapping. It also brings its own FEBRUARY. 63 kindling substance along with it, in the highly inflammable bark that covers it. But the great advantage of cultivating it for fuel arises from its rapid growth, and its singular thriftiness on the poorest sandy barrens. One who happens to be the unfortunate owner of many acres of such land, could make no more profitable use of it than to sow it with the seeds of the white birch. In ten years the plantation would be in a fit condition to be cut for fuel. All the birches are graceful trees. Their branches are almost as finely divided as those of the elm, and many of them exhibit a similar drooping habit. They have a beau- tiful sweep, and a peculiar airiness in their feathery spray that renders them highly attractive. They are mostly northern trees, and are found in the highest latitudes in which any tree will flourish. The only species which are known in this section of the country, are the small white birch (B. populifolia), the black birch (B. lenta), the yellow birch (B. excelsa), the red birch (B. nigra), and the canoe birch (B. papyracea). It is difficult, when describing the trees of our forest, to avoid lavishing a peculiar share of admiration upon the indi- vidual that forms the present subject of discourse, if it be one of the nobler species. So many of the most delightful scenes of nature are, in my own mind, intimately associated with the diff"erent kinds of birch trees, that there is not a single one that does not immediately call up some charming scenery, and impress my mind with the most pleasing poetic fancies. He who has been accustomed to ramble, has always had the slender white birches for his companions ; they have been the silent witnesses of all his sylvan re- searches and his solitary musings ; his social walks in quest of flowers, with the sex for whom the flowers were created ; or with his male comrades, in pursuit of game. When jour- neying in a chaise or on foot, these graceful trees, in com- pany with the fragrant yellow pines, breathing all the odors of Araby, have aff"orded him their benevolent shade ; and, along the sandy plain, have defended him from the scorching heat of the sun, and have spread a verdurous canopy over 64 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. the rustic roadside. In the sultry heat of a summer noon- day, we have often followed the course of some humble cart-path througli their recesses, gathering wild fruits from bush and bramble, or watching the singing birds that nestled in their retreats, and listened to their wild notes, that were blended in harmony with the sound of their green rustling leaves. The black birch (Betula lenta), sometimes called the sweet birch, is known by its dark-colored bark, which has the pleasant taste and odor of the checkerberry, and by its general resemblance to the black cherry tree. This species has less of that leathery quality of the bark which distin- guishes the tribe ; but it is one of the most noble of the family, and often attains the height of seventy feet. It delights m moist situations, and selects for its location a rich soil on mountain slopes and the banks of rivers. When growing on a plain, or in an open space, it assumes a round- headed shape, with its terminal branches finely drooping, like the elm. This tree is conspicuous on the craggy preci- pices among the mountains, where it extends its roots into the crevices of the rocks, and spreads its branches over the chasms and hollows. In these situations it assumes many picturesque forms and attitudes, corresponding with the wildness of surrounding scenes. Nature has furnished this tree with a chaffy and winged seed, which is sowed by the winds in deep ravines and on inaccessible rocks, where the soil which has accumulated in the fissures supplies it with sustenance. The black birch puts forth its blossoms very early in the spring, of a deep yellow and purple, and possessing consider- able fragrance. Its foliage, which is of a fine verdure, appears early ; the leaves are large, very finely serrated, and of an oval shape, with conspicuous veins. The leaves of this birch, though not so dense as those of some otiier trees, form, during the whole summer, a beautiful mass of foliage, which assumes a brilliant yellow tint in the autumn. This is the species which is the most extensively used in the arts. Its wood bears a strong resemblance to that of the cherry FEBRUARY. 65 tree in its hue and in fineness of grain ; and it is remarkable that these two trees, which have no botanical affinity with each other, should have a common resemblance both in their external and internal character. The geographical limits of this tree are wider than those of the other birches, extend- ing from Nova Scotia to the Middle States and on the Alle- ghanies, as far as Georgia. The yellow birch (B. excelsa) bears a strong resemblance to the preceding species in its manner of growth and in the character of its foliage and spray. It is distinguished from it chiefly by the glossy yellow hue of the bark that covers its trunk and principal branches. In this respect it is pecul- iar, and resembles no other tree. The effect of this silken bark is beautiful when the setting sun sends its horizontal rays through the forest pillars, and is reflected with lively, golden lustre from the trunk and branches of the shining yellow birch. As well as I can judge, this is a more slender tree, in every respect, from the boll to the spray, than the black birch, though it may equal or surpass it in height. I am surprised that it has not been more extensively planted by our roadsides. It seems to me, on account of its superior size, the large number of branches into which it is divided, and the flowing gracefulness of its spray, to deserve rank with the first class of ornamental trees. The red birch (B. nigra) is known in Massachusetts only in one particular locality, which is on the banks of the Spicket river, and the neighboring swamps in Methuen. If you would see this tree in all its beauty, you must follow the streams that glide along the level morasses, where its roots are often inundated with water. Here it may be seen^ like some pilgrim, bending worshipfuUy over the stream from whose beneficent waters it derives its beauty and vigor. It has more picturesque attractions than the willow, which delights in similar places, on account of the greater variety of its forms, and the peculiar wreathing of its foliage around the stem. The reddish color of the bark has probably given origin to the name of this species. It is a handsome, bushy tree, VOL. XXIII. NO. II. 9 66 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. of rapid growth, with foliage not strikingly different from that of the black and yellow birches. The lover of beauti- ful wood scenery would recommend the planting of trees of this species in those wet places which are now covered with alders. They would thrive luxuriantly in such places, and form a beautiful substitute for trees which are destitute of common value or attractions. Neither of the two American alders are worthy of preservation ; but there is not a single species among our native birches that is not a beautiful, and, in many respects, a valuable tree. The red birch, especially, has singular properties, which would render it highly orna- mental in wet and swampy lands. The most celebrated of all this tribe is the canoe birch (B. papyracea). This tree grows in its perfection north of the latitude of Massachusetts. In this State are few trees above the middling size ; but these are sufficiently large to suggest to the imagination an idea of their peculiar beauty and magnificence, when they have attained their full height and size. The foliage of the canoe birch is large, of a bright green, and exceeds that of all the other species in the depth of its golden coloring in the autumn. The leaves deviate a little from the ovate form, and approach to the heart shape, like those of the small white birch. The bark of this species is very nearly a pure white, and constitutes a very beautiful ornament to the trees. Their clean white shafts, like pillars of marble, towering upward among the other trees of the forest, present a scene with which nothing else is comparable. The uses which have been made of the bark of this tree are so numerous and so familiar to all, that it is needless to enumerate them ; but it would be difficult to estimate its importance to the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent. We are glad to see the claims of the birches to more ex- tensive cultivation set forth by Mr. Flagg. Especially would we speak an additional word for the last named species, (B. papyracea.) No more beautiful tree grows on our landscape than this. A full grown specimen needs but to be seen, to render it ever after a favorite tree. — Ed. FEBRUARY. 67 THE ROSE.— No. 2. BY PROF. C. Q. PAGE, WASHINGTON, D. C. A FEW remarks* only can be added on the systematic classification of the varieties of the Rose, the subject being deferred until another season shall have afforded more ample opportunities for observation. Hardiness is an important characteristic, not only dis- tinguishing certain classes of roses, but different varieties of the same class. The Remontants are, as a class, considered perfectly hardy in the northern and eastern states ; the Bourbons next in point of hardiness ; and the Teas, Bengals, and Noisettes, generally too tender to stand out, without special protection, in those states. But the intense cold of the winter of 1855-6, made some striking and important dis- crimination among the Remontants and Bourbons in the vicinity of Washington. At least ninety in a hundred of Remontants were killed-in to some extent, and many down to the snow level, while a few were not injured. I regret that careful observations had not been made, for roses that could resist such protracted and intense cold would be the safest to recommend for the highest latitudes of rose traffic. A few only were specially noted. Baron Prevost, Reine des Fleurs, Pius Ninth, Earl Talbot.. Mrs. Elliot, Lane, Yolande d'Aragon, Lion des Combats, and Madame Laffay, — all good roses, — were all observed as not injured in the least. The favorites. La Reine and Geant des Batailles, suffered considerably. One Madame Laffay, twelve feet high, on a trellis in a bleak exposure, came off sound to the highest terminal buds ; while a Princess Marie and Felicite Perpetuelle, both " hardy,''^ (?) annual-blooming climbers, in a similar exposure, were cut down nearly to the ground. The Prairies, Boursaults, and Summer roses, generally, were unharmed. The Bourbons, Bengals, Teas, and Noi- settes, were all more or less injured, and but for the protec- tion of snow during all of the severest cold, a vast many of * Continued (rom Vol. XXII., p. 516. 68 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. these latter, as well as many of the Remontants, would have been killed outright. That severe wintry ordeal " made the reputation " of one rose, hitherto but little culti- vated,— the rose, Enfant d'Ajaccio, or Souvenir d'Anselme, classed among the Bourbons for want of a better place. Shoots of this rose, twenty feet long, upon a trellis, were uninjured, even to the terminal buds. Buist commends this rose in high terms, and Paul has well said that " Gloire de Rosamene suffers from severe frost, but its progeny is hardy." This proof of its endurance of cold will add one to its good qualities, and entitle it to a still higher rank in collections of good roses. The hardiness of Tea roses is quite circumstantial in this climate. They are winter or spring killed at times, when unprotected, chiefly because of their growing so late in the fall, and, in open weather, in the winter. It is gen- erally advised not to transplant Tea roses in the fall, but I have seen it attended with salutary effects. A Solfaterre bush, transplanted in the fall, was uninjured by the winter ; while another, of the same age and size, not removed, was killed to the ground. The effect of transplanting was to prevent winter growth. It will be seen from the above few observations, that the term " perfectly hardy," so often applied to some of our best roses, must be taken with allowance and caution, and that we need yet many obser- vations, of a closely discriminating character, in respect to the relative endurance of the varieties and classes. Cloth of Gold, Solfaterre, Lamarque, and Ophire, and Tea La Syl- phide, were almost exterminated from this region last winter ; Fortune's Yellow was sadly mutilated ; and White Micro- phyllas furnished cords of dead wood in the spring pruning. The new Tea rose, Gloire de Dijon, with its immense shoots of six and eight feet, proved as hardy as Chinese Daily ; and, from all appearances, this variety will be found to excel all others of its class for wall growth in the green- house. FEBRUART. 69 HOW TO TREAT THE OXALIS BOWIEI. BY Q. Q., NEW YORK. When you copy from the " Gardener's Chronicle," prune him of his errors, as in your December number an extract from that generally very useful paper on the " Oxalis Bowie2," (sometimes called O. speciosa), where it is advised to pot and plunge them in bottom heat, and in June they will be in flower, — a very unncessary procedure, and contrary to their nature, which is to flower in autumn. There is a great deal of quackery among the florist and gardening pro- fession ; but perhaps, in England, they, in order to make a display, employ five men to do one's work. The method I have adopted for the last ten years, is to prepare in July a mixture of leaf mould, — woody peat, fresh loam, about equal parts, adding a little sand, — and, punc- tually, the first week in August plant some four or five bulbs in a small pot, — a No. 1, as it is termed hereabouts, and which holds a large pint ; place the pots in an empty frame on a nortJi exposure, where only the early morning sun reaches them ; no sashes, as they enjoy the rain and dew. By the first of September you will find them above ground, and their after-growth is so rapid that in a short time the pots will be completely covered with their broad, luxuriant, clover-like foliage. As soon as the flower buds appear, remove them into the conservatory, or on the piazza, or let them remain out, as you fancy. Before the first of October they will be a mass of bloom ; and I agree with your note, " This Oxalis is the finest of the whole family," for no description can do justice to their large and brilliant rosy-pink flowers. A large vase full, on a sheltered expo- sure, is perfectly charming. My lamented friend, the late Mr. Becar, used to prepare a little bed for them out of doors, under the window of one of his Camellia conservatories, where I have seen them, in September, all glowing in the morning sun, a perfect enchantment. Their growth out of doors is all over by the first of November, when take up and place away in dry sand. In pots, in doors, they continue 70 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. green longer ; but by Christmas the bulbs creep all away to the bottom of the pots, where they increase tenfold. May be left dry in the pots, on a secure shelf, clear of mice, until wanted again, 1st August, when turn out, divide, clean, and replant. They can be grown to any extent, if above treated ; and what so enlivens the declining year ! O. versicolor, hirta, rubella, alba, caprina, and other winter-flowering sorts should all be planted by the middle of August, and in soil as above. It is to be hoped more attention will be directed to this pretty class ; and as I have not any for sale, the obser- vations are entirely disinterested. This is the way we have always treated this beautiful Oxalis, and, during a period of twenty ^'"ears, have never seen it in flower at any other season than that named by our correspondent. It was for this reason that we copied the article alluded to without remark, that it might be tried as a bedding plant. If a "little" forcing will do this, it will amply repay all the labor bestowed upon a gem so well worthy of any "necessary procedure" to obtain its brilliant flowers throughout the summer. Let the experiment be tried ; in the meantime, those who would possess it in per- fection may follow the rules laid down for its growth by our correspondent. — Ed. FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. Azalea amcena. — This beautiful species is now in full flower in our collection, and proves to be one of the finest acquisitions to this showy and invaluable tribe. It is quite different from any of the older kinds in cultivation. In the habit of the plant it resembles A. Daniels/a^ia, with slender branches and very small, ovate leaves. The flowers are also small, and of a rich crimson purple. Its peculiarity and dissimilarity is, that the calyx is of the same color as the flowers, which give it the appearance of being double (one TEBRUARY. 71 inside of the other), or " hose in hose," as is usually termed. The neat habit of the plant, and its delicate foliage, together with the deep crimson, unique flowers, abundantly produced, render it one of the most desirable additions to the green- house. It was introduced by Mr. Fortune from the north of China, where it grows at a higher elevation than any other Azalea, and in England it has proved quite hardy. The Monthly Carnations. — Since the introduction of the new and more beautiful varieties of the Monthly Carna- tions, which display their blossoms throughout the year, they have become the most popular of greenhouse plants, and no collection can be complete without them. Here- tofore we have, as with other new things, been indebted to French collections for our new varieties ; and some very bril- liant sorts have been received from this source. We are happy, however, to announce that our cultivators are beginning to give their attention to this flower, and that some most beautiful seedliiigs have been raised by Mr. Perry, gardener to I. Sargent, Esq., of Brookline. For robustness of habit and freedom of bloom they surpass the imported kinds. Their colors are not so varied and brilliant as some, but their fragrance has no equal among them ; par- taking, as it does, of the order of the old clove pink, with which they are, undoubtedly, hybridized. Mr. Perry has named some of them as follows : — Bunker Hill, a deep, rich, purplish flower. Washington, very large, deep crimson. Henrietta, blush striped with crimson. Perry's Seedling, lilac striped with purple. With these the foreign sorts may be hybridized, and, with a little care, our gardens may possess as nne a collection as can be obtained abroad. Jasminum nudiflorum. — I noticed to-day a large climbing plant of this variety, in full bloom out of doors. It had a bleak western exposure, had encountered many nights of 26° to 28° Fahr. this season, and one of 18°, and yet the petals of the flowers are smooth and untouched. It is the most remarkable and enduring flower I have ever met with, 72 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. as the flowers were four to six feet from the ground. — Yoiii's, C. G. P., Washington, Dec. 16th, 1856. 340. Argyrea hirsu^ta Wight & A7'n. Villous Argyrea. (Convolvulacege.) A hothouse chmber ; growing ten feet high ; with lilac flowers ; appearing in summer ; in- creased by cuttings ; grown in light, rich soil. Bot. Mag., 1856, pi. 4940. A beautiful and striking species of the tropical convolvu- hises, with bright green, good sized leaves, peculiarly vil- lous stems, branches, petioles, &c., and ample, bright lilac corollas. It is a rapid grower, and flowers freely trained upon the rafters of the hothouse in the Kew Garden. In our climate it would probably flower freely during summer, planted out and treated like the Ipomas^a Learii and other species. Its very downy foliage and very large flowers render it a desirable addition to our climbing plants. — {Bot. Mag., Oct.) 341. Lysima^chia nu^tans Duby. Drooping-flowered Lysimachia. (Primulacese.) South Africa. a fiame or greenhouse plant : growing one foot high ; with reddish-purple flowers ; appearing in spring ; increased by cuttings ; grown in light, rich soil. Bot. Mag., 18j6, pi. 4941. A very brilliant, half-hardy species of the well known Lysimachias, of which we have several hardy garden kinds. This one is from South Africa, where it was found on marshy mountains, and introduced into England, where it blossoms freely in the open air in July, but the root requires protection in winter. The flowers are of a very bright red- dish purple, and they are produced in rather short, compact racemes. The leaves are opposite, lanceolate, entire, bright green. The root is perennial. It is a rich acquisition. — {Bot. Mag., Oct.) 342. Codon'opsis rotundiflo^ra Benth, Round-leaved CoDONOPsis. (Campanulacese.) Himalaya. A climbing annual (.'; ; srowing six feet high ; with yellowish-green flowers ; appearing in summer ; increased by seeeds. Bot. Mag., 1S5G, pi. 4942. This is one of the beautiful plants figured by Dr. Hooker, in his splendid " Illustrations of Himalayan Plants." It is supposed to be annual, growing six to ten feet high, with a FEBRUARY. 73 I small and neat foliage, and with rather large bell-shaped flowers, five lobed on the margin, of a clear yellowish-green tint, quite unique among more showy annuals. It is a most acceptable addition to our climbing plants. It was raised from seeds in the Kew Gardens, received from Dr. Royle, from Himalaya. — [Bot. Mag., Oct.) 343. Oro^bus Fi'scheri Sweet. Dk. Fischer's Bitter- Vetch. (Leguminosce.) Russia. A hardv perennial P) ; growing six inches high; with purple flowers ; appearing in summer; increased by seeds and division of the root ; grown in good garden soil. Bot. Mag., 1S56, pi. 4943. A pretty species, introduced from Russia through Dr. Fis- cher, who sent seeds to the late Robert Barclay, of Bury Hill. It is a plant, Dr. Hooker remarks, that deserves a place in our gardens, is perfectly hardy, and a free flowerer, and the flowers are highly colored. Its growth is erect and twiggy, with four-sided stems, very linear leaves, and axil- lary peduncles, bearing a raceme of eight, or ten, or more pendent, very bright purple red flowers. Easily cultivated. —{Bot. Mag., Oct.) OUR ORNAMENTAL TREES. BY THE EDITOR. 10. The Siberian Pea Tree. (Carrag ANA arborescens Lam.) The Carragana arborescens is one of the most ornamental of the smaller growing trees which have found a place in our gardens. With the light and airy foliage of the Locust, it combines the golden tints of the Laburnum, while in the erect and symmetrical habit of its growth it surpasses either of these well-known and handsome trees. Rising with a straight, but short trunk, its branches, which divide near the ground, spread outwards in a slight curve, and give it that appearance peculiar to some elms, — the vase form — the most pleasing of all the shapes which the latter tree assumes. In VOL. XXIII. NO. II. 10 74 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. winter, — as at the present moment, — its neat yellow spray is the most attractive among many fine trees ; in spring the soft glaucous hue of its early vegetating foliage is conspicuous among the naked branches of later growing kinds ; in sum- mer its innumerable yellow blossoms, scattered among its delicate pinnate foliage, give it the aspect of some tender exotic ; while the profusion of its long and slender seed pots, which line its erect shoots, continues its attractiveness till autumn touches it with a chilly hand, and changes its soft green tints to the yellow hues of surrounding trees. THE SIBERIAN PEA TREE. The Carragana (fig. 2), is one of a family of small trees, or low shrubs, peculiar to the cold regions of Siberia and Eastern Russia. Loudon in his Arboretum enumerates a dozen or more species, all, except two or three, being natives of those countries. Only four or five of them have, as yet, been introduced into our gardens, and these quite recently, with the exception of the Carragana arborescens. The latter is by no means a common tree, though not so rare as the others. The largest specimen we have ever seen is in our own collection, planted fifteen years ago, and now some FEBRUARY. 75 fifteen feet high, and otherwise proportionally large and hand- some. It was introduced to England in 1752, and the largest specimen around London was at Syon, which in 1838 was eighteen feet high. The Carragana arborescens is found in its native locality in woods and on the banks of rivers, and in the latter place grows to a good size, but in more arid situations it is only a small shrub. Its growth is rather stiff and 'upright. The leaves are abruptly pinnate, with four to six pairs of oblong villous leaflets. The flowers which are bright yellow and pea shaped, are axillary, one on a pedicel, but usually several in a cluster : the pods oblong taper, containing three or four seeds. The wood is hard, compact, and tough, yellow on the outside. The buds vegetate very early in the spring, and the flowers appear in May and June, succeeded by the seeds Avhich remain in the slender pods till fully mature, when the latter split in halves, twist into fantastic forms, and let them drop upon the ground. Its average growth is less than a foot a year. The Siberian pea tree is one of the very hardiest of trees, coming as it does from so northern a latitude. It never suf- fers by our winters, nor fails to give an abundant bloom, and on this account, as well as its highly ornamental character, deserves a place in every shrubbery. It is also of the easiest cultivation, growing anywhere, but only arriving at a good size in a strong and rich garden soil. Its propagation is simple : it may be raised from seeds which ripen in abun- dance, or it may be increased by cuttings of the roots. The seeds should be planted in autumn, or in spring, in the same manner as the Three-thorned Acacia or Locust, in a light mellow soil. After the second year they may be trans- planted into nursery rows, where they may stand till re- quired for planting out to their final situation. Cuttings of the roots, planted in beds of light soil, covered an inch or two, soon make young shoots which may be treated the second year like the seedlings. The Carragana arborescens is not only as we have shown, a most beautiful and desirable tree, but it is also valuable as 76 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. a stock upon which to graft the smaller growing sorts, and unique weeping varieties, standard high : the latter are among the most singular and delicate of pendulous trees, and intro- duced sparingly as single objects, either upon the lawn or in the pleasure ground, add greatly to the interest and effect of every ornamental scene. §on*aI Sotites. Gardens and Gardening around Paris. — The following' account of the Gardens around Paris is by Mr. H. Bailey, gardener at Nuneham, Eng. He will continue his remarks, which we shall copy if as interesting as the present notice : — Having lately made a journey to the French capital, and had an opportu- nity (through the kindness of my respected employer) of seeing the Royal and the best market gardens, with the nurseries and seed establishments there, I venture to commit to paper a few notes which I hope may prove interesting to the readers of this periodical. I had gone to Paris with the idea that we English gardeners were a long way behind our ingenious neighbors, and had much to learn from them, but I now think very differently. The productions which so largely fill our markets, the beautiful Spring Lettuces which come here in the fullest per- fection long before ours are ready, these, with many other things, have excited our surprise and made us feel almost ashamed at being so much in arrear ; but when we come to know that in the climate of Paris, at M. Vil- morin's, Thunbergias were ripening their seeds in the open air, and also the different kinds of Maurandia, it needs no great stretch of imagination to conclude that they have a far better climate than ours. They have a great advantage over us in the dryness of their climate, being upon the chalk, and when the sun shines that luminary has much greater power, which must very materially aid them in the management of the cloches, or bell-glasses, under which their fine Lettuces are grown. I give them the greatest credit for their assiduous ingenuity in the manage- ment of these ; but fully think it impossible to succeed in our constantly moist climate as they do with them. Judging from the fine fruit which I saw in the shop of M. Joret, in the Rue Marche St. Honore, and also at Versailles and F"'ontainbleau, I should say they are very good Pine growers. They cultivate the young plants principally in beds prepared for them, without pots, and fruit them in very small pots considering the size of the fruit produced by them. They seem to feed the plants much by a large supply of ammoniacal gas, fruiting FEBRKARY. 77 them over a chamber filled with hot dung, and plunging them in a shallow- bed of tan. In Vines they do not shine at all as we do ; no such Grapes as English gardeners produce are to be met with. Here are none of those fine, fleshy* delicious Muscats, or Hamburghs, that were shown at the meeting of the London Horticultural Society the other day. Their only well grown Grape is the Chasselas de Fontainbleau, which, at that place, covers a wall 1300 yards long, and from 12 to 15 feet in height. The vines when I saw them (the I8th of October) were loaded with produce, fully ripe over the whole of this space : they were of the richest amber color, and were in fact delic- ious in taste, and most inviting to behold. The Chasselas, thus ripened, is one of the very best of grapes, but such as these are not met with in any quantity in the markets ; those are smaller and much less ripe ; but from such grapes and a piece of bread many a Parisian workman makes his din- ner. They are grown for the market at Thomi^ry. In French gardens the vines are trained on a low trellis, and when they want to force them a frame is placed over them about 3 feet G inches high at back and 1 foot 6 inches in front. It is made of old ship timber, not painted, and a dung lining surrounds this economic structure, which has as well two flat copper pipes along the front for heating. Unlike good English gardeners in the present day, they do not force the same portion of the trellis in successive years ; but if this piece is forced this year, another is chosen for the next year's crop. I think they are wrong in pursuing this antiquated notion, as there can be no doubt that all plants which are forced soon acquire a habit of pushing their buds at that particular period of the year at which they have been excited. I could not help smiling, therefore, when gravely assured that this resting was an element of their success. In Figs they do not seem to shine so much as they ought to do ; I saw only some small green ones, not over ripe, in M. Joret's shop. Their Pears are truly magnificent. I saw Crassane, Passe Colmar, Duch- esse d'Angouleme and Beurr6 Diel prodigiously fine, particularly the Cras- sane, which was of an exquisite flavor too. In the way of Vegetables, magnificent Cauliflowers were hawking about' the streets, as were also Peas, in the middle of October. Fruit of the pur- ple Egg Plant, called Aubergine, were on sale for culinary purposes, and the seeds of Haricot Beans, about three parts grown, were exposed under the name of Flageolets. 1 saw the Dioscorea after the second year of cul- tivation little better than we have it in this country, and they say it is of no use without two years' growth in Paris. If, as experience proves, it is so shy, we may take our leave of it as an article of staple food, and it will only serve to make a dish at the tables of the wealthy portion of society. Magnificent Cardoons were to be seen in all directions, as well as Escarolle, the Batavian Endive, beautifully blanched; but their chief point of excel- lence is their cultivation of Asparagus. M. Joret had some of the finest Asparagus I ever beheld. Its culture is a specialite into which I felt much interest in making inquiry. It is managed thus : — The ground is deeply trenched with a most abundant addition of the best 78 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. rotten dung from old Melon beds. It is then divided into beds, about 3 feet 6 inches, with alleys 2 feet 6 inches in width. In March they plant their roots 20 inches or 2 feet apart in the row, and the usual routine follows till the next autumn, when the bed is liberally manured and deeply covered by the mould from the adjoining alleys. Thus excavated they form a recep- tacle for hot dung, with which they are filled as the produce may be required ; the beds being covered with their small frames, which are about the width of the bed. These beds produce the Asperges blanches, or large white Asparagus. The beds are not cut previously to being forced, and those who desire to have this excellent vegetable in its full perfection, must give it special cul- ture. The system of forcing old roots from beds which have been long in cutting can only disappoint those who expect fine produce. Indeed this plant seems simply to require a deep and rich soil, an abundant space be- tween the plants, and a three years' course of this before cutting the shoots. In the market gardens around Paris both Celery and Cardoons are blanched by filling up amongst them with long dry stable litter, of which large stacks meet the eye on entering the grounds. The Cardoons are planted about four feet apart on the flat surface, and are entirely filled up with this ma- terial. I saw this_ in the grounds of M. Chevalier, at La Chappelle, whose quarters of Cardoons were wonderful to behold. Perhaps it is one of the strangest things that they have not a morsel of curled Parsley in their gardens ; it is all as perfectly plain as the wild plant, and looking to tlie fondness which the French evince for decoration, one wonders at this. It is usual with market gardeners, who are obliged to crop heavily, to manure heavily also. But I have never seen soil so rich in manurial mat- ters as the Paris gardens seem to be. It being the middle of October I had an opportunity of seeing the very interesting process of planting tlie Lettuces under the cloches or bell-glasses of which Dr. Lindley gave some account in a former number of the Gar- deners^ Chronicle. A sloping bank is formed for the purpose, the soil for which is almost entirely composed of well-rotted manure from the old Melon beds; nothing could in fact be lighter or richer than it is; each bank is made 6 or 7 feet in width, and the glasses are placed in rows close to- gether. The Lettuce plants which are raised under one or more glasses are now most carefully transplanted, putting 32, to be again thinned to 8, and finally to 1, under each glass. The success with which these are cul- tivated is very great, and they supply the English markets long before we get them. In severe weather straw mats (made from Rye) are placed over them, and great vigilance is used in giving and taking air. But their sheet anchor is the dryness of their climate, wanting which I do not think the same results could be obtained in this country, however indefatigable we may be. I had expected to have seen the Chinese Yam producing very fine large tubers in this " land of the sun," but was truly disappointed when I saw that the roots were not bigger (after two years' cultivation in M. Vilmorin's FEBRUARY. 79 garden) than those I have at Nuneham. I noticed a pretty pyriform Tomato in that garden, and the Chinese Radish, of which I bought seeds. — [Card. Chron., 1856, p. 836.) ♦ iossip of tlje liontlj. The Black Gum Tree, (Nyssa sylvatica). — Dear Sir: — When our esteemed friend, Hon. Samuel Walker, was making us a brief visit last fall, he was struck with the beauty of the tree above named. A tree very much neglected, probably from the same common habit of looking abroad for ornaments to pur grounds instead of our native forest. In referring to Michaux, (who I just learn is no more with us, his noble spirit having departed to a higher sphere of labor,) I observe that he ascribes its northern limits to the Schuylkill ; and by no means does jus- tice to its great beauty, confining his remarks to the inappropriateness of the name. On its location, the peculiar character of the wood and its uses, truthfully enough ; but he unfortunately overlooked the splendor of its foli- age, and this especially in the Autumn. He probably made his observations on the foliage from dryed specimens, and never saw the tree when decked in its autumnal grandeur, or his enthusiastic spirit could hardly have avoided an exclamation of surprise and admiration. The tree is of medium growth. In the forest where crowded (apart from the foliage,) its form and outward appearance has no particular attractions, but when grown in the open ground, with room to develop, it branches low in such situations, extending at right angles from the body and finally assumes a drooping position, forming a most beautiful rounding head. The foliage is dark green, thick, and with a shining, glossy upper surface. In the latter part of September and October it assumes varied shades of brown and red to a bright scarlet, presenting at a distance a most animating and grand sight, as that of a tree covered with gorgeous scarlet flowers. The sight is often so grand that the passer-by is involuntarily brought to pause to admire. Such is the Black Gum tree of our forest. What would an Englishman give could he transfer such a tree to his park, with the assurance of retain- ing its autumnal grandeur in his more humid climate ? Yet we at home neglect its propagation, and that of others of our splendid forest trees, and import from abroad, at great cost, inferior articles to adorn the pleasure grounds and parks of our country. I thought as this tree is not indigenous so far north, and yet perfectly hardy, and no doubt will flourish with you, a few seeds for distribution among your members would not be unacceptable. I therefore embrace an opportunity to forward to George A. Otis, Esq., No. 1 Boylston Place, a small package, which you will have the goodness to call for and present to the Society in my name, being careful to try some yourself. The seed, as you will observe, is hard and will require the action of the 80 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. winter's freezing, or other means, to prepare them for vegetation. If treated as Peach or Cherry seed are, I doubt not they will readily vegetate. — With great respect, I remain yours, A. H. Ernst, Cor. Sec'y Mass. Hort. Soc. Cincinnati, Ohio, Janurt??/ 20/A, 1857, in a letter to Dr. E. Wight, Cor. Sec'y Mass. Hort. Soc. Large Crop of Grapes. — At the Convention of the Fruit Growers of Western New York, held at Rochester on the 7th of January, various sub- jects were discussed, among which was that of hardy grapes. Mr. Barry called upon Mr. Johnson, who resides in the neighborhood of Mr. McKay, of Naples, a successful cultivator of grapes, to give the meeting some infor- mation of his mode of culture, profits, &c. " Mr. Johnson had been interested with Mr. McKay in the culture of the grape. lie pruned very close every season, and trained his vines on wire trellises some seven feet high. The lower branches were trained very near the ground. The vines were one rod apart each way, making one hundred and sixty to the acre. He thoroughly manured. The fruit ripened every season perfectly. The soil is gravelly, with a clay subsoil, and a north- western exposure. The product is about $1,200 per acre. Mostly sold at 15 cents per pound." This amount would require 8000 lbs. to the acre, or about 200 bushels — equal to one and a quarter bushels to each vine ; certainly a very large crop. It Avill be noticed that McKay " thoroughly manures," as indeed he must do so to sustain such a crop. In this respect his practice is quite unlike that of Mr. Brackett, detailed in another page, who objects to all manure in the culture of the grape. Much interesting information was given on other subjects, which we shall allude to again. The Season of 1856 at Union Springs, N. Y. — December 1855 was very mild until the 24th, when the temperature was 26°, and it was down to 32°, or below it, every day until April 3d, being 101 days. It was below zero, January 5th, 4°; 9th, 4°; 20th, 4°. February 3d, zero ; 13th, 6° ; 14th, zero. March 9th, 4° ; 10th, 2°. April was cool, with 11 days' rain or snow. May, cool and very wet; 16 days' rain. Temperature average of the month (53°. June warm and very wet until the 20th, with 11 days' rain; then clear until the 30th; then heavy rain, 79°. July very hot, with 11 days' light rain, 46°. 5'. August very warm ; light rain 12 days, 80°. 5'. September very warm, 1 1 days' rain ; 7th, at 92° rain ; 10th, at 90° heavy rain. October warm ; 11 days' rain, 74°. November warm and pleasant for the season ; 4 inches snow, 29th. December has been very severe, with high winds and great and sudden changes. 9th, at 2 o'clock, temperature 30° • at 7, down to 8°, (22° in 5 hours); 11th, 48°, rain; 18th, 6° below zero at sunrise, 6° above at noon, 6° below at sunset ; 20th, 42°, rain ; 31st, snow- storm. Temperature at noon 32°. FEBRUARY. 81 Cherries were plenty, very large and fair ; other fruit generally scarce, yet we had some trees heavily laden with peaches and plums, of the first quality ; the hot weather in September ripening them to perfection. One large tree near the lake, produced the heaviest crop of Apricots that I ever saw. The cold, wet weather, in many cases, was more destructive to the curculio than to the fruit. — Yours, J. S. Allen, January, 1857. Sotietits. S ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL. A meeting of the Fruit cultivators of Illinois was held at Decatur, on the 17th of December, when a State Horticultural Society was organized, and the following officers elected : President. — Dr. E. S. Hull, Alton. Vice Presidents. — R. W. Hunt, Napierville ; W. H. Mann, Blooming- ton; L. Shaw, Tremont; Wm. Stewart, Payson; S. Francis, Spring- field; Dr. Kell, Paris; John P. Reynolds, Salem; Dr. Conden, Jones- boro'. Corresponding Secretary. — A. B. Galusha, Lisbon. Recording Secretary. — James Starr, Alton. ' Assistant Recording Secretary. — F. H. Phoenix, Bloomington. Treasurer. — Dr. B. F. Long, Alton. A State with such a soil and climate as Illinois should have a Society like this, and we look to valuable results from its organization, and the energetic gentlemen who compose its officers. fruit growers of western new YORK. The annual meeting was held at Rochester, on the 7th of January, when the following officers were elected: — President. — John J. Thomas, Union Springs. Vice Presidents. — Asa Rowe, Sweden; H. R. Norton, Brockport; E. C. Fkost, Catherine. Secretaries. — J. B. Eaton, Buffalo ; H. E. Hooker, Rochester. Treasurer. — W. P. Towns end, Lockport. Executive Committee. — P. Barry, Rochester; T. C. Maxwell, Geneva; H. E. Dickinson, Lyons; W. R. Smith, Syracuse; P. R. Freeoff, Auburn. Chairman of County Committee. — P. Barry, Rochester. A small, but fine, exhibition of fruits was made, as follows : From A. Corey, Penfield, 20 varieties of apples and Isabella grapes, From R. H. Brown, Greece, 20 varieties of apples. From John Parks Yates, 16 varieties of apples. From J. B. Johnson, Naples, 18 varieties of apples, and Isabella and Catawba grapes. From J. Nelson, Brio-hton 3 varieties of apples. From L. Barber, East Bloomfield, a seedling apple VOL. XXIII. NO. II. 11 82 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. callen the Golden Goss. From T. C. Maxwell, a large red apple, supposed to be a seedling. From Elhvanger & Barry 23 varieties of pears, among which were Josephine de Malines, Doyenn6 d'Alencon, Winter Nelis, Jean de Witte, Bezi d'Esperin, Bergamotte Cadette, Glout Morceau, Pound, Catillac, &.c. P^assiuljusctts portkultural Sotictg. Saturday, December Q.7th. — The adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day, — the President in the chair. During the year the following members have been elected : — Isaac Gary, Boston ; J. D. Harvey, Cambridgeport ; J. C. Bachi, R. W. Holman, and J. W. Jenks, Boston ; F. Winship, Brighton ; E. W. Buswell, and Wm. Cour- tis, Boston; Wm. M. Chase, Fall River ; C. F. Curtis, J. V. Wellington, M. P. Kennard, and F. W. Lincoln, Boston ; H. G. Peters, Southboro' ; J. F. Braldee, Boston. The several garden, flower, fruit, and vegetable Committees, made their reports for the year, which were accepted and ordered to be published. The President, M. P. Wilder, and Capt. Austin, were chosen a Commit- tee to settle with Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Meeting dissolved. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FRUITS, AWARDING PREMIUMS DDRING THE YEAR. The Committee on Fruits present to the Society a report of tlaeir doings for the past year, feeling that this is not the least of the departments under the supervision of a Society established for the public good. And, as they make record, from week to week, of their doings, it is for the dissemination of good to all, especially for those who cannot be present to witness the rich display of choice specimens of fruits offered, not only from the imme- diate vicinity, but often from thousands of miles within our outspread coun- try— including Kansas, California and Oregon. In this way, we are ena- bled to compare specimens and quality, and judge of such varieties as have a local habitation ; and it will not be denied but that there are some fruits which do better in the section in which they originated, while it is admitted that others may be improved by a change of location, though this seldom happens ; yet the Bartlett (and some few varieties of foreign origin,) a widely disseminated pear, seems to find in this country a more congenial climate than in the place of its origin. The apples grown in Kansas, as presented for exhibition here, were mostly varieties which had originated in this section, such as the Roxbury Russet, Baldwin, Hubbardston Nonsuch, &c., and though somewhat increased in size, they were equal, if not supe- rior, to the same varieties grown with us. Of tlie fruits shown as grown in Oregon, we would specially mention the FEBRUARY. 83 Gloria Mundi (Monstrous Pippin of Coxe,) as exhibited by Daniel Denny, on account of its monstrous size, viz., 2 lbs. 5h oz. avoirdupois weight- Specimens of the Sparhawk, weighing 3/ oz., grown in Alabama, were shown by Messrs. Hovey, and, notwithstanding the size, (27 oz.), was so much increased over those grown in the locality of its origin ; the flavor was not any the less agreeable. We are constantly receiving accessions of new fruits, particularly of the apple, such varieties as are coming into existence as seedlings, or those which have only been known in the particular vicinity of its origin, and from year to year are being disseminated and brought to notice through some horticulturist. Under the head of Apples, we would mention as promising well, the Washington, a handsome autumn fruit, and the Polish, a late autumn or winter variety. And were we going into a recommendation of some of the older varie- ties, we should bespeak a place in the smallest collection for the Fameuse, which is ativays good, from the first dropping to its latest keeping, unsur- passed and admirably adapted for the table or kitchen. Notwithstanding the scarcity of apples in general the past season, there has been but a slight falling off of contributions either at the weekly or at the annual exhibition, and of specimens nearly equal to any former year. We wish space would allow us to speak of some of the choicest specimens shown during the year, but can only mention the Ladies' Sweeting, as shown by F. & L. Lovett, with the view to speak of it as one of the best known varieties for a sweet apple. It proves a good bearer, with few of under size, keeping well till into May. The Foster apple, ripe in August, as shown for several years by J. W. Foster, is a superior sweet apple and worthy general cultivation. Not hav- ing been able to identify it with any known variety, the Committee have given it this name. Pears will probably hold a preeminence with the public as well as the amateur, and the time has already arrived when we are not obliged to depend solely on those of foreign origin, for we could name at least a dozen varieties which are in no way inferior to the same number originating in other countries, viz., Sheldon, Lawrence, Brandywine, Boston, Seckel, Tyson, Andrews, Lodge, Kingsessing, Howell, Oswego Beurre and Adams. In the belief of many, we shall do as well to rely mainly for a certain returnable crop of pears, on varieties originating with us. There are those who, either as a matter of necessity, of business, or as amateurs, will always cultivate varieties which can be counted by hundreds, and it is well for us who can only grow a limited number, that there are persons who can afford and are willing to pass through all this vexation, and it would be as well that we might profit by their failure of a return commensurate with the out- lay. A beginner generally makes a mistake in desiring to grow too great a variety — such as he has seen described with high encomiums, instead of relying at the outset on some horticultural neighbor who has had expenence, perhaps at an outlay of funds and temper for the meagre return of years of toil. 84 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. We would, therefore, say to a beginner, calculate the number of trees you design setting out, the proportion for season of ripening, whether as dwarf or standards, then consult one of known judgment, who has had experience and mainly rely on his judgment, which will probably avail much, enabling him to come at once in his outlay to a satisfactory result. A few of the varieties which promise well and maintain a high character, we would mention : Beurre de Wael, Beurre Sterckman, Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre d'Anjou, Retour de Rome, Charles Van Hooghten, Comte de . Flanders, Sterling, Gideon Paridant, Abbot, Beurr6 Superfin, Doyenn6 Boussock, Pratt, Beurre Kennes, Nouveau Poiteau, Fondante de Malines, Conseiller Ranwez, Kirtland, Seckel, Beurr6 Langelier, Emile d'Heyst, Calebasse Delvigne, Pie IX., St. Menin, Philadelphia, &c. Of seedlings, of recent introduction, which bid fair to hold a conspicu- ous position, may be named the Shepherd, Dana's No. 16, Dana's No. 12, and Dana's new Seedling, shown this year for the first time. The contributions of grapes raised under glass have been liberal, and in nearly all cases well grown ; coming mainly from houses long established, though many have been offered from houses of recent introduction, but fol- lowing closely on to those of not so recent a date. The Committee having availed themselves of duties jointly assigned them Avith the Garden Com- mittee of visiting the various graperies and fruit gardens in this vicinity, are ready to confirm all that has been said in their Garden Committee Report : begging leave to state that the amount appropriated in that depart- ment of your Society is well applied in the way of gleaning valuable infor- mation for this Committee. The visit to the grapery of M. H. Simpson, Saxonville, seemed more nearly connected with this department than any other, that we took special cognizance of all matters ; to the novel mode adopted as the " Simpsonian " plan of cultivating two crops in one year. That Mr. Simpson has been eminently successful we have had ample proof, and he is deserving of all honor which may be attached to so prosperous an issue against the fearful odds attendant theieon. Nearly all his friends predicted a failure of crops, ruination of vines, and a heavy outlay devoid of a return. Even his gar- dener (Mr. Burns) was of like opinion with the multitude. Yet against all these odds which Mr. S. had to contend with, he persevered, (his gardener against his own convictions was assiduous in carrying out his employer's plan,) and success has attended as Mr. S. alone predicted it would. Our visit Avas made on the 24th of April 1856, at which time we found a luxuri- ating crop, on vines which were started December, 1855. And from the same vines which gave the crop in April, Mr. Simpson made a liberal display on the third Saturday in December, 1856. The Macready's Early White were cut as early as December 3d ; the vines had a period of rest from April to August, when bottom heat was ap- plied and a produce of about ten pounds to the vine was the result. Hav- ing visited the grapery, we found the vines in the best possible condition. Under the head of Hothouse Grapes the Committee have the pleasure to incorporate a communication from J. Fisk Allen : FEBRUARY. 85 Salem, December 30th, 185G. To tlie Chairman of the Dnnt Committee of J\lass. Hart. Society. Dear Sir: — In my reply to your note last year regarding grape culture in this vicinity, mention was made of the Black Barbarossa as having fruited in the grapery of R. S. Rogers, Esq. This present year this vine has again fruited, and you have had bunches of this crop exhibited upon the tables of your Society. It is proper now to state, that this variety has been fiuited two seasons in the neighborhood of New York, and that good judges pronounce the grape identical with the Prince Albert. There are other vines of the Barbarossa in this vicinity — one small bunch, of a very few berries, was produced upon one vine. The Prince Albert has been extensively planted in forcing houses in this State, and the vines have been removed on account of their unfruitfulness. In my retard- ing house it has usually yielded well, bearing large, long bunches, of two to four pounds weight. This year, it had not a grape or a blossom, and a vine still retained in the forcing house for experiment, has not shown a fruit cluster for years. The vines of the two, if not identical, have the same uncertainty of crop. The fruit grown on Mr. Rogers' vine resembles the fruit shoAvn by myself, for many years, under the name of Bishop. This is an uncertain bearer, fruiting on alternate years. There are three grapes which have a very singular mode of growth, tlie Prince Albert, the Bishop, and Red Lombardy. If the Barbarossa is a dis- tinct variety from Prince Albert, then there is a fourth. The Queen of Nice occasionally exhibits a tendency to the same growth. All these grapes are late, requiring one to two months longer season than the Black Hamburgh, and great heat to mature them in perfection. These can be readily distinguished from the hundreds of other kinds, when in growth, by this singularity : the point, or termination, of all the young shoots being turned down, as if held in check by a rein. The Prince Albert has this peculiarity to the greatest degree, and the Barbarossa is so entirely like, that I can see no reason for believing them distinct. The vine alluded to as bearing only a few berries had a cane of large size, the whole length of the rafter, in full health, and showing a correct picture of the Prince Albert and of its customary barrenness. Possibly the vines in New York are not true Barbarossa. If the vines were selected when in growth, this peculiar habit may have led to error. Probably another season will settle the question. In the meantime, as the vine is an uncertain bearer, it will be well to be cautious in planting or propagating it. Seedling grape vines multiply so rapidly, that it would require a large space and more leisure than I am possessed of even to name them. The Rebecca is the best that has come under my observation the past year ; the fruit superior to the Diana, which is generally esteemed the best flavored native grape yet fairly tested. Should this prove hardy in our cli- mate, it will be received as a great acquisition. 86 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Mr. Edward Rogers, of this city, has a large number of hybrids, which have fruited this past season. The mammoth Globe Grape, fertilized by the pollen of the Chasselas and Black Hamburgh, was the method employed in producing them. Black, red and white fruit, in fine formed bunches, is the result, and ripening early. The vines were spotted some with mildew, and another year will test their quality. They are perfectly hardy. Several of my own hybrids have proved perfectly hardy, and fruited this year in open culture. No. 19, a round, black grape, I thought quite good, others closely resembling the Black Prince, Avith the sharp, acid flavor of that variety ; still others, the fruit of which was eaten by the robins as soon as colored, and before they were fully ripe. Tlie white, known as Allen's Hybrid, has been allowed to bear a full crop this year, under glass. The result was entirely satisfactory; the fruit ripening the first of August and keeping well three months upon the vine. A few bunches cut remained in good condition three months longer. This vine survived the past severe winter in open culture. The purple, No. 8, fully sustains its promise of being valuable as a later fruit, coming into eating some weeks after the white. The weather in April and May was cold and wet ; this caused an unus- ual bleeding of the vines in open culture. More injury was done the vines from this protracted bleeding, than has ever before been noticed by the writer. The terminal buds on the spurs, and many of those on the long canes, were destroyed — apparently poisoned or corroded by some substance in the sap. On the recurrence of fine, dry weather, the flow of sap would cease, when the shoot or branch would appear as if whitewashed. Not- withstanding this unfavorable spring, the heat of July and the mild weather in October matured a fine crop of grapes where the vines were not injured by the cold of winter. Under glass, a full crop was also matured. The mildew seems to be the great drawback to the successful culture of the grape in this country. Under glass, where it has been more and more troublesome from year to year, (in my houses,) it has been entirely subdued by constant applications of sulphur applied early to the floor of the house, and repeated as often as it was washed in by water or disappeared by evap- oration. In the open garden it has been more than ever troublesome in this vicinity, appearing in June and reappearing on every wet and foggy term even into October, a space of four months. Formerly, its occurrence was confined to July and August. The application of sulphur and lime water to the foliage by the syringe, or garden engine, will destroy it at once. This must be repeated as often as occasion may require. I find the appli- cation of dry flour of sulphur alone the most satisfactory, spreading this freely upon the ground around the vine and upon the foliage — repeating this on the appearance of mildew, and in foggy weather during the summer. After a few years, the soil will become so saturated as to require but one application for the season, and this in June or July. Complaints are freely made that the mildew reappears after the wash and sulphur has once destroyed it. To be of any real use the vines must be watched, and the sulphur application renewed, in one form or other, as often as any reappearance of mildew, and this again and again if necessary. FEBRUART. 87 Several individuals, recently writing upon the mildew, speak of it as if caused by change of temperature of heat to cold, or the reverse. My own observation for twenty years past, has led me to think that damp, foggy weather was the cause, and the most favorable for its vegetation is the hot fogs of dog days. Respectfully yours, John Fisk Allen. Hardy Native Grapes. — The time has arrived, showing clearly that we can now have open cultured grapes, nearly equalling those grown under glass. In addition to tlie seedlings heretofore shown by Mr. Allen and Mr. Stetson, and fully spoken of in former Reports, we would mention the Rebecca, shown by William Brooksbank, Hudson, N. Y. The Rebecca is the best seedling, shown this season for the first time, and promises to be earlij, high flavored, a good hearer, and perfectly hardy, and being a white variety, may prove somewhat more desirable. Of its hardiness we are assured, since it has stood the winter without protection, at Winchester, in the grounds of E. A. Brackett. With Mr. Brackett it ripened earlier than the Diana. Of its earliness, prolificness and hardiness, Mr. Brackett speaks in the highest terms of commendation. The Union also fruited with Mr. Bracket. He speaks of it as a good grower and bearer, and perfectly hardy. This variety (as shown) was fully ripened about the middle of September. It is a delicious grape, of sacha- rine flavor, and fully equal in size to the Black Hamburgh, which it much resembles in appearance. The Delaware Avas also fruited in the hands of Mr. Brackett. Both the bunch and berry were much increased in size over those shown as grown in Ohio. The Delaware ripened on the 10th of September, and though the grape is undersized, it will always prove desirable for the table. The Curtis, (Mr. Stetson's seedling, spoken of heretofore as No. 4,) in the hands of Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, ripened about the 20th of August, and was of superior flavor. Several other seedlings of good promise were shown, but sufficient is not yet known of their earliness and hardiness to warrant the Committee to speak so fully as to recommend their culture. The Allen's Hybrid was of an increased size over those hereto- fore shown. Subjoined is a communication from Mr. Brackett on the subject of out- door grapes. Mr. Brackett's grounds are most favorably located for the growth of the vine and its early ripening. It will be noticed that he dis- sents strongly from most growers, as to the food required for the vine. We cannot fully agree with Mr. Brackett, and think he may have come to his own conclusions from the fact that he is highly favored with the best of vir- gin soil, and a fortunate location in all respects. Neither must the fact enumerated by Mr. Brackett that the London Hor- ticultural Society awarded a prize to grapes, grown under the most ordinary conditions, be taken as an evidence that they can be successfully cultivated in this way for any length of time. The grapes referred to, were the flrst crop of a new vinery, supplied with abundance of heat and moisture, growing in a border which, according to the account, " appeared " to be common 88 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. garden soil, and everybody is aware how good the soil of an English gar- den is. Winchester, January 1st, 1857. To the Chairman of the Fruit Committee of the Mass. Hort. Society : Dear Sir, — Yours of Dec. 27th, was duly received. In a note published in your last year's report, I detailed what I believed to be the best method of training vines in open culture : and also gave a description of my soil. Notwithstanding the coiling of my vines around the stalks, and the severe root pruning given them some two years since, they still continue to make too much growth. I am satisfied that we have no soil in this climate suit- able for the vine, that is not already rich enough in those materials neces- sary to form leaf and wood. Especially is this true of vines grown under glass. The system of making rich borders is derived from English cultiva- tors, and is in direct opposition to the culture of the vine in its native soil, and the wine-growing districts of Europe. This gluttony of the vine has been growing from bad to worse, until in some instances borders have been literally filled with dead horses and ofFal from slaughter-houses. Something, however, of a return to first principles was found at the late exhibition in the Regent's Park, where grapes from vines grown in nothing but common garden soil, received the highest premium in competition with nearly one hundred of the best grape growers of England. Vines, in pots, grown in a soil composed almost entirely of gravel and sand, without any animal manure, treated with silicate of potash and phos- phate of lime, have borne large crops and ripened their fruit much sooner than those grown in a rich compost. The fruit of these vines was exhibited on your tables last March. As the object of nature is to reproduce its species, it follows that the great labor of the vine is in maturing the seed. And just in proportion to the ease with which this is perfected will be the size of the pulp, or fruit, and the time of ripening lessened. Such being the case, all stimulants not tending to assist the vine in this direction are iiijurious ; inasmuch as they stimulate the vine to an unnatural growth of wood — a condition unfavorable to the production of fruit. I have fruited, the past season, four new varieties of out-door grapes, the Rebecca, Delaware, Union, and Canadian Chief. The Canadian Chief is to all appearance a foreign grape. The Delaware is perfectly hardy, a good bearer, and the fruit of an excellent flavor. It is the earliest of all our native grapes worth cultivating. The Rebecca ripens about the same time of the Diana, and stands the climate quite as well as the Isabella. The Delaware and Rebecca are in my estimation a decided improvement over the Diana. The Union grape is a seedling from the Isabella ; perfectly hardy, bunches about the size of the Hamburgh, the berries somewhat larger and of excel- lent flavor. It has ripened with me during the past three years, and should it continue to maintain its present character it will undoubtedly become our best market grape. Yours truly, E. A. Brackett. TEBRUART. 89 The Concord is now widely disseminated, and some are strenuous in its favor; in the course of a year or two it will have become so well tested as to earliness, &c., that growers will be enabled to judge for themselves as to its merits — and will probably decide in favor of its being a valuable addition to other varieties for out-door culture. Oct. 8th. — Mr. S. Herman showed grapes so closely resembling the Ham- burgh, as to be taken for that grape. The grower of the grape (a German) says, in answer to a query, " I had the Black Hamburgh planted in my grounds, but it would not stand the winter ; while the vine from which these grapes were cut, stood the first three winters without any protection, while the last four years they have been covered. It usually ripens about the last of August ; this year, in consequence of wet and cold, it was nearly a month later. My vines were received from Germany." Considering the great value that would accrue from the introduction of new varieties of native grapes, ripening sufficiently early to mature in any part of the New England States, and superior to any we now possess, your Committee urge the necessity of the Society offering a special premium not exceeding $500, or such amount as they may deem advisable, for the best seedling possessing such qualifications as will entitle it to so liberal a prize. Blackberries. — Under the head of premiums awarded for this fruit, it will be seen that the High-bush has carried off all the premiums. The Lawton is a valuable acquisition, but without detracting at all from its merits your Committee would state that in their opinion, for general cultivation, the High-bush is altogether a superior berry, quite as large, of equal flavor, and possessing that all-important requisite for such a fruit, solidity, which ena- bles the grower to take it to market in fine order, which he cannot well do with the Lawton. The blackberry, according to Mr. Merriam, who has had great success in growing it, should be trained horizontally ; this causes every eye to break, and the shoots are literally loaded with fruit; if trained upright they only break freely at the top. Peaches. — Mr. Nahum Stetson exhibited, Sept. 6th, a veiry large peach, of delicious flavor, called " Shanghai," taking its name from the fact of its having originated in Shanghai. Raspberries. — It will be noticed that the Knevetfs Giant has again taken the lead. For the first time Brinkle's Orange was shown (by George Davenport,) commencing his exhibition July 19th and ending in September. This is of an orange color, good size, well flavored, and, as will be noticed by the continuance of the contributions, is a prolific bearer. Nectarines. — None worthy of particular mention have been shown, except the Stanwick, shown by H. H. Hunnewell, to which was awarded the Society's silver medal. If others are as successful in growing this, as has been Mr. Harris, gardener to Mr. H , it will probably be grown to the exclusion of most other varieties. Strawberries. — The Jenny Lind, a seedling raised by Mr. Fay, having proved an early and prolific bearer in the hands of others than the originator, the Committee awarded to Isaac Fay, the Society^s Special Prize of the Ijy- VOL. XXIII. NO. II. 12 90 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. man Plate, valued at $50, for the Jenny Lind as the best seedling after three years' trial. The past season has been prolific in the introduction of new and valuable varieties from abroad, amongst which may be mentioned Sir Harry, Admi- ral Dundas, and Sir Charles Napier, shown by Messrs. Hovey, as the lead- ing and most desirable of some twenty-five varieties of recent introduction. The Admiral Dundas, the largest of the above named, requiring only about EIGHTEEN TO THE POUND. Sir Harry received the first prize, as being superior in flavor to any other variety of the season. The Admiral Dundas, on account of size, would have received the second prize, but that the con- tributor is one of the Fruit Committee, and declined assenting to the award made by all other members. The Committee would like to speak of some other varieties of strawber- ries, but they have already extended their report, and close with the follow- ing awards : — PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES AWARDED. For the best and most interesting exhibition of Fruits during the season, the Lowell plate, to J. F. Allen, . For the second, to Henry Vandine, For the third, to Hovey & Co. Apples. — For the best twelve Summer apples, to F. & M. Burr for Red Astrachan, .... For the second, to J. W. Foster, for Early Harvest, For the best twelve Autumn apples, to James Eustis, for Grav enstein, ..... For the second, to J. B. Moore, for Hubbardston, For the best twelve Winter apples, to F. & J. Lovett, for Lady Sweet, ...... For the second, to Lewis Davenport, for Baldwin, . Blackberries. — For the best specimens, to J. Nugent, for High bush, ...... For the second, to G. Merriam, for the same, For the third, to J. W. Foster, for the same. For the fourth, to G. B. Cutter, for the same. Cherries, — For the best specimens, to William Bacon, for Black Tartarian, ..... For the second, to G. B. Cordwell, for the same. For the third, to J. W. Foster, for Black Eagle, Currants. — For the best specimens, to J. W. Foster, for Red Dutch, ...... For the second, to George Wilson, for White Dutch, Figs. — For the best twelve specimens, to J. Fisk Allen, . For the second, to E. S. Rand, Jr. . Gooseberries. — For the best specimen, to J. W. Foster, For the second, to A. D. Webber, . Geapes. — For the best specimens grown under glass, before July, to Breck & Son, for Cannon Hall, $15 00 10 00 7 00 00 00 6 00 4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 4 00 3 00 2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 GO FEBRUARY. 91 For the second, to J. C. Blaisdell. for B. Hamburgh, For the third, to Mrs. F. B. Durfee, For the best specimen grown under glass, after July, to Wm. P. Perkins, ..... For the second, to Mrs. F. B. Durfee, For the third, to J. F. Allen, For the best Native grapes, to G. B. Cutter, for Isabella, For the second, to E. A. Brackett, for Delaware, For the third, to C. E. Grant, for Isabella and Catawaba, For tlie fourth, to E. Cleaves, for Diana, For the fifth, to G. C. Haynes, for Isabella, Melons. — For the best Musk Melon, open culture, to E. M. Rich- ards, for Christiana, .... For the best Water Melon, to C. S. Holbrook, Nectarines. — For the best twelve specimens, to J. F, Allen, For the second, to C. F. Haynes, . Peaches. — For the best twelve specimens, grown under glass, before July, to C. S. Holbrook, for Coolidge, For the second, to J. F. Allen, for Grosse Mignonne, For the best twelve specimens, open cnlture, to N. Stetson, for Shanghai, ..... For the second, to William Brigham, for late Crawford, For the third, to C. G. Grant, for the same. For the fourth, to F. Dana, for the same, Pears. — For the best twelve Summer Pears, to Samuel Downer, for Tyson, ..... For the second, to H. Vandine, for Muskingum, For the third, to Hovey &l Co., for Boston, . For the best twelve Autumn Pears, to W. R. Austin, for Duchesse, ..... For the second, to W. N. Rider, for Urbaniste, For the third, to J. F. Allen, for B. Bosc, For the best twelve Winter Pears, to J. B. Loomis, for Easter Beurre, ...... For the second, to N. H. Palmer, for Glout Morceau, For the third, to W. R. Austin, for Easter Beurre, . For the fourth, to J. Plympton, for Glout Morceau, . Plums, — For the best specimens, to Henry Vandine, For the second, to Evers & Bock, . For the third, to C. E. Grant, Quinces. — For the best twelve specimens, to J. C. Bachi, For the second, to J. A. Stetson, Raspberries. — For the best specimens, to J. W. Foster, Knevett's, For the second, to W. R. Austin, for the same. For the third, to George Davenport, for Brinckle's Orange, Strawberries, — For the best specimens, to Hovey & Co., Sir Harry, ....... $6 00 4 00 8 00 6 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2 00 2 00 3 00 2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 5 00 92 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. For tlie second, to Isaac Fay, Jenny Lind, . . . $4 00 For the third, to J. C. Scott, Brighton Pine, . . 3 00 For the fourth, to George Leland, Hovey, . . . 2 00 GRATUITIES. To R. S. Rogers, for Barharossa grapes, silver medal. To H. H. Hunnewell, for Stanwick Nectarine, silver medal. To E. A. Brackett, for Union grape, silver medal. To Hovey & Co., for Rebecca, silver medal. To Isaac Fay, for Seckel, silver medal. To S. Kemp, for Seckel, silver medal. To W. C. Strong, for grapes, Society's silver medal. To W. C. Barton, for Winter Nelis, I vol. Hovey's Magazine. To Charles Bruce, for B. Diel, 1 vol. Hovey's Magazine. To H. M. Chamberlain, for B. Clairgeau, 1 vol. Hovey's Magazine. To George Nichols, Jr., for White Hamburgh grapes, 1 vol. Hovey's Magazine, To Eliphalet Stone, for Polish apple, 1 vol. Hovey's Magazine. To Samuel Leeds, for B. Bosc, 1 vol. Hovey's Magazine. To T. Haley, for Urbaniste, 1 vol. Hovey's Magazine. To Jonathan French, B. Clairgeau, 1 vol. Horticulturist. To N. H. Henchman, for Louise Bonne de Jersey, I vol. Horticulturist. To Daniel Niles, Jr., for N. Spy, Appleton bronze medal. To Ralph Crooker, for fine specimens of Josephine des Malines pears, the Appleton bronze medal. To W. C. Barton, for Easter Beurr6, the Appleton bronze medal. To C. E. Grant, for Easter Beurr6, extra fine, the silver medal. To J. B. Moore, for White Dutch currants, the Horticulturist. To Isaac Fay, the Society's Special Prize of the Lyman Plate, valued at $50, for the Jenny Lind, as the best seedling Strawberry after three years trial. Eben Wight, Chairman. The premiums awarded at the annual Exhibition last September, will be found in our volume for 1856, (XXII. p. 483.) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON VEGETABLES, AWARDING PREMIUMS FOR THE YEAR. To the Massachusetts Horticultural Society : Your Committee, in presenting this annual report of the weekly exhibi- tions, cannot fail to notice the increased interest in everything relating to the vegetable kingdom. Though the present season has not been as favor- able to the development of vegetation as some preceding seasons, and the tables, on some occasions, have looked unattractive in this department, yet the new varieties offered for your examination by several contributors, have been such as to warrant an extended culture the ensuing season. The new varieties of carrots adapted to early culture and shallow soils, are among the principal varieties that are calculated to enhance the profits FEBRUARY. 93 of the agriculturist. The turnip specimens have been such as show an improvement in the quality over former varieties, for field or table use. The sweet corn, known as Burr's improved, has, the past season, been shown by numerous cultivators, and seems to possess a marked superiority for table use over former varieties. As regards peas, the Champion of England, Hovey's, Hill's, Prince Albert and Early Kent, still retain their position among the earliest varie- ties. Of late introduction, the Dan O'Rourke, for an early variety, seems to bid fair to rival some of the former, here as well as in England, for where we have known of its being grown it has, like the Champion, proved to be a great favorite, and adapted to our climate. In regard to potatoes, there have been no new seedling potatoes of any note placed before your Committee. The Worcester that was entered or placed on the table about the time of the Davis, does not, by tracing its origin, appear to be a variety that should be considered as coming under the article of prospective prizes. Perhaps in the department of vegetable culture, there is not so much zeal and interest manifested as the subject requires ; for the love of fruits and flowers exercise over the mind or senses of the amateur a more varied and delightful influence than the department of vegetables, though this opens a wide and interesting field for practical science. Yet, who is there to deny that a collection of finely grown vegetables placed on your tables does not excite as much interest to the visitors as a collection of fine fruits arrayed in all their richness ? Or, a stand of flowers appearing to the eye as though the wings of a butterfly hid been daguerreotyed on every petal ? The liberal prizes offered by the Society for vegetable gardens are not competed for. We should, therefore, be glad to see, the ensuing season, an increased interest among cultivators in this department, and the tables of the weekly exhibitions present an array of specimens grown to the great- est perfection, while at the annual display, the tables should groan under the weight of superior specimens and improved varieties, of such esculents as constitute the staflT of life. Asparagus. — For the earliest and best, previous to May, to C. S. Holbrook, ...... For the best open culture, to George Everett, . For the second best, to Henry Bradlee, Beans. — For the best and earliest peck, to J. Nugent, . For the best and earliest Lima, to George Leland, For the best and earliest shell, to J. Nugent, . Cabbage. — ^For the earliest and best, to Josiah Crosby, . Carrots. — For the best, to F. Marsh, For the second best, to J. Crosby, Corn. — For the best and earliest sweet, to A. D, Webber, For the second best, to B. Harrington, Cucumbers. — For the best pair under glass, previous to the first Saturday in June, to C. S. Holbrook, For the second best, to James Murray, 3 00 2 00 3 00 3 00 3 00 3 00 3 00 2 00 3 00 2 00 it 5 00 3 00 94 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. For the best and earliest, open culture, to B. Harrington, Egg Plants. — For the best display, to Robert Murray, . For the second best, to C. S. Holbrook, Lettuce. — For the best six heads, before July, to J. Stone & Son, ...... For the second best, to B. Harrington, Onions. — For the earliest and best, to B. Harrington, Potatoes, — For the best and earliest peck, to T. Smallwood, For the second best, to Josiah Crosby, Peas. — For the best and earliest peck, to J. Nugent, (Dan O'Rourke,) ..... For the second best, to H. Bradlee, (Prince Albert,) For the best peck of late, to B. Harrington, Rhubarb. — For the largest and best, to J. B. Moore, For the second best, to G. Merriam, Squashes. — For the earliest and best, to B. Harrington, For the best Marrow, to Josiah Stickney, Tomatoes. — For the best and earliest, to J. Nugent, #3 00 3 00 2 00 3 00 2 00 2 00 3 00 2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 gratuities. 1st, for new varieties $8 00 To Bowen Harrington, exhibitions during the season, To J. Crosby, for forced Lettuce, To J. W. Foster, for Radishes, . To C. S. Holbrook, for varieties forced previous to May To Thomas Page, for Asparagus, To J. B. Moore, for the same. To J. Fisk Allen, for Tomatoes, . To J. Breck & Son, for Rhubarb, To Galvin & Hogan, for the same. To Bowen Harrington, for the same. To James Hyde & Son, for the same. To C. F. Jones, for varieties, To Dr. E. G. Kelley, for Early Kent Peas, To T. Smallwood, for Bassano Beets, To Henry Bradlee, for Burr's Sweet Corn, To H. Bradlee, for Cucumbers, . To Thomas Page, for Burr's Sweet Corn, To George N. Comer, for Vegetable Eggs, To Dr. Robert Dixon, for Squash, To Joseph Walker, for Mammoth Squash, To L. E. Caswell, for Mammoth Squash, To F. Marsh, 2d Vol. Hovey's Fruits of America, To A. D. Williams, for mammoth varieties, To Curtis &. Cobb, for new varieties, Daniel The award of premiums at the annual Exhibition of 1856 will be found in our last volume. (XXH p. 485). 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2 GO 6 00 Curtis, Chairman. FEBRUARY. 96 Iforticultnnil ©ptvntions FOR FEBRUARY. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. January has been an unusually cold month, with scarcely a day when the temperature has been above the freezing point. It has also been cloudy with frequent and severe snow storms, and a degree of cold lower than has been experienced for several years. The thermometer falling from 12 to 16° below zero, in the neighborhood of Boston, on the 18th. At the time we write (the 20th,) the snow lies two feet deep, which fortunately protects the ground from deep frost. The winter thus far has been more severe that of 1855-56. Grape Vines in early forcing houses, owing to the unfavorable weather, have advanced slowly the last month, and will now have but just set their fruit, or in those a little later started, will be just in bloom. In either case much care will be required to keep up an even temperature with the great changes of weather. Air should be given carefully, as very cold draughts will be likely to check them. Maintain a moist and genial atmosphere by liberal sprinkling of the walks and borders, giving an abundance in sunny weather, but less when cloudy or dull. As soon as the berries are large enough commence thinning the bunches. Top all laterals which are growing too fast, and tie in the shoots carefully and in their proper places. Vines in the greenhouse will begin to swell their buds early in the month, and as soon as this is perceived they will require occasional syringing to make them break well. Strong canes on young vines may be bent down at the ends to ensure this, if they don't start readily at the base. Vines in cold-houses may remain covered till next month. Cuttings may now be put in if a young stock is wanted. Grape Vines in pots may be introduced into the house for a successive crop. Those now in fruit should be well watered. Peach and Fig Trees in pots may be brought into the greenhouse. Strawberries in pots may be brought in, giving them a place on a warm shelf, near the glass. Scions may be cut this month and preserved as we have before directed. Seeds of Strawberries, Raspberries, Grapes, or other fruits, may now be planted in pots or boxes in the greenhouse. Pruning may be continued this month, whenever the weather is such as to allow such work. flower department. Continued cold weather has prevented the usual display of flowers in the conservatory and greenhouse ; but as the sun's rays acquire more power the plants will soon repay this severity by a greater profusion of bloom. A fresh arrangement should now be made, replacing those where beauty is past, and bringing forward young stock for later flowering. Propagation 96 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. of all the various plants for summer use should now go on, while there is abundance of leisure to attend to it, as well as to have them better estab- lished for early bloom. Camellias will be in their prime yet, and afford a rich treat. Keep them well watered and syringed often. Plants that show signs of growing should be pruned into shape, and if necessary have a shift into larger pots. Azaleas now begin to flower: water more liberally, and syringe occa- sionally. Young stock may have a shift if large stout plants are wanted. Japan Lilies may yet be potted: those potted in December will now begin to grow, and should be carefully watered till well rooted. Pelargoniums will now advance more rapidly. Keep the shoots tied out well, and if crowded thin them out. Water rather more liberally now. Late struck plants may now be repotted. Fumigate for the green fly. Cinerarias will now begin to flower, and unless recently potted will require a shift. Water carefully, and do not neglect fumigation, or the green fly will destroy their beauty. Heaths and Epackis may now be propagated from cuttings ; it is the best season. AcHiMENEs and Gloxinias may be potted off now, and have a warm situation. Calceolarias should be repotted. Keep them in an airy place near the glass. Fuchsias repotted last month will now begin to grow: young plants may now be raised from cuttings of the new shoots. Monthly Carnations may be propagated now by layers or cuttings for a young stock for bedding out in spring. Panst Seeds may yet be planted. Verbenas for blooming in pots should now have a shift into a larger size. Salvias, Heliotropes, &c., should now be propagated for a spring stock for bedding out. Violets in frames should be well protected from frost by straw mats, or a good covering of straw or hay : give them air upon every fine day. VEGETABLE DEPARTMENT. With the incoming of February preparations should be made for a sup- ply of early vegetables of all kinds. To have many of them in perfection at an early season, it is necessary they should be brought forward in a hot- bed. Fresh horse manure should therefore now be laid in a heap to un- dergo the proper fermentation and preparation for this purpose. It should be turned over once or twice to have it evenly heated, and when ready, which is usually in ten days or a fortnight, the bed should be made. At this inclement season it should be three feet high at least. As soon as the heat is well up cover it with light soil, and when warm immediately sow seeds of cucumbers, melons, egg-plants, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, celery, &c., &c. ; cover every night with straw mats to keep out frost, and air daily, avoiding too strong a heat, which will draw up the plants too rapidly. SPRING MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES. As the season is approaching when the active labors of the garden require attention, and every collection of fruit trees demands more than ordinary care, we are reminded of the importance of contributing a portion of our own experi- ence in aid of those who are seeking information upon this subject ; especially the amateur, who, inexperienced in the management of fruit trees, needs some guide to the suc- cessful issue of the time and labor which he intends to devote to their cultivation ; for upon a right course at the commencement depends, in a great measure, their after- treatment and the final result of his labors. General rules it is easy to lay down, — and they are found in every reliable treatise upon the subject, — which, with some knowledge of the growth of trees, combined with good judgment and little experience, it is a simple process to follow. But the mass of cultiv^ators have not acquired either the knowledge, the judgment, or the experience requisite to do this, and hence general rules, though good so far as they go, are not always applicable, in the varied culture which diiferent soils and different localities, and the varied habits of trees and their peculiar constitutions, demand. It is only by giving patient attention to little details that the most satisfactory results can be achieved, and the growth of our best fruits can be rendered profitable and certain. The experienced cultivator has conquered all these diffi- culties, and, when called upon for information, refers us to some general rules which have been his course of practice, forgetting that these rules are the result of details, and have only been arrived at through continued labor, unremitted attention and indomitable perseverance. The amateur seeks only results, and knows not the process of their attainment. If aware how much he has to learn, he would, often, be tempted to relinquish the attempt at accomplishing what his VOL. XXIII. NO. III. 13 98 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ambitious hopes have anticipated. Fortunate is it that he does not ; but laboring only for the success which experi- enced men have achieved, he little by little conquers the difficulties which beset his path, and eventually, — if his zeal and industry hold out, — reaches the eminence which such measures are certain to attain. To aid, therefore, in rendering the task of the amateur or young cultivator a more easy one, is our object. For though knowledge, judgment and experience are absolutely neces- sary to secure the highest success, they can be greatly facil- itated by right information acquired at the right time. One cultivator may go on for years accomplishing less than an- other in half the time. All will depend upon the course of action. Experience is the best of all schools. But he who trusts to experience alone, will find, too late, that had he availed himself of the knowledge of others his task would have been far easier, and his results no less certain. What every cultivator should endeavor to do, is to consult only authentic sources of information, and never rely upon the casual observation and brief experience of those who trumpet forth some accidental success and the mode of its achievement as the true way for all to follow who would arrive at like results. Fruit trees of every kind require our constant attention ; they are not to be treated as nature gives them to us, with the expectation of affording us crops in their improved con- dition. By the process of amelioration through the seed, and the effect of years of high cultivation, they are far re- moved from the original type, and therefore require unremit- ted care to keep them up to their improved character. In the ever-varying round of the seasons, in winter, spring, summer and autumn, they need attention, and amply repay all the labor bestowed upon them. Pruning, digging, wa- tering, disbudding, manuring, &c., constitute the routine of practice which demand repetition with the advent of every year. They are not to be discontinued with the planting of the tree, or even when it becomes well established in the soil, but must be followed, to a greater or less extent, as long MARCH. 99 as it continues an object worthy of our care. Especially is this the case where the tree is artificially grown, — that is, as a dwarf, a pyramid, a bush, or an espalier. In either of these circumstances it is under restraint, and, if neglected, soon shows the tendency of its habit to outgrow its altered con- dition, and thwart the designs of the cultivator. These being some of the requirements which demand attention at this particular season, we shall proceed to notice them. Pruning. — The first and perhaps most important object is pruning : unless this was done in the autumn, which is hardly probable, this will be the season when the winter operation should be performed ; for if summer pruning and pinching have been properly attended to, it will be re- duced to a very easy work ; but, if not, it will be more laborious. As the object of pruning is mainly to shape and keep the tree within reasonable bounds, and, at the same time, properly thinned of superfluous shoots, to allow the free admission of sun and air to the entire foliage, for the due elaboration of its food, it follov/s that there will be much wood to cut away and many shoots to shorten in. But this simple operation of shortening in, (cutting off one half to two thirds the last year's growth,) and thinning out, is widely dissimilar, according to the habit and growth of the trees. Such robust constitutions as the Beurre Diel, Le Cure, Jargonelle, &c., should be pruned differently from the Winter Nelis, Dix, Beurre Giffard, &c. The strong growers must not be cut as short as the weaker ones, nor thinned to the same extent, otherwise they push with redoubled force, and run, as it is termed, to wood ; on the pear stock this is es- pecially the case. It must also be understood that many pears bear mostly upon the wood of the preceding year, like the Van Mons Leon le Clerc, Boston, Josephine de Malines, &c., and to shorten in these sorts, as we would the others, would be to destroy half the crop of fruit. All these little particulars must receive attention, and the operator, unless guided by careful observation, must learn something of their habits in works which treat upon the subject. Know- ing that these precautions are necessary, the labor can be 100 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. performed with some confidence of success ; always cut neatly at an outward eye, as we have already illustrated in an article in a previous volume. Trees upon the quince should be more severely pruned than those on the pear. Manuring. — Every fruit tree must not only be planted in a proper soil and favorable location to expect good results, but the soil must be kept in good condition in their after-culture. For the pear it must be deep, mellow and rich ; for the apple equally good, but perhaps not so deep ; and for other fruits mellow and friable. The best season, without doubt, for applying manure, is the autumn. It then not only protects the roots from excessive frosts, but allows the soluble sub- stances which it contains to be carried down to the extremi- ties of the roots, where it is needed now that they are in action. But if by any neglect or fear of waste it has not been done, no time should be lost to apply it at once — the sooner the better. If it is old and well decomposed, it is all the better ; for fresh strawy manure is not suitable at this sea- son ; it will do in the autumn. If there is not a liberal sup- ply this may be made so by the use of a small quantity of guano, (one or two pounds to the tree.) Together they are better than either alone, for the manure acts mechanically, loosening the soil and rendering it more permeable to air and moisture. Let one or both of these be applied immediately, and if the weather continues cool and unfit for tillage, let it lie undisturbed around the tree in a circle of five or six feet, till the weather is sufficiently settled to spade it into the ground. In the mean time it will sustain no perceptible loss by evaporation, as is too often feared, but, on the contrary, its fertilizing substances will be carried down to the roots by the early and invigorating spring rains. In regard to the quantity of manure for each tree, this must depend on its size, and the soil in which it grows. A barrowful may be given to a tree beginning to bear, and a lesser quantity to those not so far advanced. There is little danger of erring on the wrong side by giving too much. As soon as the soil is in working condition, it should be lightly dug, working in at the same time the manure pre- MARCH. 101 viously applied, and which should be given then if neglect- ed previously. After this it is only necessary to keep the soil clear of weeds, and, if a dry locality, mulched with tan, hay, short grass, or even coarse manure, and the spring work, as regards the soil, is done. Insects. — These are the pests of the cultivator: when all seems accomplished that he is able to do, these commence their attacks and defeat his calculations. Their name is legion. The stem, the bark, the foliage, the buds and the fruit are alike equal prey. But some are more formidable to subdue than others, while many are less destructive to the trees. Those which require attention now are among the former class, and no time should be lost in destroying them. These are the bark louse and scale, the former attacking the apple and the latter the pear : both may be easily detected upon the trunks and stems of the tree, where they congre- gate in such numbers as to literally cover the bark. No tree will long remain in health while they are allowed to con- tinue their depredations. Fortunate is it that they can be so readily attacked ; by the aid of a brush and oil soap or potash, they may, by steady perseverance, be exterminated, or, at least, so diminished in numbers as to be of little harm. Two pounds of potash dissolved in seven gallons of water is highly recommended by many cultivators as an excellent wash ; but we have always used a good thick solution of whale oil soap, scrub- bing the stems first with sand and water, if very badly in- fested, and afterwards applying the soap with a painter's brush, upon every limb where a louse or scale is to be seen. A double application will usually effect our object, if one does not do it. This should be done now, before the trees begin to grow, as it is a more difficult operation when they are in leaf. Such as escape, the present spring, can be over- taken the coming fall, which is also a good time to con- tinue the work. Luckily we have been but slightly annoyed with these pests, but as their presence in ever so small numbers is by no means desirable, we have always made it an especial object to prevent their increase, and have so far succeeded. 102 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. The canker worm grub will continue its ascent upon the apples, plums and cherries throughout all the fair weather in March and the early part of April, and the usual precaution of tarring, or some other mode of defence, must be adopted. In completing the spring work we have but just begun the labor of the year. With the coming of summer the same care and attention must be continued, and other labor performed. But the important duties are those we have laid down. Judicious pruning and liberal manuring, admitting the soil to be properly adapted to the tree, will ensure a cer- tain degree of success, though there are others which succeed that are necessary to the production of the finest fruit. We shall endeavor to follow up our advice as the season shall require additional aid from the cultivator. AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. FIRST INTERMEDIATE REPORT ON NATIVE FRUITS. The Committee of the American Pomological Society, on Native Fruits, respectfully submit to the President of the American Pomological Society its first Intermediate Report. In presenting these Reports, the Committee is aware of the labor that will be encountered, and the responsibility that must necessarily be assumed. A correct estimate of the merits of a new fruit, examined for the first time, is no easy task. Due allowance must be made for the difficulty of ascertaining the precise period when a new fruit has arrived at its full maturity. But as the chances are greatly in favor of its not being examined exactly at the proper time, its excellence will be more likely to be underrated than the re- verse. On this account, many varieties have, no doubt, been consigned to the tomb of the Capulets that richly deserved a more enduring existence. The Uwchlan pear is an in- stance in point. On its first presentation, it was condemned as worthless by an able and intelligent fruit committee, that would most assuredly have regarded it as a variety of the MARCH. 103 greatest excellence had it been examined at the right mo- ment. RASPBERRY. Catawissa. — This fine new ever-bearing raspberry is a native of Catawissa, Cokimbia County, Penn., and has been brought into notice by Mr. Joshua Peirce, of Washington, D. C. A plant that had withstood, without protection, the unprecedented and intense cold of last winter, was examined on the 7th of September. At that time it was loaded with blossoms, ripe fruit, and unripe berries, in all the intermediate stages. Size of berry, rather large, some being three fourths of an inch in diameter : Form, roundish-oblate, or, more correctly, hemispherical : Skin, of a deep crimson color, thickly cov- ered with bloom : Flavor, fully equal to the so-called, but spurious. Antwerp raspberry of the Philadelphia market : Quality, "very good." This variety is an ever-bearer, wonderfully productive, and worthy of cultivation. PEACH. Titus. — This fine new peach originated with Mrs. Sarah Titus, No. 64 Ogden Street above Eleventh, Philadelphia. Specimens of the fruit were exhibited at the annual fair of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in 1856. Size, large, two and nine sixteenths inches in length by two and three sixteenths broad : Form, roundish : Skin, fair yellow, with a red cheek : Cavity, open : Stone, deeply cut, one and three quarters inches long, one and an eighth wide, seven eighths thick — free : Flesh, yellow, red next the stone, juicy, unadherent : Flavor, luscious : Quality, " best :" Maturity, from the middle to the last of Septem- ber. Eaten September 29, 1856. GRAPES. • Rebecca. — This delicious new grape is an accidental seedling, that sprung up in the garden of Mr. E. M. Peake, of Hudson, New York, and has been in bearing for the last five years. Specimens were shown, in 1856, at the annual 104 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. exhibition of the Pennsylvania Horticnltural Society — sub- sequently, at the recent biennial meeting of the American Pomological Society, and at the United States Agricultural Fair, in Philadelphia, It was described, and its history given, in the report of the committee at the Rochester meet- ing. Specimens received since that time enable us to give a still more complete and accurate description. Biuich, of fair size, about six inches in length, and very compact in form : Berry — Size, full medium, three fourths of an inch long, by five eighths broad : Form, neither round nor oval, but obovate : Skin, thin, semi-diaphanous, greenish white, sometimes tinged with amber, and covered with a thin, white bloom : Flesh, very juicy, melting, and tender in texture, without being pulpy : Flavor, rich, saccharine, and vinous, with a peculiar luscious aroma, distinct from that of any other grape : Seed, small, usually two, often three or four, and rarely five, in each berry : Quality, '"best:" Maturity, middle of September: Leaf, scarcely of medium size, about seven inches long, and seven in width, very deeply lobed, and coarsely and sharply serrated ; upper surface, light green, and slightly rough ; under surface, cov- ered with a thin, whitish down ; nerves, prominent ; petiole, rather slender. The sterling merit of this new and very superior native variety will cause it to be rapidly diffused over the country. Wilmington. — This new native grape was shown, by Mr. Edward Tatnall, of Delaware, at the United States Agricul- tural Fair, held in Philadelphia, in 1856 ; and, from the in- vestigations of Dr. L. P. Bush, of Wilmington, Delaware, it is believed to have originated in that city. Bunch, of good size, four and a half inches long by three and a half broad ; not compact ; sometimes shouldered : Berry — Size, eleven sixteenths of an inch long by eleven sixteenths in its transverse diameter : Form, round, slightly inclining to oval : Skin, yellowish green : Flesh, tender in texture, and not pulpy : Flavor, saccharine, and pleasant : Quality, as a native grape, " best :" Maturity, last of Sep- tember. This variety is well worthy of cultivation. MARCH. 105 Canadian Chief. — A remarkably fine bunch of this grape was received through the Editor of the Horticulturist. It is represented to be a hybridized seedling that originated at Hamilton, Canada West, and is said to be hardy and very productive, the vine having borne one hundred aud thirty- four clusters from sixteen to twenty-four ounces each. Bunch, very large, seven inches long by six broad ; com- pact : Berry — Size, five eighths of an inch by five eighths : Form, round : Skin, green, with a faint amber tint : Flesh, tender : Flavor, pleasant, but subacid, probably from being pulled before being thoroughly ripe, as the seeds were evi- dently somewhat immature : Maturity — the specimen ex- amined was received in November, though no information was given in reference to the time it was taken from the vine. Any grape that will produce such large bunches in the open air, and especially in the cold climate of Canada, must be desirable. But is it a native variety ? Some of the Committee who think it is not, regard it as the White Sweetwater. There is a difference, however, in the time of ripening of the two, as well as in the size and character of the bunch, that of the Canadian Chief being large and com- pact, while the other is medium sized, and open or loose in its structure. Archer. — This is an accidental seedling, that sprung up, five or six years ago, in the garden of Mr. Ellis S. Archer, at the N. W. corner of Seventeenth and Arch Streets, Phila- delphia. Bunch, rather large, five inches long by four in width : Berry — Size, full medium, eleven sixteenths of an inch long by eleven sixteenths broad : Form, round, inclining to oval : Skin, greenish white, and, where exposed to the sun, of an amber tint, covered with a dense white bloom : Flesh, not pulpy, juicy : Flavor, sweet and pleasant : Quality, " very good :" Maturity, eaten on the 5th of November. The leaf of this variety presents strong indications of a foreign parentage ; and though, from this circumstance and its late period of maturity, it may not succeed well at the North, yet it might prove valuable in a southern latitude. VOL. XXIII. NO. III. 14 106 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. APPLES. Meister. — Specimens of this variety were received from Mr. Charles Kessler, of Reading, Berks County, Perm. It is believed to have originated in Berks County. Size, below medium, two and an eighth inches long by two and five eighths broad : Form, roundish — conical : Skin, greenish yellow, striped with red, with numerous white spots containing, sometimes, a russet point in the cen- tre, and many russet dots and short concentric curvilinear lines in and around the basin : Stem, from three eighths to one half an inch long by one eleventh thick, inserted in a wide, moderately deep cavity : Calyx^ small, closed, set in a narrow, shallow basin : Core, medium : Seed, light brown, obovate, one third of an inch long, three sixteenths broad, one eighth thick : Flesh, tender : Flavor, sprightly and pleasant: Quality, "very good:" Maturity, eaten on the 3d of October. Christiana, (R. 9, T. 10.) — This beautiful apple origi- nated near Wilmington, Delaware, on the premises of Mr. John R. Brinckle, and fruited in 1855, for the first time. Size, medium, two and five eighths inches in length by three in breadth : Form, roundish, inclining to conical : Skiyi, beautifully striped and mottled with carmine on a yellowish ground : Stem, half an inch long by one eleventh thick, inserted in a deep, rather narrow cavity : Calyx, par- tially closed, set in a deep, moderately wide, plaited basin : Core, small : Seed, brownish gray, many of them triangular, one third of an inch long, three sixteenths broad, one ninth thick : Flesh, yellowish white, fine texture, juicy : Flavor, pleasant, delicate, sprightly, vinous: Quality, "very good:" Maturity, probably November ; the specimen examined was eaten on the 4th of December, when it was overripe. pears. Ritter. — Specimens were received from Mr. Louis Ritter, of Reading, Penn. The tree from which they were ob- tained was purchased in the spring of 1851, for the Seckel, from an agent of Mr. John Perkins, of Moorestown, New MARCH. 107 Jersey ; but, instead of having a rounded head, it is pyram- idal in its growth. Size, small, one and seven eighths inches long by one and five eighths broad : Form, obovate : Ski7i, greenish yellow — a good deal russeted, with, occasionally, a faint brown cheek : Stem, long, one and three eighths inches in length by one eighth thick, inserted without depression : Calyx, rather large, set in a shallow plaited basin : Core^ medium : Seed, small, five sixteenths of an inch long, three sixteenths wide, one eighth thick : Flesh, fine texture, melt- ing, and buttery : Flavor, saccharine, with the full Seckel aroma: Quality, ^'■hesi:^'' Maturity, OctoheT 29. This variety may prove to be the Seckel, although it ap- pears to differ from it in the length of the stem, time of ripening, and in the shape of the tree. It is possible, how- ever, that these several points of difference may be merely accidental departures from the normal condition of the Seckel, without being permanent characteristics. Should this not be the case, then the Ritter is worthy of cultivation, chiefly because it will prolong, in another variety, the de- licious Seckel aroma. Davis. — Specimens of this seedless native pear were re- ceived from Mr. Samuel Davis, Haverford Township, Dela- ware County, Pennsylvania — six miles from Philadelphia, on the Westchester road. They were produced by a grafted tree on his premises, the graft having been taken, about twenty years ago, by Mr. Davis's father, from a seedling on the farm of his neighbor, Mr. Adam Litzenberg, soon after which the original tree died. Size, small, one and three quarters inches long by one and five eighths in breadth : Form, rather variable, some- times roundish, usually obtuse-pyriform, widest at the crown, and obscurely pentangular : Skiii, much russeted, with occa- sionally marblings of greenish yellow : Stem, three eighths of an inch long by one eighth thick, inserted in a very shal- low cavity : Calyx, small, partially reflexed, set in a wide, somewhat irregular, superficial basin : Core, medium, solid, being entirely devoid of seed cavities : Seed, not abortive, 108 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. but altogether absent : Fleshy buttery, gritty around the core : Flavor, slightly aromatic, and somewhat vinous : Quality, "good:" Maturity, last of September and begin- ning of October. This seedless variety, though much smaller than the Poire sans Pepins, is much superior to it in quality. Were it not for the grittiness near the core, the Davis would be rated " very good." And even with this objectionable feature, it commands a good price in the Philadelphia market. Frankford. — Specimens of this new variety were re- ceived from Mr. Robert Cornelius, who procured them from a grafted tree on the premises of Mr. Eli Merkins, a mile and a quarter from Frankford, Philadelphia. The seedling from which the grafts were obtained, Mr. Merkins found, four years ago, growing on the bank of Frankford Creek, near the bridge, and having on it three or four pears. The fol- lowing year, he again saw it in fruit, and found the speci- mens of so good a quality that he determined to remove the tree to his own premises. This he accomplished at the proper season, taking the precaution, at the same time, to insert several grafts from it into a large White Doyenne, that stood on his grounds. The original tree perished, but, for- tunately, the grafts succeeded, and from them were produced the specimens examined by the Committee. Size, medium, two and a quarter inches long by two and five sixteenths broad : Form, roundish, sometimes inclining to pyriform, not unfrequently obovate : Ski7i, yellow, con- taining many russet dots, especially towards the crown, and having, occasionally, a faint blush on the part exposed to the sun: Stem, usually about thirteen sixteenths of an inch long by one sixth thick, sometimes short, thick and fleshy at its termination ; inserted in a small cavity : Calyx, me- dium, open ; set in a shallow, moderately wide basin : Core, medium : Seed, generally abortive ; when perfect it is ovate, dark brown, an angle at the obtuse end, plump, three eighths of an inch long, one fifth wide, one seventh thick : Flesh, fine texture, and buttery: Flavor, exceedingly rich, with a delicious aroma : Qwa^iVy, " best :" Maturity, ^OYQmhex. MARCH. 109 This new native pear is a decided acquisition, and, as soon as its value becomes known to the pomological com- munity, it will be extensively cultivated. One specimen was examined on the 29th of October, and was pronounced "very good." But, on the 14th of November, when it at- tained its full maturity, there was no hesitation in placing it among the "best." Its original locality, in Frankford, was in the immediate vicinity of the place of origin of the "Phil- adelphia" pear. Wilmington, (1847, E. 1.) — The Wilmington is a seed- ling of the Passe Colmar, raised from seed planted by the undersigned in 1847, and grafted on quince in 1850. This grafted tree fruited for the first time in 1855, and bore only a single specimen, which was eaten on the 2d of October. In 1856 it matured ten specimens; the first was eaten on the 9th of September — the last, during the meeting of the American Pomological Society in Rochester. The original tree has not yet fruited. Size, medium, from two and eleven sixteenths inches by two and a half to two and three quarters by two and five sixteenths: Form, sometimes obtuse-pyriform, somewhat compressed at the sides, sometimes roundish-ovate ; which of these two forms will ultimately be the normal one, can only be determined when the variety has fully established its characteristic peculiarities : Skin, cinnamon russet, with patches of greenish yellow on the shaded side, and some- times faint traces of carmine on the part exposed to the sun, with occasionally a number of black dots, encircled by a carmine margin : Stem, somewhat variable, from one and a half inches by one eighth to one and one fourth by one sixth, of a uniform cinnamon color, curved ; inserted ob- liquely in a small cavity, and, in some instances, without depression : Calyx, medium, with short, erect segments, set in a wide, rather deep, sometimes slightly furrowed basin : Core, medium : Seed, dark brown, acuminate, with an angle, at the obtuse end, three eighths of an inch long, three six- teenths wide, and one eighth thick : Flesh, fine texture, melting and buttery : Flavor, rich and saccharine, with the no THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. delicious nroma of the Passe Colmar : Quality, "best:" Maturity, September. Eaten, October 2, 1855. Ontario. — This new native pear (fig. 3) was concisely- noticed in our Rochester Report. Since that time, other specimens have been examined, which enables the Commit- tee to give a more full description of the variety. The On- tario is a seedling of the Canandaigua. It originated at Geneva, Western New York, and, in its general appearance, bears a considerable resemblance to the Washington. O. ONTARIO PEAR. Size, two and five eighths inches by two and one six- teenth : Form, long, obovate, inclining to pyriform : Skin, greenish yellow, with numerous pale green dots, which be- come russet on the shaded side, and sometimes carmine on the side exposed to the solar rays : Stem, three fourths of an MARCH. Ill inch long by one tenth thick, inserted, by a fleshy termina- tion, in a slight depression : Calyx, medium, open, set in a wide, shallow, furrowed basin : Core, medium : Seed, light brown, long-obovate, three eighths of an inch long, three sixteenths wide, and one eighth thick : Flesh, fine texture, buttery : Flavor, sugary and rich : Quality, •' very good :" Maturity, last of September. Huntington. — Specimens of this (fig. 4) and the two succeeding varieties were exhibited at the late meeting of the Society at Rochester, by Mr. S. P. Carpenter of New Rochelle, New York, and were noticed in the Report of the Native Fruit Committee, but not minutely described. Since 4. HUNTINGTON PEAR. the adjournment of the Society, other specimens, through the kindness of Mr. Carpenter, have been received and examined, and a visit to the original trees has been made by a member of the Committee. The Huntington was found growing in the woods, and, while small, was taken up by the late James Huntington, 112 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Esq., of New Rochelle, and planted in front of his residence. The tree is now twenty or thirty years old, and pxa-amidal in its growth. Having been planted in a shallow, stony piece of ground, it does not appear to thrive well, although it produces fruit of an excellent quality. Size, rather under medium, two inches long by two and five sixteenths broad : Form, roundish-obovate, broad at the crown, tapering to the base, sometimes resembling in appear- ance the Vesouziere : Ski7i, yellow, with a number of russet dots, and not unfrequently a red cheek : Stem, from five eighths to one inch long by one eighth thick, inserted in a moderately open cavity, which occasionally is quite wide and shallow : Calyx, rather large, set in a wide, not very deep basin : Core, medium : Seed, dark brown, obovate, five sixteenths of an inch long, three sixteenths broad, one eighth thick : Flesh, fine texture, and buttery : Flavor, slightly vinous, with a peculiar, delicate aroma: Quality, "very good :" Matwity, middle of September. Church. — The Church pear (fig. 5) is believed to be a seedling raised by an old Huguenot settler at New Rochelle. The original tree stands on the premises of L. P. Miller, Esq., and is presumed to be nearly a hundred years old. It bears, annually, from fourteen to twenty bushels of fruit, is uncommonly healthy and vigorous, having no decayed limb about it, and spreads its lordly head over three or four square rods. The trunk, two feet above the ground, is six or seven feet in circumference. Size, medium, two and three sixteenths inches in length, by two and five sixteenths in breadth : Form, short-turbi- nate, largest in the middle, and tapering both ways : Skin, greenish yellow, russeted at the base and crown, with occa- sionally russet markings on other portions of the exterior : Stem, long, from one to one and three eighths inches by one seventh in thickness, of a cinnamon color, and inserted without depression : Calyx, closed, with short segments, set in a moderately wide, plaited basin : Core, medium : Seed, brown, ovate, with an angle at the obtuse end, one third of an inch long, one fifth broad, one eighth thick : Flesh, of MARCH. 113 fine texture, and buttery : Flavor, mild, pleasant, and sufR- ciently saccharine : Qualitij, "very good:" Maturity, cova- mences ripening about the middle of July, and continues till the end of September. 5. CHURCH PKAR. Future observation will determine whether or not the Clark pear of Connecticut, the Bergamot of Dr. Bloodgood of Flushing, the Sallaignac of Germantown, and Carr's Autumn Bergamot, are synonymous with the Church of New Rochelle. Parsonage. — The Parsonage (fig. 6) is also believed to have originated at New Rochelle. It stands on the premises of the Rev. Dr. R. M. Morgan, and is a constant and abund- ant bearer of from ten to twenty bushels annually. Size, large, three and an eighth inches in length by two and a half in width : Form, pyriform, usually rounded at the base, sometimes long-turbinate : Ski?i, yellow, inter- VOL. XXIII. NO. III. 15 114 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. spersed with numerous russet dots, a good deal russeted at the base, and russet markings at the crown: Stem, five eighths to six eighths of an inch long by one sixth thick, inserted, with little or no depression, by sometimes a fleshy termination : Calyx, medium ; segments, short and stiff", and 6. PARSONAGE PEAR. set in a very shallow, slightly plaited basin : Core, small : Seed, dark brown, acuminate, three eighths of an inch long, three sixteenths wide, one eighth thick : Flesh, somewhat granular in texture, and buttery : Flavor, vinous : Quality, " good," at least — perhaps " very good :" Maturity, last of September. Selleck. — -A box, containing fine specimens of this pear, was sent, by Mr. Albert Bresec, of Hubbardton, Vermont, to MARCH. 115 the recent meeting of the American Pomological Society at Rochester. Having, however, been accidentally misplaced, it was overlooked till after the adjournment of the Society. The specimens were accompanied by a letter from Mr. B., in which it was stated that the tree, supposed to be the original one, was planted, between the years 1818 and 1825, on the farm of Mr. Columbus Selleck, Seedbury, Vermont, where it now stands. Size, large, sometimes very large, usually three and one eighth inches long by two and eleven sixteenths in width : Form, obovate-pyriform, sometimes roundish-obovate, with a more or less distinct neck, and uneven surface: Skill, thick, yellow, with many large russet dots, and rarely a red cheek : Stem,, one and a quarter inches long by one eighth thick, curved, inserted somewhat obliquely, by a fleshy ter- mination, into a slight cavity, which is sometimes nearly obsolete: Calyx, small, segments erect, set in a shallow, contracted, plaited basin : Core, medium : Seed, black : Flesh, rather coarse in texture, buttery : Flavor, some re- semblance to that of the Bartlett, but more saccharine : Qualihj, " very good :" Maturity, end of September and beginning of October. WATERMELONS. The Mountain Sweet watermelon has, for many years, been universally conceded to be the best market variety cul- tivated in the Middle States. Of late, however, it has lost some of the qualities that recommended it so highly to favor. This deterioration has probably been owing to the influence of pollen from inferior kinds grown in its vicinity. For the last three years, a member of the Committee has been pro- curing, from the South, and chiefly from the interior of South Carolina, seed of many new watermelons of high repute, and disseminating them. During the past season, fine specimens of some of these kinds were received, and the opportunity thus aff'orded of ascertaining their merits has not been neglected. At least four of them are unques- tionably equal in quality to the Mountain Sweet when in its 116 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. highest state of perfection ; these are the Clarendon, Sonter, Ravenscroft, and Bradford. Another, Odell's Large White, though not equal, in some respects, to the four preceding, will, on account of its size and productiveness, become a desirable and profitable variety for market purposes. Clarendon. — This fine watermelon is also known under the name of the Dark Speckled. It originated in Clarendon County, South Carolina, and, when pure, may at all times be readily recognized by the peculiarly characteristic mark- ings of the seed. Size, large : Form, oblong : Skin, a mottled gray, with dark green, interrupted, longitudinal stripes, irregular in their outline, and composed of a succession of peninsulas and isthmuses: i?«w,c?, thin, not exceeding half an inch: Seed^ yellow, with a black stripe extending around the edge, and from one to three black spots on each side, the form and number corresponding on the two sides : Flesh, scarlet to the centre : Flavor, sugary and exquisite : Quality, " best." SouTER. — This fine watermelon originated in Sumpter District, South Carolina. Size, large, sometimes weighing twenty or thirty pounds : Form, oblong, occasionally roundish : Skin, peculiarly marked with finely reticulated gray islands, separated by pale green straits, and having irregular, dark green, longitu- dinal stripes, extending from the base to the apex : Kind, thin, about half an inch : Seed, pure cream white, with a faint russet stripe around the edge : Flesh, deep red to the centre : Flavor, sugary and delicious : Qnality, " best :" Productiveness, said to be unusually great. Ravenscroft. — This valuable watermelon originated with Col. A. G. Summer, of South Carolina. Size, large : Form, oblong : Skin, dark green, faintly striped and marked with green of a lighter shade, and di- vided, longitudinally, by sutures, from an inch and a quarter to two inches apart : Rijid, not more than half an inch in thickness : Seed, cream color, tipped with brown at the eye, and having a brown stripe around the edge : Flesh, fine red, commencing abruptly at the rind, and extending to the cen- tre : Flavor, delicious and sugary : Quality, " best." MARCH. 117 Bradford. — The Bradford is a highly prized South Caro- lina watermelon. Size, large : Form, oblong : Skin, dark green, with gray, longitudinal stripes mottled and reticulated with green : Rind, not exceeding half an inch in thickness: Seed, yel- lowish white, slightly mottled, and with a yellowish brown stripe around the edge : Flesh, fine red to the centre : Fla- vor, fine and sugary : Quality, " best." Odei.l's Large, White. This immense watermelon originated with a negro man on the property of Col. A. G. Summer, of South Carolina. Size, very large, sometimes weighing sixty pounds : Form, round : Skin, gray, with fine green network spread over its uneven surface : Rind, nearly three fourths of an inch in thickness : Seed, large, grayish black, and not nu- merous: Flesh, pale red: Flavor, fine: Quality, "very good :" Productiveness, said to exceed that of most other kinds. The large size, and long-keeping quality after being sep- arated from the vine, will recommend this variety, especially for the market. W. D. Brinckle', M. D., Chairman. POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. The Canadian Chief Grape. — This grape, which we noticed in our last volume, (XXII., p. 131,) as a new variety, supposed of native origin, has attracted considerable attention among grape growers, and from its early maturity and re- ported hardiness in so northern a climate as Canada, has led to the belief that it would prove a most valuable acquisition. Deeply interested in the introduction of a variety of so much importance to any cultivator of this fruit, we have taken especial pains to learn the origin and history of the Canadian Chief, and to see and taste the grape. This we have had an 118 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. opportunity to do through the kindness of Mr. W. H. Reid, who first made us acquainted with the variety, and who sent us fine specimens oT the fruit last October, the bunches being very large and handsome. He also, at our request, furnished us with the history of the original vine, so far as he could learn anything authentic in regard to it. We copy his com- munication : — " I boxed up for you this day two clusters of the Canadian Chief, with a good strong cutting with foliage on for your examination I have just returned from Hamilton, yet during my stay there I called on Mr. Reid, gardener to Sir Allen McNab, who informed me that the Chief was first brought to him by a gentleman from the south of France, from whom the Rev. Mr. Brennan obtained a bud and suc- cee ed in getting it to grow, in whose garden it bore the present year an enormous crop of near one hundred clusters, weighing from 1| to 4 pounds each, in the open air, on a lean-to trellis 81 by 5 feet. I never saw a vine bearing so large a crop before, and remarked to Mr. B. — 'You cannot look for grapes next year on this vine — you have made it do too much — never can mature them all.' ' Oh, yes,' he re- plied, Mhe Chief can do it.' " Yet it is strange that no one could ever get the first word from Mr. B. touching its origin. I have tried him twice to no purpose, but Mr. Reid says he knows the gentleman who brought it from France. This is enough, as Mr. Reid is a scientific man and in every way good authority (settled). My plants are now two years old, and very strong ; some shoots of the present year are a plump inch in diameter; its wood is much stronger than Isabella or Catawba, foliage smaller, something after the Sweetwater, as you may see. The clusters I send you are of the smallest size. Mr. B. showed me where he had cut the fruit oft' for exhibition, and for dift"erent parties, &c. ; the two bunches are from the original vine, and the cutting from the vine purchased from Mr. Brennan by myself. These all prove correct, but all those obtained from Mr. Swords prove to be the Sweetwater. MARCH. 119 " Yet Mr. Swords' Sweetwater has stood unprotected eigh- teen years, and still continues to bear larger clusters, free from mildew, and so very fine that some of our Rochester neighbors were thrown into ecstacies when they saw it at our fairs, and did not recognize it as the Sweetwater. I think its location is the cause of its greater excellence, standing, as it does, in many decomposed limestone rocks, &c. "You have now the Canadian Chief, true, sent you ; if the other is true, all is' well ; if not, give it a trial. If there is anything in acclimation, &c., you will see. — Yours, W. H. Reid, Port Dalhoiisie, Oct. 13, 1856." The grapes sent us were very large, compact clusters, much shouldered, and weighed upwards of a pound each, and greatly resembled the Sweetwater in the color, shape, size, taste, &c., of that old grape ; the only distinction we could discover was in the form of the cluster, which was more shouldered than any we have ever seen or produced. That it is a FOREIGN grape there is not the least doubt, as the in- formation obtained by Mr. Reid proves it to be. But what the variety may be we could not so well decide. Several of the old French grapes have never been fully identified. It may be the Royal Muscadine of Speechly, which Lindley says may be readily distinguished from the White Muscadine of the same author, by the wood and foliage growing re- markably gross and strong, and often producing bunches weighing six pounds. Lindley himself considers the Royal Muscadine of some authors and White Muscadine the same, only altered by circumstances of situation and growth. When grown in the highest condition it has been called the Royal Muscadine, and at the present time the White Musca- dine and Chasselas of Fontainbleauand Sweetwater are con- sidered by many grape-growers identical. If they are dis- tinct we are inclined to consider the Canadian Chief as the genuine Royal Muscadine. Without, however, deciding the question it is enough to know it is not a native seedling, and its hardiness in a climate less variable than that of Canada, — where the Sweetwater 120 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. has stood for eighteen years without protection, — as well as its freedom from mildew, remain to be tested. The Concord Grape. — Considerable has been said in various papers relative to the comparative earliness of the Concord and Isabella grapes. Several cultivators in New York, N. Jersey, and other States, who gave their opinion at the Pomological meeting in Rochester in September last, all agreed that the Concord was from a week to ten days earlier than the Isabella. Even this short period is a great gain over the latter, which rarely ripens, except in sheltered situations, in New England. But the Concord is yet too re- cently introduced to have a fair trial, and it is therefore with pleasure that we copy the opinion of one of the best cultiva- tors in Maine, and an old correspondent, Col. Gore, of Free- port, which he sent to the Rural Intelligencer as a reply to the conflicting statements in regard to the comparative earli- ness of the two grapes. Whatever may be the condition of the Concord in other more southern States, it proves that in the colder regions it maintains its early maturity : — " I have been some interested in the discussion upon the merits of grapes for out-door culture. It is well known that the Isabella grape has been cultivated in Massachusetts for many years, and has been considered the best variety for open culture, it being very prolific and of excellent quality, and although it originated in a warmer climate, it has proved sufficiently early to mature its fruit in favorable locations almost every year ; while in our State, particularly in towns bordering upon the sea coast, it can be ripened only in the most favorable seasons by the best cultivators and in sheltered positions. " The great desire of fruit growers has been to procure a variety or varieties, which would combine the good qualities of the Isabella, and ripen its fruit in all parts of New Eng- land. The result has been, that we have added to the list of grapes suited to our climate, the Diana, Concord, Northern Muscadine, Rebecca, &c., all allowed by experienced culti- vators to be earlier than the Isabella, and very hardy, and some are considered even of better quality. A number of MARCH. 121 the new kinds have been on trial but a short time, and of course their comparative merits cannot be fully understood. Let them all have a place in our catalogues and gardens ; and then, by comparing notes from year to year, they will be as well known by the commnnity as the older kinds of apples and pears. Jndging from the reputation of the varieties named, it will not be necessary to condemn either of them, no more than a good apple, a Baldwin for instance, because the Early Harvest is earlier, the Custard Sweet is sweeter, or the Esopus Spitzenburg is of finer flavor, but let all kinds be cultivated for its own merits and peculiarity, and let us rejoice when new and better varieties are introduced. But to the point : " I set a Concord grape in May, 18-54. It has made a good growth, and produced last season thirty-six bunches of fruit, of good size and large berries. The vine is in line with our Isabella, of about ten years' standing, which has ripened its fruit well in favorable seasons. The Isabella was a Maine vine, the Concord from Massarliuselts, thus showing a dif- ference of acclimation in favor of the Isabella. The vine started in the spring, flowered, and the berries set about the same time, but the Concord grew much more rapidly, and by the first of October was tv/o or three weeks in advance of the Isabella. " Since writing the above I have received your last paper, in which I notice \\\, Elizabethtown, JV. /,, May 5th, 1857. Passacjjusetts |)ortkii(turaI Sotittj. Saturday, March 28. — Exhibited. Flowers : From Wm. Wales, Spiraea Reevsiana flore pleno and 3 Azaleas. From J. Murray, Erica intermedia, a 284 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. fine specimen. From Galvin & Hogan, Fortune's five colored rose, Ribes sanguinea, Azalea phoenica, Erica cafFra rubra and alba, Erica Sandryana, Erica Westphaliana, Azalea magnificens. From J. Nugent, Erica cafFra alba, (fine,) seedling from caffra rubra, 1 fine round bouquet, seedling car- nations and polyanthus. From Jon. French, Azalea prsestantissima. From J. McTear, seedling camellia, fine; Lamarque roses, Epacris autumnalis, Erica grandinosa, Erica princeps. Verbena Samoset, Erica intermedia, Correa ne phis ultra, (extra fine, the best variety,) Acacia verticillata. From A. Bowditch &L Son, Seedling polyanthus, (very fine.) From Hovey & Co., flowers of prize seedling camellia. GRATUITIES AWARDED. To J. Murray, for Erica, $3. To Galvin & Hogan, for display, #5. To James Nugent, for display, $4. To William Wales, for display, ^3. To J. McTear, for display, $1. To A. Bowditch & Son, for Polyanthus, $1. April 4th. — Exhibited. Flowers: From J. McTear, Iris Susiana, Azalea Queen of Perfection, Azalea Reine Hortense, Cineraria seedling. From Hovey & Co., seedling camellia. From L. Davenport, Roses, Cloth of Gold. From Galvin & Hogan, Bossisea macrophyila. From Botanic Garden, Amaryllis formosa, (fine.) From Curtis & Cobb, new yellow hyacinth Alida Jacoba. gratuities awarded. To Botanic Garden, for Amaryllis, $1. To J. McTear, for display, $'2. April Wth. — Exhibited. Flowers: From J. Murray, Deutzia scabra, Cytisus vestita, (fine.) From T. G. Whytal, Azalea alba lutescens. From James McTear, Correa ne plus ultra. Begonia manicata. Azalea Glory of Sunning Hill, Erica florida, (fine.) From Galvin & Hogan, Azaleas Andersonii and Glory of Sunning Hill. From Wm. Wales, Azalea Reine Beige, do. Chelsonii, do. decora. From C. F. Jones, Oncidium altissima, Dendrobium calceolus, two very fine orchids. gratuities awarded. To J. Murray, for display, $2. To J. McTear, for correa, $2; for display, $1. To Galvin &l Hogan, for Azaleas, $\. To Thos. G. Whytal, for Azaleas, $1. To Wm. Wales, for Azaleas, ^2. To C. F. Jones, for Orchids, $4. April 18lh. — Exhibited. Flowers : From J. Murray, 1 very fine parlor bouquet. From Galvin & Hogan, a fine collection of pansies. From T. G. Whytal, cut flowers, verbenas, roses, petunias, Alonsoa, Geraniums. gratuity awarded. To J. Murray, for bouquet, $1. JUNE. 285 April ^5ih. — Exhibited. Flowers : From A. Bowditch & Son, Rhodo- dendron maculatuin nigrum, Rhododendron Ponticum, Verbena Imperatrice Elizabeth, (very pretty.) From J. McTear, Bletia hyacintha. Erica Spring- ellii (new). Verbena metropolitan. From P. Barnes, Seedling Tropajolums. From Lily Smith, pansies, fine seedling daisy. From F. Winship, fine rose, seedling. GRATUITIKS AWARDED. A. Bowditch & Son, for Rhododendron, $2. J. McTear, for display, $1. May 2d. — Exhibited. Flowers : From Wm. Wales, fine Mimulus. From T. G. Whytal, new Verbenas, Deutzia gracilis, Pelargoniums. From W. C. Strong, Verbena Imperatrice Elizabeth. From A. Bowditch & Son, 12 pots Calceolarias. GRATUITY AWARDED. To A. Bowditch & Son, for Calceolarias, $4. May 9th. — Exhibited. Flowers : From R. M. Copeland, Hyacinths. From M. Trautman, 6 pots fine Auriculas. From J. McTear, Erica Caven- dishii, Franciscea lalifolia. From J. A. Kenrick, Flowers of Magnolia conspicua. GRATUITIES AWARDED. To M. Trautman, for Auriculas, $1. ^ To J. McTear, for display, $1. To J. A. Kenrick, for Magnolia, $1. First prize for Hyacinths, to R. M. Copeland, $i. May 16th. — Opemng of the Hall. From F. Winship, cut flowers, in great variety, (a very fine display,) 18 pots Calceolarias, (very fine,) 6 pots Cinerarias, From J. Murray, 3 pots Ericas, cut flowers, Weigelia, Azaleas, Roses, die. From James Nugent, Roses, Pelargoniums, Carnations, Ver- benas, new seedling purple Verbena, (very good,) &c. From R. M. Cope- land, Hyacinths. From J. McTear, Bosssea, Lobelia, Verbena, Euphorbia, Geraniums, Pinks. From E. S. Rand, Jr., (not competing for premium,) cut flowers, in great variety. Begonia jasminoides, new white seedling Verbena, Annie Alba, (very fine.) From M. Trautman, 6 pots fine Auricu- las. From T. G. Whytal, 6 Pelargoniums, 6 Cinerarias, 6 Fuchsias, col- lection of 40 plants, many entirely new, 6 new varieties silver-leaved Gera- nium, seedling Verbena. From M. P. Wilder, 30 pots plants, including 8 Cinerarias, 6 Azaleas, 8 Calceolarias, 6 Geraniums, Begonia picta, new Camellia Downing, a fine display. From H. H. Hunnewell, 8 pots Fuchsias, (very fine.) From Wm. Wales, Fuchsia. From J. W. Foster, 2 varieties Verbena, 2 pots Lobelia gracilis. From J. Waterhouse, Nierembergia fillicaulis. Verbena French's Defiance, From Jona. French, 13 pots Fuchsias. From Hovey &. Co., 6 pots Pelargoniums, Petunia Glory of America, Pentas rosea, (new,) and Azalea crispiflora, (new.) From J. J. Dixwell, Forsythia viridissima, An- dromeda floribunda, (fine,) Magnolia Soulangiana. 286 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES AWARDED. Pelargoniums. — For the best, to T. G. Whytal, $8. For the next, to Hovey & Co., $6. Fuchsias.— For the best, to T. G. Whytal, $8. For the next, to Jona. French, $6. The committee regret they were unable to award the first Fuchsia prize to Mr. Hunnewell, as his plants were by far the best ever exhibited at the hall ; in consequence of Mr. H. not being a member of the society, his plants could only receive a gratuity, which, according to the rules and regu- lations, can never be greater than the lowest prize. Cinerarias. — For fine plants, to F. Winship, $3. For the same, to T. G. Whytal, $2. Calceolarias. — For the best, to F. Winship, $5. Greenhouse Plants. — For the best, to T. G. Whytal, |15. For the next best, to M. P. Wilder, $10. Cut Flowers.— For the best, to F. Winship, $6. ^ For the next best, to J. Nugent, $5. For the next best, to J. Murray, $4. Gratuities. — To H. H. Hunnewell, for Fuchsias, $4. To J. Murray, for heaths, $10. To R. M. Copeland, for Hyacinths, $2. To J. Waterhouse, for display, $1. To J. W. Foster, for display, $1. To Wm. Wales, for Fuchsia, $1. To M. Trautman, for Auriculas, $.3. To M. P. Wilder, for Downing camellia, silver medal. |ortic«IturaI ©perations FOR JUNE. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. The month of May, though free from any very injurious frosts, has been cool and wet throughout, and vegetation is now more backward than last year at this time. Great quantities of rain have fallen, and we doubt not the summer will be dry. Such moist weather has retarded all kinds of planting, and much work, which should have been completed ere this, will have yet to be done. Advantage should be taken of the first good weather to complete all digging, planting and weeding. If dry weather should set in, we would direct the cultivator to our remarks in a preceding page in regard to watering, — for we cannot too strongly impress upon the attention of all the necessity of giving greater supplies to many crops than is usually done. Insects should be looked after and destroyed before they have com- mitted their depredations. Grape Vines, in the early houses, will now be at rest, and will require JUNE. 287 very little attention. Air well, to ripen off the wood, and keep the house rather dry. Vines in the greenhouse will begin to color towards the last of the month, and will require attention. If any of the bunches are too crowded, go over them again, and thin out the smallest berries. Keep the laterals topped, air freely in good weather, and keep the walks well damped morning, noon and night. If the border is dry, give it one or two good soakings. Cold houses are not quite so forward as usual, owing to the cool, damp weather ; the berries will now require thinning, and the laterals to be topped ; air freely in good weather, but close up early on damp nights. Water sparingly, except in dry weather. Strawberry beds may yet be made. Plants set out now will bear their best crop next year. Clean and weed bearing beds, and dress with straw to keep the fruit clean. Water freely if dry. Summer Pruning or Pinching should be begun soon, — nipping off all side shoots, not wanted for next year's wood, to two or three buds. Mulch and water trees intended for producing large specimens. Grafted Trees should be looked after, the ties lowered, and the shoots carefully staked, if growing rapidly, to prevent their being broken by the wind. Fruit Trees will require thinning soon. Look over, and take off all the small, inferior and poor specimens first, and thin enough of that remain- ing to leave a crop which will not injure the tree. Insects should be looked after, — the pear slug, black aphis and red spider oflen injure many trees. Syringe with whale-oil soap, made by dissolving two pounds in twelve or fourteen gallons of water, according to the strength of the soap. flower department. The houses will soon require to be cleared of all the winter occupants, and their place supplied with summer flowers, such as Japan lilies, Achim- enes. Gloxinias, Fuchsias, &lc., &c. In removing the plants, let them be carefully arranged in a good place, and not thrown about anywhere, as is too often the case. See that they are properly watered, syringed, &lc. Such plants as require the protection of the house should be repotted, cleaned and put in fine condition. Young stock for winter blooming should have every attention. Prepare soil now to shift the camellias, which should be done early in July. Pelargoniums will be in full bloom. Keep the house well aired, both by night and day. Water more liberally. Camellias should be removed from the house this month, selecting a half-shady place for them. Such as have not made their buds, may remain a week or two longer. Azaleas should now be well supplied with moisture, while they are making their growth. Achimenes and Gloxinias may have their last shift into larger pots. Fuchsias may be repotted, if fine large specimens are wanted. Chrysanthemums should be shifted into larger pots this month. 288 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. CiNERAniAS, done flowering, should have the protection of a frame, where they can be sheltered from heavy rains. Seeds should be planted now. Heaths and Epacrises may be turned out into beds, or kept in pots. Orange Trees may be plunged out into the open ground. Roses, in pots, should now be planted out in the open ground, where they will make fine plants. Chinese Primroses should be kept in frames, in a cool and half-shady situation. German Stocks, for winter blooming, should be planted this month. Verbenas, for blooming in winter, should have a shift this month into larger pots. Monthly Carnations may be turned out into the ground, where they will continue to bloom, and where the plants may be layered for a young stock. Winter blooming stock will require attention. The kinds are too numerous to mention : continue to repot and grow with vigor everything in- tended for that purpose. flower garden and shrubbery. Every good garden should now be in fine order. The late rains have retarded planting the more delicate thing's, but they have given a deep ver- dure to the lawns and a vigorous growth to all plants. Let the planting be completed as rapidly as possible. The lawns should now be mown every ten days or fortnight, the edgings cut neatly, and the walks kept clean and hard. Roll often to effect this. Hedges should be clipped now, if not done before, and if any gaps occur m box edgings they should be repaired. Stake and tie up the Herbaceous Paeonies, which lose half their beauty when the heavy flowers fall upon the ground and get soiled with earth. Weed and rake the borders often, and keep every department neat and in the best order. Gladioluses may yet be planted, if not already in the ground. Dahlias should now be planted. Prepare a good soil, and water if the weather should be dry. Look out for cut worms, which often destroy the plants. Bedding-out plants of all kinds should be got into the ground, keeping a reserve stock to plant in the bulb beds after they are taken up. NjEOFolitan Violets should be planted, according to directions in our last number. Hollyhocks should be watered, if the weather is dry. Mulch the plants and stake the flowering shoots. Roses should have attention. If the slug or vine fretter appear, syringe with whale-oil soap. Carnations and Picotees should be tied up to neat stakes. Jai'an Lilies should be tied up to stakes, to prevent their being broken by the wind. Look after Insects of all kinds, — especially caterpillars, rose slugs, the green fly and cut worms. SUMMER MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES. In a late number of the Magazine, we gave some brief directions for the spring management of fruit trees, with a promise that we would endeavor to follow up our advice with remarks adapted to the advancing season of the year. We now take up the subject again. The management of fruit trees requires the constant atten- tion of the cultivator. Unless he is willing to bestow care and attention upon them, it is of little use to plant with the expectation of obtaining superior fruit. Neglected trees may, and undoubtedly will, produce more or less, but of inferior quality, and so much unlike that obtained by high cultivation, that it would scarcely be recognized as the same variety. The mass of fruit offered for sale in our market is of this description ; and it only need to be compared with that raised by the skilful cultivator, to see how great is the difference in quality, or, to purchase, to learn how great the difference in its market value. It would be almost impossible to expect to find our mar- kets supplied with the finest fruits. There always will be quantities of inferior quality raised, and it will reach the market for sale. But, if those who produce it knew the value of that which is good, there would be less than there is at present, and there would soon be more attention given to its cultivation. But the truth is,, a great many who raise fruit do not know to what perfection it can be grown ; and, ignorant of this, they remain satisfied with what they pro- duce, and make no attempt at improvement. If it is an object to introduce new varieties in the place of old ones, it is certainly an object to grow them well, or they may be in- ferior to such as they already have. Were it not for the amateur cultivators, who send their surplus crop to market, it would be difficult to procure superior fruit, notwithstand- ing the very high price which it always commands. Fortu- VOL. XXIII. NO. VII. 37 290 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. nately, the fine specimens which have occasionally been offered, have shown to what perfection our best fruits may be grown ; and those who can profit by example have done so. and fine specimens, though by no means abundant, are less so than formerly. We can only hope that continued attention to the rearing and management of trees will result in a liberal supply of that which is good, in place of the in- ferior products of our gardens and orchards. To accomplish this, however, especially with the pear, which stands at the head of our hardy fruits, it is scarcely possible to do so only under what may be termed artificial culture, — that is, growing the trees as pyramids or espaliers ; so many of the choicest kinds require shelter or protection from our cold winds, that as orchard trees, only in highly favored situations, they cannot be relied upon for constant crops of the finest fruit. We may, in time, possess such varieties, but at present there are but a few which give good results under such treatment. Other fruit trees are less capricious in their growth and produce. That our remarks may be better understood, we shall give them under these four heads : — Summer Pruning, Thinning the Fruit, Mulching, Watering. Summer Pruning. — We have, in our previous remarks, above referred to, (p. 97,) given advice in regard to winter pruning, manuring and insects. We shall suppose that the trees are now in vigorous growth, after the ordinary labors of the season. The first thing which will require atten- tion, with all but orchard trees, is the summer pruning. This, with some kinds, should already have been com- menced, though July is the month when the greater portion of it should be done, — but it will require to be continued till the last of August, and even, with some vigorous trees, till into September. We have, on several occasions, given advice in regard to summer pruning, but, at the risk of being tedious, we shall proceed without reference to anything we have said before. The whole process of summer pruning is new to most American cultivators, and little understood except by those who have made it a study, and perfected JULY. 291 their study by practice. The French, who are masters of the art, have long managed their trees in this way, and it is to their intelligent cultivators that we are indebted for what we know in reference to its practice. They have reduced it to such a system, that they can bring their trees early into bearing, and clothe them with fruit spurs from top to bottom. We intend, in a future article, to illustrate the practice with engravings, from some of the French writers, by which alone it can be fully understood. Summer pruning, or pinching, — for most of the work should be done with the thumb and finger, before the shoots acquire solidity, — consists in stopping the elongation or growth of the young branches, by pinching or cutting off the ends more or less, according to their strength, situation, &c. By this means, an increasing formation of wood is prevented, and the accumulated sap forced into the shoots below those which are stopped, and what would otherwise be barren spurs, (called dards by the French,) become fruit buds in a short time. As an illustration : suppose a shoot was pro- duced the last year two or more feet long, and at the winter pruning it was shortened to one foot. Now this shoot, when it begins to grow, will only push towards the end, say the last five or six buds ; the other buds will remain dormant, while those which grow will push so rapidly, that they soon crowd each other, and make wood two or three feet long, which would have to be cut back again at next winter's pruning. This process may go on for years, if not checked, until the trees become a mass of wood, without any appearance of fruit buds. If such a shoot is examined now, it will be seen as we describe it, viz., with five or six young shoots springing from the last five or six buds. Their growth must be checked, in order to push out the dormant buds below ; pinch them off, therefore, at the second, third or fourth joint from the branch — if already too tough to break, cut them with the knife. In a short time the eyes below will begin to grow, or, if already grown, they will begin to thicken and form a good strong bud at the end. The shoots that were pinched off will also grow stouter, and form one or more buds along the 292 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. sides, or perhaps the terminal bud will break again ; if it does, after making four or five leaves, it should be stopped a second time, later in the season. The main shoot, if strong, may be nipped ofl;' at the same time, unless wanted to fill some vacancy, or make a more symmetrical tree. Pinching it off at a greater or less length, depends upon the vigor of the tree ; but, as a general rule, it may be stopped when six or eight inches long. If stopped too short, it will make all the dormant buds below break too strong ; and, in the place of incipient fruit spurs, fresh shoots will be formed, which will need pinching again. Proceed, in this way, to stop all the side shoots, unless they are wanted to fill some vacant place, all over the tree, afterwards pinching the main shoots, to give shape to the head. If the growth is carefully watched, the results of this process will be soon apparent, and spurs will be formed along the branches which will become bearing shoots in the second or third year, sometimes the first ; but with trees upon the pear, not often till the second or third. Repeat the pinching as often as the buds break on the shoots already operated upon, until the growth begins to slacken in autumn, when it may be discontinued, and the final pruning left to be completed after the ripening of the wood. Though summer pruning is applied principally to the pear, it may be adopted with equal benefit upon the apple, plum and other fruits, especially the peach, only with some modification, as the latter tree does not form spurs, but bears only on the young wood of this year. It should not, there- fore, be pinched but once, and not later than the last of July, otherwise the shoots will be too weak, and make too late a growth, to form fruit buds. Thinning the Fruit. — Trees already coming into bearing need much attention in regard to thinning the crop, especially with some prolific sorts of the pear — the Bartlett, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Duchess and Passe Colmar, for example These set their fruit so abundantly, that if all were allowed to grow, they would not only be small and indifferent, but at the same time would injure the tree if young. Some JULY. 293 kinds have their fruit very regularly distributed over the branches, like the Beurre Bosc, Swan's Orange, Dix, Colum- bia, &c. ; and if these are not thinned, the fruit is larger and better, and the trees receive less injury from the crop. With the luxuriant sorts, the thinning process should be com- menced at once, taking off all but one in each cluster im- mediately, and subsequently, after the insects have made their customary attacks, gathering those in which they have established themselves, and tlius not only relieve the tree, but accomplish something towards destroying the progeny for another year. We believe that if thinning was promptly attended to, and all the wormy specimens picked before they were allowed to fall, in a few years the insects would cease to commit any very serious injury, and there would be a better selection in the important operation of thinning. The early sorts of pears should have their thinning done immediately, complete; but the later varieties may be gathered as we have above detailed. The amateur cultivator rarely thins his fruit enough, — the desire to procure the first fruits of a new plantation tempts him to allow his trees to bear too freely ; but it is a fatal error, and one which has done more than anything else to bring dwarf trees (pears on the quince) into disrepute. The prolific bearing sorts produce abundantly on the pear, but when to their abundance is added the still more prolific character of the quince, one or two heavy crops give the trees such a check that they recover slowly, or live out a miserable existence. There is no rule that can be given to guide the novice in fruit culture, so much depends on the vigor of the tree, &c. ; but if we say a tree three or four years old should not be allowed to bear over a dozen specimens, we set it within bounds. The quantity may be increased yearly, as the tree acquires age and strength, till the sixth or eighth year, when it may be allowed to produce seventy-five or one hundred pears. Now it is no uncommon occurrence to see very small dwarf pear trees bearing fifty or more specimens ; and it is not till dear experience has taught the lesson, that this mistake 294 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. is discovered and avoided. The habits of the different sorts of pears must be known, to proceed with judicious thinning ; still, the general rule which we have given, will answer every purpose till such knowledge is acquired. It is better to err on the right side, and thin too much rather than not enough. Mulching. — In our warm and variable climate, where we experience such seasons of drought, the energies of the cul- tivator are often expended without any adequate return. No sooner does a plantation of trees begin to show its beautiful fruit, than one of our long and parching droughts sets in ; the trees, perhaps, show little diminution of vigor, but the promising fruits of June become withered, cracked and knurly specimens by the end of August. The process goes on gradually, and only to attentive eyes is it observed till too late to be remedied. Knowing the tendency of many of our best pears to be subject to this injury, the cultivator will guard against it as far as it is possible to do so. Liberal quantities of water will supply the deficiency, and usually check the evil ; but this element is not always at hand in sufficient abundance to do any good, and the labor of supply- ing it is expensive. Other expedients must be resorted to, such as frequent stirring of the surface soil, mulching, &c. The former operation is always attended with good results, but mulching is more effectual, and should be resorted to in all thin and shallow soils at least, and if in deep ones all the better. A thin layer of strawy manure, old compost, tan, leaves or hay should be spread over the ground to the dis- tance of six or eight feet from the tree. We say thin, be- cause we think it more beneficial than if thick ; the rationale of this is, that a thick covering entirely excludes the air, which is beneficial to the roots, while it serves no available object ; it is only for the purpose of checking evaporation, and a small quantity does this as well as a large one ; be- sides, the dews which fall on the latter do not reach the roots so readily as on the former. If the mulching material contains within itself enriching substances, it is of course better than that which does not ; on this account we prefer JULY. 295 manure, either old or new. It should be spread over the surface immediately. It effectually checks the growth of weeds, and, when water is given, it prevents the surface from becoming hard and baked, as is always the case when water is applied in dry weather. Watering. — There are few sorts of pears which do not. in our climate, at some period of the summer need water. Some- times the early part of the season is dry, and the latter moist ; and again, the early part is wet, and the latter dry. In either case, there will be need of artificial watering, if the object is to have the best fruit. On thin soils it is still more neces- sary, and success cannot be complete without it. There have been objections made to frequent watering, and justly too ; but this lias been because it has not been given with judgment. If the advice is to water, all trees are watered alike — the newly planted, the young, and bearing trees ; hence the advice to water often would be attended with injurious results, — for more newly planted trees are killed by constant soakings, than from any other cause. Water should not be administered till the tree is able to digest it. Recently planted, it is unable to do so ; but as soon as firmly rooted, and the demand for supplies of sap are made by the rapid growth, it may then be given freely, and with the best results. One other injury there is, too, connected with watering even large trees ; this is the chilling the surface soil, and causing it to bake and become hard, and imperme- able to the dews and air. This is to be avoided. Water should be given in liberal quantities, so that it may reach the hottom roots, and the surface should be stirred (when it is not mulched) as soon as it becomes dry enough to lose its adhesiveness. In an article in our last number, (p. 241,) we alluded to the great benefits of watering ; and, in con- nection with it, we forgot to quote some remarks of the late Mr. Knight, president of the London Horticultural So- ciety, showing the great importance of water in vegetation, and refuting the idea that its application, even during sun- shine— which to some gardeners is such a bugbear — results in any injury whatever. 296 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. " The quantity of water which may be given with ad- vantage to plants, of almost every kind, during warm and bright weather, is, I believe, very much greater than any gardener, who has not seen the result, will be inclined to suppose possible ; and it is greater than I myself could have believed upon any other evidence than that of actual ex- perience. '■ When water is distributed in the usual quantity from the watering pan, its effects, for a short time, are almost always beneficial, by wetting the surface of the ground. But, if water thus given be not continued regularly, injurious effects will follow ; for the roots of plants (as I have shown in the Phil. Trans.) extend themselves most rapidly wherever they find proper moisture and food — and, if the surface alone be wetted, the roots extend themselves superficially only, and the plants, consequently, become more subject to injury from drought than they would have been if no water had been .given them, — a circumstance which can hardly have escaped the notice of any observant gardener. When, on the con- trary, the soil is irrigated, it is wetted to a great depth; and a single watering, once in eight or ten days, is, in almost all cases, fully sufficient. " It may be objected, that excess of rain is more often injurious in the climate of England than the drought ; but in wet seasons, plants suffer owing to want of light, and, generally, of warmth. And I feel confident that, if the same quantity of rain which the soil receives in our wettest summer, were to fall only between the hours of nine in the «vening and three in the following morning, and the sun were to shine brightly and warmly through the whole of the days, no injurious effects will follow ; and any experienced gardener knows with what luxuriance and rapidity plants of every species grow in hot and bright weather, after the ground has been drenched with water by thunder storms." This is the whole philosophy of watering ; and it bears us out in our remarks, that the " hot and bright sunshine " of our climate, which we always have, will never injure our best fruits, provided they are supplied with moisture at the JULY. 297 extremities of the roots. Watering in driblets is the bane of all good gardening, both in doors and oiU. Thousands of fine plants are lost every year from this constant shaking the water pot at the plants, instead of giving the soil a com- plete drenching ; and thousands of newly planted trees and shrubs are yearly spoiled from the same cause. Let it, then, be fully understood, that water is one of the most influential elements of vegetation, when administered abundantly and at the right time. THE ART OF CLEARING A WOOD WITH REFERENCE TO LANDSCAPE. BY WILSON FLAGG. When the pioneer of the wilderness is opening a tract of forest, for purposes of agriculture, it is very properly his custom to cut down all the trees, as one would mow the grass in a field. If any trees are left standing in the space, they are such as are growing upon a barren knoll or declivity, where they occupy useless ground, and would serve to break the force of the winds. It is not the design of these remarks to offer any hints to the pioneer, who must, in all cases, be governed by those rules that serve his own immediate in- terest and convenience. But in this part of the country, very little of the primitive forest remains ; and, in the pres- ent growth of wood, there are many well-formed trees that are worthy of preservation, and many groups of trees which are more valuable than anything else that could be made to occupy their places. Hence, when one is employed in clear- ing a wood, he must exercise a great deal of judgment and discrimination, or he may not only injure the beauty of the landscape, but seriously impair the value of his estate, while he is reducing his woodlands to tillage. The errors which have been most generally committed arise from the habit of overlooking the great comparative value, as objects in the landscape, of fully developed trees VOL. XXIII. NO. VII. 38 298 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE, of a large size — of the usefulness of trees on barren ridges and elevations, and of their importance for shelter and pro- tection, as well as for shade. Trees are as important to our comfort in winter as in summer, and as necessary to protect our pastures and our cultivated grounds from the cold and the winds, as to shelter our enclosures from the heat of the sun. But the object of my present inquiries is to ascertain, when clearing a wood, the character of those trees which form the most valuable objects in the landscape, and the nature of those situations from which they ought not to be removed. Foremost in the catalogue of those which might be left standing alone in the clearing, is the American elm. This tree, on account of its habit of dividing its main stem into several equal and diverging branches, may often be found in a dense wood, possessed of a very good shape, — dividing, as usual, at the distance of fifteen or twenty feet above the ground, and differing from an elm that had grown in an open field, only by the greater length and slenderness of its divergent branches. Such individuals might be left on the spot, after the other trees have been removed, and eventually will attain a very beautiful shape. But even if the elm, after the manner of other trees in the forest, has sent up a single undivided shaft to the height of forty feet or more, it might still be preserved with advantage, as it would soon become clothed, from its root to its summit, with a wreath of its own vine-like branches, and form a magnificent plume — bending over with a peculiar grace, and charming the sight by its beauty, no less than by its singularity. One remarkable trait in the character of the American elm is, that among all the varieties of shape which it assumes, if left to itself, each one is striking and beautiful. The trees most decidedly ill-adapted to make a good ap- pearance, and to be serviceable, when left in a clearing, are those which have the strongest inclination to send up a single stem, without subdivision. Such are all the trees of the pine and fir tribe. With the exception of those indi- viduals which have been caused to divide into several JULY. 299 branches, by the loss, when young, of their leading shoot, no pines or firs, that have grown up in a forest, can ever acquire a comely shape after the wood has been cleared away from them. Trees of this kind are occasionally diverted, by accident, from their normal growth, and finely subdivided, like an elm. Such anomalous individuals may sometimes be advantageously preserved. These exceptions, however, are of rare occurrence ; and, when a tree of good form and proportions is found in a wood, it is usually the occupant of a vacant space, standing on an island, in a bog, or upon a rock, that protects it from the encroachment of neighboring trees. It is the elongated shape of the trees in a forest, and not their inability to bear the force of the winds, that renders it commonly unadvisable to save them. Many groups of trees might be saved upon knolls and declivities ; but we seldom find, in the primitive forest, a tree that would ever become a good standard. In a new growth there are frequent spaces that are not filled, allowing the few trees that occupy them to grow without any stint. Hence in New England, except the mountainous districts, there is seldom a tract of wood- land in which we may not find an abundance of trees that •would become excellent standards, if left in a clearing. In a pasture, these solitary trees and occasional groups would be invaluable, not only for the shade and shelter they afford to grazing animals, but for the improvement which they add to the beauty of the landscape, and to the pasture by the dropping of their foliage. There are certain species of trees which have sufficient vigor to supply themselves with lateral branches, and will eventually form good standards, though they may have been considerably elongated in a forest. But the majority of trees can never mend their shape after it has once been mined. It will commonly be found necessary to destroy all the largest trees, and save those of middling size which are not irrecoverably misshapen. When full grown trees, of an elongated shape, are saved, their tops will not increase after they are left alone ; but half grown trees, of a vigorous habit, 300 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. will often obtain a good spread of branches. Oaks, of every species are commonly spoiled by growing in a dense wood. The majestic character of the oak requires that its trunk should be short. A tall, slender oak is wanting in grandeur, and can never attain any beauty or grace without it. An oak must always be either majestic, or ugly and worthless. If well formed single trees cannot be found that may be advantageously saved in a clearing, groups of trees, on sud- den swells and declivities, and small clumps, may supply the deficiency. Often, in a second growth of forest trees, some may be found, arranged in very beautiful clumps, which, if left standing, would present the appearance of a single wide- spreading tree. This is especially true of those species which spring up vigorously around a parent stem that has been cut down. Many fine clumps of maples and beeches are produced in this manner — but oaks of this description are seldom valuable. When such a clump is preserved, the feeble and slender individuals ought always to be removed from it. These may be called homogeneous clumps ; and they will make more wood, by their increase in a given length of time, than any single tree of the species could make in the same soil and situation. But there are also heterogeneous clumps, which, though more rarely forming so unique an assemblage, deserve to be saved. The diiferent species, when thus grouped together, afford many pleasing harmonies and contrasts, in the colors and forms of their foliage, especially in the autumn. But the greatest danger of acting without judgment occurs when one is clearing a half-wooded pasture. In such lands, the trees being comparatively sparse, have formed many beautiful groups, that add great attractions to the landscape, and afford protection to the grazing herds. When a farmer clears such a pasture for tillage, he is too apt to prize these trees at too low a value, and to cut down all those which are profitable for their timber. Many a land-owner has thereby ruined an estate, and rendered it unsalable, — while his neigh- bor, though possessed of less skill as a cultivator, has allowed JULY. 301 his trees to stand in irregular groups over all his estate, which has thus become highly eligible as a country residence for a citizen of wealth and taste. Of two farms, equal in soil and situation, the one which has the greatest number of large trees, or groups of trees upon it, in different places, will always command the highest price in the market, especially in the vicinity of a large commercial town. POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. New Pears. — We conclude our notices of new pears, from our last number. Bergamot de Millepieds, (Goubault.) Fruit of medium size, roundish ; skin greenish, rather dark, dotted ; flesh white, melting, juicy, first rate. Ripens in September. General Canrobert, (Robert.) Fruit of medium size, resembling a St. Germain ; skin yellow at maturity, dotted with russety spots ; flesh delicate, melting. Ripens in Janu- ary and February. First rate. Leon le Clerc de Louvain, (Van Mons.) First quality. Ripe in December and January. Lieutenant Poitevin, (Fion Grolleau.) Fruit very sim- ilar in form and size to the Colmar d'Aremberg ; skin yel- low, more or less covered with spots and stripes of russet ; flesh white, juicy, half melting, excellent. Ripe from Feb- ruary to April. First rate. L'Inconstante, (Bivort.) First quality, large. Ripe from September to November. Louis Dupont, (Durieux.) Fruit large, melting ; flesh white ; juice abundant, sugary, with a very agreeable per- fume. Tree vigorous, and forms a handsome pyramid. Ripe in October and November. Madame Millet, (Millet.) Fruit very much resembling the Brown Beurre in form and color, and equal to the Urban- iste in quality ; flesh white, delicate, fine, half melting, sugary, and agreeably perfumed. It is said to surpass, with- 302 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. out doubt, the Easter Beurre. Ripe in March and April. First rate. Madame Adelaide Reves, (S. Van Mons.) Fruit medium or large, irregularly turbinated, of the Bergamot form. Skin citron yellow, striped with reddish brown, dotted with pale russet, and spotted with black ; flesh white, half fine, melting ; juice abundant, sugary, with a most agreeable perfume. Always first quality. Tree very vigorous and very productive, suitable for orchards or pyramids. Maria de Nantes, (Gamier.) Fruit medium size, tur- binate ; skin clear green, nearly covered with reddish brown, slightly colored on the sunny side, and regularly spotted with grayish dots; flesh white, fine, melting; juice abun- dant, very sugary, and perfumed. November. Marie Louise d'Accle, (Gambier. ) Fruit as large as the Beurre Clairgeau, very melting ; juice abundant, vinous, and most excellent. Tree very productive, for orchards or pyra- mids. Produced from the Marie Louise. Ripe in Septem- ber and October. [This may be only the old Marie Louise under a new name.] Marechal Pellissier, (Flon Grolleau.) Fruit of me- dium size, oval ovoid ; skin yellow, tinged with red on the sunny side ; flesh tender, juicy, first rate. Tree very pro- ductive. Ripe in September and October. Nouvelle Fulvie, (Gregoire.) Fruit very large, pyri- form, pyramidal, very uneven on the surface ; skin yellowish citron, colored with bright red on the sunny side, striped, spotted, and marked with brownish red ; flesh yellowish white, very fine, melting, buttery ; juice abundant, sugary, with an exquisite perfume, approaching that of the Passe Colmar. Always first quality. Tree of medium vigor, pro- ductive, suitable for pyramids. January and February. Poire Rousselon, (Berckmans.) Tree of medium vigor, for pyramids on quince or pear ; fruit medium size, form of a Doyenne ; skin citron yellow at maturity, dotted with russet, and deeply colored on the sunny side ; flesh fine, half melting ; juice abundant, sugary, slightly acid, with an agreeable perfume. First quality. February. JULY. 303 Prince Albert, (Biv^ort.) Fruit large, pyramidal ; flesh halt" buttery aud melting. First quality. April. RoussELET Vanderweken, (Gregoirc.) Fruit small, ex- quisite. End of October. ScHAHiN Ghryrey, (from the Crimea.) A superb pear, of an original form, very melting, sugary, and musky. September and October. Saint Vincent de Paul, (Flon Grolleau.) Fruit small, russety ; flesh sugary, half melting. Ripe in January. First rate. Sucree du Comice, (C. Hort. Soc. of Angers.) Fruit of medium size, turbinate, irregularly formed ; skin yellow, covered with green and russet dots; flesh tender, and sugary. Second rate. Ripe in September and October. Seraphine Ovyn, (S. Van Mons.) Fruit medium size, roundish turbinate ; skin smooth, clear yellow, striped with dull red in the sun, marked and spotted with brownish red, and dotted with large gray specks; flesh yellowish white, half fine, melting, buttery; juice very abundant, sugary, vinous, with a most agreeable perfume. Always first quality. Tree vigorous and very productive, for orchards or pyramids. Ripe in October. Great Exhibition of Fruit by the London Horticul- tural Society. — Some time since, one of the circulars of this society was sent to us, announcing a great exhibition of fruits to be held in London in October next, to which all foreign cultivators were invited to compete. The prizes are liberal, though that would he the least inducement for our cultivators to send fruit so far. The object would rather be, to show to what success we have attained in the culture of fruit, and to make known many of our fine American seedlings. We had intended to give an extract from the schedule of premiums as soon as we could find the oppor- tunity to do so, and we are now reminded of it by a gentle- man of Boston, who recently received the following letter from the chairman of the exhibition committee, C. Went- worth Dilke, Esq., and requested us to call attention to it. We copy the letter with great pleasure, and append the list of prizes : 304 THE MAGAZINE OP HORTICULTURE. My Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure to forward to you programmes of the arrangements of the Horticultural So- ciety of London, for this year, in the hope that you may be willing to persuade the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and Boston private growers, to send over fruit for the October exhibition, (the 24th.) You will observe that this year we invite competition from abroad ; a resolution I had great pleasure, as chairman of the exhibition committee, in voting for. That fruit will stand well, we all know by the ad- mirable supply America sends us of one of the best of our eating apples — the Newtown ; and I personally brought over watermelons, which were still in fine order a week after my arrival, — and one that has been sent me since was also in perfection. The fruit I brought over I had simply packed in hay and straw, in a stout wicker basket, and it was placed in the luggage hold. Whether it would stand better in the steward's ice-cupboard, I know not. Of course I do not suppose that the Boston growers will be tempted by the prizes. The competition must be for the honor ; but in my individual capacity, I shall have great pleasure, if any fruit is sent over, in seeing to its proper dis- play, with all honor to the name of the contributors ; and I will also personally undertake to pay all expenses that may be incurred from the time of landing, so that Boston ex- hibitors maybe under no apprehension of unknown demands springing up. Your wall fruit is, I suppose, all over by the date ; but if there are any of the late peaches tempted by your Indian summer, careful picking and careful packing in silver paper will help over many a long day ; and a little care, on the part of the steward of the steamer, will perhaps keep them from air and wet, and get them despatched to me immediately on arrival at Liverpool, instead of being hawked about there. If anything can be done by the London society for the Boston society, I shall have great pleasure, as a member of the council, in bringing the subject forward. — Yours truly, G. Wentworth Dilke, 79 Sloane street, London, S. W., 12th May, 1857. JULY. 305 It will be noticed, by Mr. Dilke's letter, that fruit can be safely sent to London, particularly apples and pears. The time of the exhibition is rather late for peaches, and if it was not, we are fearful they would not reach London in such a condition as to give us any credit, though they might eat quite as well, or better, than the forced peaches of the English gardens. But in apples, if the season proves favor- able, some of our extensive orchardists can make a superb display ; and of pears, as great a number, if not as fine, as the best French or Belgian fruit gardens. It would be of real benefit to have our fine native kinds seen in their best condition — not only in showing how great a fruit-raising country this is, but in making known the great number of native seedlings, and their high excellence, which, with few exceptions, have never been seen or tasted by any of the pomologists of Europe. We append the entire list of the premiums offered, both home and foreign ; should not the pride or patriotism of our cultivators be enough to induce them to send their finest specimens. Fruit Exhibition at Willis's Rooms, Saturday, Oct. 24. Classes. I. Collections of fruit; {Fruiterers only), - II. Grapes: a. Three bunches of Muscats, - - - 6. Do. of other white kinds, c. Do. of Black Hamburgh, d. Do. of other Black kinds, e. Collections — [Foreigners only), J. Boxes of 15 lbs. weight — [Market Gardeners only), 3 III. Pine Apples : a. Threes, ------- b. Single specimens, - - - - - IV. Pears; of Home growth: a. Twelve sorts ; six of each, . _ - b. Six sorts ; six of each, - - . - c. Single dishes of desert kinds, of one sort, con- taining* six fruit, - _ - - - 15s. 10*. 10*. VOL. XXIII. NO. VII. 39 Prizes offered. £4 £3 £2 2 1 15s. 2 1 \5s. 2 I 15s. 2 1 15s. 4 3 2 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 15s. 3 2 1 1 15*. 10s. 306 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Glasses. Frizes offered. d. Single dishes of kitchen kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, . . - - . 15s, iQs. 10s. V. Pears ; of Foreign growth : a. Twelve sorts ; six of each, - - - . b. Six sorts ; six of each, - - - - - c. Single dishes of dessert kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, ----- d. Do. of kitchen kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, - . . . - VI. Apples ; of Home groivth : a. Twelve sorts ; six of each, - - - - b. Single dishes of dessert kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, - - . - - c. Do. of kitchen kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, - _ _ . - VII. Apples; of Foreign growth: a. Twelve sorts ; six of each, . - - - 6. Single dishes of dessert kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, ----- c. Do. of kitchen kinds, of one sort, con- taining six fruit, - - . . - VIII. Oranges, Lemons and Citrons : a. Collections of Foreign growth, - - - b. Do. of Home growth, - - - - IX. Peaches; single dish, containing six specimens, 15s. X. Nectarines, do. do. do. XI. Melons; single fruit, - - - - - XII. Plums and Prunes ; of either English or Foreign growth : a. A collection of three sorts, twelve fruit of each, b. Single dishes of one sort, containing twelve fruit, 15s. XIII. Figs, ------- XIV. Alpine Strawberries, _ - - XV. Currants, ------ XVI. Raspberries, XVII. Eugenia Ugni — For single dishes of this valuable new fruit two prizes are offered by C. W. Dilke, Esq., F. H. S. — the first of £2, the second of £1. The fruit must reach London for delivery October 23d. £3 £2 £1 1 15s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 2 1 15s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 2 1 15s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 3 2 1 2 1 15s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 1 15s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 1 15s. 10s. 1 15s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. 15s. 10s. 10s. JULY. 307 MANAGEMENT OF PEACH TREES IN POTS. FROM THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. The cultivation of the peach tree in pots we have re- peatedly urged upon the attention of fruit growers in our Magazine. As long ago as 1836, in our second volume, we prepared an article detailing its cultivation in this way, and advised all who would wish to procure an annual crop of this delicious fruit, to grow it in this manner. Though so long since, very few have adopted this system of culture, notwithstanding it is such a favorite fruit, and so uncertain a crop in our severe climate. We have, however, continued to cultivate the peach in this way, and have had the most splendid specimens of the very richest fruit, — richer, indeed, than that under out-door culture ; for the crop ripens at the warmest period of the year, in July, and the peaches acquire their highest aroma. The trees are easily managed, produce certain crops, and should be grown in this manner by every one who possesses a grapery. We do not know, after the experience of twenty years, as we can add anything to what we ^aid at that time. If we were to attempt it, it would be a mere repetition of our previous article. But for such of our readers as may not have access to our early volumes, we copy the following valuable information. It is the best advice we have met with for the management of the trees, and should receive the attention of all who love a good peach, and would secure an annual crop of the finest quality. We may add, that in our climate the trees should always be removed to the open air in June, when the peaches are the size of small plums, and they thus acquire the excellence which, under no circumstances, can in-door fruits attain. Forced peaches, as those are usually called that are raised in vineries, are tasteless things, and cannot be compared with fruit ripened in the open air. 308 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. In England, the construction of "orchard houses," so called, for the cultivation of all kinds of fruit trees in pots, is yearly attracting more attention. Pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and even apples, are raised in this way. But, ex- cept as a matter of curiosity, all fruits succeed so well in our climate, that there is no need of growing any of them under glass but the peach or nectarine. — Ed. The cultivation of peach trees in pots has, of late years, increased very much, and will continue to increase as it be- comes better understood, and the results are more satisfactory. Every garden, great and small, should possess peach trees in pots ; and that not in scores but in hundreds. Though it is preferable to have a house entirely for such trees, still this is not absolutely necessary, as equal success can be obtained when grown in houses with other things. The great point is to have a regular supply of fruit for as long a period as possible. A good peach is no rarity in September. I, like most people, wish to have a melting George the Fourth in June and July, and thenceforth through the season. For this purpose artificial heat is required. The following mode of culture will, if properly carried out, insure abundant crops. The first thing is, of course, to get a supply of plants ; these can now be had in a bearing state from any respectable nursery ; they should be procured as early in the autumn as possible. It is always the best plan for persons to go and choose the plants themselves whenever it is convenient to do so. When the trees arrive, examine carefully the state of the roots; if all is right nothing further is needed until the plants are wanted to force, except to keep the soil in the pots from getting too wet; but if any of the plants are in a bad state, they should be shaken out and fresh potted ; these should be marked and placed by themselves, as they will not do to force the next season. The best soil for peach trees in pots is good rich turfy loam and a little rotten dung. The soil in the pots should be kept moderately dry during the autumn ; the fibrous roots will then be in a healthy state when forcing is commenced. This is an important point, as it is impossi- JULY. 309 ble to obtain satisfactory results from trees that are badly rooted. When ripe fruit is required about the beginning of June, forcing should be commenced not later than the 25th December. And when it is required to have a succession of ripe fruit, until those on the open walls are ready, a fresh batch of trees should be started every three or four weeks to the end of March ; each batch may consist of ten, twenty, or more trees, according to means for growing them and the supply of fruit required. The general treatment of one batch of trees will apply to all. If the trees are only fresh procured from a nursery, they must not be expected to do too much the first season. It often happens that beginners, hearing of extraordinary things being done with peach trees in pots, expect similar results from their trees the first season of their attempt at cultivation ; and their failing to obtain good well-flavored' crops leads to great disappointments. This occurs to begin- ners, particularly among amateurs, from a want of practical knowledge. From six to twelve fruit are the most that ought to be expected the first season. When more are obtained they are inferior in size and quality, and the trees will not be in so good a condition to force the next season as those from which the less number was taken. The trees started in De- cember should be commenced with a temperature of about 40° by night and 45^ by day. They should be well watered at starting, they will not then require any heavy waterings until the foliage is developed. After the first fortnight the temperature should rise to 45*^ by night and 50° by day, with an increase of about 10° with sun heat. At the end of an- other fortnight the temperature should rise to about 50° by night and 55° by day. The night temperature should not exceed this until after the fruit is set. This is the rock on which so many beginners suffer shipwreck. They forget that the peach must be flowered under a comparatively low degree of temperature ; they are frightened to give air, es- pecially if the weather be cold and frosty ; they keep a close warm atmosphere, and the results are, the petals all drop off without any fruit setting. Whilst peach trees are in blossom, 310 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. air must be admitted abundantly by day, and a little also at night ; precautions must of course be taken in severe weather to place some material over the openings to break the cold draughts of air. So long as the temperature is kept above 35° the blossoms are safe, but only keep a close atmosphere and a high temperature and there is a certain end to the crop. This is a point which cannot be too much insisted on, as everything as regards the crop depends on it. By admitting plenty of air, and keeping a night temperature of about from 45° to 50°, if the wood was, previous to forcing, well ripened, a much greater quantity of fruit will set than is ever needed to remain for a crop. The plants up to this stage will not require much watering, and when any water is given, it should be of the same temperature as that of the atmosphere of the house. When the fruit is all set, and about the size of large peas, it should be carefully thinned, and the shoots will require disbudding ; too many should not be removed at one time, it is best to go over the trees often and remove a few at a time, but when the disbudding is finished not one single shoot should be retained more than is absolutely needed for the next year's bearing wood. The trees should now be syringed mornings and afternoons. The temperature should be raised to from about 55° to 60° by night and 65° by day, with an increase by sun-heat of 10°. Air should be freely admitted. The night temperature should not exceed 60° until the "stoning" is over, for this is a very critical period in peach forcing. After this the temperature should be raised to 65° by night and 70° by day. Peach trees will stand a high temperature after this. The trees should still be syringed two or three times daily. From the time the foliage is fully developed, great attention should be given to watering ; the trees should never suffer from want of it. I am no great advocate for liquid manure for peach trees in pots; a little occasionally will assist the fruit and do no great harm, if it be clear, in which state it should always by given, as when thick and full of sediment it stops the porosity of the soil and destroys its mechanical condition. JULY. 311 When the fruit is approaching maturity, which, when the trees are started in December, and the foregoing treatment attended to, will be about the beginning of June, it should have all the exposure to light and air possible; the supply of water should be just sufficient to keep the plants from suffer- ing, and syringing should be discontinued until after the fruit is all gathered. When all cleared off, the trees should be kept well syringed to keep the foliage healthy and clear of red spider. About the middle of July the trees should be set out of doors in a sunny, airy situation. They should then be shifted into larger sized pots, using the compost previously recommended. When potted they should be plunged, and they should have as little water as possible. Tiles or slates should be placed over the surface of the pots, both to keep the surface from drying and to throw off heavy rains. The trees will make abundance of fresh roots, which should be carefully guarded from injury. The wood will from full exposure be as hard as whalebone and full of blossom buds. Trees treated thus will be in the best possible condition for forcing the next season. The above mode of treatment will apply to the trees started at any subsequent period. But, as I before remarked, to have a succession of fruit, a fresh batch should be started every three or four weeks. All the trees should be shifted before the end of August, as it is of the greatest importance to get them to make all the young roots possible whilst the foliage is in action and before the short days. As the trees started in March will ripen their fruit in August, there will be no difficulty in get- ting them potted before the end of that month ; but all the trees that can should be shifted as early in the month as pos- sible. But little in the way of pruning is required for the next season's forcing, merely the shortening of such shoots as require it. Trees treated as I have described will be in a condition to bear a much better crop the second year of forc- ing, and by annually shifting them they will contiime to bear fine fruit for many years. When the trees get into pots that are inconveniently large, they can be shaken out, par- 312 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. tially disrooted, and fresh potted into as small pots as possi- ble. The head should be shortened back at the same time ; by these means large trees are reduced to a convenient size." The cultivation of the peach in pots will doubtless in time become as common as that of fuchias, when the scientific principles on which its successful cultivation depends be- come more generally known, and this knowledge, thanks to the gardening literature of the present day, is hourly spreading and extending throughout all ranks of society, from the peer to the peasant. THE OAKS. BY WILSON FLAGG. As it is not the design of this series of papers to give a botanical description of our trees, but rather a general ac- count of those which are the most important as objects in the landscape, no attempt is made to describe all the species of each family. Passing over the most inconspicuous, I shall treat only of those which are particularly worthy of cultivation and preservation. There are not many inferior species among the oaks, though some of our hills, in certain parts of the country, are nearly covered with a growth of the scrub oak, (Cluercus ilicifolia,) called also the bear oak. The chincapin oak (Gt. chinquapin) is a still smaller species, that grows along with the former, though in less abundance, and produces a large quantity of acorns. These two oaks abound in tannin, and their fruit is very serviceable to wild animals and to swine. It has been advised to use the land which they occupy, for sowing the seeds of more valuable oaks and other trees, which would thrive well while young under the protection of these shrubby oaks, and finally super- sede them by their larger and more luxuriant growth. This is a very important consideration, as the lands, while covered only with these dwarf oaks and other bushes, are compara- tively useless, affording but a meagre pasturage, and admit- JULY. 3 13 ting of being reduced to tillage only with great labor and expense. By planting the grounds with white oaks, and other useful timber trees, they would soon be converted into valuable property, and eventually furnish timber to supply the place of that which is annually, and with great rapidity, consumed. The most remarkable of all the New England species is the white oak, (duercus alba,) which, though inferior to the red oak in size, has the most of the characteristics and the valuable qualities of the European oak, and, as ship timber, is inferior only to the celebrated live oak of the Southern States. It bears its branches mostly at a wide angle from the main stem, approaching a horizontal direction, extending to a great length, but making frequent irregular bends, and exhibiting the same knotted and gnarled appearance for which the English oak has been celebrated. The most comely shape which is assumed by this tree is an imperfect hemisphere, — the centre of the circle being formed by the junction of the lower branches with the main stem, project- ing from it at right angles, the others radiating at constantly diminishing angles, but with considerable irregularity. But it is more usual to see the trunk of the tree extending, though not perpendicularly, very near to the summit, while the branches are given out crookedly from it, at irregular distances. The leaves of the white oak, when they first appear, have a pale cinereous hue, mixed with shades of purple and lilac. In autumn they seldom assume a deep red color, but present different shades of an ash purple or French chalk hue, turn- ing to brown as the colors are faded by the frost. The shape of the leaves is variable, some being deeply divided, like those of the scarlet oak, and almost linear — others having large lobes, with shallow scollops. They are of a shining green on the upper surface, and glaucous beneath. They remain on the tree all winter, falling off when the new buds are put forth in the spring. The bark of the white oak is distinguishable at once by its light color, and by its scaly surface, without any deep corrugations. This species, and the VOL. XXIII. NO. VII. 40 314 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. swamp w'hite oak, are the only indigenous oaks that produce edible acorns, which, though varying in quality, are mostly free from bitterness, and sometimes nearly equal to the fruit of the chestnut. They are of a middle size, oblong, and grow singly and in pairs. The trees are fruitful only once in several years, producing occasionally a very abundant crop. The geographical boundaries of the white oak are Lake Winnepeg on the north, where it attains the height some- times of twenty feet ; the Mississippi river on the west, and North Carolina on the south. At this point it yields its place to the live oak and other evergreen oaks. The finest white oaks are said to be found in Virginia and Pennsylvania. In Massachusetts, it is most abundant in Essex county, where all the largest trees have been destroyed by the tiniherers. Were it not for the protection extended by men of wealth to white oaks in their own grounds, all the large standards would, before this time, have been destroyed. Democracy is fatal to all except political interests. It has no foresight. It perceives the value of an object for present use, but it. disdains- to look forward to the interests of a coming genera- tion. Its motto is progress ; but this progress is, in many cases, but another name for devastation. Though we should have many reasons to lament the division of the community into two distinct classes of rich and poor, yet it is evident that, in proportion to the multiplication of large estates, will be the protection extended to our trees and forests, as well as to the birds. The swamp white oak (Q,. bicolor) has considerable re- semblance to the true white oak, though it has less breadth, and abounds in straggling branches, that grow out from the trunk below the junction of the larger limbs. The leaves have not the deep sinuosities that mark those of the white oak. They are almost entire, being slightly scolloped, and of a reddish green tint, but differing very little in their ap- pearance in autumn from those of the former species. These trees are, at the present time, very important objects in our landscape, being very frequent as standards, and possessing a great deal of wild, irregular beauty. The wood is next JULY, 315 to that of the white oak in vaUie for ship-timber. The trees sometimes attain a great size ; but they seldom exceed the height of thirty feet in this part of the country, and have not a proportional breadth. The dense growth of branches just below the junction of the principal limbs, is one of the picturesque appendages of this species, distinguishing it in a remarkable manner from the other oaks, and rendering it highly ornamental to a wild or rugged landscape. Above this growth the tree seldom forms a round head, but one more or less oblong and irregular in its general outline. This shrubby growth is more promi- nent than the vinery of the elm, and does not clothe the whole extent of the trunk. This tree runs into many varieties in regard to shape, ditfering sufficiently, in some cases, from the true type to constitute a distinct species. It is highly probable that there may be a regular gradation of varieties, all the way from the finest white oak to the re- motest variety of the swamp white oak. The black oak (Q,. tinctoria) is at the head of another group, differing essentially from the group to which the white oak belongs. This is the species that forms the nearest approach to the white oak, and the red oak that which is the most distant from it. The black oak is so named on account of the blackish appearance of its outer bark. Its inner bark, on the contrary, is of a deep yellow or orange color, which has caused it to be named, in certain localities, the yellow oak. The bark of the trunk is ex- tremely rugged, but without scales. It abounds in tannin, and is extensively used in dyeing, producing many perma- nent shades of yellow and brown. The leaves of the black oak are of a yellowish green, deeply cleft and inversely egg- shaped, and in the autumn vary in their tints from a yellow or orange, to a reddish brown. I believe the leaves of this species seldom approach to a crimson. There are several varieties of the black oak. Indeed, the different species of the respective groups seem, like the hickories, to blend together by graduated varieties, so that there are oaks which it would be difficult to describe as one 316 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. species any more than as another allied species. The black oak is a middling-sized tree. An individual is seldom found that exceeds forty feet in height ; but it is a handsomely shaped tree, a rapid grower, and highly worthy of cultivation for ornament, no less than for its utility. The scarlet oak (Gl. coccinea) resembles the preceding species in many points, though it is inferior in value, except as a landscape ornament. In general beauty no other species surpasses it. It has less inclination to spread than some of the other species ; but it exhibits a pleasing regularity of growth, and less frequent gaps in its ramification than the white oak exhibits. Its foliage is of a bright polished green, changing in autumn to a bright crimson red. This is not a scarlet hue, like the coloring of the tupelo and some of the maples. To a distant view the general color may approach a scarlet ; but, upon nearer observation, it seems more evi- dently a bright chocolate red, differing from that of other species of the oak, in having less brown and less of a cinere- ous shade. In the latter part of October the oaks, as I have before remarked, are the charm of our landscapes ; and of all the species, the scarlet oak is the most beautiful and con- spicuous. The leaves of the ash, the tupelo and the red maple have fallen, and the oaks are the only important trees remaining in leaf, except the evergreens. It is at this time, that we are struck with the variety of shades presented by all the different species, — the yellow, orange and brown of the black oak, the pale chocolate red of the white oak, in- cluding many different shades, and the deep maroon color of the red oak, blended with the deep green of the white pines and the lighter green of the pitch pine, and forming some of the most pleasing harmonies and contrasts. The black and the scarlet oaks may be distinguished by cutting into the bark, which will be found thicker and of a deeper yellow in the former. The largest species of oak in this country is the red oak, (Q. rubra,) which is also the least useful for any purpose, except shade and ornament. This tree has very long hori- zontal branches, and possesses, in a high degree, that expres- JULY. 317 sion of majesty for which the oak is celebrated. It flourishes on a poor soil, grows with great rapidity, and has compara- tively a long trunk, below the junction of the limbs, and a wide-spreading top. Its branches are remarkable for the smoothness of their outer bark, and for their general freedom from those knots and distortions that characterize the white oak. The acorns are large and bitter, but readily eaten by swine. The leaves of the red oak are divided into five or six lobes on each side, not deeply indented, and terminating in bristles. They are of a glossy green above and beneath, and turn to a deep purple red in the fall. No species of oak is more deserving of cultivation for shade and ornament, as it grows very rapidly, and attains a great width in a com- paratively short period of time. The wood is of inferior value, on account of its incapacity to be dried. FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. Delphinia cardinale. — This splendid species has recently flowered in our collection. The plants were raised from seeds received from California, and, though too young to show the real character of the plant, they are sufficiently brilliant and attractive to confirm all that has been said about it. The color is as brilliant a scarlet as the Salvia splen- dens, and, when full size, as large as the old Bee Larkspur. Whether it is an annual or perennial has not yet been ascer- tained, but its early flowering from the seed seems to us to indicate an annual. We shall soon be able to decide. It is a superb acquisition, and, aside from its own beauty, must be exceedingly valuable for hybridizing the other kinds, by which an infinite variety of colors may be produced. The Odier Pelargoniums. — This new style of Pelargo- niums is attracting much attention in England, as well as on the Continent. At the late show at the Crystal Palace, London, the fancy kinds were the most admired of all the 318 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Pelargoniums, notwithstanding the best English sorts, in great number and in the highest perfection, were shown in profusion. Several of these kinds are now in bloom with us, and are very attractive from the boldness of the conspicu- ously marked blossoms. We name a few which are especial- ly fine : — Glorie de Bellevue, Rubens, Gustave Odier, Eugene Du- val, Jacques Duval, Elize Mieilez, Etoile du Jardins, Ed- ouard Duval, Madame Eugene Cavaignac, General Cavaig- nac, Auguste Miellez, &,c. The later English varieties of Pelargoniums are exceed- ingly fine. Among others particularly showy are Petruchio, Phaeton, Cloth of Silver, Topsy (very dark). Majestic, Lady Bird, &c., &c. New Double Petunias. — With the acquisition of the Imperial or Double white variety, it was not to be supposed we should long remain without other colors. The Double white is a continental production ; but the English culti- vators have succeeded in raising several equally as double, and of various shades. These will soon, no doubt, find their way here, if our own amateurs do not anticipate them by the growth of equally fine varieties. With a judicious selection of seed, we doubt not these double sorts may be as easily raised as the double stock and other double flowers. The following are the names and colors of some of the new double ones : — ^gle, very pretty anemone flowers. ^thra, beautiful light blue, with full centre. Alcestes, a bold, large lilac flower, very showy. Ariadne, splendid full rosy purple, a lovely flower. Astra^a, fine anemone flowered white. Atys, splendid lilac flower, full centre. Leucosia, beautiful white, with rose centre. Parthenope, pure white flower, as double as a rose. Variegated Leaved Plants. — The cultivation of these beautiful plants is now attracting much attention in Eng- land, where they form one of the most interesting features at the floricultural displays. At the great show held at the JULY. 319 Crystal Palace the 30th of May, and also at the great Chis- wick fete hi the Horticultural Gardens, June 3d and 4th, tliey were especial objects of attention ; and the fine collec- tion of Messrs. Veitch at the latter show, containing Cissus discolor, Hydrangea japonica variegata, Coleus Blumef, Ma- ranta Zebrina, and sixteen other kinds, received the first prize. All who have seen the Cissus and Coleus which have been shown at our horticultural exhibitions, know how beau- tiful and attractive they are. We hope our societies will offer special premiums for displays of these plants, that their cultivation may be extended. 360. Eu^CHARIS GRANDIFLO^RA Plaiicli. LaRGE FLOWERED EucHARis. (Amaryllideae.) New Grenada. A hothouse bulb ; growing one foot high ; with white flowers ; appearing in winter ; uicreased by offsets : growii in peat, loam and sand. Dot. Mag., 1S57, pi. 4971. A very beautiful plant, allied to Amaryllis, but with leaves more resembling a Calla, and very large "and truly noble pure white flowers, the large staminal cup slightly suffused with pale yellow green ; " they are also highly fragrant. The scape produces from five to seven flowers. It is a native of New Grenada, and flourishes in the stove, where it blooms in the winter months. Introduced by Messrs. Veitch as the E. amazonica, but it appears to be the E. grandiflora of Planchon, as figured in Van Houtte's Flore des Serres. {Bot. Mag., March.) 361. Rhodode'ndron a^lbum Cat. Hort. Baitenz. Cream- colored Rhododendron. (Ericaceas.) Java. a greenhouse plant; growmg two feet high : with yellowish white flowers ; appearing in spring ; increased by layers and grafts ; grown in sandy peat. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4972. A very small and pretty light-colored Rhododendron, blooming when a foot high, with leaves about the size of the Kalmia, bright green above and thickly ferruginous beneath, which gives them a rich appearance. The flowers are rather small, cream-colored, and somewhat drooping. It is a native of the Salak mountains of Java, from whence it was sent by Mr. Henshall, the collector of Messrs. Rollison & Son, in whose collection it flowered. Its dwarf habit, 320 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. early-blooming, handsome foliage and delicate flowers, ren- der it a valuable acquisition to the greenhouse, where the rank-growing kinds soon become too large for ordinary collections. {Bot. Mag., March.) 362. Bego^nia micro'ptera Hook. Short-winged Be- gonia. (Begoniaceas.) Borneo. A greenhouse plant ; growing one and a half feet high ; with bhiish colored flowers ; appearing in winter ; increased by cuttings ; grown in peat, leaf-mould and sand. Bot. Mag , 1657, pi. 4974. A pretty species of the Begonia, flowering in the winter season. The leaves are long and narrow, and the underside is very ornamental from the bright red prominent veins. The flowers are pale colored, like the old incarnata. [Bot. Mag., March.) 363. Symphorica'rpus microphyllus H. B. K. Mexican Small-leaved Snoavberry. (Caprifoliaceee.) Mexico. A half-hardy (.'; slirub ; growing two feet high; with pink (lowers ; appearing in summer; in- creased by layers ; grown in good garden soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4975. A new and highly ornamental species of the common snowberry, from Mexico, where it was found on the high mountains, at an elevation of eight or nine thousand feet, and perfectly hardy in England. Whether it will prove so with us remains to be seen. If it will, it will be a treasure well worth possessing. In habit it resembles the common snowberry, but the leaves are much smaller, and the berries, which are not quite so large, are beautifully tinged with " a pink blush, which render the plant equally attractive in the autumn." It has been introduced to England for some time, but has never yet found its way into our gardens. {Bot. Mag., April.) 364. Came'llia reticulata flore pleno. Netted-leaved Camellia, double-flowered variety. (Ternstromia- cese.) China. a greenhouse shrub ; growing ten feet high ; with crimson flowers ; appearing in winter ; in- creased by inarching ; grown in peat, loam and sand. Bot. M;ig., 1S57, pi. 4975. This is the variety we briefly noticed a short time since : it is a new acquisition, sent home by Mr. Fortune, from JULY. 321 China, and flowered for the first time last year. It resem- bles, somewhat, the old and well-known parent, having the same large and showy petals peculiar to this species, but with twice their number, of a brighter color, and disposed with much greater regularity. It is a very showy plant, and will be a valuable acquisition to every collection. The old reticulata we regret is not more generally culti- vated. It is a magnificent thing when well grown, but its straggling habit has caused it to be neglected. A little skil- ful treatment will render it a fine shrub. In the garden of Mr. Martin, at Bank Grove, there is a plant filling an entire house. It is twenty feet high and sixty feet in circumfer- ence ; and as long ago as 1849, it was necessary, one year, to remove 2600 buds, leaving 2000 to expand. When in full bloom it is a magnificent object, some of the flowers measuring eighteen to twenty inches in circumference. The new double flowered variety, grown in this way, will be a still more superb object. {Bot. Mag.^ April.) OUR ORNAMENTAL TREES. by the editor. 13. The Judas Tree. (Cercis canadensis, L.) Among our indigenous trees, so accurately described and figured in Michaux's beautiful Sylva Americana, it is some- what remarkable that the author does not even mention the Cercis canadensis, — a tree distributed over an extensive range of country, from Canada to Virginia, and westward to Ohio. So distinct and really beautiful as it is, one would suppose it would be an especial object of notice, and form a fine subject for the pencil of Redoute, who painted the subjects for his elegant work. Neither does Nuttall, who, a iew years since, continued Michaux's work, enumerate the Cercis. It is, indeed, the only indigenous tree of any beauty which appears to have escaped the observation of all except the VOL. XXIII. NO. VII. 41 322 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. botanists, who have merely given a brief description of its flowers. Loudon, who is unusually complete in his infor- mation about every tree, scarcely more than mentions this, and the only authority he quotes is Decandolle's Prodromus. Few of our smaller trees are more ornamental than the Cercis. Its rosy-red flowers appear before the leaves, in the latter part of May, and actually clothe every limb and branch, rendering it a most conspicuous object, and con- trasting beautifully with the white flowers of the Halesia, the golden yellow of the Carragana, and varied colors of other shrubs. The tree is of handsome form, branching low, with a rather flattish parasol-shaped head. The foliage is medium size and silvery beneath, and the tree is loaded in summer with numerous seed-pods, which succeed the flowers, and remain upon the tree all winter, giving it a pleasing appearance at that inclement season. It is a good grower, is not liable to the attacks of insects, and must be ranked as one of the finest of our ornamental trees. 16. THE JUDAS TREE. The Judas tree (fig. 16) is indigenous from Canada to Virginia, and usually grows along the banks of rivers. In Canada, the flowers are used by the French descendants in salads and pickles, and the young branches to dye wool of JULY. 323 a nankin color. The wood of the European species (C. siliquastrun), the only one except our own, is very hard and agreeably veined, or blotched and varied with black, green and yellow spots, on a gray ground. Its flowers are also used by the French in the same way as the C. canadensis ; but whether the latter possesses the other qualities of the foreign species is not known, as few writers, even Loudon, appear to supply much information about it. Mr. Emerson, who describes at length most of our native trees in his " Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," dismisses this with very brief remarks. It was first introduced into England in 1730, but has never been much cultivated. It is there con- sidered more tender than the European species, although the latter, at the north, will only thrive in sheltered situations. The largest specimen around London, in 1835, was only ten feet high. The best specimen in the old Bartram garden is thirty-five feet high, and three feet six inches in circum- ference. It is far the handsomest species of the two. As the Judas tree is a native of river banks, it requires a cool, moist and half-shady situation to see it in its full per- fection, though it will grow readily and bloom freely in any good garden soil. It grows slowly, with a spreading top. The leaves are heart-shaped and pointed, of a deep green above and paler beneath. The flowers are small, pea-blos- som shaped, of a deep purplish rose, and appear on the old wood as well as the new. These are succeeded by flat, thin brown pods, six or eight inches long, which contain the seeds, and which remain upon the trees through the winter. It is easily cultivated, and may be readily raised from seeds, which should be planted either in the fall or spring, in light loamy soil, about an inch deep; and it is best to plant them in the pods, which should merely be broken to pieces. They vegetate in a short time, and, after one or two years' growth, the young trees should be taken from the seed-bed and transplanted into nursery rows, giving them the same attention as other seedling stock ; in the course of three or four years they will be large enough to bloom, and may 324 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. be removed to the shrubbery, or where they are intended to remain. As an ornamental tree of the smaller class, the Cercis, or red bud as it is sometimes called, deserves far more atten- tion than it has received. The profusion of its deep rosy blooms, covering the naked stems, the early period at which they appear, the neatness of its foliage and the abundance of its brownish seed-pods, render it especially attractive, wherever a combination of these desirable qualities is needed for picturesque effect. tntxul Itotites. The Influence of the Scion upon the Stock. — No point in vegetable physiology is of greater interest to gardeners than the influence, if any, of the scion upon its stock ; or vice versa. It is a common belief that when the graft of one pear is worked upon the stock of another, neither is the graft influenced by the stock nor the stock by the graft. When a peach is budded on a plum the plum-blood seems not to be mingled with that of the peach, nor the peach-blood with that of the plum. The peach is a peach and nothing less ; the plum is a plum and nothing more. Is this true ? or are we here, as in so many other cases, led astray by our own blindness and inability to see what really exists. Perhaps so. There is a green jasmine and a variegated jasmine. Apart the green is always green. Budded with the variegated sort the whole system of the green sort is tainted, as it were, and breaks out into variegations. There is no conceivable explanation of this indisputable fact, except that the quality inducing variegation has been communicated by the one to the other. It is a true case of vegetable inoculation, using the word in its medical sense. Nor, indeed, can it be otherwise when we consider the fa- cility with which the fluids of plants are transferred from one part to another. We may suppose that variegation is produced by some virus affecting the system of a plant ; such a virus, or constitutional peculiarity, whatever it is, is certainly communicable. A short memorandum by Mr. Purser, in last week's Chronicle, has led to these remarks. Everybody now knows that what is called the purple La- burnum, or Cytisus Adami, is a laburnum that sometimes produces yellow flowers, sometimes purple ones, and sometimes bunches of the dirty yellow color that would be artificially formed by mixing purple and yellow on a pallet. In Mr. Purser's case the purple Cytisus (Cytisus purpureus,) was JULY. 325 grafted on the common laburnum. Widely different as the species are the one takes readily on the other. As soon as the union is effected the sap of the first begins to mingle with that of the second, and in a year or two the laburnum produces out of its own substance tufts of mere Cytisus purpu- reus, or bunches of flowers unchanged indeed in size and form but com- pletely altered as to color. Here then are two notorious cases, the history of each perfectly ascer- tained ; in one case the sap of a variegated communicates the variegation to a green plant ; in the other case the sap of a totally distinct species communicates to another not merely color, but form, size, and every other specific attribute. If then, in the two cases before us, such striking changes are producible, we are fully justified in assuming that similar changes, greater or less, will inevitably attend the union of any other two plants. We must regard such changes as resulting from some constant law, although we may continually fail to perceive its presence. This being the case one of the most important of all inquiries in horti- culture is the extent to which the diffusion and blending of the qualities of graft and stock really go. Not that the subject has been hitherto overlooked, but because we have as yet no such precise evidence as is demanded in a question of this degree of importance, gardeners are apt to think that any stock upon which a graft will take is sufficient for this purpose. No greater error could be committed; it has been pointed out in our columns on former occasions ; but the practice of disregarding the stock prevails extensively? and no series of experiments, carefully continued and conscientiously re- corded, has as yet been brought to bear upon it. In the Theory and Practice of Horticulture, ( p. 356) the subject has, indeed, been introduced, and some evidence upon it collected, as will appear from the following extract: — " Since the quality of fruit is thus affected by the stock, it seems allow- able to infer that tlie goodness of cultivated fruits is deteriorated by their being uniformly worked upon stocks whose fruit is worthless ; for example, the almond or the austere plum can only injure the peaches they are made to bear, the crab the apple, and so on. On the other hand, if trees of excellent quality were used for stocks they ou^ht to improve the fruit of the scion that is worked upon them. Some German writers, proceeding upon such reasoning as this, recommend gardeners to practice the art of ' enno- bling' fruit trees by taking the best varieties for stocks instead of the worst ; and they assert that, by such means, the excellence of fruit is greatly increased. Trefez is represented by Meyer, as translated in Taylor's Mag- azine, to have made known, as long ago as 1803, several instances of enno- bling, from which it appears that apple trees twice ennobled bore fruit of distinguished excellence: currants and gooseberries improved after one ennobling, and much more so after the operation had been repeated three or four times. An apiicot is said to have been worked on a Green Gage plum, and a quince upon the Autumn Bergamot pear ; the apricot became as juicy as the Green Gage, and far more delicate ; the quince was much more tender and less gritty." 326 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Is there no one in this country with the necessary leisure and address to verify these statements, which at present stand unconfirmed although uncon- tradicted. Surely, considering how much hybridizing has done for us, the question now proposed, which is second to nothing in importance, can hardly fail to meet with the same zealous and skilful examination. — [Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 400.) Exhibition of the London Horticultural Society. — The great horticultural experiment of the season has been tried. The question whether the attractions of Chiswick could be revived has been answered in the affirmative ; and those who fancied that the Horticultural Society was dead and buried have met with an agreeable surprise. Never before has a finer or more varied mass of plants been collected on that celebrated ground, nor have they, on any former occasion, been so well displayed. The garden too was in a state of unusual beauty ; no late frosts had ruined the tender foliage of spring ; the turf was green and soft, gay flowers in abundance met the eye in all directions, and the alterations made with so much taste by Mr. M'Ewen in what is called the American garden, although but six weeks old, were quite in a condition to be appreciated. Rhododendrons and azaleas were glowing with crimson and yellow and purple and white in all directions, and left no room for doubt, on the part of the most indif- ferent spectator, that if American plants are to be seen in perfection it is not by crowding them under canvas so as to reduce their beauty to the level of a childish " peepshoAv," but by displaying them in the free air, to the bright sun, arranged as they would be where Nature is the artist. The principal changes in the arrangements of the exhibition were the conversion of the large conservatory into an exhibition hall, and the dis- play of roses and some other plants without tables. The conservatory was fitted up with stages on each side, between which along the middle passed a gravel walk, ending in a semicircular mass of noble plants remarkable for their fine foliage, contributed by Messrs. Veitch. On one side were orchids in great profusion, among which a collection from Mr. Rucker, in wondrous beauty, stood preeminent. His Laelia cinnabarina and Lselia pur- purata excelled anything we had seen before : while a beautiful specimen of Saccolabium curvifolium, a very difficult plant to manage, and a noble example of that large form of Aerides crispum which Dr. Wight calls Aerides Lindleyanum, bore testimony to the great horticultural skill of Mr. Rucker's gardener. On the left of the entrance were superb specimens of ferns, among which we venture to single out Gleichenia JIabellata, from Mr. Parker, of Hornsey, as the finest species in the garden, or perhaps in cul- tivation. We did not suppose it possible to have brought the plant to such perfection. In the conservatory, too, were displayed all the new plants of any importance, and among these were some of very unusual interest. First stood the Thujopsis dolahrata from Messrs. Veitch, described in last week's columns, and Abies K 1. Level landscape, comprehending all that surface which is usually termed " flat country," requires no particular de- scription. A great deal of it is seen in the Southern States, near the coast, extending inwardly with but little variation, until it reaches the mountainous region. Though not favor- able to extensive, sublime or beautiful prospects, it may, under certain circumstances, be productive of each ; and I am not sure that an uninterrupted level of such extent as to be bounded only by the verge of the horizon, would not be attended with sensations allied to the sublimity of a mid- ocean scene. This effect could be obtained only in particular situations, as when the whole country is open, and the view interrupted neither by woods or village settlements. The very desolation of such a scene must powerfully awaken the emotion of sublimity. Level landscape in general is very monotonous, even when interrupted by woods and villages. One becomes soon weary of seeing only near objects, and however diff'erent the scenes through which he passes, he longs to behold some diversity of surface. But levels of moderate extent, surrounded by hills, mountains, or any sort of rugged and elevated grounds, possess an indescribable charm, and may be regarded as the most beautiful portions of uneven or mountainous country. There is another description of level landscape which is particularly attractive. I allude to those wide plains, which are interspersed with tracts of wood, rising out of them like islands out of the sea. We often observe this appearance in marshes and extensive moorlands. The dead level of the greater part is broken by a gentle rising, which is perhaps SEPTEMBER. 391 the remains of a shoal, over which the alluvial deposits have not risen. Perhaps it was originally caused by a drift of sand, which gave origin to brambles and vines, and thus laid the foundation of a wood. A farm, or a small hamlet of cottages, is often planted on one of these islands, and is ren- dered pleasingly conspicuous by the open level of the sur- rounding plain. Some of these peculiarities of landscape, on a small scale, may be observed on the salt marshes on the eastern coast of Massachusetts. In the interior they are not unfrequent, on a still smaller scale, in extensive peat mead- ows. An island in a meadow is not less attractive than an island in a lake, though it forms a more striking contrast with the water than with the level land ; there are pleasant pastoral ideas associated with the former, that yield peculiar attractions to a farm in such a location. A rustic lane winding through the moorland in the direction of this little island farm, and finally reaching it, gives one a charming idea of its accessi- bility, and of seclusion without solitude. In an island on a lake or the sea, the idea of solitude is so intimately blended with that of seclusion, as to interrupt the train of agreeable fancies which must accompany any scene to render it either beautiful or attractive. Still, a small island in a lake, re- garded merely as a feature in the landscape, is more beautiful than in a sandy plain, or a green level moor. A little reflection would make it evident to us why a cot- tage or farm on the island in the moor must be more inter- esting than one seen among many others in the general land- scape. In the former instance it makes a whole picture, and our attention when directed to it is undivided. We can easily sympathize with the inmates, because they seem to be but one family. We can carry along the whole picture of their life and occupation in our mind, which would be put into confusion by an effort to go along with the occupations of a number of families, as in a village. A picture in real life, or in real nature, as well as in a painting, must be cir- cumscribed within narrow limits, to fix our attention and to absorb our interest. Any pleasing image that takes posses- 392 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. sion of the mind is not then immediately crowded out by others which surrounding objects may suggest. This unique- ness is one of the qualities necessary to give a picturesque expression to any scene either in nature or art. I believe we may account, on this principle, for the fact often observ- ed, that a man of highly cultivated powers, but of limited acquirements, has more intellectual force than others of sim- ilar cultivation, whose minds are stored with a great variety of knowledge. There is still another picturesque effect to which level landscape may be favorable, when it is generally wooded. I allude to those openings formed either by nature or by the pioneers, and spreading over the area of a mile, or a few hundred acres of perfect level. The delightful character of such a retreat is evident at once, on suddenly emerging from the depth of a forest. Such are the green savannas that occur in the pine-barrens in the Southern States, or openings purposely cleared for planting. Many such are to be seen in that region, where the cottages of the unindustrious negroes, surrounding the house of the planter, may add to the pictur- esque effect of the scene, in the minds of those who are not too vividly impressed by the idea of the evils connected with slavery. For pleasant seclusion, an opening of this description in the woods, rendered conveniently accessible by a by-road through the forest, cannot be surpassed. But to render such a place desirable as a residence, a hill should be near, from which, on emerging from our retreat, we could obtain a pleasant view of the surrounding country. A some- what extended prospect must be available to every lover of nature. If it do not lie immediately before his windows, it must be within reach by a short walk. A level country has many advantages even of those which are purely picturesque. The appearance of extensive fields of grass and grain, interspersed with wood, opening occa- sionally into a little village settlement, affords a pleasing variety of scenery, in spite of its level character. Here every scene comes suddenly upon the sight, since one ob- tains no intimation of it by distant glimpses from high SEPTEMBER. 393 places ; a level landscape permits i)0 such anticipations. Hence this kind of scenery is not without some favorable comparisons with that of other descriptions of surface. But nature has happily interspersed the majority of level coun- tries with occasional elevations and depressions, so that an extensive tract of land can seldom be fotmdj without an occasional advantage of this sort. Of all situations, a level is the most unfortunate when it forms a boundary of the sea. The sea-shore needs the ac- companiment of rugged and elevated banks, from which its distant waters may be seen, and from which the vessels on its bosom may be watched, until they fade from the sight. Still there are but few persons who are insensible to the beauties of the seashore, even when it is bounded by a coast that rises only a few feet above its level. Not even this cir- cumstance can divest it of its grandeur, or diminish the ro- mantic interest which Ave feel in the great space that lies beyond the scope of our vision. 2. Rolling or undulating landscape is generally regarded as the most beautiful. It is undoubtedly the most capable of being highly dressed, and is that which is most favorable to tillage, because it admits of more complete drainage than a flat country, and the hills may be planted even to their summits. This description of landscape prevails extensively in a great part of the State of New York. Hence in no other part of the country are the evidences of an abundant harvest so beautifully displayed as in that State. These smooth and regular swells of land, being in May perfectly green with wheat, over an extent of thousands of acres, exhibit their produce in the most advantageous light. Here^ likewise, the primitive wood is pleasingly interspersed with the fields of wheat and maize, each being sufficiently exten- sive to prevent that disagreeable patch-work appearance which is visible in some of the settlements of New England, where the smaller fields are devoted to a greater variety of crops. In general a rolling landscape is more pleasing if the greater part of the wood is on the elevations, and the lower part of VOL. XXIII. NO. IX. 50 394 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICXTLTURE. the slopes and the valleys are open and devoted to tillage. Not only do the woods, when thus arranged, give greater apparent elevation to the hills and greater depth to ihe val- leys, but they suggest instantly to the mind the idea of shel- ter, protection from the winds and greater comfort, both to the flocks which are pastured there, and to the dwellings built under their shadows. Still, it cannot be denied that a gently rounded hill, divested of wood, and covered with green herbage, is a very beautiful feature in a landscape. Abrupt elevations, on the contrary, ought always to be wooded. Wood occupying the narrow dales between undu- lating hills, while the hills are bare, always forms an unat- tractive scene. The wood shelters that part of the land which is already sheltered by the hills, and leaves the latter exposed to the bleakness of the winds. If the hills are cleared the valleys also should be cleared, in all tracts of country where the undulations are comparatively even and regular. When a valley is of sufficient extent to admit of a village settlement upon it, it becomes an exception to these remarks, as it is an exception to the general character of the surface. An undulating landscape does not truly resemble the waves of the sea, Avhich are usually crested and often broken, but rather the gentle swelling of the ocean in a calm, after some disturbance. This sort of landscape bears a greater resem- blance to the drifted snow, which commonly lies in even swells, of different sizes and outlines. Such a form of sur- face is generally considered beautiful, because we associate the idea of beauty, more or less, with comfort and abund- ance ; and this description of ground aff'ords better evidence of these advantages than any other, when under an equal amount of cultivation. The lines of the surface are all gen- tle curves, sufficiently varied in their forms and sizes to make an agreeable combination of figures. All this is sug- gestive of easy ascent, of pleasant facility of travelling, of «asy labor to the tiller of the soil, and to the tasteful im- prover. These are the ideas that enter the mind when laewing this description of surface, and cause it to produce SEPTEMBER. 395 emotions of beauty. It is not tliat curve lines produce a more agreeable organic sensation than any other regular fig- ures. Their effect is moral and suggestive, and depends on a pleasing train of thought to which they give origin. A broken and rocky surface, like that of most of the land in New England, must be more generally wooded, especially in its most abrupt portions, or clothed with green vegetation, to render it acceptable to the eye. When divested of trees and shrubbery it wears too much of an appearance of barrenness and desolation. Yet a rolling landscape, like a level one, is very monoto- nous; and this monotonous appearance gives unusual charms to any interruption to the general character of the surface. A ravine, a ridge of steep and rocky hills, or a perfect level of considerable extent, appearing in the midst of this regu- larly rolling surface, is greatly enhanced in its pleasing effects. Hence this abrupt scenery is more highly esteemed in New York, where it is uncommon, than in New England, where it is the usual character of the landscape. I think the ma- jority of people are more highly pleased with a country pre- senting to sight these even undulations, than with level or abrupt scenery. The continuous level, for obvious reasons, is not pleasing to any one ; and the beauties of abrupt scenery are evident only to those who have a painter's eye, or whose minds are naturally tinged with romance. The agreeable expressions of abrupt landscape are historical, poetical or romantic. To the mere matter-of-fact man they suggest only the idea of the barren and indomitable character of the soil. To a person of poetic feelings this abrupt scenery sug- gests many pleasing and romantic images, which cause him to prefer it, under certain circumstances, to the more com- fortable expressions of a gently rolling surface. (To be concluded in next number.) 396 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. THE CATAWISSA RASPBERRY. BY PROF. C. G. PAGE, ■WASHINGTON, D. C. We are greatly indebted to Mr. Joshua Pierce of Wash- ington for his indefatigable zeal in bringing forward this val- uable fruit. The berry is inferior to some others, in size and flavor, but its great recommendation is its continual bearing property. It commences to ripen fruit soon after the Red Antwerp is gone, and continues to bear until checked by hard frosts. I have realized an unexpected value in it as a source of new varieties, and to such an extent that ere long the Catawissa will be cherished only as a breeder. I have now two seedlings of the second generation from the Catawissa, and while the fruit of both is superior to the original, the bearing term is extended far beyond it. They commence bearing before the Red Antwerp and continue long after it is gone, and after two to three weeks' cessation commence bearing again and continue till frost. The seed- lings from the Catawissa thus far are of special interest. In one instance I have a/ac simile of the wild black raspberry, such as I gathered (under the name of thimbleberry) when a boy, in the old fields around Salem, Mass. I have also, now just ripening, two orange colored seedlings of delicious flavor and vigorous growth. Also one real scarlet, similar in flavor to the wild scarlet raspberry of New England, which is just beginning to ripen, and will evidently go on to bear through the season. As nearly all the progeny of the Cata- wissa possess the everbearing property, we cannot but look upon its introduction as the dawn of a new era in raspberry culture. The varieties are generally more hardy than the Antwerp, and the two kinds named above as bearing early and late are of gigantic growth. We shall look for some in- teresting developements in the descendants of this remarka- ble fruit, and anticipate a high position for raspberries among the pomological novelties of the day. Prof. Page's estimate of the Catawissa Raspberry corres- ponds with our own, viz., that its greatest value is as a par- SEPTEMBER. 397 ent from which to produce new and superior perpetual or everbearing varieties. We are happy to record the advance- ment which has aheady been made in this respect by our correspondent, and trust his success will not only induce him to continue his experiments, but incite other cultivators to make similar attempts at the improvement of such a val- uable fruit. We have often remarked that we thought the raspberry susceptible of great improvement, and that if the same pains had been taken with it, as has been done with the strawberry, we should long ago have had new varieties very much larger and better than any we possess now. The production of these everbearing fruits is of great im- portance ; of the prolificness of the Catawissa in this respect th«re is no doubt. Its hardiness of constitution will un- doubtedly enable us in time to secure not only a variety of extraordinary quality, but of much greater hardiness than any we now have, and withal a perpetual bearing habit which will supply us with an abundance of fruit up to the latest period of the year. It will give the raspberry a fresh claim upon the attention of all fruit cultivators. — Ed. POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. Unique Description of the Doyenne' d'Alencon Pear. " Flesh tinged with orange, coarse grained, but melting and juicy. Flavor, sprightly, vinous, good ; slightly astringent near the skin. Ripens readily in autumn. It is recom- mended by the author, from experience, not to force the ripening of pears out of their natural season ; but to mature them gradually and evenly, in rather a low temperature, giving sufficient air when the weather is favorable. The air should be a medium between dryness and a slight natur- al moisture, not in extremes of either. The Gray Doyenne is described by Col. Wilder in the Horticulturist, first estab- lished by Downing, and which leading work has also been well conducted ever since by good theoretical as well as 398 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. eminently practical men. It is now in very good hands, and has, as it deserves, a large circulation, and still increasing, as may be expected from the gloriously growing interest in horticulture and agriculture in all parts of the Union. Men are beginning to get their eyes open, at length, to their highest welfare, happiness, and wealth. Fruit should com- prise one third of the human diet at least." The above is from a review of Hooper's Fruit Book which we find in the Ohio Cultivator. We have not seen the volume, but learn from the above paper that it was de- signed to "correct the errors and avoid the faults of former works of the kind." We must confess from the review, which is by Mr. Bateham, formerly editor of the Cultivator, that we should think the object of the work just the reverse of the above, and rather intended to make "confusion more confused." If this is the result of the pomological progress of the West, their annual conventions and exhibitions, all the time and labor have been spent in vain. What the "Gray Doyenne described by Col. Wilder," the "Horticul- turist first established by Downing," the "gloriously grow- ing interest in horticulture and agriculture," "men beginning to get their eyes open," and "fruit composing one third of the human diet," have to do with a "concise description of fruits" we cannot exactly discover. Perhaps, however, the author does, and that is sufficient. New Seedling Pear. — We have received from Mr. J. Van Deventer, of Princeton, N. J., specimens of a new pear which originated in New Jersey. The pears were in very good order, though a little too ripe to form an accurate opinion of the merits of the variety. Mr. Van Deventer writes as follows respecting it : — " I have had it in bearing some five or six years and am now satisfied that it is worthy of a name and more general cultivation. The great beauty of the fruit, its season of ripening, from 20th July to 10th of August, earlier than any other equally good pear, and but few days later than the Madeleine, — which I think it far excels, — will make it a very profitable market variety, and it is now a great favorite with SEPTEMBER. 399 the confectionary and fruit dealers of the neighboring cities, so far as it has been introduced to their notice. The tree is a free vigorous grower, branches curved, erect, forming a reg- ular handsome head ; a 'great bearer, producing its fruit in clusters, ripening uniformly fair and perfect. I hope the fruit sent to you arrived in good order to be fairly tested, and should be glad to have your opinion of its merits." The pears sent us were as large as the Madeleine, but more of the shape of the Jargonelle, being pyriform, and contracted near the stem. The color yellow with a fine red cheek, and a juicy and melting flesh, sweet and pleasantly flavored. Most of the specimens had begun to be little soft at the core, but we should judge if gathered in due season and properly ripened it would quite equal if not surpass the Madeleine. Wilson's Albany Strawberry. — We notice some flatter- ing accounts of this new strawberry in the Country Gentle- man. It originated with the late Mr. Wilson, nurseryman, of Albany, N. Y., and has not yet been cultivated very ex- tensively out of that locality. We have not yet grown the variety or seen it under culture in the neighborhood of Bos- ton ; but if it will sustain the reputation which is given it, then it will soon find a place in our amateur collections at least. The only fear that we have in regard to it is that the extreme praise which it has received will be an injury to it in the end. Take the statement for instance which we find in the above paper, viz.. that "as regards productiveness, it has yielded many times the quantity of Hovey's, and prom- ised to continue in bearing several weeks while the latter was already out of fruit. It has excelled in size, and every- body prefers its flavor. Among the berries have been gath- ered a number full four inches in circumference, and of four which ripened at the same time on one stalk, one measured more than four inches, and the others more than three and a lalf." Now this may appear to some a very extraordinary thing, but with good cultivation it is a very small afi'air. The best Hovey strawberries sold in Boston market frequently meas- 400 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ure five inches in circumference, and those which are yearly exhibited before the Massachusetts Horticuhural Society measure six inches, and weigli over half an ounce each. In re- gard to tlie productiveness of the Hovey, twenty-four square feet have produced twelve quarts, and many times this would be a rather big crop ; as to the period of bearing, the Hovey lasts five weeks, and if the Albany continues several weeks Irmgei- this would give some eight or ten weeks — mak- ing it almost a perpetual hearer. We do not doubt that the Albany is a fine strawberry, and hope it may have a fair trial ; but such exaggerated accounts lead many cultivators to expect a great deal, and the failure of the variety to fulfil their expectations too often consigns it to oblivion, whereas it may possess merits which render it a useful and valuable fruit. It is the history of nearly all the seedlings which have been raised the past twenty years, some fifty of which, including the McAvoy Superior, — which was awarded the prize of ^100 as the best strawberry in Cincinnati, — were superior in size, productiveness, excel- lence and hardiness, to any other variety. It would be diffi- cult to find many of them now, except in the papers and catalogues where they have been described. The Canadian Chief Grape. — In our March number, (p. 117,) we gave a full account of the origin of this grape, so far as it could be obtained from our correspondent Mr. Reid, who is well acquainted with the history of the variety. Very recently we have received a communication from Mr. Fearman, who possesses the original vine, taking us to task for expressing our opinion to a private correspondent that it was not a hardy grape. Not having tried the grape under our own eye, in the account above referred to we ex- pressly sfated that "its hardiness remained to be tested." Wishing that all who desired to do so might give it a trial, and unable then to condemn it from personal experience, we did not wish to throw anything in the way of its cultivation by all who were eager to possess it after reading its history. But in writing to a gentleman who inquired of us concern- ing it, we stated our private opinion that it was not hardy — for this he complains in the following letter : — SEPTEMBER. 401 "I have received a letter from Mr. E. F. Ensiyon of Mad- ison, Ohio, ordering vines of the Canadian Chief grape ; he states that you have written him that the C. C. grape is not hardy. Now sir, can you give me your reasons for stating that it is not hardy? Have you cultivated it, or have you seen it in bearing, or have you any further information con- cerning it than you have received from Mr. Reid, in your March number ? I will state a fact to you. We have a Canadian Chief standing in the garden with two Catawbas : all in the open air ; all received the same care or treatment ; all have the same position as to sun, &c. The Canadian Chief matured its fruit, part of which was sent you by Mr. Reid before it was fully ripe, but the Catawbas never ripen- ed so to be fit to eat, and this winter has killed both of them, whilst the Chief is alive with a good crop on it. " I do not think it right for a public journalist to injure any one's business until they are sure that that business is a fraud upon the public, — therefore my complaint to you. I answered Mr. Reid's letter last March, but I have never learned that you have made any remarks on it, so I thought I would write you on the matter. — / remain yours, truly, F. W. Fearman, Hamilton, C. W., July, 1857." And now, as Mr. Fearman asks us so pointedly " to give him our reasons for thus stating it is not hardy," we will do so very plainly, as it is a duty as a journalist we owe to the public, and one we would have done before had we been in possession of the facts. They are as follows : — Mr. E. A. Brackett of Winchester, who cultivates a great number of grapes, has the Canadian Chief, obtained from the original vine, and fruited it last year. He informs us that the wood was killed completely to the ground the last win- ter ; that it is as tender as any foreign grape ; that it is the most liable to mildew of all the grapes he cultivates, and in fine that as a variety for out-door cultivation it is entirely worthless. These reasons we trust will be satisfactory to Mr. Fearman, for our opinion that it is not a hardy grape. The Lawton and Dorchester Blackberries. — Perhaps we should not state what is correct if we were to say the VOL. XXIII. — NO. IX. 51 402 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Lawton Blackberry had been greatly overrated, but we do know we state what is true in saying that the Dorchester has been greatly underrated. If we compare the Lawton with the wild high or low bush blackberry of our pastures, it has not been praised too much ; but if we compare it with the Dorchester, it has been rated far above its merits. Both the Lawton and Dorchester are fine fruits, but the latter is superior to the former in almost every quality which it possesses. The fruit is considerably larger than the Law- ton ; it is a much firmer berry ; holds its brilliant glossy color after gathering ; bears carriage well ; and is sweet and excellent even before it is fully ripe. It is as vigorous a grower, quite as hardy, and quite as prolific as the Lawton. A fair trial has been had of the two kinds by the fruit com- mittee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, for two years, who have awarded all the premiums to the Dorchester. The great faults of the Lawton are that unless fully ripe, so as to drop from the bush, it is so sour and bitter that it can scarcely be eaten ; and when fully ripe it is so soft that it will not bear carriage, and the color changes to a bronzy red, as if the fruit had been gathered long and had begun to decay. So far as our taste goes, when quite mature we like it as well as the Dorchester ; the acid which it has is refresh- ing, especially when eaten with cream and sugar. But it is so difficult to gather it in this way, that, as a market fruit, it cannot compare with the Dorchester. And this leads us to notice the ill effects which result from a poor name. The Dorchester blackberry was for a long time called the Improved High Bush, and in conse- quence has been supposed, by a majority of cultivators, to be nothing but the wild blackberry improved by culture. This, however, is not so ; it is a seedling which originated in Dorchester, and was introduced to notice upwards of ten years ago, by the late Samuel Downer of that place, and Capt. Lovett of Beverly who gave a full account of it, with directions for its culture, in our Magazine for 1850, (XVI, p. 261.) We trust now that its qualities and real character are becoming better known, it will be planted in every gar- I SEPTEMBER. 403 den wherever the Lawton is deemed AA'-orthy of a place, as it will give much more satisfactii a far higher price in the market. it will give much more satisfaction to the amateur and bring THE MAPLES. BY WILSON FLAGG, In the New England States the maples are a very import- ant and conspicuous family of trees. Not only do they yield the inhabitants a large quantity of valuable fuel, but they are of great importance in cabinet work. It is the rock maple that furnishes that remarkable description of wood called hircVs-eye maple. The peculiar spots in this wood are formed by a twist in the fibre produced by the com- mencement of the growth of a new twig which was imme- diately overgrown by the increase of the branch, and thereby rendered abortive. They are, in fact, the roots or germs of small branches that were never put forth. The number of species of maple in this country is not great, but these few are spread widely and numerously over all the land. Al- though there are about forty species of maple known to botanists, only five species have been found in Massachu- setts, and two of these are shrubs. The most common species in the vicinity of Boston is the red maple, (Acer rubrum.) It is remarkable that this tree should also be called the white maple, the first term having reference to the blossoms and the autumnal leaves, and the last to the whiteness of its wood. This tree is one of the most ornamental of its tribe, displaying tints in autumn which are more various than those of the rock maple, and being remarkable for the profusion of crimson flowers, that appear before the leaves in the spring. As the flowers fade, the samarse or keys that succeed them retain the same crim- son hue, gradually fading into brown as they become ma- ture, until the leaves are fully' expanded. 404 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. The leaves of this species are comparatively small, but constitute in the aggregate a very dense foliage of a fine dark verdure. When they first appear in plaited folds, the leaves and the recent shoots are of a reddish hue. They vary considerably in form and size, being generally divided into five palmate lobes, with their margin slightly toothed- The leaves of the red maple are often tinted very early in the season, especially in swampy grounds, where they some- times display their autumnal tints before the middle of Au- gust. This premature ripeness seems to be caused either by some want of vigor in the tree, or by the alternate action of heat and cold which are felt in the swamps in August to greater extremes than in the uplands. These colors vary considerable in different trees, being yellow in some, and orange, scarlet crimson or purple in others. The most prev- alent hue among them is scarlet. Some botanists have been led to suppose, from the difference in the tints of diff'erent trees that there are several distinct varieties of the red maple. The red maple is a finely shaped and large tree, generally round-headed, minutely subdivided into branches, and ex- ceeded by few trees in the beauty of its ramification. It is of rapid growth, but flourishes best in a damp soil. Consid- ering the beauty of its crimson blossoms, its dense and dark green foliage, breaking into a variety of beautiful colors in the autumn, I should assign to this species the highest rank among the maples, as a mere ornamental tree, though it comes second to the rock maple in point of utility. The rock maple (A. saccharinum) is distinguished from the preceding species by its larger leaves, which are gener- ally of a brighter green, and are remarkable for the roundness of the notch that separates the lobes of the leaf. This is also a very neat and beautiful tree, similar in its manner of growth to the red maple, having a great deal of elegance without primness, and majesty without ruggedness or irregu- larity of growth. It is far from being monotonous in its shape, some individuals having finely rounded heads, others being cylindrical, and a few occasionally finely tapered and pyramidal. It is very full of branches, so that, perhaps, few trees produce a greater density of shade. SEPTEMBER. 405 The autumnal hues of the rock maple vary from a bright yellow to a scarlet, which is the predominating hue. This species is remarkable for an appearance, which, though some- times observed in the red maple, I have seldom noticed in other trees. I allude to the tinting of the foliage in a par- ticular spot, while all the remainder is as green as in sum- mer. Sometimes a single branch on one side of the tree will be tinted in every leaf, of a bright scarlet, while all the re- mainder of the foliage is unchanged. This appearance does not seem to be caused by any defect in the colored branch, and it is often very general throughout a forest of rock ma- ples. Sometimes the whole summit of the tree will be brightly illuminated, while all the lower part retains its un- altered verdure, and does not become tinted until a week afterwards. I believe the foliage drops from these prema- turely tinted branches before it drops from other parts of the tree. The wood of this tree receives an excellent polish, and is extensively used for veneering in cabinet work. All the varieties of its grain, the curled, the bird's-eye, and the straight grained, are extensively used in this manufacture. In architecture it is seldom employed, as it is not durable when exposed to alternate moisture and dryness ; but it is employed to a considerable extent for the keels of ships, where, being constantly submerged, it does not decay. The value of the rock maple for the production of sugar, it is impossible to estimate. Though it can never rival the sugar cane in this product, its importance is not likely to be overrated because its commercial value bears a very small proportion to its real value. The time will undoubtedly arrive, when extensive plantations of rock maple will be made for this purpose ; and when they have come to matu- rity, the old trees, whose sap has ceased to be abundant, may be used for fuel. This tree may be successfully planted in any part of the continent, north of the point at which the Chinese sugar cane refuses to be productive. Thus every part of the North American continent may produce its own sugar. 406 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. The rock maple has not so extensive a geographical range as the red maple. It reaches from Canada to the mountains in Georgia, but is seldom found on the plains south of the latitude of Long Island Sound. New England, including the adjoining territory, seems to be the central region of its growth and the part of the country where it is most abund- ant. In the eastern part of Massachusetts it is rare ; but it is the principal timber tree of the Green Mountains, and of the continuation of their range in Massachusetts. The white maple (A. dasycarpum) is preferred as an orna- mental tree to the other species in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia, where it is extensively planted in private inclosures and by the roadside. The preference is given to it, undoubtedly, on account of its greater suitableness to the soil and climate, and its greater thriftiness of growth in dry soils, compared with the red maple. It is inferior, however, in most desirable points, to the other two species ; its foliage, though glossy and silvered, is not so dense ; it emits a disa- greeable odor, and is destitute of those tints which distin- guish the other American maples in the autumn. Its recom- mendations consist of a superior thriftiness in ordinary situ- ations, its somewhat wider spread of the branches, and the silvery lustre of its bark and foliage. It has a loose ramifi- cation, and a certain prim and artificial look about it, which may possibly have rendered it fashionable in certain locali- ties. This tree bears the name of river maple, from its fre- quency on the banks of streams. It is comparatively rare in Massachusetts. The wood is soft and white, and of little value in the arts. The striped maple, or moosewood (A. Pennsylvanicum,) is a very remarkable tree, though it rarely exceeds the size of a shrub. There are but few trees in the forest that sur- pass it in grace and beauty. Emerson is of opinion that it deserves careful cultivation. " The singular striated appear- ance of its trunk at all times, the delicate rose color of the buds and leaves on opening, and the beauty of the ample foliage afterwards, the graceful pendulous racemes of flowers, succeeded by large showy keys, not unlike a cluster of in- SEPTEMBER. 407 sects, will sufficiently recommend it. In France, Michaux says it has been increased to four times its natural size, by grafting on the sycamore." In this country it might be suc- cessfully grafted on the white maple. The striped appearance of the bark of this maple is owing to the pealing of certain of the outer portions ; and the name of moose wood was given it in Maine, where the moose is seen to browse upon it in the winter. We seldom find this tree except in the shade of a forest, forming a part of the under growth of larger trees. There is another small species of maple, called the mountain maple, which is only about half the size of the preceding. It is, however, a graceful shrub, and in autumn both this and the striped maple rival the other species in the beauty of their coloring. THE CHINESE AZALEA. BY THE EDITOR. One of the greatest aids to an amateur in the selection of plants, is a correct descriptive list of the best varieties, by which he is enabled to secure a due proportion of colors, and that variety which makes up the beauty and brilliancy of a collection. It is not to be expected that catalogues will give the desired information though they may indicate in a brief manner the principal colors of some families of plants, and hence he must look to other sources for informa- tion. It is this which it is our purpose to supply. Not many years ago, certainly less than twenty, we do not think more than half a dozen varieties were to be found in our collections, and only the curious amateur possessed more than two, the old phoenicea and alba. Loudon in his Hortus Britannicus, brought down to 1839, only enumerates twelve varieties. At the present time the number exceeds one hundred, though all of them are not of equal merit. It was not until the introduction of the beautiful variegata from China in 1833, that many new and really distinct vari- 408 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. eties were produced. It is from that period that the azalea dates its present popularity, and since then the English and Continental amateurs, as well as our American cultivators, have given more attention to it and produced many splendid and remarkable varieties. The first American seedlings of any note were raised by Mr. Peter Mackenzie of Philadelphia, and were described in our Magazine for 1841, (VII, p. 223.) Some of them sm'passed any of the European varieties, and a few of them at this day are among the showiest azaleas. Mr. R. Buist of the same city, Messrs. Feast of Baltimore, Col. Wilder and Messrs. Wales of Dorchester, and other amateurs, have pro- duced seedlings. Our own experiments with the azalea were first made in 1843. when we raised a large number of seed- lings, four or five of which are remarkably fine, though only two of them have been named and introduced into general cultivation. With few exceptions, however, the great num- ber of kinds in our cultivation are English or French varie- ties. We trust, however, that our American seedlings will, ere long, as some of them now do, surpass these productions of our transatlantic friends, and find a prominent place with them in every greenhouse. We shall classify the varieties according to their principal tints, as follows : — WHITES. 1. Alba, (the old white), 6. Mont Blanc, 2. Alba perfecta, 7. Mattapan, 3. Alba magna, 8. Narcissiflora, 4. Alba pleno, 9. Phoenicea alba, 5. Leucomegestre, 10. Snowflake. No. 1 is the old white, so long the only white cultivated in our collections ; it is an abundant bloomer, and still a de- sirable sort, but its foliage is not so large and fine as some of the newer ones, nor its flowers as large and showy. No. 2 has a very neat and compact habit, and fine large flowers. No. 3 is new, with somewhat of the habit of the variegata, and with very large flowers. No. 4 is slightly double, but SEPTEftlBER. 409 is not so profuse in blossom as the others. No. 5 is showy and fine, with a vigorous foliage. No. 6 is new, of a somewhat slender habit, but with fine flowers. No. 7 is an American seedling surpassing all the others, both in its vigorous habit and the size of the flowers which are nearly four inches in diameter ; the petals are of remarkably firm texture and of the purest white; it is not yet introduced into general cultivation. No. 8 is a variety received from China, with semi-double flowers which are abundantly pro- duced ; but its habit is not very vigorous nor its foliage very good. No. 9, though a good white, will not compare with several in this class ; its habit is rather straggling. No. 10 is a seedling of ours, superior to the old white, retains its foliage well and produces large flowers. WHITE GROUNDS, STRIPED OR TINTED. 11. Admiration, 16. Gledstanesii, 12. Bealii, 17. Madame Miellez, 13. Beauty de I'Europe, 18. Toilette de Flora, 14. Criterion, 19. Variegata. 15. Exquisita, 20. Yittata. The additions to this beautiful class have been numerous of late years. Since the introduction of the variegata, the attention of amateurs has been devoted to the growth of striped varieties, with a more vigorous habit than the pa- rent.— which is difficult to manage, — and their eff'orts have been very successful. No. 11 is one of the latest improve- ments and is really a most beautiful plant ; its habit is good and the flowers distinctly striped. No. 12 is a Chinese im- portation also very fine. No. 13 is a French variety, of great merit, the stripes being of a nearer approach to scarlet than the others ; it has, however, a rather delicate habit. No. 14 is new, somewhat in the style of variegata but a romider and better flower and the plant has a nicer habit. No. 15 is well known as truly deserving its name ; its habit is robust and if the flowers were not quite so starry it would be difficult to surpass it. No. 16 is an old favorite, hav- ing been frequently exhibited ; it is still one of the best, but VOL. XXIII. NO. IX. 52 410 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. somewhat difficult to manage. No. 17 is new, and we have only seen a few imperfect flowers on a freshly imported plant, but it appears to be a superb acquisition. No. 18 is nearly white, with slight streaks or pencillings of rose ; it is a very large flower and of a robust habit. No. 19 is the parent of the variegated sorts, and when well grown remark- ably beautiful. No. 20 is from China, where it was found by Mr. Fortune. Nearly all these varieties succeed best when grafted or inarched upon vigorous growing stocks like phoBnicea ; otherwise they are apt to die off suddenly. REDS. 21. Apollo, 26. Osbornii, 22. Decora, 27. Perryana, 23. Duke of Devonshire, 28. Symmetry, 24. Fulgens, 29. Triumphans superba, 25. Haynau, 30. Danielsiana. In catalogues several varieties of azaleas have been de- scribed as scarlet ; but this color in its purity has not yet been obtained. We therefore class them under the general head of Reds, by which we mean the various shades be- tween brick red and a reddish scarlet. Nos. 21 and 23 some- what resemble each other ; they have a dwarf compact habit, and large round finely shaped flowers of a very brilliant color. 22 is superb ; the color is very deep and rich and the habit of the plant all that could be desired. 24 is an old variety, of a tall slender habit and rather small flowers, but abundantly produced. 25 is new and exceedingly fine, with the habit of the lateritia. 26 and 27 are both remarkably beautiful ; the former having a finely rounded flower of a soft but brilliant hue. 28 is well named ; the flower in its outline forms nearly a perfect circle ; the habit is compact and the bloom abundant. 29 is very showy and brilliant, a most robust grower with glossy foliage. 30 is very pretty with a tall habit. CRIMSON AND PINK. 31. Carmine rose, 33. Copei, 32. Carnosa superba, 34. Coquette de Flandres, SEPTEMBER. 411 35. Elata, 40. Speciosa, 36. Excellens, 41, Speciosissima, 37. Formosa, 42, Triumphans, 38. Remingtoni, 43. Watsonia, 39. Rosea magna, 44. Wardii. Nos. 31, 33, 38 and 43 are American varieties raised by Mr, Mackenzie of Philadelphia, some years ago, and are very fine, particularly 33 and 38, the latter having very large and finely formed flowers ; 33 is a most abundant bloomer, but the petals are slightly wavy. 32 is fine, with a more compact habit and smaller foliage. 34, 36, and 44 are simi- lar, though varying in shade. 35 is very brilliant, with deep spots on the upper petals. 37 is new and superb. 39 is also new and excellent, with a pretty habit and well shaped flowers. 40 and 41 are similar in color but unlike in other qualities ; the former is a huge flower, not so round as some, but bold and showy, the habit is pendent ; 41 is the darkest of the two. 42 is of a light crimson shade, but distinctly spotted on the upper petals, with a rather stiff", erect habit. 43 has a tint of violet, which, added to its profuse flowering habit, renders it a desirable kind. PURPLES. 45. Amoena, 48. Mackenzieana, 46. Coronata, 49. Phoenicea, 47. Crispiflora, 50. Zenobia. The purples as a class have not the beauty attached to the others ; still they are very showy and heighten by contrast the brilliancy of the deeper colors. No. 45 is a curious spe- cimen of recent introduction from China ; it is double, that is there are two flowers to each blossom, one inside of the other ; the habit exceedingly dwarf, compact and beautiful, and the deep purple, almost violet flowers are produced in such profusion as to cover the plant. It is very hardy and easily grown. 46 inclines to the crimson shade, grows very vigorously, with handsome foliage and superb flowers. 47 is a Chinese species, remarkable for having the edges of the corols crimped or fringed ; the color is also deep and rich, 412 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. and the foliage glossy and fine ; it is one of the best. 48 is of a purple hue with a straggling habit and large flowers. 49 is too well known to need a description ; it is the old pur- ple azalea of all collections. 50 is a seedling of ours, with very large flowers, more of a lilac than a purple ; the petals are very thick and leathery ; it is a free grower and great bloomer. SALMON, ROSE, ETC. 51. Glory of Sunny Hill, 53. Splendens, 52. Prsestantissima, 54. Venusta. No. 51, though classed as a pink by some, approaches more to salmon, and might be called a salmon pink. It is very double, flowers freely, and is altogether the best and only good double sort we have seen. 52 is very beautiful. 53 has a tall loose habit, but produces an abundance of bloom. 54 is new and fine, with large flowers and a dark green neat foliage. This may appear a large list and puzzle the amateur for a selection. All are not equally beautiful, though all are worthy of cultivation where there is. room; but for small greenhouses a selection may be made which will comprise the excellence of each class. Such a selection might in- clude, among the Whites, Nos. 1, 2, 7 and 10; White Grounds, Nos. 14, 15, 16 and 18 ; Reds, Nos. 21, 22, 23, 26, 28 and 29 ; Crimson and Pink, Nos. 32, 35, 38, 39, 40 and 42; Purples, 45, 46, 47 and 50 ; Salmon, &c., the whole. It is somewhat singular that no azalea has yet been ob- tained with yellow flowers. The most successful hybridi- zers have entirely failed. We are not, however, without hope that it will yet be produced. It would add greatly to the interest of this superb flower. Our descriptions are made up from such varieties as we have seen in bloom. We have several additional kinds which have a great reputation, and a number of remarkable seedlings, and new varieties are yearly produced by the English, French and Belgian cultivators. These we shall describe when we have an opportunity to see them all in bloom. SEPTEMBER. 413 PLORICULTURAL NOTICES. New Lantanas. — The lantana is one of the most beauti- ful summer blooming plants, and is rapidly becoming as great a favorite as the verbena, which it somewhat resembles in the shape of its flowers. Greater variety of color is only wanting to render it one of the most desirable of bedding- plants. Yet it supplies what we do not possess in the ver- bena, an abundance of bright yellow and orange tints which add so much to the gaiety of every flower border. A few years ago we had only three or four species or varieties, but at the present time we have nearly twenty and of a great number of shades from white to crimson. Every year adds to our collections, and some of the newest are very distinct and beautiful. We have now in bloom four new varieties, two of which are much deeper colored than any we have yet had. We give the names and descriptions :— Wilhehn Shule. — Straw color with yellow eye, chang- ing to blush. Rosea elegans. — Blush with yellow eye, changing to pink. Ahbe Touvre. — Deep yellow, changing to dark orange red. Fellowii. — Orange, changing to crimson red. The lantanas are as readily raised from seed as the verbe- na, and flower abundantly the first season. With care in se- lecting seeds, many new and distinct varieties will undoubt- edly be produced. New Fuchsias. — Some new and quite distinct fuchsias have recently been introduced, which add much to the in- terest of this showy plant. Heretofore there has been too much similarity in the kinds, but the newer sorts show signs of improvement in this respect. The French amateurs, who look more for striking colors than mere form, have suc- ceeded in producing some remarkable varieties which we hope soon to see in bloom. Among the number are some with striped corollas. The English cultivators have also raised some very fine kinds. We name a few of those which have been added to our collections the present year : 414 THE MAGAZINE Or HORTICULTURE. Venus de Medicis, Volcano d'Aqua, Climax and Favorite ; Camelion, Bellidiflora fl. pleno, Esperance, and Surprise, the last four French varieties. New Achimenes. — The following are the names of some of the new Achimenes now coming into bloom : — A. ama- bilis, Aurora, elegans, magnifica, occellata, violacea, and picturata. 365. Soneki'lla e'legans Wight. Elegant Sonerilla. (Melastomacese.) Africa. a stove plant; growing one foot hisli; with pink flowers; appearing in winter; increased by cut- tings; grown in leaf mould and sandy loam. Bot. Mag., 1S57, pi. 4978. "A most lovely Melastomaceous plant, remarkable for the beauty of its leaves and flowers, and singular among that natural family for the ternary arrangement of the parts of the flower." The leaves are handsome, being purple on the under side, and the petioles are blood red. The flowers ap- pear in terminal clusters of a bright pink, and bloom in the winter. It is a native of the Neilgherries. and first flowered in the collection of Messrs. Veitch, in January last. (Bot. Mag., April.) 366. Xanthoso^ma sagittifo^lium Schott. Arrow-leaved Xanthosoma. (Aroideae.) West Indies. a stove plant; growing six feet high; with white flowers; appearing in winter; increased by division of the roots; grown in light rich soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4989. A fine hothouse plant with the habit of an Arum, but with very large leaves, often two or three feet long, and large showy white flowers somewhat resembling the Calla, but not so open. In large hothouses where there is plenty of space it is a noble plant. {Bot. Mag., June.) 367. Bego^nia heracleifo^lia var. nigricans Hook. Hog- weed Begonia, blackish-leaved variety. (Begoniaceae.) Mexico. a greenhouse plant; growing one foot high, with blush flowers; appearing in winter; increased by cuttings; grown in light, rich soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4983. " A very handsome variety, the leaves being deep green, blotched with a deeper and almost black tint at the margins of the lobes; the petioles, scapes and ramifications of the SEPTEMBER. 415 flower stalks are tinged with red, the bracts are pale green, the petals nearly white, and the broad wing of the fruit is rose colored." Like most of the family it flowers in winter, and its peculiarly formed leaves and pretty flowers render it a desirable species. {Bot. Mag., May.) 368. Bego^nia Gkiffi'thii Hook. Mr. Griffith's Bego- nia. (Begoniaceae.) Bootan. A stove plant, growing one foot high; with blush flowers; appearing in winter; increased by cuttings; grown in light rich soli. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4984. A very beautiful Begonia, received under the name of B. picta, but which proves to be the Grifiithii. The leaves are remarkably showy, being large in proportion to the size of the plant, dark green, beautifully variegated, with a broad pale green line all around near the edge, and blood colored in the centre and upon the margin ; the plant is leafless, and the flower stems are stout, erect, and ornamented by a clus- ter of four to six very large blush colored flowers. It is one of the finest species yet introduced. {Bot. Mag., May.) 369. ECHEVE^RIA CANALICULA^TA Hook. ChaNNELED-LEAVED EcHEVERiA. (Crassulaceae.) Mexico. A greenhouse plant; growing two feet high; with red (lowers; appearing in spring; increased by cuttings; grown in light sandy loam and leaf mould. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4986. The Echeverias are pretty plants similar to the Crassulas, with thick fleshy glaucous leaves, and spikes of brilliant col- ored flowers. The present species is entirely new. It is from the mountains of Mexico, and flowered in the Royal Gardens at Kew. The flower stem is one and a half to two feet long, bearing a raceme of red flowers, orange colored on the inside, erect, and nearly an inch long. It is a showy plant. {Bot. Mag., June.) 370. Thunbe'rgia laurifo^lia Lindl. Laurel-leaved Thunbergia. (Acanthaceae.) Malayan Peninsula. A stove climber; growing six feet high; with pale blue flowers; appearing in spring; increased by cuttings; grown in light rich soil. Bot Mag., 1857, pi. 4985. A new and very striking species of the well known Thunbergia, with flowers nearly four inches in diameter, of a delicate pale blue, with a conspicuous yellowish eye. It is 416 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. a rapid-growing climbing plant and the flowers appear in terminal clusters and at the axils of the leaves. It was raised from seeds received from the Malayan peninsula by Mr. Ingram of the Frogmore gardens. It flourishes in the stovC; trained up to the rafters or up the back wall, but it would undoubtedly, in our climate, grow freely turned out into the open ground in summer in the same way as the Cobsea. It flowers at various seasons of the year. It prom- ises to be a most decided acquisition to our climbing plants. {Bot. Mag., May.) 371. Garde^nia ciTRiODO^RA Hook. Orange Smelling Gardenia. (Rubiaceae.) Natal. A greenhouse plant; growing two feet high; with white flowers; appearing in spring; increased by cuttings; grown in loam, leaf mould and sand. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4987. A deliciously fragrant species of the beautiful Cape jasa- mine, producing an abundance of white flowers about the size of an. orange blossom, and quite as sweet scented, from whence its name. The plant forms a spreading evergreen shrub, about two feet high, with opposite, sub-coriaceous, eliptical-lanceolate, acute leaves, and copious axillary clus- ters of white flowers. It is an entirely new species and will be a great addition to our list of fragrant flowering plants. {Bot. Mag., June.) 372. Bego^niaWageneria^na /iT/o^^^scA. Wagener's Bego- nia. (Begoniaceas.) Venezuela. A greenhouse plant; growing one foot high; with white flowers; appearing in spring; increased by cutiings: grown in peat and leaf mould. Bot. Mag , 1857, pi. 4988. Another new Begonia, similar to some of the older sorts, but "remarkable for the white or cream white cymes of two petaled (mostly) male flowers, and the pale green cymes of five petaled (mostly) female flowers, with their long twisted lobes or branches of the style." It has a straggling habit, but is a very free flowerer during the spring months. Dr. Klotzsch has made it a species of a new genus which he calls Moschkowitzia, but Dr. Hooker thinks it most accordant to nature to preserve the old genera Begonia intact, and consid- ers the so-called generic distinctions merely as sectional char- SEPTEMBER. 417 acters. It was sent from the Berlin garden to Kew. {Bot. Mag., June.) 373. Befa^ria MatheHvsii Feilding and Gardner. Mr. Mathews' Befaria. (Ericacea?.) Peru. A greenhouse shnib; growing four feet high; with yellowish flowers; appearing in spring; in- creased by layers; grown in peaty soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4981. A pretty shrub with the habit of the Andromedas, bearing clusters of sulphur yellow flowers. The leaves are small, dark green above and glaucous beneath ; they are copiously produced. The plant has a good habit, with reddish col- ored branches. It is a native of the mountains of Peru where it was found at a high elevation, and was raised from seeds sent home by Mr. Lobb, in the collection of Messrs. Veitch. It is a neat ericaceous shrub. [Bot, Mag.., May.) 374. Cypripe^dium hersuti'ssimum Lindl. Villous Lady's Slipper. (Orchideae.) Java. A stove plant; growing one foot high; with green and brown flowers; appearing in spring; in- creased by division of the roots; grown in loose peaty soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4990. " An extremely handsome species" of the Cypripedium, allied to insigne, villosum, &c., but distinct from all. It has very large flowers of various tints of purple and green, brighter and handsomer than any of the species. Its growth and treatment are the same as that of C. insigne, and it blooms in spring. {Bot. Mag.., June.) OUR ORNAMENTAL TREES. by the editor. 14. The Sassafras Tree. (Laurus Sassafras, L.) The Sassafras, though one of the most common of our indigenous trees, seems to have attracted very little attention as an ornamental object. It is rare to find a good specimen out of its native woods. Even in Great Britain, where it was early introduced, there are but few fine trees, and Lou- don's whole account of it, in his Arboretum, is made up from VOL. XXIII. NO. IX. 53 418 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Michaux's, Bigelow's and Nuttall's works. It is, however, one of our most beautiful indigenous trees, equally attractive from the glaucous hue of its various shaped leaves in spring, or the gay tints of its foliage in autumn. To these qualities may be added its highly fragrant or camphorated leaves and bark, and its abundance of bright red capsules which con- tain the seeds. The Sassafras, (fig. 18,) is one of the most widely distribu- ted of our American forest trees. From the vicinity of Ports- mouth, N. H., in the north, it extends to Lower Louisiana in the south ; and from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to 18. THE SASSAFKAS TREE. the remotest wilds of Upper Louisiana beyond the Missouri in the west, embracing an extent in each direction of more than 1800 miles. It is so abundant as to be ranked among the most common trees. It grows on every variety of land, both dry and gravelly as well as moist and fertile, excepting the pine barrens of the Southern States. It does not, how- ever, in all these places attain its greatest perfection ; this is confined to the fertile soils, on which it may chance to grow, such as form the declivities which skirt the swamps and sustain the luxuriant forests of Kentucky and Tennessee. SEPTEMBER. 419 Here it reaches the height of 50 or 60 feet with a well pro- portioned and handsome head. Towards the north it be- comes a smaller tree, rising only to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and frequently appearing but a large shrub, though Mr. Emerson speaks of measuring some specimens 40 feet high and 2 feet in diameter ; but they are rather rare. The Sassafras was introduced to Europe as long ago as 1633, and appears to have been one of the firsj; trees which attracted the attention of Europeans, probably owing to the medicinal character of its bark and roots. For more than 200 years it has retained a place among the best European pharmacopaeas, and at the present time the oil which is dis- tilled from it forms a considerable article of commerce. His- torically it possesses much interest, as it has been said to have led to the discovery of America : it was its strong fra- grance, smelt by Columbus, that encouraged him to perse- vere when his men mutinied, and enabled him to convince them that land was near at hand. The Sassafras is a rather slow growing tree. Its branches grow at nearly right angles from the stem, but curve upwards at the ends. The bark is of a yellowish green color. The leaves are remarkable for their variety of shape on the same tree, and no two will be found alike. They are four or five inches in length, alternate, sometimes entire, sometimes two or three lobed and rounded at the end. When young they are downy and of a tender texture, but with age they assume a smoother and glossy hue. The tree is dioeceous, and the fruit is of an oval shape, bright red, with dark blue seeds. In the autumn the foliage passes through the various shades of delicate buff, yellow or orange, and for a short time enliven our autumnal landscape with their gay and beautiful tints. The Sassafras is rather easily cultivated from the suckers which spring up around the roots, an objection which has been made against it as an ornamental tree. The trouble, how- ever, of keeping them down is nothing compared with the beauty of the tree. In many places it may be planted where it will assume the character of a large shrub. The suckers 420 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. should be carefully detached from the roots, and planted out in nursery rows, where in a year or two they will make pretty specimens. It may be also" propagated from seeds, but this is a slow process, as the seeds should lie in a heap to rot one year before being planted, and frequently they do not come up till the third year. Any good light rich soil will suit it admirably, and if in a somewhat sheltered situation it will grow all the more rapidly and soon attain a good size. This beautiful tree has, in common with others, been neglected. Let it no longer be overlooked for exotics which can hold no comparison with it as an ornamental object. The delicate hue of its glaucous foliage in spring, its varied and deep lobed leaves, and the rich coloring of their autum- nal tints, entitle it to a prominent place in every pleasure ground or landscape scene. §tritxd 'B^WttB. Manetti Rose Stock. — I entirely agree with most of Mr. Rivers' re- marks on the excellence and peculiarities of this stock. But I as entirely disagree with him when he would confine what he designates the " Folke- stone system of yearly removal" of roses to such as are planted on light sandy soils. And how the father of root pruning can consistently advocate or even sanction any deviation from a principle so beneficial in its results, and so universal in its application, I am at a loss to understand. He may contend that replanting is carrying root pruning to extremes. But I shall show presently that this is by far the most efficient, and (where plants stand as close as roses generally do) most economical method of performing that operation. That Mr. Rivers has Pillar roses on this stock that have been left alone for years, and still of the most vigorous growth, I can verify ; but this fact does not in the least affect the question, as these may be consid- ered purely natural objects, and as such best left to themselves. To them the knife is seldom applied, and the roots and branches maintain their nat- ural proportions. But for dwarf roses to furnish beds or clumps, where the plants are objects of the highest artificial culture, the knife is most unspar- ingly applied, all equilibrium between the roots and branches entirely de- stroyed, and the necessity of its restoration renders root pruning indispen- sable. I think it will be granted that the treatment demanded in these cajses must be widely different and the results of the different systems will SEPTEMBER. 421 be best understood by examining examples of each in autumn. In the bed or group of unremoved or stationary roses, if at all in decent health, will be found plants producing strong, rampant, unsightly, ill-ripened shoots that have, (along with an admixture of suckers), ever since the first bloom in June, disfigured the groups, robbing the shoots destined to produce next season's bloom, and reducing them to so much worthless spray. Now Mr. Rivers and the advocates of the stationary system may admire the shoots described as so many specimens of fine luxuriant growth — to me they can never be aught save so many unmistakable proofs of neglected culture. Compare this with a group that has been replanted annually, and the con- trast is remarkable ; here we find no such unprofitable expenditure of the energies of the plant as the production of the basket rods described; on the contrary, all has tended to perfect a mass of clean, healthy, compact, well- ripened shoots — a state of things indispensable to produce a profusion of well-formed blossoms on any class of plants whatever. And after all — all this is attained by less trouble and expense than is generally bestowed on the stationary system. In beds or clumps (and to these my culture has been principally directed) what can be more expeditious or simple than to begin at an end or corner, turn over the soil two or three feet, carefully remove the roses with the roots as entire as possible, manure the thoroughly broken up soil, remove all appearance of suckers or buds from the stock, (and after the second year on the Manetti, as Mr. Rivers has observed, these will be few indeed); give the roots and branches what pruning may be required, plant deep, make what alteration in the disposition of your plants the habit or color may suggest, and an operation upon which so much depends is complete. I need hardly add that the operator who is anxious to succeed will complete the operation as rapidly as doing it thoroughly will permit, and those who damage the plants by exposure, through unnecessary delay, have no right to expect, nor do they deserve, success. — ( Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 486.) What is the Handsomest Flowering Hardy Shrub of July, after the rose ? Some may say the fuchsia, but it is scarcely an ornament of July ; others may point to the Scarlet geranium, but it is tender ; a third will possibly contend for the Berberis aquifolium ; and we should acquiesce in the decision if flowers constituted the beauty of that glorious evergreen ; but it is a fruit, and not a flower of July. For ourselves we contend, with- out the least hesitation, for Spiraea callosa. "Spiraea callosa! what may that be?" cries some eager reader. "I never heard of such a plant. I know Spiraeas, but they are not so very re- markable ; Spiraea ariaefolia is now in flower, and it is pretty enough, but not at all striking ; Spiraea Lindleyana is no doubt a finer thing, but it is tender and rather coarse, and white-flowered also ; but what can Spiraea callosa be ? I never saw it advertised ; I don't see it in the nursery cata- logues ; I have not seen it in my late visits to the great nursery gardens near town. What can it be to be placed on such a pinnacle of fame ?" 422 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. That all this is true we have no doubt ; for Spircea callosa is not a nov- elty, nor an exhibition plant; nor a florist's flower. Its leaves are not speckled and spotted, nor its flowers as red as a pseony's, or as big as a dahlia's. But it is a gem for all that, when care is taken to cultivate it well. Imagine a shrub about four feet high, and as much in diameter, most gracefully branching from the ground. Let its slender shoots be dull red, and its simple leaves a quiet green, such as the most fastidious artist would select for a contrast with brighter colors. Then let every branch burst out into spreading twigs loaded with tiny flowers arranged like those of a Lau- rustinus, but more loosely, the youngest dull red and as large as a pin, others more grown, with a vivid crimson centre, when the gay petals are preparing to burst their dingy calyx, and looking like rubies in a rusty set- ting. Such is the infancy of Spirsea callosa. More mature, the crimson petals begin to spread and reveal their still more rosy centres ; and at last the ring of crimson stamens gradually unfolds and forms a glowing halo round the centre. Should the reader be able to receive all these things upon his mind's eye, he will then begin to know what Spirtea callosa is like. Though each of these tiny flowers does not occupy the fifth part of an inch, yet their number most amply compensates for their smallness. Each truss is full two inches across, and every branchlet bears about three such trusses, of which that in the middle is full blown, while the side ones are still closed up ; and at least a month's supply of flowers of all ages is pro- vided at the time when the bush first breaks into blossom. Does not a plant like this deserve a niche in the temple of Flora Juliana? Spirtea callosa is a native of Japan, whence it is said to have been intro- duced by Mr. Fortune, through Messrs. Standish & Noble. Its derives its name from the presence of a small red callosity seated on the end of each of the numerous notches that border its leaves. — [Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 531.) The New Roses. — Foremost among these is the glorious General Jac- queminot (H. P.), which, although perhaps wanting a little in doubleness, is nevertheless brilliant in the extreme, and retains its color under bright sunlight even better than G6ant des Batailles itself. A fact worth knowing in connection with this variety is that it comes much more double on the Manetti stock than on the Briar. Flowers of it in a small clump in front of Mr. Wood's house, on the Manetti, were this year as large and full as could possibly be desired. Whether or not however this will happen a sec- ond season remains to be seen. The Manetti, it may be mentioned, throws unusual vigor into the charming Tea rose Gloire de Dijon. Of two plants of similar age and size, turned out against a wall here on the same day, the plant worked on the Manetti is now three times as large as that on its own roots ; it likewise produces blooms of immense size with much more salmon color in tliem than is commonly found in flowers of this variety. The Ma- netti stock for some kinds of roses is therefore a favorite here. SEPTEMBER. 423 Perhaps one of the most brilliant colored and double of all roses is Lord Rajrlan, a variety fast getting into favor. It is said to have been raised from seed saved from Geant des Batailles. Its blooms are very large and their color quite dazzling. In vigor it for surpasses its parent. This vari- ety cannot fail long to be a favorite, as it is in all respects a first class rose. Of varieties better known, but about which too much can hardly be said, may be mentioned Souvenir de Leveson Gower, crimson, very double, and possessing a beautiful rose scent; Jules Margottin, a sort like Baronne Pre- vost, but brighter in color, very double, and one of the most profuse bloom- ing of roses ; Auguste Mie, light pink ; Madame de Cambac^res ; Madame Domage, a sort like Jules Margottin, but lighter, finely scented but some- what inconstant; Madame Andry, large and globular; Louise Odier, a very hardy, good kind; Prince Leon, double and beautiful in shape; Triomphe de Paris, purplish crimson. Of very dark roses, none beats Arthur de San- salles, and for general effect we should not omit Sir Joseph Paxton and the Old Bourbon Queen, both of which when planted in masses are very strik- ing. Of delicate pink Hybrid Perpetuals, none surpass Mrs. Rivers and Madame Vidot, both of which are free flowering and truly beautiful. Among really new roses the best are Adelaide Fontaine, a sort in the way of Louise Peronny, but larger and quite as good in form ; Belle Ange- vine, striped pale flesh, apparently nn improvement on Panach6 d'Orleans; Cardinal Patrizzi, rich deep velvety crimson, very dark ; Louise Magnan, a good yellow, tinged white, and Prince Imperial, a kind with dark rose- shaded flowers of great size. These are all Hybrid Perpetuals. Among Noisettes, the best are Madame Massot, pale flesh and beautifully cupped ; Madame Schulz, shaded yellow, and Triomphe de Rennes, yellow, very double and good. General Simpson (H. P.) is a good rose, darker in color than Louise Odier, and the same may be said of General Pelissier, a variety in the way of William Jesse, but larger and with more lilac in it. Duchess of Nor- folk, which was described in a former notice of this place, is found to make a useful variety for pot culture. — [Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 519.) How TO KEEP Pears from Wasps. — At the end of October and be- ginning of November, wasps and bees, no longer having plums and grapes to devour, attacked my late pears. Day after day I found a Fondante de Noel, or a Beurre Diel, or a Bonchr^tien de Rans, or a Doyenne d'Hiver bored into. Rain got into the holes, and, not being able to escape, soon made the fruit rot, so that I expected to lose all my pears. But one morn- ing it occurred to me to put a pin:h of plaster of Paris into the holes. The plaster absorbed the moisture, and soon formed a hard crust which held fast to the flesh and stopped all further access of water or air, so that not a sin- gle fruit decayed. — [Revue Horticole.) The Ivy-leaved Snapdragon. — The walls and woodwork of the old locks, on the Thames, are beautifully decorated with groups of graceful 424 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. plants that would altogether form choice studies for the pre-Raphaelite painter. Perhaps the most elegant of these is the Ivy-leaved Snapdragon, (Linaria cymbalaria), a pendent plant, with glossy, deep green, ivy-like leaves, and quaintly formed flowers of violet color, with yellow throat. It appears this is not strictly an indigenous plant; but that it was originally introduced from Italy into our gardens, from which it has escaped and natu- ralized itself through the country, having now become as thoroughly English as any family that came in at the Conquest. From Oxford to Teddington we are continually meeting with the flowery festoons of this pretty plant, wherever old stonework is found in proximity to the water ; we may suppose seeds of it have in old times escaped from some Oxford garden washed by the Thames, and, having been carried downwards by the stream, were de- posited in convenient resting-places along the river's course. This will account for the abundance of the plant on the line of the Thames, while in most other districts it is hardly ever met with. — (Mrs. S. C. Hall in the Art Journal, 1857.) §m^ of % Pont^. The Government Greenhouses. — The city of Washington and its environs are everywhere exhibiting the munificence of Government in the erection of noble structures and magnificent achievements of engineering skill, and in the improvement and embellishment of the public grounds ; but, in surveying the whole, the eye rests with a spirit of inquiry upon one of these objects of very dubious aspect and questionable import. The question at once arises, What are the Government greenhouses for ? For what purpose is that huge pen so conspicuously set oflTat the foot of Capitol Hill, with a twenty feet border, filled with hollyhocks, portulaccas, &c. ? For what purpose does the Government support an establishment for the propagation of " florists' flowers," and what becomes of all the plants and flowers propagated there from year to year ? Is this a nursery for display and for the gratification of visiters ? If so, it is wholly unworthy the Gov- ernment of the United States and the nation. There are in the country hundreds of private collections vastly its superior. Is it to aid in the pro- motion of horticulture ? If this be its purpose, it is a signal failure ; and it is worthy of note that at the recent splendid exhibition of the Washington Horticultural Society the Government greenhouses were not represented by a single contribution. The plants of this establishment are kept in fine condition by the intelligent and skilful gardener, Mr. Smith, and some of the choice specimens might have been displayed to advantage on the tables of the society. It was commendable in the Government to provide a green and hot house for the reception and propagation of the plants sent home by the Exploring Expedition, but that necessity has now ceased, and at this SEPTEMBER. 426 moment there are more rare and choice exotics by thousands in private collections than can be found in tiie Government greenhouses and grounds. If there is or should be hereafter occasion for the propagation and distribu- tion of rare exotics, there seems to be no reason why the Government should cultivate florists' flowers, and be at the expense of houses for camellias, roses, geraniums, chrysanthemums, &;c. If, indeed, it is intended that the Government should go into this business, it is to be hoped that it will be done on a magnificent scale, and in such manner as to afford gratification and instruction to amateurs, florists, and gardeners visiting Washington, and that there will be employed a sufficient number of bouquet-makers to supply all the visiters, at least the strangers, with a few flowers in recogni- tion of the vested rights which every citizen would have in the great Na- tional Floral Museum. — Chas. G. Page, in the JVat. Intelligencer. Prof. Page asks some very pertinent questions, and we should like to see them answered. On our part, we think the whole thing is a waste of the public money, without either credit to the Government or the country. A great deal has been said about the establishment of experimental gar- dens by our Horticultural Societies ; but with the example of the London Horticultural Society before them it is quite doubtful if any of them will hazard a trial. The Government, however, here has an opportunity to aid in this work and do something beneficial, just in the same way the London Society is now doing, viz., propagating and distributing, by lot, all the new and rare plants it can procure. Let all the florists' flowers be given away, — not because they are not appreciated and are not worthy of culture, — but because their room is wanted for more valuable purposes. Then let a collector be sent to California, to Oregon, to Mexico, or South America, to gather new plants, seeds, roots, &c., sending them to the garden at Wash- ington, where they should be reared and multiplied as rapidly as possible, and then distributed gratuitously among the prominent nurserymen in the United States for further dissemination and sale. In this way all the mag- nificent trees, the splendid plants and beautiful flowers, with which our continent abounds, will not have to be sent to Europe to be named and then imported here for sale. By such a course Government would receive the thanks of every lover of plants throughout the country. — Ed, The Osage Orange for Hedges. — Gol. Johnson, Secretary of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, thus speaks of the Osage Orange hedges in the Mount Auburn Cemetery at Cincinnati, Ohio : — The finest Osage Or- ange hedges we have seen surround these grounds ; planted and trained under the direction of Mr. Ernst, for about six years, they are now most attractive and entirely successful. Where time and attention can be given to this hedge it can be made most attractive and useful — but we much doubt whether it can be generally introduced among farmers, who generally have so little time to devote to the careful training and rearing of the hedge — without which it will prove of little protection ; and at the best, it must be protected with an enclosure around it, for several years, before it can be of any avail. — Journal of JV*. Y. Slate Ag. Soc. TOL. XXIII. NO. IX. 54 426 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. The Fall Exhibitions. — The exhibitions of various Horticultural So- cieties and State Associations take place during this and the next month. We annex a list of some of those which are likely to afford a general inter- est to cultivators in all parts of the country : — The Massachusetts Horticultural will hold its 29th annual exhibition on the 22, 23, 24 and 25 of September, at the Music Hall in Boston. The JVew York Horticultural will hold its fall exhibition in New York, at Niblo's Saloon, on the 29 and 30 of September, and Oct. 1. The Brooklyn Horticultural will hold its annual show in Brooklyn, N. Y. on the 16 and 17 of September. The American Institute will open its 29th annual fair at the Crystal Pal- ace, New York, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and continue for a month or longer. The Albany County Agricultural will hold its fifth annual fair at the Washington Parade Ground, in Albany, on the 15, 16 and 17 of September. The Illinois State Agricultural will hold its fifth annual fair at Peoria, on the 21, 22, 23 and 24 of September. The Michigan State Agricultural will hold its ninth annual fair at Detroit, on the 29 and 30 of September, and 1 and 2 of October. The JVew York State Agricultural will hold its 17th annual fair at Buffalo, on the 6, 7, 8 and 9 of October next. The Ohio State Board of Agriculture will hold its eighth annual fair at Cincinnati, on the 15, 16 and 17 of September. The Tompkins County Agricultural and Horticultural will hold its 13th fair at Ithaca, N. Y., on the 23, 24 and 25 of September. The Massachusetts State Agricultural will hold its fair in Boston, on the 21, 22, 23 and 24 of October next. The Fridt Growers of Western JVetv York will hold an exhibition at Roch- ester, N. Y., on the 18 and 19 of September. The. Ohio Pomological will hold its eighth annual session at Cincinnati, on the 14th of September, and continue three or four days. The New Rose Isabella Gray. — In your last, the remark is made that I " had not mentioned Isabella Gray among American seedlings." In one of my recent communications (p. 130) I speak of this rose as " being preferred here in Washington to the celebrated Augusta Rose." Last year it bloomed finely in our gardens, and is a decided acquisition, and as it was so widely distributed here at the time of my writing, I mentioned it rather incidentally. — Yours, Chas. G. Page. itssac^usetts poiliniltunil Sacittg. Saturday, August 1, 1857. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day — the President in the chair. A committee of five was appointed to nominate a list of officers for the SEPTEMBER. 427 ensuing year, consisting of Messrs. Stickney, F. Burr, Jr., W. R. Austin, B. Harrington, and F. Winship. Adjourned two weeks to Aug. 15. Exhibited. Flowers: From E. S. Rand, Jr., gloxinias, achimenes, roses, verbenas, &c. Cut flowers in variety from F. Winship, P. Barnes, C. Copeland, J. Nugent, Mrs. Richardson, J. McTear, Miss Russell, A. C. Kenrick, S, Sweetser, J. Murray, T. G. Whytal, A. Bowditch & Son, J. W. Foster and others. GRATUITIES AWARDED. To J. Murray, C. Copeland, F. Winship, and J. Breck & Son, for cut flowers, ,$2 each. To Mrs. Richardson, Miss Russell, A. C. Kenrick, J. Nugent, J. Mc- Tear, T. G. Whytal, and A. Bowditch & Son, $1 each. Fruit : From Geo. Wilson, Cherry currants, extra fine ; also, Victoria and White Dutch. From J. W. Foster, Early Harvest apples, Dorchester blackberries, and Victoria and Red Dutch currants, extra. Dorchester blackberries from L. Jennings, G. Merriam, J. Nugent, and J. McTeaf. From L. Kinsley, grapes. From O. Bennet, fine peaches. From H. Van- dine, Doyenne d'Ete pears. From F. Dana, currants. From C. S. Holbrook, peaches. From J. F. Allen, Bowker, Bishop and other grapes, and Brown Turkey figs. Aug. 8th. — Exhibited. Flowers: From Hovey & Co., Lantana Abbe Touvre, rosea elegans, Wilhelm Shule and Felloww, dahlias and phloxes. From J. Breck &, Son, phloxes, gladiolus, &c. Cut flowers in variety were also sent by J, Murray, Jona, French, Barnes and Washburn, G. G. Hub- bard, J. Nugent, E. Stone, C, Copeland, E, S. Rand, Jr., F. Winship, J. W. Foster, A. Bowditch & Son, and others. premiums awarded. BjiLSAMS, — For the second best, to J. Breck and Son, $3. For the third best, to J. Nugent, $2. Fruit: From B. Harrington, Williams apples. From Messrs. Burr, Red Astrachan apples, fine. From J, W. Foster, currants, Dorchester blackberries, and Early Harvest apples. From G. Merriam, Dorchester blackberries, fine. From J. Nugent, Dorchester blackberries, extra. From C. S. Holbrook, peaches, very large- and fine. From H. Vandine, three var. plums, pears, and Dorchester blackberries. From F. Dana, Red As- trachan apples. From J, B, Moore, Dorchester blackberries, Aug. \5th. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day — the President in the chair. Ad. Gage, West Cambridge ; E. A. Ward, Cambridge ; R. S. Martin, Boston; G. R. Sampson and I. Sargent, Brookline, were admitted members. Adjourned one week to Aug. 22, Exhibited. — Flowers : From the Botanic Garden, Dioscorea pandurata, Crinum americanum, and other rare shrubs and plants. From J. Breck & Co., fine phloxes and a great display of annuals. From Hovey & Co., 40 var. of phloxes, including the following: M. Rical, Laurent de St, Cyr, Jeane Rouillard, Mad. Corbay, Mad, Milleret, Madame Basseville, Mad, de 428 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Vatry, Carmarina, rubra superba, M. Hardy, Gem, Florence, &c., and sev- eral seedlings. Annuals and other flowers were contributed by J. Nugent, C. Copeland, J. Murray, Barnes & Washburn, E. S. Rand, Jr., T. G. Whytal, F. Winship, E. A. Story, J. W. Foster, Miss Russell, B. Harring- ton, and others. AWARD OF PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES. Phloxes. — For the best, to J. Breck & Son, $5. For the next best, to Hovey & Co., $i. For the third best, to J. Nugent, #3. Petunias. — For the best collection, to Barnes and Washburn, $4. For the second best, to J. Breck & Son, $3. For the third best, to F. Winship, $2. Annuals. — For the best display, to Barnes & Washburn, $6. For the second best, to J. Breck & Son, $4. For the third best, to J. Nugent, $3. Gratuities. — To F. Winship, for annuals, $2. To C. Copeland, for display, $3. To J. Murray, for annuals, $2. To the Botanic Gar- den, for native plants, $2. Fruit : From Messrs. Burr, Red Astrachan apples. From J. W. Fos- ter, Early Bough, Sops of Wine, and Early Harvest apples, and Dorchester blackberries. From G. B. Cutter, Williams apples and Dorchester black- berries. From B. Harrington, Williams apples. From G. Merriam, Dor- chester and Lawton blackberries. From E. S. Rand, Jr., peaches. From W. W. Wheildon, Sops of Wine and Early Bough apples. From Hovey & Co., Supreme de Quimper pears. From F. Marsh, Sops of Wine and a seedling sweet apple. From J. F. Allen, a fine bunch of Bishop grapes, weighing 2 1-2 pounds. From Dr. E. Wight, Bloodgood pears. From S. W. Fowle, Myrobalan plums. From J. B. Moore, Capt. Austin, and J. Nugent, Dorchester blackberries. From H. Vandine, plums, pears and apples. ^lug. 22d. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day — the President in the chair. Letters were received from the President, J. S. Cabot, and Vice Presi- dents French, Newhall and Richards, declining to be candidates for office another year. The committee appointed for that purpose placed upon the table a printed list of the officers nominated by them for the ensuing year. Adjourned two weeks to Aug. 29th. Exhibited. — Flowers: From J. Breck & Co., one hundred varieties of phloxes, including some new and fine sorts. From Hovey & Co., twelve varieties of new phloxes, among which were La Candeur, fine white. Mad. Adelbert de Beaumont, Mad. Gerandeau, Mad. Aguillon, &c., and two rare seedlings, very beautiful. From E. S. Rand, Jr., fine seedling gloxinias, a seedling phlox called Mrs. Partington, and other flowers. Cut flowers in variety from C. Copeland, J. Murray, W. H. Spooner, Jr., Barnes & Washburn, C. Newhall, J. Nugent, F. Winship, C. J. Hendee, E. A. Story, B. Harrington, and others. SEPTEMBER. 429 GRATUITIES AWAKDED. To J. Breck Si Son, for fine phloxes, $S. To C. Copeland, J. Nugent, Barnes & Washburn, F. Winship, and J. Murray, for displays, $\ each. Fruit: From Hovey & Co., Summer St. Germain, Passans du Portugal, Dearborn's Seedling, Winship's Seedling, Bloodgood, Bell, Gustin's Sum- mer, Espadonne, and Supreme de Quimper pears — the latter fine ; also, Bough apples. From G. Merriam, Dorchester and Lawton blackberries ; these two kinds were tested in full committee, and there seemed but one opinion as to quality — and that was entirely in favor of the Dorchester. The committee design to call it hereafter by this name, as it originated in that town. From E. Brown, Bloodgood and Jargonelle pears. From E. S. Rand, Jr., peaches. From C. A. Easterbrook, Williams apples. From F. Dana, seed- ling pears No. 2. From W. W. Wheildon, Summer Pearmain and River apples. From B. Harrington, Sops of Wine apples. From J. Nugent, Dorchester blackberries, extra fine. From S. W. Fowle, plums, supposed to be a seedling of the Chickasaw — a great bearer and handsome but poor quality. From C. Newhall, grapes. From H. Vandine, fine plums and Bloodgood pears. Aug. 29th.- Exhibited. Flowers: From J. Breck.& Co., A. Bowditch &, Son, Barnes & Washburn, Hovey & Co., Jona. French, J. Nugent, and T. G. Whytal, verbenas for premium. From E. S. Rand, Jr., gloxinias and cut flowers in variety. From Hovey &. Co., upwards of one hundred varieties of phloxes, among them several new ones, not before exhibited ; also dahlias, among which were La Defi, Jules Biarne, Polichinello, Jaguarita and other new ones ; and nine seedling Japan lilies. Flowers were also exhibited by F. Win- ship, J. Nugent, J. Murray, Breck & Son, W. H. Spooner, Jr., C. Copeland, and others. Seedling phloxes by S. Walker, some of them fine. AWARD OF PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES. Verbenas. — For the best display, to Bowditch & Son, $4. For the second best, to J. Breck & Son, $2. For the third best, to Barnes & Washburn, $2. For the best new seedling, to E. S. Rand, Jr., for a white, the Society's silver medal. Gratuities. — To T. G. Whytal, for blue seedling, $1. To Jona. French, for seedlings, $2. To Hovey & Co., for Japan lilies, $2. To Hovey &. Co., Barnes & Washburn, and T. G. Whytal, $1 each for verbenas. Fruit : From G. B. Cutter, G. Hyde, J. A. Eastabrook, B. Harrington, and Mrs. L. Spalding, Williams apples, very fine. From C. S. Holbrook, very fine Syrian and other grapes. From H. Vandine, Ives' Seedling and other plums ; also, Beurr6 Giffard, Muskingum, Rostiezer, and Sweet Jar- gonelle pears. From E. Brown, fine Bloodgood pears. From A. D. Web- ber, Rostiezer pears. 430 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. From Hovey & Co., Summer Francreal, Boston, Summer St. Germain, Winship's Seedling, Gustin's Summer, Dearborn's Seedling, and Julienne pears. Peaches from Dr. Durfee. ®Htuarg» Death of the Hon. Lewis Eaton. — We have been pained to learn, just on the eve of issuing this number, of the death of the Hon. Mr. Eaton, of Buffalo, N. Y., on the 22d of August, in his 69th year. Mr. Eaton had for a long time been a zealous lover of Pomology, and from the deep inter- est which he felt in its behalf was instrumental in extending the taste for fine fruits in and around Buffalo. He had a large and fine collection of fruits. Through the labors of his son, Mr. J. B. Eaton, our correspondent and friend, the public have from time to time been favored with the results of his examination of his father's trees, which has aided in making better known many fine fruits. A writer in the Buffalo Cottrier says : — " It has been the good fortune of few men to be more extensively known, or more generally respected, than the subject of this sketch. For years he occupied a prominent position in the public eye, and enjoyed a large share of the public confidence. In early life he was a sagacious, active, and influential politician, and commanded in his native county a large and enviable politi- cal power. For the last few years he has withdrawn, in a great measure, from active politics, and devoted his time to his own private business. In his friendships he was ardent and sincere, and never failed in manifesting the fidelity of that friendship, when occasion presented itself, to render a friend " some service." He was a good judge of men, and was distinguished for his success in winning them to his views, when called upon to exert that influence either in his own behalf, or for those Avho enjoyed his friendship. Whatever enterprise engaged his attention, he gave to it his untiring ener- gies ; and when industry and perseverance could secure success, he rarely failed in the accomplishment of the purpose he aimed at. He was a kind and devoted husband, and an indulgent and affectionate father. His loss to his family will be deeply felt — indeed, it is irreparable." iortitultnral #pcratioiis FOR SKPTEMBER. fruit department. The summer just passed has been one of the coolest we have experienced for some years. On no day has the thermometer exceeded 93°, and only SEPTEMBER. 431 on five or six days has it reached as high as 90°. There has been an unusual number of cloudy, showery, and rainy days, and more than the average of rain. Nothing has suffered from drought this year, but, on the contrary, the quantity of moist weather has over-saturated low and damp localities not well drained. Fruits generally look well, though they are considerally later than usual. Grapes have mildewed in many places, and from present appearances such late kinds as the Isabella and Catawba will scarcely ripen, unless a warm and dry September succeeds. Grape Vines, in houses intended for very early crops, should now be set to work. Close up the house, syringe often, and allow the rains to re- fresh the borders if they have been kept dry ; if cold nights occur, kindle light fires to keep up ah even temperature. Vines in the greenhouse will now have ripened their wood, and may be partially pruned and divested of a portion of their ripest leaves in order to admit light to the plants, as they will soon be placed in their winter quarters. Vines in cold houses Avill be ripening their crop this month, though somewhat later than usual. With- hold water as they advance to maturity, and keep the house well aired both night and day in fine weather. Strawberry Beds may be made all this month, after which it will be too late. Keep old beds clear of weeds, and clip the runners if extending too rapidly ; it will strengthen the plants that remain. Pear Trees may be yet pruned, stopping the late growth being often necessary, but more particularly so this moist season. Fruit should be gathered in due season, particularly pears, and ripened in the house. Insects require constant attention. The autumn caterpillars are very numerous this year, and, if not checked early, will overrun a whole tree in a few days. FLOWER department. The month of September is the time to see that all is right throughout the houses. If painting or glazing is required, or the flues or hot water pipes are out of order, this is the time to attend to it, that there may be no delay when cool nights set in. Usually it is not safe to leave the more tender plants out after the 20th of the month, though frosts may hold off later. If not housed early the cool weather gives the plants a check which it will take some time to recover from. Camellias should be put in order for removing to the house. If the foliage is unclean, syringe it well or wash with a sponge ; top dress the plants if they require it. Chrysanthemums in pots will now be growing well, and should have liberal supplies of water and occasionally liquid manure. All the fine specimens should be removed to the house before heavy frosts. Plants turned out into the open ground should be taken up and potted. Azaleas suffer from the late rains, and should be removed in doors early. Cinerarias should have another shift into larger pots and be kept in a frame where they can be sheltered from heavy rains. 432 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Calceolarias, sown last month, should now be removed to pots and have the protection of a frame. Chinese Primroses will need another shift this month. Pelargonium cuttings, put in at the end of July or beginning of August, will now be w^ell rooted and should be potted. Shelter in a frame till well established, when they should have an airy place in the greenhouse. Monthly Carnations, intended for winter blooming, should be made ready for removal to the house. Verbenas for winter blooming should have a good place in a frame, plunged in tan, and protected from cold rains. Roses, growing- in the open ground, should be potted the last of the month if wanted for early blooming. FccHsiAS, done blooming, should be placed away under the stage during winter. Cuttings of Petunias, Salvias, Verbenas, and all kinds of plants for a spring stock, should now be put in. Hothouse Plants of all kinds should be removed in doors as soon as the weather becomes cool, or they receive a check which greatly injures them. Nkapolitan Violets should be potted this month. Nemophila seeds for winter blooming should be planted immediately. Heliotropes should have the protection of a frame on cool nights. FLOWER garden AND SHRUBBERY. A continuation of wet weather has increased the labors in this depart- ment. Weeds grow apace, and lawns look as fresh as spring. The bor- ders need frequent hoeing and raking, and the lawns and grass edgings repeated cutting. See that neatness and order prevail everywhere, and improve every opportunity to perform the work, not seeking an excuse for neglect that the weather is unfavorable. Dahlias should be kept tied up to stakes, as one of our September gales might make sad havoc with them if this was neglected. Carnations and Picotees should be taken up and set out in beds, where they can have the protection of a frame. Neapolitan Violets should be planted out in frames this month. Lilies of various kinds may be taken up and reset. PjEONiES may be transplanted now^. Evergreens of all kinds may be safely removed this month ; it is as good a time as the spring. Hollyhock seeds may be planted, if not already done. Herbaceous Plants of most kinds may be taken up, divided, and reset this month. Hyacinths, Tulips and other bulbs may be planted this month. Prepare ground for planting in October or November, and forward all work which can be done at this season. A CHAPTER ON TRENCHING. Although we make such frequent use of the word trenching, in treating upon the improvement or preparation of ground and the growth of shrubs, flowers or vegetables, it has occurred to us that its meaning may not be fully un- derstood by all who would wish to become successful culti- vators. Gardeners and professional men need not be told what the operation of trenching is, as they are familiar with it from early life, and know the benefits which result from it; in fact that it is of the first importance in all good gar- dening, and is one of the operations they are earliest made acquainted with, and orie which they perform over and over again, whenever new ground is brought under cultivation, or old gardens resuscitated and improved. But there is a class of individuals who are yearly becom- ing interested in gardening and who are ambitious of becom- ing good cultivators, who are neither acquainted with the works of the best authors, nor have any practical knowl- edge of what good cultivation consists ; who do not under- stand in what the operation of trenching consists, and are completely at a loss to comprehend the process by which it is accomplished, or its importance when completed. As it is our province to aid this class of readers we have thought a short chapter devoted to the subject, in explanation of the modus operandi of proceeding, would not be without its value, and possibly lead to its more general adoption by all who can appreciate its necessity whenever great results are expected. If we should say that not one garden in five hundred has ever been trenched, we should probably be very safe in our estimate. In fact, we have, in the course of an extensive observation of several years, never seen but very few grounds which have been thoroughly trenched, in the true meaning of the word. From the mistaken notion of many who think VOL. XXIII. NO. X. 55 434 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. they understand in what the operation consists, the soil is often only dug over twice the ordinary depth, and this is frequently called trenching. The great fear which too many individuals have that the turning up of a little of the subsoil will ruin a garden, has prevented them doing anything more than turning over or digging up the surface, without pene- trating below the loam which overlays a sandy, gravelly, or clayey substratum. They seem to think that nature is only to be followed and not assisted, though the products which they are to raise upon the soil are as different from what nature supplies as it is possible to conceive. He who ex- pects that a Beurre Diel pear will thrive where a wilding will almost break down beneath its weight of perfect fruit, or imagines he can raise strawberries of the largest size where our wild berries grow in profusion, is simply greatly mistaken, and if he does not believe it at first, he will find, to his great disappointment and cost, that it is so in the end. Nearly all our finest fruits, flowers and vegetables are the result of long amelioration, under the highest system of cul- ture, by the most skilful professional men, and to retain these in the perfection to which they have arrived, the same extraordinary efi'orts must be continued, or failure will be the result. Such being without doubt the tendency of ordi- nary cultivation, it is all important that, knowing wherein failure consists, we should strive to avoid it, and achieve success. It is the common remark, even among intelligent men, that their soil is not adapted to the growth of certain crops ; that it is too light or too heavy, too sandy or too clayey ; that this fruit or that fruit will not succeed ; and, without making any attempt at overcoming these difficulties, they sit down discouraged in their efforts, firmly believing they have been unfortunate in the selection of their grounds, and that there is no means of improvement. Our personal ex- perience recalls to us numerous cases of this kind, where inquiries have been made as to what could be done to render their labors successful. In every case where our advice has been followed, these discouragements have melted away be- OCTOBER. 435 fore the successful application of the spade, the pickaxe, and liberal manuring. Trench, Trencji, Trench, is the motto, especially for our New England soil — and it is for those who do not understand what this is, that our present article is an explanation. With these remarks, in connection with what we have said before in regard to thorough cultivation, we proceed to detail the operation of trenching ground in the most com- plete manner. The object of all trenching being to increase the depth of soil, and supply a reservoir of moisture, the deeper it is dug, provided the subsoil will admit of it, the better. In a stiff, clayey subsoil, with only a moderate covering of strong loam, or in a soil underlaid with a hungry sand or gravel, it would be impossible, only by the addition of considerable quantities of sand to one, and clay to the other, to trench more than two or two and a half feet. But where the sur- face soil is from eighteen inches to two feet, it may be trenched three and a half feet, no matter what the substra- tum may be. As a general rule, however, two and a half feet maybe considered an average depth, which will answer very well for crops of all kinds. Where there is one soil that will admit of a greater depth, there are ten which will not do so. When land intended for trenching is fixed upon, the work may be proceeded with at any season, provided the earth is not too wet ; the best guide to its proper condition is, when, by digging of it up, it will fall to pieces readily, and not adhere in one solid mass or clog; especially in clayey soils should a dry time be taken, otherwise the ground will be left in a coarse, lumpy condition, very unfavorable for culti- vation. Sandy soils are dry enough at any time, unless during a heavy fall of rain. First mark out the ground with proper stakes, just the same as for ordinary digging. Commence on one side of the plot by taking out by a line a trench three feet wide, and of the desirable depth, whether two and a half or more feet ; wheel this to the opposite side of the ground, where it will 436 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. be wanted to fill the last trench and finish the work. Next mark out by a line another trench, of the exact width of the first. Then commence by taking otf the top spit or spade depth, and throw it into the bottom of the vacant trench ; return back with another spit, which should be thrown on the top of the first. The next spit should be thrown on the top vf the last, and so proceed till the trench is cleared out just two and a half feet, making the bottom perfectly level, that no water may lay on the inequalities of surface. In this way mark out trench after trench till the work is done, finishing off with the soil wheeled from the first trench for that purpose. The work is then completed and ready for manuring and planting. This is plain trenching. But if the soil is in poor condi- tion, and it is intended for fruit trees, or indeed any heavy crop, manure should be liberally worked in as the trenching proceeds. To do this effectually after the first spit is thrown into the open trench, a good layer of manure, say of the depth of an inch, should be spaded in. After the next spit is thrown off, another layer of manure should be added in the same marmer, and for every spit or spade depth a layer of manure of greater or less quantity should be dug in and incorporated with the soil. It will then be in fit order to grow any crop in the highest condition. For fruit trees, or any permanent crop which is to occupy the ground for years, this is the way of performing good trenching. But for vegetables or temporary crops the successive mode of trench- ing is considered by many practical men the best; it is effected in this way, which we copy from an old author, and one of the best gardeners England has produced : — " Trench three spits deep, by which the bottom and top are reversed, and the middle remains in the middle : take three crops off this surface, and then trench two spits, by which the top becomes the middle and the middle the top ; and take also three crops off the surface, and then trench three spits, by which that which was last the middle and now the top, becomes the bottom, and that which is now the bottom and was the surface at first, now becomes the OCTOBER. 437 surface again, after having rested six years. Proceed in this manner alternately, the one time trenching two spits, and the otlier three ; by which means the surface will always be changed, and will rest six years and produce three." The second mode of trenching, for vegetables and other heavy crops, is undoubtedly preferable to the reverse system, described first, as an entirely fresh surface is brought up ev- ery few years, the benefits of which are apparent to every cultivator. Still,, as it is attended with some trouble, espe- cially in gardens of small extent, where there are numerous trees, it is best to begin with the most thorough reverse trenching, by which the surface soil is placed at the bottom, and the poorer subsoil brought up, where it can be heavily manured and acted upon by the sun and air, and receive the benefit of the dews and rains, as well as subjected to the frosts of winter, which alter and improve its mechanical texture. A third mode of trenching is to mix the surface and sub- soil together. This may be adopted when the surface is very rich and tolerably deep. To trench in this way pro- ceed as follows : after the first trench is taken out, begin at one end of the second one, and open a space three or four feet long ; then break down the surface with a spade from top to bottom, so that the whole will be intimately mixed together, which should be then thrown into the first trench, and the work proceeded with till the whole is thrown out. If manure is to be worked in it should be done as the soil is thrown into the open trench. In each of these modes of trenching it should be borne in mind that a thorough pulverization of the soil is necessary ; it must not be thrown over in lumps or clods, but broken fine, either with the pick or spade. The manure should also be well incorporated throughout, that it may not lie in masses in one place, without any in others. The surface of the ground need not be levelled till the whole work is done. Such is our chapter on trenching, which we hope will render the practice familiar, and aid in inducing all who are making new gardens to begin right at the commencement, and not have the work to go over again. 438 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. LANDSCAPE. — PART II. BY WILSON FLAGQ. Irregular or broken landscape constitutes the prevalent feature of Massachusetts and the greater part of New Eng- land. It seems to have been originally caused by the wash- ing of the soil from the sides of the hills, leaving only their rocky foundations, precipitous and perpendicular in some parts, while the summits of the rocks swell out of the ground in rounded forms in other places. There are few countries whose surface, unless it be mountainous, is so wild, so irregular and so favorable to picturesque effects, as New England. Instead of gently rolling hills, we find hills of endless forms and sizes, furrowed, precipitous and con- vex, rising suddenly out of levels. Many of the latter are peat meadows, overflowed in winter, and green with a growth of ferns and grasses at other seasons. When these valleys have been reduced to tillage, they become productive farms ; and the little settlements upon them, with their sur- rounding hills crowned with evergreen woods, are singularly romantic. The most characteristic specimens of this kind of scenery lie on the coast, especially on the northern shore of Massachusetts Bay. This description of landscape is highly favorable to the purposes of the painter or of the improver of nature. The bold, rocky hills, partly denuded and partly covered with trees, long ridges of drift often following the course of streams, basins formed by steep hills, and containing ponds of water, represent a mountainous country in miniature, and give origin to a greater diversity of scenes than a rolling landscape. Though the latter may present as great a differ- ence in the size and arrangement of the hills and valleys, yet the general prevalence of curves in their outlines causes every scene in most respects to resemble every other. In a broken surface, curves are mingled with straight lines and angular forms — the horizontal with the perpendicular, the pyramidal with the convex, the furrowed hill with the un- OCTOBER. 439 broken level, constituting an endless variety of configura- tions and outlines. As the rolling landscape resembles the surface of the drifted snow which was exposed while falling to the action of the winds ; the broken landscape resembles the same, after man has thrown it into heaps, to promote his own con- venience. The former may still be attractive after it has been divested of its wood, on account of the pleasing curves of its smooth and undulating surface ; but tlie abrupt land- scape is very ugly, if the hills are cleared both of wood and shrubbery, as nothing is left to cover the baldness of the rocks, which seldom, except in the shade of woods, support a carpet of green herbage. But when these abrupt hills are covered with wood, and the valleys are in variegated tillage and pasture, no description of landscape can exceed it in beauty. To improve this kind of surface all cultivation must be confined to the valleys, and to the smooth and con- vex elevations ; for nothing is more unsightly than these broken prominences crowned with a potato plat, with their declivities stript of all vegetation, except here and there a tree or a shrub defaced by the currents of sand and gravel, which the rains have washed down from the ploughed land. There can be no beauty in a bald rocky hill without trees or shrubbery. We may be charmed with it if it be very spacious, as expressive of a sort of dreary sublimity ; but this expression fails when the greater part of it is ploughed and tilled. I have often experienced the pleasure of a ram- ble over an extensive range of bald hills, but have always had reason to suppose that this pleasure was enhanced by a view of the beautiful landscape of the surrounding country, presenting the opposition of fertile vales, little winding streams, and hills nodding with wood. The valleys, plains and groves spread out below, when viewed from this deso- late elevation, add to the emotion of dreariness and gran- deur those sensations of voluptuous delight which a pasto- ral scene always inspires. It is from these pleasing oppositions that abrupt landscapes derive the greater part of their effect, since an unchangeable 440 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. abruptness would be more tiresomely monotonous than a dead level. But this seldom prevails over a great extent of territory. In general it alternates with level openings, affording not only a contrast of surface, but also many pleas- ing oppositions' in their vegetation, the hills having a flora as well as sylva very different from that of the plain. In a rolling country there is a tiresome monotony of vegetation as well as of surface, as the summits of the hills do not dif- fer enough from the valleys to give rise to any important difference in the character of the plants that occupy them. In broken landscape the character of the vegetation changes as suddenly as the rocks emerge from the plain. On the latter we find the common agricultural grasses, under the care of the tiller of the soil, or perhaps the indigenous vege- tation of the lowlands. The rocks that stand above this level are often covered with ferns, overlapping one another, so as to form a brilliant green roofing, shaded by trees and shrubbery, and forming a perfectly distinct contrast with the plain and its productions. If the whole be wooded, we find on the hills the oak, the pine, the birch and the hickory ; in the meadow the alder, the willow, the white cedar, the red maple and the tupelo. The man of taste sees in this kind of surface an opportu- nity of converting the most rugged scenes into a beautiful picture. By careful and judicious management, he may produce any kind of a scene or composition that may be de- sirable. As water has been denominated the " eye of land- scape," rock-bound hills, with their embroidery of woods and shrubbery, are the eye-brows of landscape, and are essential to its completeness. Every one is aware of the total want of expression attached to a sheet of water, whose surface does not sink perceptibly below the level of its banks and of the plain around it. It is like the unmeaning eye in the face of one who has no brows nor eyelashes. A border of wood relieves the tameness of such a sheet of water, but to make it beautiful it must be surrounded by hills, and these must be partly wooded. It is the wood that animates and beautifies the ponds we see in the uncleared OCTOBER. 441 tracts of country, and causes them to present a striking opposition to those near a large town whose inhabitants have stript the banks of their wood. Mountainous landscape has always been admired, and will never cease to charm the eyes and excite the imagination of the dullest of mankind. However reluctant we might feel to be surrounded by contiguous mountains, and imprisoned within their valleys, we are all delighted with a journey that leads us through their romantic passes and over their fearful heights. Every step in our progress opens a new scene to our vision, charming us alternately with confined and exten- sive views, on the outside of a range often sublime, and affecting the mind with a peculiar exhilaration. Great alti- tude is one of the most remarkable sources of sublimity arising from position, and the emotions produced by it are the more vivid when we have just emerged from some green pastoral valley. A sense of sublimity may be excited in imaginative minds by contemplating a mountain from below ; but in general a prisoned sensation must be felt in a mountain valley, pro- ceeding from a consciousness of restraint upon our freedom. Here we have no breadth of prospect as we should have on an island, and must feel more as if we were confined by walls, even though we might emerge from it more easily than we could escape from the island. But it is certain that we are prepared to feel the influence of great elevation on arriving at the summit of a mountain, if we have just emerged from a residence in a deep mountain valley, more forcibly than if we had just arrived from a residence on the plain or in the open country. Still the moral influence of a permanent home in a moun- tain valley, contrary to what it seems upon first considera- tion, must be highly favorable to cheerfulness, by increasing our susceptibility to be agreeably aff'ected by the scenes that are spread out above and beyond us, and which can be seen only by leaving the valley. Our egress from our retreat must always be highly exhilarating and hopeful, because our journey is upward, and every step widens the circumference .VOL. XXIII. NO. X. 56 442 * THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. of our vision. But if our home is on an elevated site on the mountain, that affords us a boundless prospect, its influ- ence must be depressing, since we cannot improve our pros- pect by leaving our situation. Our journey into the world is downward, and every step narrows our landscapes, and brings objects which were grand and beautiful, at a distance, so near as to be tame and uninteresting. I can believe, therefore, that if one is subject to melancholy, he would find its cure more certainly by making his home in a deep val- ley than upon an elevated mountain site. For a permanent residence I should prefer a plain with a view of mountains at a long distance, to a valley among the mountains, or to the mountain itself. The exhilaration pro- duced by a wide prospect and great altitude is a tone of mind which cannot be long sustained, and we should soon lose our susceptibility to be affected by it, if it were con- stantly before our sight. But a view of distant mountains is not exhilarating. It acts quietly upon the imagination, when the mind is in a reflective mood ; but it is never glar- ing, and affords no unnatural stimulus. The same may be said of any remarkable prospect from our doors and win- dows, if placed conspicuously before us. We gradually lose our power of enjoying it and similar views. Hence our daily and familiar prospects should never be of an exhilarat- ing or an exciting nature ; for everything that exhilarates, when habitually indulged, deadens the sensibility. Our ter- restrial views about our home should be quiet and pleasing, but not remarkable, to preserve the healthy tone of the mind, as our daily food should be plain and simple to pre- serve the health of the body. For obvious reasons it may not be so with celestial views. The sky, during a greater part of the day, is a mere canopy of light. Its exhilarating influences are felt only on extra- ordinary occasions, which are transient. It is beautiful when the sun rises and when he sets, enveloped in highly refractive vapors, and sublime when curtained by illuminated masses of finely organized clouds. But these scenes are not liable to tire us by their frequency or their duration. Give OCTOBER. 443 me, therefore, a clear and imobstructed view of the heavens where I am to reside, but I sliould prefer a confined view of the landscape. It is a popular error to suppose that the inhabitants of mountains acquire, from their habitual scenery, a lively im- agination and an expanded mind. The effect of their posi- tion must be rather contracting, because they are for the most part confined in valleys, and are comparatively shut out from the world. It is not their limited view of the heavens and the earth that narrows their minds, but their want of intercourse with society ; for mountaineers are sel- dom engaged in commerce, which is the grand enlightener of nations. They are herdsmen and tillers of the soil, and by living apart from the world they acquire a clannish spirit and become addicted to superstition and fanaticism. It is further believed that the inhabitants of the mountains are more warlike than the inhabitants of the plains. Their su- perior skill and success arise from the greater facilities af- forded by their position, for practising the artifices of war. They know all the passes and all the grand points for en- trenchment and attack. This knowledge and these advan- tages have gained them a comparatively false reputation for courage and heroism. Nature has confined her moral and intellectual gifts to the inhabitants of no particular description of surface. A con- stant familiarity with the sublime scenes of nature does not exalt the imagination ; neither does a confined valley, with its narrow prospects both of the heavens and the earth, cramp the mind or harden the sensibility. It is the want only of education and of intercourse with the world that produces such effects. It cannot be denied that there is a moral influence arising from landscape ; but contrary to the general opinion, the influence of tame and rather homely landscapes, if they are neat and agreeable, is the most favor- able. All those scenes that enchant by their beauty, or daz- zle and intoxicate by their grandeur, when constantly before us are depressing, producing the same effect upon the mind that narcotic stimulants produce upon the nervous system. 444 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Still the majority of the inhabitants of every country are unaffected in any way by their daily and habitual prospects. These exhilarating and depressing influences are chiefly felt by persons of more than ordinary culture or poetic sensibility. It is to individuals of the latter description, however, that these remarks are addressed ; and of these I believe the ma- jority would bear testimony to the correctness of my theory. They will agree with me in remarking that a moderate share of the beauty and sublimity of landscape, in the scenes about our home, is the most desirable on account of its influence on the mind and the spirits. We can attribute to unsightly and monotonous views, and dreary and ugly objects surrounding our daily walks, only a bad and disa- greeable influence ; but it is not depressing ; it is simply un- satisfying ; and if one be within the reach of fine prospects, he is always, under these circumstances, prepared to enjoy them. Landscapes ought, therefore, never to be artificially decorated. They should be dressed only as they are dressed by nature, who, while she provides endless scenes- of beauty for those who seek for them, never cloys our sight by their profusion. Though the influence of moderately pleasing natural scenery is healthful and never tiresome, yet I can imagine nothing so absolutely melancholy and depressing as a country universally dressed in the highest style of English landscape art. THE GRAVENSTEIN APPLE. BY CAPT. JOHN DE WOLFE, DORCHESTBR, MASS. Dear Sir, — As there appears to be some discrepancy in the account of the origin, name, and time of introduction of the Gravenstein apple in this country, I beg leave respect- fully to hand you the following statement, not that I think there is any especial merit in the introduction, as I think we are all bound to do what good we can in promoting and enriching the products of our own soil ; neither do I make OCTOBER. 445 any pretensions to be a connoisseur in fruits, or vegetables ; but this I can say, without the fear of contradiction, that in early youth I had a kind of natural instinct, or faculty, which enabled me to find the best apple tree in the neigh- boring orchards, the darkest night that ever was, with as much facility as in riper years I could find my way, both night or day, blindfold, to maintop-bowline. However, if it should be considered that there is merit in such introduc- tions, I see no reason why my dish should not be the right side up in order to receive what may legitimately fall there- in ; and if nothing prior to the following can be shown, then perhaps it may be well to record the fact, viz : — Being at Copenhagen, in the fall of 1825, I noticed at the wharves a number of small craft from Holstein with fruit, principally apples ; I bought some which were recommend- ed as the Gravenstein, a very superior apple, highly flavored as to taste and smell. I was so much delighted with this fruit, never having heard of it before, and being desirous of cultivating it in my little garden in Boston, I requested my friends, Messrs. Good Ray n olds & Co., to purchase for me, at the nursery, two trees of that kind of fruit, and to be sure that they were the genuine Gravenstein, which they did. On my arrival in Boston, in May following, the trees being nearly seven months out of the ground, I had some doubts as to my being able to make them live. Knowing Gen. Dearborn to be an amateur in these matters, I presented him with what I thought to be the best one, and planted the other myself ; they both lived and grew vigorously. About a year after, I moved to Bristol, R. I., and took my tree with me and planted it there, and when I left that place several years subsequently it was in a bearing state. I was desirous to know the origin of its name, and place, and was informed that it originated in a nobleman's garden in Holstein, near to a family gravestone. — hence the name Gravenstein. We are highly pleased to receive this interesting account of the introduction of this fine apple into this country by 446 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Capt. De Wolfe. Whether it had been brought here before or not does not make his endeavors to introduce it any the less creditable to him, knowing as he did that we had no such fruit in the neighborhood of Boston, and quite ignorant that it had been imported elsewhere, if in fact it had. The letter is thoroughly characteristic of such an old salt as is Capt. De Wolfe. If he was the first to introduce it, — as he undoubtedly was into Boston, — he certainly is entitled to the thanks of every lover of fine fruits, among which the Gravenstein apple takes the highest rank. That there is a merit in the introduction of such no one will deny, for, next to the actual origination of a new variety, the introduction of one, whether native or foreign, is a highly meritorious act. Of our native fruits, especially, more than three quar- ters are accidental seedlings, some of which, now the most esteemed sorts, would have undoubtedly remained unknown mitil the present day, but for the good judgment of our in- telligent cultivators who introduced them to notice. It would be interesting to know the origin, history, and introduction of every fine fruit ; but many of our best varie- ties have no authentic history, and some are involved in such obscurity that it would be futile to attempt to trace them out. When, however, any facts can be added to the account of such as we have, it is important that they should be generally known. The Gravenstein is one of those whose origin is somewhat uncertain ; according to the most authentic account we have of it in the Horticultural Transactions, it originated at Hol- stein, as Capt. De Wolfe has stated. From this we learn that "the parent tree, probably raised accidentally from seed, existed in the middle of the last century in the garden of the Duke of Augustenberg, at Gravenstein, in Holstein. Hirschfeld, who first described the apple, says its name is derived from Gravenstein, a ducal estate and castle in Sles- wick. Others assign it an Italian origin." This account of the Gravenstein was published in 1822, in the work just alluded to, accompanied by a beautiful colored plate of the fruit. Specimens of the apple were exhibited before the OCTOBER. 447 London Horticultural Society in 1820, by Mr. Wilmot and other cultivators, and numerous trees had been imported from many parts of Germany and Sweden. This is the history of its introduction into England. Of its introduction to this country we have no very defi- nite information. Neither Coxe or Thatcher mention it in their treatises, and the first account of it in any pomological work appears in Kenrick's Orchardist, in which he attributes its introduction to Capt. De Wolfe ; but on looking over the old New England Farmer, we find a letter from Judge Buel to Mr. S. Downer, containing a list of apple trees, pre- sented through him to the members of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. This letter is dated Oct. 11, 1829, four years subsequent to Capt. De Wolfe's visit to Copenha- gen. In this letter, among other apples, he enumerates the Gravenstein, and remarks that this and other German sorts, was imported by Mr. C. Knudson, a German nurseryman, probably near Albany. Judge Buel particularly states that the Gravenstein "is known to be a superior fruit." This is all we can find relative to its introduction into the vicinity of Boston. From this it would appear that the Gravenstein was im- ported previous to 1826, at which time Capt. De Wolfe gave his tree to Gen. Dearborn, as trees could hardly have been propagated and sent from Albany so early as 1829, if not imported before 1826. Still the trees sent by Judge Buel may have been very young, perhaps only one year old, though probably not less than two. We have concluded that Capt. De Wolfe was not the first to bring the Gravenstein to this country, though we have only the supposition to the contrary, from the letter of Judge Buel. But that he first introduced it here there is not the least doubt, and probably it has been mostly disseminated in this neighborhood from this source. What became of the trees sent to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society we do not know, but we believe they were distributed to Mr. Downer and others, prominent members, who were deeply interested in the culture of fruits. 448 THE MAGAZINE OF HOUTICULTURE. We repeat that we are pleased in laying Capt. De Wolfe's account before our readers. If others who have been instru- mental in raising or introducing fine fruits will only render similar accounts, we shall have authentic information not only in regard to the origin of new varieties, but the intro- dirction of those already well known. It would add to our stock of pomological knowledge, and awaken an interest which we do not feel in fruits of unknown or uncertain ori- gin. THE PETUNIA. BY PROF. C. G. PAGE, WASHINGTON, D. C. When this flower was first introduced here it seemed to promise much in the way of novelties, from the great facili- ties it presented for the operation of hybridization and its ease of propagation. From thousands of crossings, repeated through several seasons, a great variety of beautiful flowers were produced, of every kind of variegation ; but the experi- ment was on the whole unsatisfactory, for in nearly every flower which was spotted, splashed or striped, the change seemed to be the result of a defect or disease in the plant. The leaves of the plants were generally spotted or striped with white from a failure in the production of chlorophyle, and consequently the plants were generally unhealthy and difficult to keep a going, and therefore a few choice varieties of selfs of good habit came to be generally preferred to the fancy petunias. But a new era has now begun in petunias, and it is not a little remairkable that a flower so simple as this should possess such extraordinary capabilities. The new double varieties are not instances merely of the produc- tion of double flowers by the conversion of the organs of reproduction into petals, or a second corolla, but are in reali- ty beautiful monstrosities, consisting of flower upon flower so gracefully superposed as to give the appearance of one flower. The single petunias have also made a broad stride this season, and I have now the satisfaction of witnessing OCTOBER. 449 the daily development of beautiful varieties of striped pe- tunias of perfectly healthy habit and of every shade, from pink striped with white to intense crimson and purple striped with white, all the result of hybridization with a chance seedling, beautifully striped, grown here by Mr. Jardin. I commenced this spring hybridizing with this striped variety and several choice selfs of robust growth, and the rewards of the experiment far exceed my expectations. It only remains now to repeat the characteristics of the Jardin upon the new double kinds to place the petunia in the front rank of florists' flowers. The Jardin is a medium size flower of good form and substance, with white stripes upon a deep pink ground. The flowers occasionally sport back to a dingy white, or an entire pink, and sometimes are curiously marked by one half of the corolla being white and the other pink or rose. The plant is of a healthy, strong and erect habit, and an im- mense bloomer. The new striped kinds of its generation are quite superior to it in size and color ; while they have its excellent habit of growth. Imagine the Countess of Elles- mere somewhat enlarged and beautifully striped with clear white, and you have a good portrait of one of the new pro- ductions, and add to this picture a robust and unblemished habit of plant, and the petunias of 1857 will date among the most rechejxhe of bedding and pot plants. TREES IN MOUNT AUBURN.* BY WILSON FLAGG. It is not generally understood that there may be too many trees as well as too many flowers in a rural cemetery, too many for the beauty as well as for the convenience of the place. When trees are crowded closely together, they lose their lateral branches and all their characteristic beauty. One broad-spreading tree that covers a wide space of ground *From the manuscript of a work about to be published by James Munroe & Co., en- titled '•Mount Auburn, its Scenes, its Beauties and its Lessons." VOL. XXIII. NO. x. 57 450 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. is more serviceable for shade, and more beautiful and attrac- tive in its appearance, than ten or twelve tall, slender trees occupying the same space. This remark is particularly ap- plicable to trees in cemeteries, in which it is desirable to ob- tain as great a canopy of shade and foliage with as little incumbrance from the roots and stems of trees as can be made to subsist together. The trunk of one broad headed tree occupying the space of one or two feet in diameter, leaves the remainder of the ground that is shaded by it free to be used for a burial spot. A number of smaller trees oc- cupying the same space fill it up so closely with their roots and stems, as to render it useless for the burial of the dead ; and though it will not be denied that there is grandeur in a dense forest of such trees, there is vastly more of this qual- ity in a grove of trees which are broad and perfect in their shape. The first may be compared to a hall with a flat roof sustained by a large number of small pillars ; the last to a roof consisting of a few noble arches resting on massive columns, leaving unoccupied a wide intermediate space. Mount Auburn would be at present a more beautiful place, and more convenient for the purposes to which it is dedicat- ed, if, at the time of its consecration as a cemetery, it had been entirely free from wood, and afterwards had been judi- ciously planted with young trees of the prevailing species. Very few well formed trees are to be seen in these grounds, because they are mostly the elongated trees of the forest, which occupy a great deal of space in proportion to the amount of shade aff'orded by them, and greatly encumber the burial lots. Unfortunately, in those parts of the grounds which contain a new growth, proper care was not originally used to remove the supernumerary trees, to allow the re- mainder to spread out into an ample head. The pines, for example, in front of the gateway, look as if they were the primitive occupants of the forest, having been allowed, in the early stages of their growth, to stand too closely togeth- er, and to run up without lateral branches. Had only one in five or six of the present number been planted, or had they been thinned out year after year, so as to prevent the OCTOBER. 451 branches of any one tree from interfering with those of its neighbors, a grove of noble trees would have spread their broad canopies of shade over this ground, charming the sight of every admirer of nature.* It may be further remarked that it is injurious to the mon- uments to stand under the drip of trees, which ought not, therefore, to grow inside of the burial lots ; and the only trees that ought to be planted near the lots are such as do not widely extend either their roots or their branches. Such are the different species of the arbor vitcs, and other conifer- ous trees that acquire a slender pyramidal shape. The ad- vantages of trees in a cemetery cannot be enjoyed without a few attendant evils ; but the latter might in some measure be avoided, if the larger kinds of trees were confined to the avenues and to certain tracts which are not to be used for the burial of the dead. The avenues, to answer this end, should be made of sufficient width to permit a row of large trees to stand and spread their branches freely on each side. The foot-paths, on account of their narrow width, should be bordered only with shrubbery and trees of a slender, spiry growth. The elm and the oak, which require great ampli- tude of space, ought to be extirpated from all narrow and confined situations. The idea of attaining picturesque effects in a rural ceme- tery, by the grouping of trees, cannot be carried into prac- tice. The necessary formality that must prevail in the con- struction of the paths and avenues, and in the geometrical forms of the burial lots, especially when they are inclosed by a fence, prevents any such groupings and combinations. A formal irregularity is no more picturesque than any other kind of formality. The wild and rather pleasing disorder apparent in the natural arrangement of the trees in Mount Auburn, is every year becoming obliterated, as proprietors cut down the occupants of the lots and leave only those in the paths and avenues. As often as a new proprietor lays * These remarks do not reflect upon Mr. Mann, the present superintendent, whose practice is highly Judicious and commendable. The thinning of the plantation ought to have been made more than twenty years ago, and would probably not have been neg- lected if one capable man had at that time the entire conlroi of such matters. 452 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. out a burial lot, he is obliged to destroy all or nearly all the trees within its bounds. The trees must at last, therefore, be confined almost entirely to the avenues, forming rows that correspond with their directions, and exhibiting in their disposition the same irregular formality. But as the remain- ing trees will increase in breadth, in proportion as their num- ber is lessened, the grounds will continue to be as well shaded as they are at the present time, and will be improved in grandeur and beauty. It is apparent that in many cases, either some fine trees must be sacrificed, or the burial lot must be devoted to the trees instead of the graves. A great deal of judgment must be required to determine when it would be expedient to re- serve the lot in order to save a tree. If the latter be young, vigorous and of good proportions, it ought to be transplanted into a convenient and appropriate location ; if it be too large to be removed, the value of the tree should decide its fate. The fate which must, at some not very distant period, come upon the trees now within the lots, might suggest the expe- diency of planting trees near them in the avenues, in antici- pation of it. The young trees thus planted would supply the places of the old growth as it is removed ; and exhibit superior size and beauty. Twenty years hence, the aspect of Mount Auburn will be less wild ; it will have less of the peculiar attractions of a forest ; but if nothing be neglected that ought to be done, it will be a more beautiful place, in- dependently of its monuments, than it is at the present time. If we were preparing a rural cemetery for the use only of those who may be on the stage, after the present generation has passed away, our wisest course would be to select a spot that is entirely destitute of trees, and plant them, after lay- ing out the grounds, in those places only in which they might always conveniently remain. But our predecessors could not have acted more wisely than they did when they selected a wooded tract of land. The present must not be wholly sacrificed to the future ; and Mount Auburn, which was perhaps the most beautiful tract of forest in the country, became immediately after its establishment admired as a OCTOBER. 453 garden of nature, no less than as a place consecrated to the burial of the dead. Since that time, while to a certain ex- tent it has been suffering the loss of its original attractions, of its primitive and characteristic beauty, trees of a nobler growth have been advancing to supply the places of the less beautiful denizens of the forest, and under their shade a highly dressed surface is taking the place of the mossgrown turf of the pasture. When selecting trees for planting in a cemetery we should reject all those species which are inclined to throw up suck- ers from their roots, as this habit is the source of a great deal of trouble to the keeper of the grounds, and the cause of considerable mischief to the burial lots. Of the kinds which are the most addicted to this habit may be mentioned the beech, the locust, the wild cherry, the abele and all the species of the poplar. In the vicinity of any of these trees the grounds will generally be covered with suckers, often over-running the graves, and choking the turfs and the flow- er beds with their intrusive growth. Among exotic shrubs, the common white spiraea of the gardens and the lilac are of this description. Of the wild shrubs, the barberr}'' and the elder have the same habit, though the viburnums, whose flowers resemble those of the elder, are free from it. The preceding remarks are intended as mere suggestions of some of the obvious means of improving the arboreous features of Mount Auburn. The beauty and grandeur of fully developed and wide-spreading trees have not been suf- ficiently appreciated, and the value of a mere forest growth has been comparatively overrated. How would the majestic appearance of the trees on Boston Common be diminished, if the space now shaded by them were occupied by ten times the present number, with only the same amount of branches and foliage ? The forest has certain charms which cannot be transferred to a grove of perfect trees ; but the decorations of art and the elegance of dressed grounds can- not be made to harmonize with the former, and in proportion as the works of the sculptor and the operations of the gar- dener are made manifest, must the park-tree be allowed to 454 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. take the place of the forest tree. It is important that the proprietors of lots should consider these points, that all their operations may be consistent, and may serve to bring about one grand and uniform result. OUR ORNAMENTAL TREES. by the editor. 15. The Shrubby Trefoil. (Ptelea trifoliata, L.) Among the trees conspicuous at this season of the year, for their foliage or fruit, may be noticed one with deep green leaves and large terminal clusters of elm-like looking seeds, which hang in such profusion as to give a tufted appearance to the head. It is the shrubby trefoil, or Ptelia trifoliata, a small growing tree, which, though not mentioned by Mi- chaux or Nuttall, or by other eminent writers upon our na- tive trees, is notwithstanding a very desirable ornamental tree, and worthy of a more prominent place than it has as yet attained, for it possesses many good qualities, one of which alone should entitle it to recognition, viz., that it will thrive freely in a shady situation. We can find but a meagre account of the Ptelea in any of the numerous works which we have at hand. As usual, Loudon's Arhoretum is the most complete, though he quotes his description from De Candolle. It appears from his ac- count that it was early introduced into England, so long ago as 1704, but from some cause it was lost, and it was not till 1724 that it was reintroduced again, by Catesby, who sent it from the Carolinas. The Ptelia trifoliata, (fig. 19,) is a native of the United States, and is found from New York to Carolina in shady moist hedges and on the edge of woods among rocks. How abundantly it is distributed we have no account, but we should have supposed Michaux would have noticed it had it been very common, attaining as it does in Europe the height OCTOBER. 455 of 40 feet, and probably quite as great a height in its native habitat, particularly in Carolina. It is one of our hardiest trees, quite as much so as the oak, yet its northern limit seems to be New York, as Mr. Emerson does not enumerate it in his Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts. sWiPf ^SJ^ 19. THE SHRUBBY TREFOIL. The trees grow from 10 to 40 feet high. Loudon says when it is pruned up with a single stem, it forms a hand- some low tree, with a hemispherical head, but in British gar- dens it is more frequently found as a large shrub, with nu- merous stems proceeding from some basal point. The leaf is composed of three leaflets that are acute ovate, and the middle one tapered towards its base. The flowers are in 456 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. corymbs, usually tetrandrous. They are small, greenish white, and appear in corymbose clusters, in June and July. These are succeeded by flattened winged capsules (or seeds) somewhat resembling the elm, af this season nearly cov- ering the tree, appearing so abundantly and in such large clusters as to weigh down the smaller branches. Few trees are more conspicuous in September than the Ptelia, loaded with its tufted clusters of seeds, set off, as they are, by the deep green foliage of the plant, which it retains till late in the season, when it changes to a dull yellow, and soon falls off. The Ptelia is of easy cultivation. It grows readily from seeds, or layers, or even cuttings, (which should be put in in the autumn.) Its rate of growth is not rapid, probably 18 inches a year at the most. Our own trees, ten years old, are 15 feet high : but in England they have specimens 25 feet high, and in France, in the Jardin des Plantes, there are trees 60 years planted which are 37 feet high, and 40 feet in the diameter of the head. The old Bartram specimen is only 10 feet high. Being hardy, says Loudon, and easy of culture, in any common soil, the tree is not uncommon in collections, and it well deserves a place there, both on account of the beauty of the leaves and of the fruits, and the handsome general form of the tree. From the little we could learn about it, we supposed it scarcely worthy a place among ornamental trees ; but our own specimens have proved the most attrac- tive objects in the autumn season, and we commend it as a very desirable tree for ornamental plantations, or for produc- ing effect in groups, where its trifoliate leaves, profusely decked with the large clusters of seeds, form a pleasing con- trast with the larger foliage of other trees. FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. New Gladioli. — The great improvement which may be effected in flowers by hybridization was never more apparent OCTOBER. 457 than ill the production of the new Gladioli by the French cul- tivators. They have raised them of almost every conceivable shade, of blush, salmon, straw, yellow, buff, chamois, pink, rose, lilac, crimson, red and scarlet, self-colored, mottled, striped, &c. A rich treat has been afforded us in the inspec- tion of a fine bed of some of the newest kinds. It is fortu- nate that they are so easy of cultivation that they will soon be as abundant as the Gandavensis, and within the means of every lover of plants. They add much to the beauty of the garden, flowering as they do throughout August and Sep- tember. The names of some of the new sorts are Calendu- lacea, Oracle, Penelope, Edith, Harlequin, Aristote, Danae, Osiris, &c., &c. 375. Pu^YA vire'scens Hook. Greenish flowered Puya. (Bromeliaceas.) New Grenada. A stove plant; growing three feet hiijh; with white flowers; appearin? in spring; increased by division of the roots; grown in light rich soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4991. A showy bromeliaceous plant, with leaves one and a half to two feet long, which spring from the root, throwing up tall scapes which are terminated with a spike of white, or pale yellowish green flowers. Like all of this tribe it re- quires plenty of room, when it forms a handsome object with its large leaves and fine cluster of blossoms, {Bot. Mag., July.) 376. Rhodode'ndron Veitchia''num Hook. Mr. Veitch's Rhododendron. (Ericaceae.) Moulmein. a greenhouse shrub; growing three feet high; witli wliite flowers; appearing in spring; increased by grafting; grown in sandy peat soil. Bot. Mag., Ib57, pi. 4992. Another new and superb acquisition to this now extensive tribe of plants, and as distinct as it is new. It is quite un- like anything we at present possess, and has attracted great attention among admirers of the rhododendron. Fine flow- ering specimens were exhibited at the London Horticultural Society's meeting in May last, and it is thus spoken of in the report of the exhibition: — ''Among new rhododendrons exhibited by Messrs. Yeitch, is a new kind from Moulmein, with pure white blossoms, measuring full four inches across, and crisped around the edges like Azalea crispiflora. This VOL. XXIII. — NO. x. 58 458 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. must be regarded as a valuable acquisition to the greenhouse varieties of this genus." The plate represents a beautiful flower, pure white, and even more beautifully crisped on the edge than the Azalea. The foliage is not large, three to four inches long, and the flowers are produced in clusters of from three to five, not in globose heads as with the older kinds. The habit of the plant is good, and it does not attain the unwieldy size of the arboreum tribe, which are too large for ordinary collections. It is a distinct and highly attrac- tive species. {Bot. Mag., July.) 377. Doro'nicum BouRCiEi Scliiiltz. Bourgeau's Leop- ard's Bane. (Compositse.) Canary Islands. A greenhouse plant; growing two to three feet high; with purple flowers; appearing in spring; increased by cuttings and seeds; grown in light rich soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4994. A highly ornamental greenhouse plant, flowering during the spring months along with the purple flowered species of the Cineraria, (or Senecio, for to that genus they are now generally referred,) of the Canary Islands. It was detected by M. Bourgeau, (now happily, for science, engaged on ac- count of the British government on an exploring expedition in North America,) in the Canary Islands in 1855. It has much the appearance of the Cineraria, with a similar habit, and heads or corymbs of purple flowers. It is however more vigorous, often growing three feet high. It is of easy culti- vation and a profuse flowerer. {Bot. Mag., July.) 378. Forsythia suspe'nsa Vahl. Pendulous Forsythia. (Oleaceas.) Japan. A hardy shrub; growing three feet high; with yellow flowers; appearing in spring; increased by layers; grown in good garden soil. Bot. Mag., 1S57, pi. 4995. A rare and handsome species of the well known Forsythia, of which the F. viridissima is so conspicuous an ornament of our shrubberies in April and May, when its gay yellow blossoms, distributed in such profusion over its leafless branches, enliven the spring months. The F. suspensa is a fine companion to it. The flowers are larger and handsomer than viridissima and appear before the leaves ; the wood has a conspicuous red bark, and the shoots are almost as pen- dulous as a willow. The present is the original species OCTOBER. 459 upon which the genus was founded. It was introduced from Japan into Europe (Holland) so long ago as 1833, but appears only recently to be known in England. Siebold states that in Japan it is scarcely known but in a state of cultivation, and seems to be derived from China. It is easy of increase, as the long pendulous branches soon strike root if covered with earth. If hardy, as it undoubtedly is, as much so as viridissima, which occasionally has its buds in- jured by very cold winters, it will prove a decided acquisi- tion. {Bot. Mag., July.) 379. Rhodode'noron Thompso^ni Hook. Dr. Thompson's Rhododendron. (Ericaceae.) Sikkim Himalaya. A half hardy shrub; growing six feet high; with deep crimson flowers; appearing in spring; in- creased by grafiiiig; grown in sandy peat soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4997. One of the fine Sikkim rhododendrons discovered by Dr. J. D. Hooker at an elevation of 13,000 feet, and quite hardy in England. It is the deepest colored of all the rhododen- drons, and it would be a valuable species to hybridize our catawbiense Avith, by which process much darker varieties would be obtained. Its elevated locality induces us to think it will prove hardy in our climate. It is undoubtedly one of the finest of the Himalayan species. {Bot. Mag., Aug.) 380. Thunbe'rgia Harrisii Hook. Lord Harris's Thun- BERGiA. (Acaiithaceas.) Moulmein. A greenhouse climber; growing ten feet high; with yellow and pale blue flowers; appearing in spring; increased by cuttings; grown in li^jht rich soil. Bot Mag., 1S57, pi. 499S. We recently described the new and beautiful Thunbergia lancifolia. We now have another species which surpasses even that fine variety. It is a recent acquisition brought from Madras, where it was carried from Moulmein, its na- tive locality. It is a rapid growing climber, with large leaves, and immense clusters of large purplish blue flowers, shading to straw color in the throat. It was raised at Kew from seeds received from Lord Harris, governor of Madras, and flowered abundantly through the winter and spring months of last year. A botanical friend writes Dr. Hooker, in regard to its native locality, as follows: "Certainly we have a very splendid Thunbergia in Moulmein. It is a 460 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. common plant here, and the jungles, especially in the neighborhood, are full of it. It flowers in January, indeed throughout the cold season, and as it is a rampant climber and free grower, adds much to the beauty of the jungle. I knew it was an undescribed plant, i. e., that it had not ap- peared in any published Flora ; but as it had been for some years introduced to the neighborhood of Calcutta I imagined that you must have known all about it, and possessed plants long ago, otherwise I should certainly have called your at- tention to it. If it grows at home as it doss here, no hot- house, except your splendid one, will hold it. It is indeed a fine thing, but I have never seen seed. It is in my gar- den, running all over a Jack tree, and in a neighbor's, but here nor there does it ripen seed. I brought my plant when young from the jungle." Dr. Hooker remarks that they find no difficulty at Kew in keeping the plant within bounds. It is one of the finest climbing plants, and we think in our cli- mate will flower in the open air in summer. {Bot. Mag., Aug.) 381. BuRTO^NiA scA^BRA jBro»?i. Rough-leaved BuRTONiA. (Leguminosa3.) King George's Sound. a greenhouse plant; growing two feet high; with purple flowers; appearing in spring; increased by cutiings; cultivated in sandy peat and leaf mould. Bot. Mag , 1S57, pi. 5000. One of the pretty New Holland plants, with a heathlike foliage, and terminal spikes of very bright rose and crimson flowers. It was introduced to England many years ago, but subsequently lost, and it was not until 1855 that it was in- troduced again, having been raised from seeds sent to the Botanic Garden of Dublin. It is a very shoAvy greenhouse plant, and worthy of introduction to all choice collections. {Bot. Mag., Aug.) 382. Tyd.e^a ama'bilis PL et Lind. Handsome Tyd^ea. (Gesneracea3.) New Grenada. A stove plant; growing two feet high; with spotted rose colored flowers; appearing in spring; increased by oftsets; cultivated in very liglit peaty soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 4999. A plant in nearly all respects, except the color of the flow- ers, resembling Achimenes picta, which is now called Tydasa picta. The leaves have the same dark nerves, but the flow- OCTOBER. 461 ers are dark rose spotted with purple. It was imported from Popayan, in New Grenada, where it was discovered in 1S55 in the cold regions of the Cordilleras, at altitudes of from 8 to 10,000 feet. M. Linden therefore considers it a green- house plant. No doubt it will do well in a lower tempera- ture than the Achimenes. It flowers in spring, and in this appears somewhat unlike the others, which bloom all sum- mer. Perhaps, however, it was owing to some peculiar treatment of the plant. {Bot. Mag., Aug.) intual polices. Phloxes. — Of late years, these have been making rapid progress in the march of improvement, and although nearly all the varieties of this beauti- ful genus will grow freely in almost any garden soil, still they are seldom found in first class condition. As Messrs. Downie & Laird of Edinburgh have been most successful not only in raising fine varieties of this flower from seed, but also in flowering them in perfection, we beg to lay before our readers the mode of culture adopted by them, which is as follows : — In the first place, they select a sheltered, but at the same time an open situation for them, having a rich loam not over sandy, at least one and a half to two feet deep. This they will trench over in autumn in a rough manner, avoiding at the same time heavy manuring, more especially leaf mould or decayed vegetable matter ; this last generates insects, which eat the young plants. If the ground has been well manured for any previous crop it is much safer to plant out without manure, and rather depend upon giving the plant some in a liquid state once or twice a week, just before they are coming into bloom. Nothing answers better for this purpose than sheep droppings ; applications of this kind both add to the size of the spike and impart to the foliage a dark shining green. Great caution is enjoined on this point, as it is stated that many fine collections have been lost by in- judicious manuring. Also avoid, if possible, planting on a steep or sloping piece of ground, as few plants suffer so soon for want of water as the phlox. In dry weather the beds should receive a good watering at least once a week. Should this be neglected, the plants will come both weakly and prematurely into bloom, and have a very unsightly appearance ; and, as young plants produce much finer spikes than old ones, cuttings should be struck the summer before they are wanted under a hand glass, and potted off as soon as struck, (which will generally be in about four weeks,) and kept in pots in a cold frame over winter. Towards the end of March, if the 462 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. weather is favorable plant out in rows two feet apart in the row, and three feet asunder, according to circumstances. To procure a succession of bloom, take the strongest cuttings from the old stools, when they are about three inches long ; use five-inch pots, putting one cutting into each pot ; place them on a gentle hotbed, and when well rooted and hardened off they may either be planted out or repotted in eight-inch pots, plunged out in any sheltered situation, and taken into the greenhouse when they begin to show bloom. These will be found useful if wanted for exhibition about the end of August or beginning of September. To grow phloxes in perfection they should be renewed from cuttings at least every three years, and, if wanted for exhibition, two or three stems may be left on an old, and one only on a young plant. Have them well secured to stakes and protected from rain, and, if possible, from scorching sunshine. About the middle of March, a selection should be made from plants struck the previous season, taking care to choose those that are throwing up vigorous shoots. Put one plant in each pot, allowing not more than two stems to each, using pots from eight to twelve inches in diameter, according to the strength of the plants, avoiding too much drainage. Pot with rich fibry loam, adding a little sand and well decomposed manure. The dwarfer growing sorts may be placed under glass at once, either in a cold frame or greenhouse, and kept as near the glass as convenient. The dwarfer they can be grown the better. Give air on all possible opportunities. A little weak liquid manure may be given with advantage occasionally. The tall growing varieties may be plunged out of doors in any sheltered situation, and brought into the conservatory or greenhouse. If they have long naked stems the pots can be placed out of sight, so as to make the heads of bloom display themselves above other plants. By a careful selection, and only bringing the plants in-doors as they show flower, a succession of bloom may be kept up from June till September. When quantities of them are grown as just described, they produce a beautiful display. In repotting the phlox care must be taken not to break or reduce the ball, although shifting from a twelve to an eighteen-inch pot, as on this particular much of the future success of the plant depends. Should large specimens be wanted, those that have flowered once may be kept over winter in a cold frame, and if this is inconvenient they may be plunged out of doors and covered over with three inches of coal ashes or tanners' bark, taken up early in spring and repotted and thinned to three or four stems, and treated as formerly directed ; they will then amply repay any care and attention that may have been bestowed upon them. The following are well adapted for mo.st purposes, being dwarf and bushy in habit : — Abdul Medschid Khan, Criterion, Masterpiece, Admiral Linois, Dr. Leroy, Monsieur Fontaine, Alice Allain, General Brea, President M'Carel, Amabilis, Harold, Princess Mathilde, Antagonist, Lichniflora, Queen Victoria, Colonel Dundas, Leonida, Rubra. Countess of Home, Madame Couslin, OCTOBER. 463 It may be added that a collection of phloxes, kindly presented to the London Horticultural Society by Messrs. Downie &. Laird, may now be luund in the Gardens at Chisvvick, Many of the same varieties are also at present beautifully in bloom in private establishments, and for the decora- tion of mixed borders nothing could possibly be handsomer. — [Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 58L) Manuring Forest Trees. — In your paper of the 8th inst. there is an article on this subject ; perhaps the following remarks may be of some use to your correspondent. I have made a few experiments and observations how trees might recover their health and become useful and ornamental to those who possess them. The want of proper nutriment either to vegeta- bles or animals soon shows itself in one way or another, and food applied even in a rough state is to all appearance greedily received when animated beings are in want of it. The trees I intend to make a few remarks upon had fallen into a languid state through want of food, or, in other words, the soil appears to have been worn out by means of the crop that grew upon it. In a hollow part of a wood where some elms and other trees were planted some years ago, symptoms of decay manifested themselves in a very promi- nent form, such as the leaves turning yellow early in the season and falling off, when others in a more healthy state remained longer to perform the office assigned them. Leaves in snch a state make little wood for the tree that bears them; the young shoots apparently never ripened their wood, for many of them died, and the trees altogether had a decaying appearance. The hollow ground was used to put rubbish in that came from the garden and other places. It was thought at first that the rubbish would kill the trees by burying the roots too deep, but much that was put there was of vegetable origin, which soon decomposed, and being- of a porous nature did not prevent the air from reaching the roots, and instead of injuring the trees they soon began to show signs of improvement. Their health recovered rapidly, their leaves expanded in length and breadth, their shoots did the same, and their leaves, instead of being the first to droop in the autumn, continued to hold on as long as most deciduous plants do. From these ob- servations we may learn that even old trees may be made to have a healthy old age, and young ones that have set prematurely in their growth, from want of proper soil to grow in, or some deficiency in the constituent parts of the soil, may be made, either by liquid or solid food, to resume a healthy state, and may live from generation to generation a shelter and an ornament in the place which they occupy. Liquid manure may also be applied with advantage to forest trees. In a plantation where the trees were chiefly oak, elm, maple, Spanish chestnut, and birch, and the soil light, the subsoil beinf of a clayey nature, where liquid manure was applied to some of the trees, they profited greatly by it. The few elms that remain in the planta- tion in the natural soil measure on an average about one foot seven inches in circumference at three feet from the ground ; the maples or sycamores in the same soil measure about one foot nine inches in circumference at three feet from the ground. In the same plantation and same soil there are two 464 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. places where the maple and elm have grown much better than the rest. These have had their roots occasionally watered with liquid manure, and the difference in the measurement of the stems shows that they agree well with such treatment. In one of the places the circumference of the maple, three feet from the ground, is three feet five inches, and contains about 12 cubic feet of timber, and the elm measures four feet in circumference, and contains about 20 cubic feet of timber ; in the other place the maple meas- ures three feet six inches in circumference, and contains about 14 cubic feet of timber, and in both places the trees are remarkably healthy, and stand about 18 feet apart. It may be a long time before such manure can be spared for growing forest trees, and there are some kinds to which it would do more harm than good if it were applied, such as pine and fir trees ; but if even the slops thrown away as waste water from gentlemen's and farmers' kitchens and dairies were applied to the purposes of arboriculture, there would be both pleasure and profit derived from the application. Many trees may be seen growing in soils naturally poor and unfitted to carry heavy timber without assistance, and trees considered by many to be in the last stage of existence may be made to renew their growth ; for, give a tree room to grow and food to live upon, and vegetable physiologists will not be able to tell how long it should live and how large it should grow. — (Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 598.) Tree Guards. — In reply to an inquiry whether the rubbing of sheep is injurious to ornamental trees, I have observed that it has been injurious. I have a guard, which I adopted after trying many several years ago, and subsequent experience has confirmed its advantages. It is formed as fol- lows : — Take stakes, such as are used for hurdles for sheep folds, drill holes through each three or four inches from the top and from the bottom ; then saw another stake across into two-inch lengths, and drill each in the direc- tion of the growth ; thread the stakes and the short pieces, alternately, as many as may be necessary to surround the stem of the tree, on a copper wire at each end, and close it round the stem and fasten the wire. This forms a secure cradle, very much resembling that put over a horse's neck to prevent his reaching to bite a blistered leg. Space must be left to admit of the growth of the stem for three or four years. The cradle lies loose round the tree, on the surface of the ground, and never damages it ; and it eflfectually prevents barking, for which some animals have a most inconven- ient propensity. Three feet stakes are sufficient for sheep and five feet for cattle.— (/6. p. 598.) Mandevilla suaveolens. — This beautiful climber is generally treated as a stove or greenhouse plant, at least I have not noticed any account of its having been grown in the open air. If the following mode of treatment, therefore, is new to any of your readers, I shall be pleased to have been the means of bringing it under notice. The circumstances Avhich led to my treating it as a hardy plant are these. I had a large specimen on the back trellis of a vinery, where it grew most luxuriantly for some years. Every OCTOBER. 465 summer, however, it was attacked with green fly and red spider, and not- withstanding every exertion these pests not only maintained their hold on the Mandevilla, but the latter spread to the vines, which I need not say it greatly injured. I saw I had no chance of ridding the vines of spider un- less I removed the plant from the house, and I reluctantly made up my mind to do this. Observing, however, that such branches of it as passed through the sashes at the top of the vinery to the open air continued to flourish till the beginning of winter, I began to think that the plant was not so tender as it had been represented to be, and accordingly I determined to give it a trial on a wall. I therefore cut it in to the bare woody stem, about three feet from the ground, and removed it into a good sized pot which I placed in a small orchard house erected here last autumn. During the whole of the winter it received no covering, and there being no fire in the house the thermometer frequently fell as low as 20°, and on one or two oc- casions to 17°. The vitality of the plant, however, continued unimpaired, and I planted it out towards the end of March on a wall with a south aspect. As the season advanced the stem became studded with numerous buds, which in due time threw out branches, and it is now growing and blooming abundantly. If the weather is at all favorable I hope to have it flourishing for a couple of months to come, and I am sanguine enough to hope, from the degree of cold to which it was subjected last winter and stood unin- jured, that I shall be able to preserve it during the ensuing cold season by covering it with a thick mat. — [lb. p. 598.) Fern Growing. — It should be borne in mind that there is, in the case of stove ferns, the same necessity for a period of rest (induced by lower night temperature in winter than in spring and summer) as in that of other stove plants. But this important point in stove fern culture is too often overlooked, and if any difference of temperature occurs, it is rather the re- sult of chance than of indention, and as a consequence the plants literally live too fast — 2 or 3 years' growth are compassed in one year, and the result is drawn weakly fronds — so tender indeed that a little sunshine, damp or extra air at once disfigures or destroys them : 55° to 60° at niglit in winter will keep any stove fern, in this catalogue, in good health, and prepare it for a vigorous spring growth. Air, too, should be regularly given, in moderation, in summer, to lessen the effect of excessive sunshine. This particularly applies to July and August — when artificial heat ought to be entirely discontinued — and the stove fernery, for a while, cease to be a stove in point of temperature. Such a structure, if kept quite close during bright sunshine, will, though shaded, be unbearably warm, and many of the ferns in it will speedily show that its close heat is more than they require. Moreover, in such a close and high temperature it is scarcely possible to spend an hour without an amount of personal inconvenience that very much detracts from the gratification every fern-lover feels in a leisurely and frequent inspection of his collection. Soil. — The peat, which must be the basis of the compost, ought to be of a rather spongy and very fibry nature — such as orchid growers use, and VOL. XXIII. NO. X. 59 466 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. which abounds in decayed moss, fibry roots, and the decaying creeping stems of the common brake — avoid the close, heavy, dark-colored kind which, when very wet, becomes a dark muddy mass. For small ferns no loam need be added, but for large growing kinds in large pots moderate- sized pieces of yellow turfy loam, with the herbage decayed, and used in moderation, is decidedly advantageous, as it retains moisture longer than peat does, and in consequence many of the tiny roots will cling to the pieces of it. Enough of pure white sand should be used to give the com- post a slightly sandy appearance. Let the relative proportions be of peat at least two thirds — of loam one-third or less. To keep the mixture porous, and to secure proper drainage through it, add to it a liberal portion of free- stone ; or better still, and every where accessible, well burnt cmders — pro- portioning the size of the pieces to the size of the plants. The compost must not be sifted. In the hardy fernery, out of doors, the soil is not of so much consequence as in pot culture. It may be composed of decayed leaf- soil (where peat cannot be got) and loam, and for large-growing kinds even loam alone would do. If peat, however, can be procured, by all means let it form half the mixture. Water. — A too frequent impression prevails that water may be unsparing- ly used in pot culture, and in carrying that impression into practice the soil is often reduced to little else than bog-mud, and as a matter of course all the more delicate and most succulent kinds perish — hence one cause for the supposed difficulty in cultivating many Cheilanthes, Nothochlsenas, &c., and the frequent loss in winter of the gold and silver Gymnograinmas. The right practice is not to allow the fronds to droop from dryness of the soil, but as soon as its surface looks and feels dry, give water at once and enough — not little and often ; and if the drainage and compost are right the soil may be touched a few minutes after watering without soiling the fing-ers. The drainage in the bottom of the pot need not exceed one fourth of its depth. Syringing or sprinkling (in either case as slightly as possible and with rain water) the foliage of all ferns, excepting the very succulent and small hairy kinds, that are cultivated under glass, is very advantageous, if practised once or twice daily during the warmest summer weather. Insects. — The two greatest pests to the fern-grower — thrip and brown- scale — are not easily extirpated. The thrip seriously disfigures the fronds ; to destroy it, remove the most infested fronds and fumigate the others often, but cautiously, with tobacco, or use tobacco-water, adding to it a little black sulphur, and applying the mixture with a camel's-hair brush, syring- ing it off again in a few hours — repeat the application till all trace of it disappears. The brown-scale should be removed by hand ; if the fern is much infested with it, cut away all the fronds at once and remove any trace of it on the new growth. Glass covered Fern Cases are too frequently kept as close as though the plants were undergoing a long sea voyage, and required the total exclusion of the external air. This is the chief cause of the ferns in so many of these very interesting structures having a drawn and untidy appearance? and the glass soiled and obscured by the condensed moisture. Perhaps the OCTOBER. 467 following hints may be useful : — Case for the soil should have a perforated bottom, and be made to fit into, but not to touch, the bottom of a water- tight outer one, having an appliance for removing the drainage-water occa- sionally. Soil. — The same as for large pot ferns (see above), to be raised considerably above the rim of the case, and to rest on at least an inch of large cinders or other pieces of porous drainage material. Jlir. — Admit occasionally, but not on very dry sunny days, as it is then desirable to re- tain the internal moist air. Small glasses may be slightly titled on one side ; large ones must have special ventilators. Water. — As air is given occasionally, and the case has a perforated bottom, there will be a moderate escape of moisture from the soil, and that will have to be replaced at distant intervals, and then only when the surface gives slight indications of dryness. Planting. Nothing is eventually gained by crowding the plants and leav- ing no room for future growth. Occasionally wash and well dry the glass, replacing it quickly. — [Gard. Chron., 1857, p. 613.) Pegs for Bedding Plants. — Several modes of pegging down plants have lately been recommended. Nothing, however, answers more perfectly than pegs cut from the common brake during the month of September and early in October. The cutting them is an amusement for children, and would make a good excuse for a picnic. My children make a nice sum for the Missionary Society every year by selling them to friends at one shilling per hundred. — [lb. p. 614.) Sfltittits. UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL. The annual exhibition of this Society was held at Louisville, Ky., on Tuesday, Sept. 3d, and was attended by a large concourse. Owing to the earliness of the season, the show of fruits was not large, and the contribu- tors were principally from the West. Had it been later in the year, un- doubtedly quite a number of cultivators would have sent specimens from the East. We copy the following report of the fruits and flowers from the Lou- isville papers : — Floral Hall. — The collection of J. F. Willey, of Indiana, embraced 80 kinds of apples, some of them fine specimens; also 35 varieties of peaches. J. Sigerson & Brother of St. Louis exhibited 144 varieties of apples. These gentlemen select as the best for summer apples the -Sanders June, Yellow Harvest, and Caroline June; for fall apples, the Wine, Rambo, and Late Queen; for "inter, the Canfield, Jeniton, Newark or Fall Pippin, and Har- rison. Beside the apples, they showed some 47 plates of pears. Dr. J. A. Warder of Cincinnati exhibited very fine specimens of Catawissa raspber- ries, and some remarkable seedling Crab apples, and a few superior pears. 468 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. R. Buchanan of Cincinnati had very fine looking specimens of apples and pears. E. J. Todd of Indiana showed 50 kinds of apples, and 9 specimens of native grapes. Ormsby Hite of Kentucky, whose farm is on the Ohio river about four miles from Louisville, exhibited 32 varieties of apples, and some native grapes. G. E. Heinsohn of Jefferson County, Ky., apples and grapes. J. Johnson of Ky., Catawba and Isabella grapes, and 12 varieties of apples. Wm. Heaver of Cincinnati, 30 varieties of pears, and hothouse grapes. N. Durfee, Esq., of Fall River, Mass., exhibited the most tempt- ing bunches of hothouse grapes that we ever saw. He had one bunch of the Palestine weighing 10.^ pounds; a splendid bunch of large Muscat of Alexandria and some Black Hamburghs, Hobbs & Walker, 30 varieties of apples. Arthur Peter, Esq., near this city, exhibited 21 plates of pears, and six varieties of peaches. For plums, Mr. Wright of Indiana obtained the first premium. Hon. M. P. Wilder, of Mass., displayed 100 different varieties of pears, but did not compete for a premium. Lawrence Young, Esq. of this county, who from the first has entered into the labors of the preliminary arrange- ment with untiring zeal, had on exhibition, in a neat glass case, a plate of Alexander apples, faultless in shape and color ; one of American Summer Pearmain, and one of Yellow Egg plums. He had also a very large Van Zandt's Superb peach, and 40 varieties of pears, not competing for prem- iums. He took the premium for the best 50 varieties of apples, and exhib- ited also a basket of apples declared by the judges to be the best on exhibi- tion. T. Collins of Indiana showed about 20 plates of apples, and Mr. A. H. Ernst of Cincinnati, a fine lot of pears. The new Chinese hemp is thought to be destined to supersede the variety in conmon use. The plant is seventeen feet; it is sown broadcast, like other hemp, requires only a moderately rich soil, and is said to yield 1400 pounds per acre. J. P. Morton of Louisville had seven kinds of asters, white, blue and crimson ; a Cissus discolor, with its curious leaves of dark green, clouded with ash color, and tinged underneath of a deep maroon tint; and a Lantana, tall, tree-like and graceful in appearance. E. Wilson exhibited the curious Araucaria excelsa. The feather-like, tasteful decorations of evergreens spread over the slight pillars and beams of the hall, were designed and made by Henry Manz, a nurseryman of Louisville. On tables were monster vegetables, and bags and barrels of grain of all kinds. The following is the award of pri-miums for fruits: — Apples. — First premium to Lawrence Young, Jefferson Co., Ky. ; second premium to John Sigerson & Brother, Missouri. Best 30 varieties, first premium to Hobbs, Walker & Co., Jefferson Co., Ky. ; second premium to O. Hite, Jefferson Co., Ky. Best 12 varieties, first premium to Jacob Johnson, Jefferson Co. ; sec- ond premium to George E. Hancock, Jefferson Co. Best dish, first premium to George E. Heinsohn, Jefferson Co. ; second premium to J. M. Robinson, Kentucky. OCTOBER. 469 Pears. — Best 50, first premium to Wm. Heaver, Ohio ; second premium to J. Sigerson &. Brother, Missouri. Best 30 varieties, first premium to Wm. Heaver, Ohio. Best dish, first premium to Jacob Johnson, Ky.; second premium to S. L. Gaar, Jefferson Co. Best 12 varieties, fii;st premium to J. A. Warder, Ohio. Peaches. — Best, first premium to J. E. Willey, Ind. ; second premium to J. W. Wright, Ind. Best dish White Flesh Clings, first premium to John F. Willey, Ind ; second premium to Jacob Clore, Ky. Watermelons. — Best, special premium to Wm. Hinton, Ind. Musk Melons. — Best, special premium to G. E. Heinsohn, Ky. Plums. — Best varieties, P. S. Burk ; one variety, J. Thatcher, Ky. Raspberries. — J. A. Warder, Ohio. Grapes. — Native or Seedling, to Miss E. J. Todd, Ind. Isabella, first premium to Henry Nantz, Jefi*ersonCo. ; second premium to Jacob Johnson, Ky. Catawba, first premium to Jacob Johnson, Ky. ; second premium to O. Hite, Louisville. Foreign, first premium to N. Durfee, Mass. ; second premium to Wm. Heaver, Ohio. Saturday, Sept. 5, 1857. — An adjourned meeting of the Society was held to-day — the President in the chair. Exhibited. — Flowers: From J. Breck & Son, German asters, phloxes, verbenas, &c. From Hovey & Co., German asters (20 varieties), verbenas, dahlias, &c. From S. Walker, seedling phloxes. From W. C. Strong, Clerodendron Fortunii, and seedling verbenas. From Jona. French, asters, verbenas, &c. From E. S. Rand, Jr., achimenes, seedling gloxinias and other flowers. Cut flowers, asters, &c. were contributed by Mrs. Richard- son, Miss A. C. Kenrick, Miss C. P. Barnes, F. Winship, C. S. Holbrook, T. G. Whytal, J. Murray, J. W. Foster, W. Burch, Barnes & Washtfurn, J. Nugent, Evers & Co., W. E. Carter, G. N. Noyes, Galvin & Hogan, C. F. Copeland, J. Waterhouse, A. Bowditch & Son, and others. AWARD OF PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES. Asters. — For the best 30 flowers, to Hovey & Co., ^5. For the second best, to J. French, $4. For the next best, to Evers & Co., .$3. For the next best, to J. Breck & Son, $2. 470 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Perpetual Roses. — For the best, to F. Winship, $5. For the second best, to Galvin & Hogan, $4. For the third best, to J. Breck & Son, $3. Gratuities. — To W. E. Carter for bouquets, J. Murray for heath, and Barnes & Washburn for display, ^ each. Fruits : From T. Hastings, Early Black and Diamond plums, both fine. From E. A. Story, Pumpkin Sweet apples. From C. E. Grant, Coolidge peaches. From Wm. P. Perkins, Muscat of Alexandria, B. Hamburg, Wil- mot and Cannon Hall grapes. From N. Stetson, Shanghai peaches, well grown and of so 1 irge a size (11 inches in circumference, weighing about 12 oz. each) as to prove the main attraction on the tables of to-day. This is a seedling raised from a stone received from Shanghai — hence the name. It is a clingstone, of delicious flavor, and, as it will probably become widely disseminated, the Committee suggest that it be called " Bridgewater." From J. Nugent, Dorchester blackberries. From F. Marsh, Cogswell apples. From I. Davis, seedling apples. From W. Lothrop, peaches. From J. Murray, B. d'Amalis pears. From E. S. Purdy, peaches. Prom G. Wil- son, Rostiezer pears, fine. From S. W. Cook, pears. From S. W. Fowle, Dearborns, very fine. From J. Munroe, Pumpkin Sweet apples. From Mr. Humphrey, two varieties grapes. From W. W. Wheildon, six vars. apples. From F. Dana, three vars. pears, and mandrakes. From J. F. Allen, figs and grapes in variety — one variety a seedling from Black Hamburgh and Chasselas, which, from the peculiar coloring of the skin, will prove valua- ble as a wine grape, in the manufacture of Port or Claret. From Hovey & Co., seven varieties of pears. AWARD OF PREMIUMS FOR FRUITS. Apples. — For the best 12 summer apples, to G. B. Cutter, for the Wil- liams, $6. For the second best, to J. W. Foster, for the Early Harvest, $4. Pears. — For the best, to Hovey & Co., for the Boston, $5. For the next best, to H. Vandine, for the Muskingum, $3. For the third best, to A. D. Webber, for the Rostiezer, $2. Blackberries. — For the best, to J. Nugent, for the Dorchester, $5. For the second best, to G. Merriam, for the Dorchester, $4. For the third best, to J. B. Moore, for the Dorchester, $3. For the fourth best, to J. W. Foster, for the Dorchester, $2. Currants. — For the best, to J. W. Foster, for Red Dutch, $3. For the next best, to Capt. G. Wilson, for Victoria, $2. Gooseberries. — For the best, to A. D. Webber, $3. For the second best, to J. W. Foster, $2. Raspberries. — For the best, to J. W. Foster, for Knevet's Giant, $4. For the second best, to W, R. Austin, for Knevet's Giant, $3. For the third best, to L. Jennings, for Knevet's Giant, $2. The Supreme de Quimper, exhibited by Messrs. Hovey, would have re- ceived a premium, but was ruled out, they having been awarded one premi- um under the same head. OCTOBER. 471 Sept. 12. — Exhibited. Flowers : From J. Breck & Son, verbenas, phlox, fine gladiolus, spireas, larkspurs, dahlas, asters, lobelia, fine, Senecio, fine seedling' Tropceolum Breckii and Tropasolum Randii, two fine seed- lings, probably hybrids between T. Lily Schmidt and T. pulcherrima, and far superior to either for border flowering or greenhouse culture. From G. G. Hubbard, Cambridge, fine display of verbenas. From Barnes & Wash- burn, dahlias, gladiolus, salvias, datura, larkspurs, fine seedlings, ver- benas, phloxes, lilies, Centaurea, tigridas, petunias, roses. From E. S. Rand, Jr., verbenas, heliotropes, achimenes, Perilla, phloxes, Tropaeolums, gentian, lilies, roses, Loasa, Begonias, Vallota purpurea, two blooms and leaf of Nymphsea cserulea, Hedychium Gardnerianum, very rare. From Hovey & Co., verbenas, gladiolus, fine, dahlias, a fine display. Cut flow- ers, bouquets, &c. were contributed by T. Smallwood, J. Nugent, B. Har- rington, G. D. Noyes, J. O. Williams, C. Copeland, F. Winship, J. Murray, J. W. Busch, and others. GRATUITIES AWARDED. To Barnes & Washburn, J. Breck & Son, F. Winship, and C. Cope- land, $2 each. To J. Murray, Hovey & Co., and Miss Russell, $1 each. Fruits: From H. G. Fettee, Coolidge peaches. From F. Dana, seedling pear No. 12. From A. Burnette, Belle Lucrative pears. From F. Marsh, Persian melons, raised in open ground, very fine. From G. Merriam, Bart- lett pears. From J. F. Allen, Late Admirable peaches and grapes in var. From S. G. Perkins, Boston nectarines, extra fine. From S. W. Fowle, a handsome show of tne Alexander apple. From S. A. Bemis, Red Astra- chan and Early Bough apples, raised in the vicinity of the White Moun- tains. From H. Vandine, Tyson, Andrews, Shurtleff Seedling, Muskin- gum and Gushing pears; Washington, Apple, Duane's Purple, Green Gage, Harding's Seedling, Pond's Seedling, Smith's Orleans, Corse's Notabene, Jefferson, Columbia, Lawrence's Favorite, Scruger's Scarlet Gage, Red Gage, Ives' Seedling, Penobscot, Bingham, Huling's Superb, New Orleans, Aspinwall Seedling and Kirk plums. From A. Dexter, Harvard pears. Frou) E. M. Richards, Christiana melons, fine. From B. Harrington, Queen and Foundling apples ; Bartlett and other pears. From J. W. Newhall, figs, extra fine, open culture. From Hovey &. Co., Thomas plums; Wat- son and other pears. From J. Nugent, Dorchester blackberries. From E. A. Story, Harvard pears. From T. Hastings, extra fine Diamond plums. From W. G. Randall, Maiden's Blush apples. From C. E. C. Breck, Fal- lawater apples. From E. Brown, apples and pears. The Twentt-ninth Annual Exhibition of the Society was held at the Music Hall, Boston, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the 22d, 23d, 24th and 25th of September. The arrangements for the ac- commodation of the fruits and vegetables were the same as in previous years, — five wide tables running the length of the main floor for the fruits, and two beneath the gallery, running crosswise, for the vegetables. The plants in pots were displayed to better advantage than last year, two circu- lar stands, in addition to the permanent stage, being erected, for the smaller 472 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. and choicer kinds, with a long table for the smaller designs and bouquets. No decorations were made around the hall this year, its high finish and pan- nelled ceiling being in themselves beautiful. The designs were not of so high an order as last year. Indeed very few of them came up to our idea of what they should be. That by Mr. Harris, gardener to H. H. Hunnewell, which obtained the first prize, was worked with flowers in a. harmonious arrangement of colors, but the design did not please us so well as the execution. A cornucopia contributed by Mrs. T. Jjombard, Jr., of Newton, was one of the most tasteful designs in the hall. The plants in pots were about the same as in previous years ; some collec- tions being better and others not as good. A Nymphsea cterulea from E. S. Rand, Jr., in a small tank, attracted much attention. A miniature design of a cottage and garden, from T. G. Whytal, afforded some idea of the taste which may be displayed in laying out small suburban grounds. Many smaller pieces we have not time to particularize. The Germania Band discoursed exquisite music both day and evening, and on Friday, the closing night of the Exhibition, the hall was filled to overflowing with the members and their families, invited guests and the public, a large proportion of whom were ladies, to hear the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Avho had been invited to deliver an address upon the occa- sion. It is hardly necessary to say that the expectations of the numerous assembly were not disappointed. The reverend gentleman, who is himself a cultivator and familiar with the theme, took up the subject of " flowers," and in his happiest manner portrayed the pleasure arising from the posses- sion of a garden, and the nurture of plants, as well as the influence of flowers on our daily lives. We hope we may be able to give the address in full in a future number, and therefore shall not make any extract from the meagre reports which have already been published. We proceed to give as complete an account of the exhibition and award of premiums as the lateness of the month and our room will admit : — Plants in Pots : — From J. P. Gushing, twenty-five plants, among which were fine specimens of ChamseVops humilis, Cycus revoliita, &c. From M. P. Wilder, twenty plants, includnig Stephanotus floribunda, Phy- sianthus albens, Gardenia Fortiim, &c. From Hovey & Co., twenty plants, among them Rondeleti'a speciosa, Ardisia crenuiata fructo albo, lantanas in variety, Stephanotus floribundus, Cissus discolor, &lc. From F. Winship, twenty plants, including Abiuilon album, Erythrina crista galli, Cryptome- riajaponica, &c. From E. S. Rand, Jr., twenty plants, among them several fine gloxinias, achimenes, Cissus discolor, Nympha;^a carulea, &c. &c. Plants were also contributed by A. Bowditch, T. W. Walker, E. A. Story and others. Fjloral Designs : — From H. H. Hunnewell, a large columnar design, brilliantly arranged with showy flowers. From Mrs. Wm. Kenrick, a floral cross with the. inscription I. H. S. worked in flowers. From Mrs. E. A. Story, a beautiful moss flower stand, worked with much skill. From Miss S. VV. Story, a specimen of oriental painting, representing a bouquet of flowers. From T. G. Whytal, a miniature suburban cottage and grounds, OCTOBER. 473 very prettily arranged with beds of flowers, and plants representing trees, &c. From Mrs. W. P. Houghton, Newton, a Chinese pagoda, very neatly worked and containing within, a dish of very fine flowers. From Jona. French, a large urn, covered witii amaranths in diamonds and lozenges, filled with an immense bouquet. From Mrs. Wrn. Ashby, a floral temple. From Mrs. I. Lombard, Jr., a cornucopia of fruits and flowers, executed in the most tasteful manner and deservedly attracting great attention. Other smaller designs were contributed which we have not room to enumerate. Bouquets : — From Hovey & Co., two superb bouquets, composed prin- cipally of red and white Japan lilies, dahlias and asters. From Galvin &. Hogan, two large bouquets. From F. Winship, two smaller bouquets, composed principally of marigolds and love lies bleeding, &c. Parlor bou- quets were contributed by J. Nugent, M. P. Wilder, Hovey &. Co., Galvin & Hogan, E. S. Rand, Jr., and others. Numerous bouquets also ornament- ed the tables and flower stands throughout the hall. Wardian Cases : — Some very pretty examples of Wardian cases were contributed by Messrs. Graff", of New York, which were much admired. The plants were in fine condition, and afforded a good opportunity to exam- ine this novel and interesting mode of growing plants in the parlor. We intend soon to give some account of the method of growing plants in these cases, which we hope to see more generally introduced among us, as parlor ornaments. Cut Flowers : — The display of cut flowers was liberal and excellent. Mr. C. Copeland filled one stand with roses, dahlias and various other flow- ers, most tastefully arranged as regards color, &c. Messrs. Barnes & Washburn had a fine show of dahlias, Japan lilies, &c. F. Winship had a similar stand, and Messrs. Rand, Breck &. Son, Hovey & Co., A. Bowditch, G. G. Hubbard and others, had handsome collections ; that of Messrs. Hovey & Co. embracing a large number of new and fine dahlias, Japan lilies and asters. The following is the award of premiums in this department: — PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES AWARDED FOR DESIGNS, PLAINTS, ETC. Pot Plants. — For the best display, to J. P. Cushing, $25. For the second best, to M. P. Wilder, $20. For the third best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., $15. For the fourth best, to T. W. Walker, $12. For the fifth best, to F. Winship, $10. For the best specimen plant, to Hovey & Co., for Cissus discolor, $10. For the second best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., $8. For the third best, to J. Murray, $6. Coxcombs. — For the best six in pots, to T. W. Walker, $3. For the second best, to J. W. Edmands, $2. Balsams. — For the second best six in pots, to T. W. Walker, $2. Floral Designs. — For the best, to H. H. Hunnewell, $20. For the second best, to Wm. Ashley, $15. For the third best, to Thomas G. Whytal, $10. For the fourth best, to Jona. French, $8. VOL. XXIII. NO. X. 60 474 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. For the fiflh best, to Mrs. E. A. Story, $5. For the sixth best, to Mrs. J. A. Kenrick, $3. Bouquets. — For the best pair suitable for the Bradlee vases, to Galvin & Hogan, the Bradlee plate, $10. For the best pair suitable for the Jones vases, to F. Winship-, $10. Parlor Bouquets. — For the best pair, to M. P. Wilder, $8. For the second best, to James Nugent, $7. For the third best, to Galvin & Hogan, $6. For the fourth best, to Hovey & Co., $5. For the fifth best, to F. Winship, $4. For the sixth best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., $3. Hand Bouquets. — For the second best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., $3. Mantel Bouquets. — For the best, to William E. Carter, $5. Cut Flowers. — For the best display during the exhibition, to C. Cope- land, $15. For the second best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., $12. For the third best, to Barnes & Washburn, $10. For the fourth best, to F. Winship, $8. For the fifth best, to J. Breck & Son, $6. gratuities. Floral Designs. — To Miss E. M.Harris, $4 ; to Anna C. Kenrick, $2 ; to Mrs. W. P. Houghton, $4 ; to Miss S. A. Russell, $3 ; Mrs. Wm. Richardson, $4. Parlor Bouquets. — To J. Breck & Son, $1 ; to Bowditch & Sons, $1 ; to Galvin & Hogan, $2 ; to H. S. Mansfield, $1. Large Bouquets. — To Hovey & Co., $6 ; to Breck & Co., $3. Decorations. — To Miss E. M. Harris, for frames of flowers, $3; to J. W- Foster, for stand bouquets, $2 ; to Mrs. I. Lombard, cornucopia, $10; to E. S. Rand, Jr., for blue lily of Egypt, $10; to Miss A. C Kenrick, for design, $2. Pot Plants.— To Hovey & Co., $5 ; to A. Bowditch & Son, $1 ; to E. S. Rand, Jr., $3. Specimen Plants. — To J. Breck «& Son, for Cissus, $2. Cut Flowers. — To Hovey & Co., $4; to Bowditch & Son, $5; to J. Murray, $3 ; to J. Nugent, $2 ; to R. Sykes, T. Smallwood, T. W. Walker, E. Stone, G. G. Hubbard, and E. A. Story, $1 each. Fruit: — From the President of the Society, 110 varieties of pears, in- cluding several new kinds, among which were Beurrt; Clairgeau, Gustave Burgoyne, Pie IX, Merriam, B. Sterckman, Vessouziere, &c.; also several seedlings. From Hovoy & Co., 235 varieties of pears, including B. Bachelier, B. Clairgeau, B. Sterckman, Fondante du Cornice, Gerando, Sheldon, Beurre Langelier, King, Oswego Beurr6, Oswego Incomparable, Gustave Burgoyne, Beurre Superfin, Adams, Belle Julie, Abbott, &,c. &c.; also, 15 var. peaches, and Rebecca and Concord grapes. From M. P. Wilder, 130 varieties of pears, among them Beurre Benoits, B. Superfin, B. Sterckman, Lodge, Nouveau Poiteau, Adams, Sheldon, Pie IX, Abbott, Dallas, Styer, Conseilleur Ranwez, &c. OCTOBER. 475 From S. Walker, 90 varieties pears, including Merriam, Jersey Gratioli, Doyenne Sterckman, &c. From R. Manning, SO var. of pears. From T. W. Walker, 22 var of pears. From H. Vandine, 70 varieties of pears and 30 varieties of plums ; among the latter fine specimens of Jefferson, Columbia, Lucombe's Non- such, Green Gage, Bingham, Coe's Golden Drop, &c. Very fine collections also came from the following contributors : — J. Stickney, 30 varieties pears. A. D. Williams, 35 var. of pears and 20 var. of apples. G. Southack, 20 var. of pears. A. Bowditch & Son, 40 var. of pears. R. W. Ames, 40 var. of pears. W. R. Austin, 2.5 var. of pears. J. Gordon, 35 var. of pears. Evers & Co., 30 var. of pears and 20 var. of apples. Dr. J. A. Stetson, 22 var. of pears and 11 var. of apples. W. Bacon, 12 var. of pears. S. Downer, 15 var. of pears. A. Low, 15 var. of pears and 3 var. of peaches. S. S#veetser, 7 var. pears. Galvin & Hogan, 30 var. pears. Lake & Co., 43 var. of apples, and wild grapes. N, Stet- son, 4 var. of peaches. A. Parker, 4 var. of pears. P. R. L. Stone, 3 var. of pears and 4 var. peaches. C. E. Grant, 4 var. grapes and a superb de- sign hung with some of tlie best Hamburg grapes in the hall. From J. B- Moore, 12 var. of apples. From Thaddeus Clapp, 30 var. of apples and 10 of peaches. From W. W. Wheildon, 3 var. of pears and 16 var. of apples. J. Eustis, 20 var. of apples. Numerous other smaller collections of various fruits filled the tables. The display of grapes was excellent. From Mrs. F. B. Durfee, 8 var., superb specimens, large clusters and large berries and the black kinds fine- ly colored. From H. S. Mansfield, Millville, a collection of 12 var., all well grown and finely colored. From C. S. Holbrook, 12 var. of grapes, excellent. From E. S. Rand, Jr., 8 var. of grapes. From C. Minot, Sora- erville, 6 var. of grapes. From J. Breck &- Son, 8 var. of grapes. From M. H. Simpson, fine Black Hamburgh and Syrian grapes. From S. Austin, 6 var. grapes. From E. W. Bull, beautifully ripened specimens of the Con- cord grape. From Dr. C. W. Grant, Newburgh, N. Y., Delaware, Union, and Logan grapes, the former very handsome. From Geo. W. Campbell, Delaware, O., very fine Delaware grapes. From W. Brocksbanks, Hudson, N. Y., Rebecca grapes. Isabella Grapes, though not ripe, were sent by several contributors. PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES FOR FRUITS. Apples. — For the best 30 varieties, to Thaddeus Clapp, the Lyman plate, A^O. For the best 20 varieties, to J. Eustis, $1.5. For the best 10 vurieties, to J. A. Stetson, $10. For the second best, to J. B. Moore, $8. For the third best, to J. Gordon, $6. For the fourth best, to Evers & Co., $4. For the best five varieties of 12 specimens, to B. Harrington, $8. For the best dish of apples, 12 specimens, to N. H. White for Hub- bardston Nonsuch, $5. For the second best, to Seth W. Fowle, for Alexander, $4. 476 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. For the third best, to J. A. Stetson, for Fallawater, $3. For the fourth best, to Evers & Co., for Hubbardston, $2. Pears. — For the best 30 varieties, to M. P. Wilder, the Lyman plate, ^20. For the second best, to J. Gordon, f 15. For thethird best, to Hovey «fc Co., $12. For the best 20 varieties, to R. W. Ames, #15. For the second best, to J. Stickney, $12. For the third best, to A. D. Williams, $8. For the best 10 varieties, to W. R. Austin, $10. For the second best, to Wm. Bacon, $8. For the third best, to Ariel Low, $6. For the fourth best, to S. Downer, $4. For the best single dish, to J. Eaton, for Flemish Beauty, $5. For the second best, to Ariel Low, for Belle Lucrative, $4. For the third best, to Wm. Bacon, for Andrews, $3. For the fourth best, to J. A. Stetson, for Beurr6 d'Anjou, $2. Grapes. — For the best five varieties, to Mrs. F. B. Durfee, $10. For the second best, to C. S. Holbrook, $8. For the third best, to C. Minot, $6. For the fourth best, to S. Austin, #4._ For the best two varieties, to C. E. Grant, $5. For the second best, to C. T. James, Providence, $4. For the largest and best collection, to H. S. Mansfield, Millville, $10. For the third best, to E. S. Rand, Jr., $6. For the fourth best, to Breck & Son, $4. For the best specimens of native grapes, to E. W. Bull, for Concord, $5. For the second best, to G. B. Cutter, for Isabella, $4. For the third best, to Newell Harding, for Isabella, $3. For the fourth best, to Thomas Waterman, for Diana, $2. Peaches. — For the largest and best collection, to Hovey & Co., $5. For the second best, to Thaddeus Clapp, $4. For the third best, to Stone & Son of Newton, $3. For the fourth best, to F. Dana, $2. For the best single dish of peaches, to Nahum Stetson, $3. For the second best, to Wm. H. Ryder, $2. For the third best, to W. A. Crafts, $1. Plums. — For the largest and best collection, to Henry Vandine, $5. Assorted Fruit. — For the best basket of fruit of various kinds, to C. S. Grant, $10. For the second best, to James Murray, $8. For the third best, to M. P. Wilder, $6. For the fourth best, to Spooner & Curtis, $5. For the fifth best, to Jonathan French, $4. For the sixth best, to Wm. A. Crafts, $3. GRATUITIES. Apples. — To Lake & Co. for collection, $10 ; to A. D. Williams, do., $6; to J. Stone & Son, do., $6 ; to W. W. Wheildon, do., $G; to J- OCTOBER. 477 W. Coolidge, do,, $5 ; to J. Gilbert, Jr., do., $3 ; to Wm. Baker, for two dishes orange pippins, $1 ; to M. H. Simpson, dishes of pippins, #1 ; to C. Copeland, for a collection $3 ; to H. Harrington, dish, $1 ; to George Newhall, collection, $2 ; to W. II. Spooner and C. F. Cur- tis, dish of Baldwins, $\ ; to James Munroe, dishes, $2 ; to J. A. Ken- rick, $2 ; to Mrs. J. Lovett, 2d, $3 ; to J. W. Foster the Horticulturist for one year ; to Natlian White, do. ; to Mrs. J. Lovett, $3. For extra specimens, single dishes, one dollar each to B. Harrington, for the Queen of the Orchard ; Hovey & Co., for Porter; J. Gordon, for Grand Sachem ; J. B. Moore, for Hubbardston ; T. Clapp, for Gra- venstein ; J. Gilbert, Jr. for a 20 oz. Pippin ; Evers & Co. for Gloria mundi, and E. Stone for Polish. Pears. — For collections, $10 each to J. S. Cabot, Sam'l Walker and R. Manning ; $8 to H. Vandine ; $5 to J. A. Stetson ; $i each to Augus- tus Parker, George Southac, W. A. Crafts, and F. Dana. For single dishes of great excellence, $2 to A. J. Dean for Easter Beurre, J. Saville for Duchess, S. Penniman for Flemish Beauty, and J. Munro for Bartlett; to Geo. Southack, $i ; the Horticulturist to G. Newhall, James Kelly, J. W. Foster, H. Bradlee, J. A. Kenrick, J. Lovett, C. D. Swain, Mrs. J. Mason, G. Southack, J. Mason, F. Dana ; Hovey 's Magazine to Nath'l White, J. Murray, P. R. L. Stone, W. C. Allen, H. B. Ward, S. Sweetser, Mrs. C. Valentine, W. H. Moore, Samuel Lane ; Country Gentleman to W. A. Austin ; $3 in publica- tions to Evers & Co., A. Bo'vv'ditch & Son, Galvin & Hogan, J. S. Rising, W. H. Palmer, H. Brooks, Jacob Eaton, Harvey Davis; $4 in publications to Spooner &l Curtis. Peaches. — To Mrs. R. S. Bailey, bronze medal ; Wm. Brigham, $1 ; N. Stetson for collection, medal ; Breck & Son, $2 ; A. Lowe, medal ; also medals to E. S. Rand, W. Bacon and C. B. Swain for collections ; to John Gardner, Dedham, bronze medal. Native Grapes. — To C. W. Grant, silver medal for fine specimens Un- ion Village ; to Wm. Brooksbank, silver medal for fine specimens Re- becca ; to George W. Campbell, Delaware, Ohio, silver medal for fine specimens Delaware ; to M. H. Simpson, Saxonville, for two varieties foreign grapes, $3. Plums. — To T. Hastings, $3, and medals to M. H. Simpson and A. D. Withington. Assorted Fruit. — To Stone & Son, $2; Galvin & Hogan, $2; B. Harrington, $1. Vegetables. — The show of vegetables was excellent, and contained a greater number of kinds than was ever before exhibited. Among them we noticed peanuts, new Strawberry tomatoes, Chufas or Earth almonds, Chi- nese potato, &,c. Many specimens of the Chinese Sugar cane were shown. A great variety of tomatoes, and a very large variety of potatoes ; the lat- ter came from J. Hyde & Son. We have no room to enumerate the con- tributors, but give the list of premiums, which will indicate the largest and best collections : — 478 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES FOR VEGETABLES. Best Display. — For the best display and greatest variety, to J. F. C. Hyde, Newton, $15. For the second best, to J. Stone & Son, $10. For the third best, to J. B. Moore, $8. For the fourth best, to G. R. Sampson, $6. For the fifth best, to J. P. and F. Rand, $4. Cauliflower. — For the best display, to J. P. & F. Rand, $4, For the second best, to G. R. Sampson, $3. Cabbages. — For the best Drumheads, to S. A. Merrill, $4. For the second best, to J. Stickney, $3. For the third best, to J. Stone & Son, $1. Musk Melons, — For the best, to J. Gordon, $3. For the second best, to F. Marsh, $2. For the third best, to J. Stickney, $1. Water Melons. — For the best, to F. Winship, $3. For the second best, to J. Gordon, $2. For the third best, to J. Stickney, $1. Mammoth Squashes. — For the best and largest, (117 lbs.) to S. A. Mer- rill, silver medal. For the second best, to E. T. Farrington, $3. Pumpkins. — For the largest and best, to J. B. Moore, silver medal. For the second best, to J. Stone & Son, $3. GRATUITIES. For collections, $4 each to R. D. Williams and G. G. Hubbard ; $3 each to Hovey &l Co. and J. Stickney; $1 each to J. Stone & Son, E. M. Richards, John De Wolfe and F. Smallwood. For collection of Burr's Sweet Corn, silver medal to A. Bowditch& Son; $3 each to B. Harrington and F. Winship. For " Irishman Cucumber," $3 to Nahura Stetson. For Vegetable Eggs, $1 each to E. Sanborn and F. Bacon ; $3 to John Gordon for collection. For Snake Cucumber and Kale, $2 to E. A. Story. For Onions, $1 each to S. Salisbury, S. Sweetscr and A. Pierce ; to Eben Simonds for Potatoes ; to Wm. Courtis for Brussels Melon ; to J. Ma- son and T. W. Walker, the latter for large Purple Egg plants. For the Chinese Sugar Cane, a copy of the Horticulturist for one year to A. Bowditch & Son ; $1 each to J. C. Flint, T. W. Walker, and N. Carey. For Millet, $2 to J. Breck & Son for the best collection. For Squashes, copies of the Counlry Gentleman, the Horticulturist and Hovey's Magazine, severally to H. HaVland, A. Pierce, W. A. Crafts, Wm. J. Baker and F. Houghton for Mammoth, and to Wm. F. Ellen- wood for collection of vegetables ; also Hovey's Magazine to J. J. H. Gregory of Marblehead for squashes; H. Harris for beets; the Publi- cations (value $i) to J. Murray, for collection; the Country Gentleman to A. Bowditch & Son, for do. ; and the Horticulturist to A. W. Co- penhagen and F. Marsh for collection. OCTOBER. 479 l^ortixiiltiinil C\icratioits FOR OCTOBER. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. September has been a pleasant and favorable month, for the most part dry and warm, with but one slight frost which did but little damage, except in low and moist places. Trees which have made a rapid growth from the moist summer, are ripening their wood well, and fruits which were very backward in the early part of the month have come forward rapidly and now have attained nearly a full growth. Another week of the same weather will carry everything beyond injury from frost. Grape Vines in the forcing houses will now have pushed several inches, and as cooler weather approaches will require particular attention, as it is the most critical season of their management. Keep the shoots tied in, and maintain a moist and even temperature. Protect the roots from cold east- erly rains. Vines in greenhouses may be partially pruned, and in cold houses all the unripe and superfluous wood may be taken away : air freely, night and day, in fine weather, for upon well ripened Avood depends much of the excellence of the crop. Out-door grapes may be transplanted this month. Strawberry Beds will yet need considerable attention ; unless carefully looked after, the weeds will soon choke the plants and take possession of the beds. Do not let a weed appear, and clip all superfluous runners. Pear, Apple and other fruit trees may be transplanted this month. Currants, Raspberries, &c., may be safely removed at this season. Fruit should now be gathered. None but a few of the latest kinds gain anything by hanging after the middle of the month. Insects should not be forgotten. The black knots on plum trees should all be cut out clean at this time. Canker Avorms sometimes begin to run the last of this month. flower department. Owing to the favorable weather, the various bedding and greenhouse plants have been allowed to remain out longer than usual. It will not be safe, however, to leave them out much longer, for, after October 1, frost often comes without any timely warning, and many are seriously injured for the winter. Even if frost holds off, the chilly nights and autumn rains are not beneficial. Frames should be put in requisition for all the smaller things, that the houses may not be too crowded at first. Soils for potting should be housed at once, if not already done. Camellias should be neatly arranged in the coolest part of the house; if partially shaded they will do just as well. Do not let them suffer for want of water, although they should not be kept too wet. Syringe in fine weather. Azaleas will need less water as the weather becomes cooler. Place them in a cool situation. 480 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Pelargoniums, potted off last month and now well rooted, should be placed on a dry, airy shelf near the glass. Old plants, wanted for early blooming-, should be shifted next month. Chrysanthemdms will now show their flower buds, and they should be removed to the house before severe frost as it injures the buds. Water oc- casionally with liquid manure. Cinerarias should be shifted if they require it, and have good protection in frames until the weather is cold. Fuchsias may be set away in a cool dry place under the stage, where they will keep well till spring. IxiAS and Sparaxis may be potted now. Hyacinths and other bulbs for early blooming in pots, may be potted this month. Callas should now be repotted. Roses for winter blooming should be kept in frames until next month. Petunias, Verbenas, &c., propagated last month, should be potted off. Cyclamens may be repotted now, and removed to the house. Cuttings may yet be put in, if there is not a stock already potted off. Gloxinias a^d Achimenes, done blooming, may be placed away under the stage, away from moisture. Neapolitan Violets should be potted now for winter blooming. Verbenas for winter blooming should have a good warm situation near the glass. Frames should be put in readiness to receive the stock of small plants, that the houses may not be too crowded before everything is arranged. FLOWER GARDEN AND SHRUBBERY. The recent warm and beautiful weather has given a fresh start to the weeds, and considerable attention will be required to have all in the best order. Continue to mow the lawn, trim grass edgings, and clean and roll walks. A little care will keep everything in excellent order up to the last of November. This month is the time to make plantations if they are needed in the shrubbery, or around the lawn. Evergreens or deciduous trees will get well established before winter. Trench vacant ground, and prepare it for planting next month. Trees and Shrubs of all kinds may be planted as soon as the leaves fall. Peonies may be transplanted now. Lilies of all kinds may be planted this month. Hyacinths, Tulips, &c., may be planted out. Dahlias should be taken up after the roots have ripened well. Gladiolus, Tiger Flowers, &c., should be taken up before hard frosts. Carnations and Picotees should be placed in frames, where they can have a slight protection in winter. Daisies should be planted out in frames. Herbaceous Plants of all kinds may be safely removed this month. Pansies, set out now and slightly protected, bloom freely next spring. Madeira Vines should be taken up before severe frosts. Gather Seeds of choice and rare flowers or plants. THE DIOSCOREA AND CHINESE SUGAR CANE. If we have not more frequently alluded to these new and seemingly important articles of recent introduction from China, it is not because we do not appreciate their value, but because we deem them as coming more under the head of our Agricultural than Horticultural products, and therefore less interesting to the majority of our readers than subjects which have occupied our attention. The sugar cane must certainly be considered, if the experiments in course of trial succeed, a new addition to our agricultural staples, scarcely coming within the province of the amateur or gardener, who will rarely attempt to produce his own molasses or sugar, however so inviting the results. The Dioscorea, however, is both an agricultural and garden product, and perhaps more of the latter than the former ; for the experiments thus far made do not appear to give it a rank with the potato, which it was thought by some it would displace, when its culture was understood and its excellence appreciated. Whatever the final result of the experiments in its growth may be, we doubt not it will prove a valuable acquisition to the kitchen garden, become one of its armual products, and form one of the delicacies of the table, rather than a staple commodity of the farm. We have in our last volume (XXII. p. 173) given a full account of the introduction of the dioscorea or yam. Since then, its culture has extended, and finer samples than any at that time seen have been raised by various cultivators. Messrs. Wm. R. Prince & Co., of Flushing, L. I., have taken a deep interest in its cultivation, and have very large quantities of it growing, firmly believing as they do that it must become a most delicious substitute for the potato, and its introduction prove one of the greatest blessings conferred upon the people of this country. Another year's experience in its culture has given us a higher estimate of its value, and it is probable, as we learn VOL. XXIII. NO. XI. 61 482 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. how to produce it in greater perfection, it will continue to improve in the estimation of all who undertake to raise it. There appears to be little or no doubt of the superior excel- lence of the yam among all who have had a good opportu- nity to test it ; the only doubt seems to be in regard to its profitable culture — whether it can be raised in anything like the ease and certainty of the potato, and yield as average a crop as that vegetable. In this respect more experiments are wanting to arrive at a satisfactory result, and for the present this must remain an open question. If its excellence as a nutritious esculent is fully established, time will settle the question of its profitable culture upon an extensive scale. The present year several large and very fine specimens have been produced, weighing from one to two and a half pounds each, a more gratifying result than many doubting persons anticipated. At the United States Agricultural Show at Philadelphia, last year, some very fine specimens were contributed by Messrs. Prince ; and this year, at the Fair of tlie American Institute, N. Y., just closed, the same persons presented tubers of similar quality. At the former show the yams underwent the trial of a committee of gentlemen in regard to their excellence for the table, and the report of that committee was unanimously, we believe, in favor of the dioscorea, as a most delicious and nutritious vegetable, every way worthy the attention it had received from the distinguished professors and agriculturists who took so deep an interest in its introduction to France. Our own specimens this year have been very much supe- rior to those of previous years, though without any very particular cultivation. The tubers were planted in the open ground as soon as the weather would allow, and without any preparation of the soil, in a level bed. The earth was not ridged up as we think it should be. They grew, how- ever, rapidly, the vines covering the ground, and the tubers upon digging weighed from one to two pou?ids each ; they were about fifteen inches long, and quite as large for two thirds their length towards the bottom as the sweet potatoes usually sold in our markets. Altogether the experience of NOVEMBER. 483 the present year has been highly satisfactory, and we antici- pate a far greater result from the introductio'n of this root than has heretofore been expected. We have no knowledge of the progress made in its cul- ture in France the present year ; it is rather too early to hear of the results of their experiments. Undoubtedly its cul- ture has been made a special object in some of the govern- mental institutions, and the public will be apprized of their importance. We shall look forward to some account of them in the hortictritural journals of the day, and give the results in our pages. Attempts have been made, — we regret to state, — in some of the agricultural journals, to prejudice the public against the culture of the dioscorea under the specious plea of hum- bug. If those who have done so had any facts upon which to found such an opinion, it might be pardonable in them ; but in advance of all experiments upon its culture — with scarcely any knowledge of what the dioscorea really is — or any information in regard to the success of the French cul- tivators in its growth, — they have denounced it as unworthy the attention of the intelligent cultivator. Because one or more individuals may have been too sanguine in regard to its merits, or may have sold the small tubers at such a price as to convey the idea of humbug, it does not follow that sensi- ble men should not place some confidence in its importance, especially when backed by such testimony as that of M. Vil- morin, and other eminent French agriculturists. We trust no further attempts will be made to crush out the zeal which intelligent cultivators may entertain in regard to its value, until experience shall show that its cultivation is a failure. Of the sugar cane or sorgho, there has so much been said and so many experiments tried, that the question of its value for the production of molasses and sugar will probably be effectually set at rest the present season. From the insig- nificant quantity of a dozen or two papers of seeds first re- ceived from France in the fall of 1854, have been planted the present year thousands of pounds, a more rapid increase in the growth of any new plant than has ever been previ- 484 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. onsly known. It first began to attract very particular atten- tion in 1856, when only a few individuals took any great interest in its culture and the manufacture of molasses. Judge Peters of Atlanta, Ga., had an acre or two of the cane, and with this he tried various experiments in regard to the quantity of molasses which could be made from it, and succeeded in obtaining many gallons of excellent quality. Specimens of this he presented, in the autumn of 1856, at the United States Agricultural Society's exhibition in Phila- delphia, where it attracted great attention, and at once estab- lished its claims as a sugar producing plant. Other gentlemen, at the north, where the climate was supposed to be less favorable for the growth of the cane, also tried experiments, but on a smaller scale. Among those who took a deep interest in the subject was Mr. J. F. C. Hyde of Newton, Mass.. who has recently published a small and excellent treatise upon it, which we commend to the attention of all who are interested in its culture. In addition to Mr. Hyde's own experiments he has given, in a condensed form, all that was known about the plant up to the time of the publication of his work last spring. What we know of the extent of its culture and the experiments in the manu- facture of molasses and sugar, since that period, we learn from the journals and newspapers of the day. Owing to the cool and moist summer it was feared the cane would not succeed so well as heretofore, and would not arrive at its full growth in season to escape the early frosts ; but these expectations have fortunately not been realized. On the contrary, the cane, which was exceedingly backward up to the middle of August, has with the dryer and more favorable autumn come forward very rapidly, and before the first severe frosts was entirely out of danger from injury, with the seeds quite ripe and the stalks just in readiness for cutting, thus proving that even in a cool, moist and unpro- pitious year, it may be relied upon for a certain crop. Consequently we hear of its growth in every part of the country, from Maine to Texas ; and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi river. Throughout the west, large quantities NOVEMBER. 485 of land were planted, in some instances only a small patch bnt in others several acres, so that the aggregate of land sown with the cane must exceed at least a thousand acres. The harvest commenced in the middle of September and from that time up to the middle of October we hear of nu- merous experiments in the manufacture of molasses, with the details of crushing the cane, the quantity of juice ex- tracted from the stalks, the produce of seed per acre, and the average yield of molasses. These vary much, as was to be expected until we understand the best mode of cultivation and the proper period of gathering the stalks. At the vari- ous county and state shows numerous specimens of the mo- lasses or syrup have been exhibited, and in all cases have been pronounced quite equal to the very finest of New Or- leans manufacture. It thus appears to be satisfactorily settled that the sorgho will yield a most excellent quality of syrup; the next thing is, to ascertain v/hether this can be made into sugar. This has not yet been done very successfully, but that it will be accomplished, in the present state of scientific attainment, there cannot be the least doubt. The French will probably soon give us the results of their experiments, and we shall be very much surprised if they do not manufacture as fine an article as that which they make from the sugar beet. At one of the sugar refineries in St. Louis some very handsome brown sugar has been manufactured. Of the profits of its culture, until we have accurate state- ments of the yield per acre, we can hardly decide. The accounts that we have received vary exceedingly, viz., from 200 to 500 gallons of molasses to the acre. Mr. Hyde, who commenced his operations this year in grinding the cane for his neighbors, informs us that he began his first experi- ments six weeks ago, but he found the period too early, and allowed the cane to ripen. It was then tried again, and yielded a larger quantity and of better quality than before. It therefore appears from his experiments and those of others, that the seed may be saved and the yield of syrup be about the same. This will enhance the value of 486 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. the crop, as the seed, if not wanted for planting, is eaten by animals about as eagerly as corn, and will consequently be a source of profit. But there appears to be another source of profit in the growth of the sorgho; this is the waste, or "begass" as it is termed, which Mr. Hyde has just shown can be made into a strong, neat and excellent brown paper, handsome specimens of which he has shown us manufactured for him at Newton. Thus, not only will the cane yield a crop of molasses, but the seeds which are abundant be a source of profit, and the refuse after the juice is exhausted add to the value of the product. The culture of the sorgho is so similar to that of Indian corn that we need not enlarge upon this point. It may be grown throughout the entire region of the United States with perfect success, and though the amount of saccharine matter will be greater in the stalks from a warmer region, yet an excellent yield of syrup has been obtained in Maine and Minnesota, showing that it can be profitably grown as far north as Indian corn. Of its value for fodder as compared with Indian corn more accurate experiments are wanting to show that it will give a greater yield per acre. We are inclined to doubt, from our own experiments, the generally received opinion that it will produce more than corn. Perhaps its greater quantity of nutritive matter may make up for the less bulk of stalks and leaves ; that it will afford a good crop there is no doubt, and nothing but a careful comparison, on the same ground and with the same culture, will decide the relative merits of the jtwo. The quantity of molasses obtained per acre the present year varies, in the accounts we have received, from 175 gal- lons to 400 gallons. Mr. Hyde has, we think, obtained at the rate of 200 gallons. This, at the current price of good molasses, would not afford a very great profit, though there is the crop of seed and the begass or waste to be taken into the account. If these two latter will pay the expense of extracting the juice and making of it into molasses, suppos- NOVEMBER. 487 ing 200 gallons to be the average yield per acre, it would pay better than Indian corn and many other crops. We have not time to enter into a detail of the various cal- culations which have been made in regard to the profit to be derived from its culture. We trust, however, that no indi- vidual will be deceived so much as to suppose a fortune can be made in a year or two, in growing this crop. Such ex- pectations would ruin the success of the cane. It must only be looked upon as an agricultural product, in connection with other crops, which every farmer may easily raise, and from which he can make all his own molasses, with very little trouble, and thus render himself independent in one more of the staple commodities of life ; one which, from various causes, has of late been a matter of speculation with our merchants, and the price run up in consequence to such ruin- ous rates that we have been forced to find some substitute for the West India cane. It is fortunate the sorgho has been introduced at such a time, otherwise we fear the ac- counts that have been published would afford very little en- couragement to our agriculturists to attempt its growth. And this, followed by a depression of the prices of wheat and corn, which our farmers seem to think the only crops that will pay, will cause them to look more favorably upon the introduction of the sorgho as an article that is destined to become, next to these, one of our most valuable products. INFLUENCE OF DRAINAGE ON CLIMATE. BY W'lLSON FLAGG. Evert practical cultivator knows the importance of drain- age in improving the value of wet soils ; but it is not per- haps generally understood that its influence is equally great in improving the climate. The local effects of drainage, with respect to climate, are immediate, especially in a well protected situation. We will suppose a farming settlement 488 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. to be made upon a tract of two or three miles of level ground, forming a valley, surrounded by hills that protect it from the cold winds outside. All this plain is of that de- scription of soil which is termed cold, like all other wet levels. The thermometer, after sunset, except when the earth is frozen, or covered with snow, indicates a tempera- ture ten or twelve degrees lower than that of the surround- ing hills. It is so wet that it seems almost incapable of be- ing tilled ; but the husbandmen commence a rigid system of drainage, on the most improved and scientific principles. After the lapse of fifty years all the forest on the plain has been cut down, except small portions which have been left for shelter and shade ; every acre is thoroughly drained and the whole is reduced to a state of excellent tillage. The water no longer stands upon the surface of the ground, but runs off by subterranean conduits, into a neighboring reser- voir. After the completion of these operations, though the climate outside of the hills might have greatly deteriorated, the climate of this valley would be many degrees warmer and more equable than it was before it was drained and culti- vated. The same improvement of climate would take place over the whole continent if the same system of operations were universal. It is still an unsettled dispute among philosophers whether the clearing and improvement of a continent which was covered with forest tends to injure or to ameliorate the cli- mate. That the climate of America has been injured is generally admitted; but the cause of its 'deterioration is not yet determined. Those who believe that the clearing of the forest produces amelioration appeal to the changes for the better which are supposed to have taken place on the conti- nent of Europe during the last 2000 years. Those who take the opposite side appeal to the changes for the worse which have taken place on the American continent. Both parties may be equally right. The climate of Europe may have been ameliorated and the climate of America may have been injured by the destruction of the forests. It may still be true that the xlmerican climate will eventually be im- NOVEMBER. 489 proved by more thorough clearing and draining, according to a definite system of operations. And it may be remarked in this place that nature has so wisely arranged her economy as that every operation which promotes the fertility of the soil at the same time increases the salubrity and improves the temperature of the climate. Of three kinds of surface — one that is covered with wood, a second that is covered with water, and a third consisting of tillage — the first would feel the least of the action of the sun, and the third would feel the most of it. Of the same, however, the former would suffer the least and the third the greatest expense of heat from the action of the cold winds, but the loss of heat would in each case be proportional to the humidity of the superficial soil. Hence in order to secure the most beneficial action of the sun at all seasons, and the least injurious action of the cold winds, those parts of the ground which are the most exposed to the winds should be covered with trees, and the plains and valleys should be made to retain the heat which they have imbibed from the sun, by draining them of all their superfluous moisture. This should be conveyed into its reservoirs either by subterranean passages, or by deep and narrow channels which should expose the least surface to the winds. By such means we retain the heat of the soil by diminishing the evaporation from the surface. When a similar condition of the land has become universal, the climate must be im- proved both in temperature and salubrity. Though the country would be still exposed in the same degree to the ac- tion of the cold winds from regions outside of it, more heat would be generated and retained within its own boundaries, which would greatly modify their severity. A surface of deep water is more favorable to equability of temperature than a wet surface of ground. The water does not imbibe so much heat from the sun, nor part with it so readily to the winds, as a wet surface of ground, because the heat communicated to the water is soon blended with the whole mass. The heat which is imbibed by the soil is not so readily conveyed downwards but is soon radiated into VOL, XXIII. NO. XI. 62 490 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. the atmosphere ; and this radiation is nearly proportional to its humidity. Hence deep water while unfrozen tends to equability; to coolness in hot weather and to warmth in cold weather. Shallow water, on the other hand, tends to increase the cold during the cold season, and to aggravate the coldness of the summer nights by excessive radiation. Hence the chill of the atmosphere over wet lands after sun- set. The climate would therefore be more highly improved by draining all the superfluous moisture by subterranean pas- sages into a deep pond, than by a multitude of ditches dis- tributed evenly over the surface. The climate of America has been injured by the opera- tions of the pioneer, because the uplands have been cleared while the lowlands remain either wooded or undrained ; and the climatic influence of wet lands is made worse by depriv- ing them of their wood, if they are left undrained. The radiation from a surface of wet land which is open is much greater than from a similar tract which is a forest. Draining ought, therefore, to follow closely in the wake of clearing, to prevent the injurious eff"ects of the latter upon the cli- mate. Let the uplands, if they are steep, rocky or barren, retain their forests, and let the wet lands be universally cleared, drained and cultivated, and we shall in the end be rewarded with a climate as much better than the present, as the climate of Europe is better than that of America. But there is another agent concerned in producing those difl"erent effects which seem to have been consequent upon the removal of the forests in Europe and America. In Eu- rope the greatest clearing has taken place in the southern and middle parts of the continent, in America it has chiefly taken place in the northern and middle parts. In Europe, therefore, more freedom has been given to the current of winds as they return from the equator to the north pole ; in America, on the other hand, the north winds have obtained a more uninterrupted passage as they return from the north pole to the equator. A vast quantity of forest still remains in the northern parts of Europe serving to modify the sever- ity of the winds that issue from the frozen regions. NOVEMBER. 491 All those operations, as I have already remarked, that serve to ameliorate the temperature of a climate, tend also to improve its salubrity. A new country is always subject to those epidemics that proceed from the exhalations of the marshes immediately after they have been stripped of their wood. Europe is not subject in the same degree to those intermittent fevers which are so prevalent in the western continent. Agriculture has carried its ameliorating opera- tions throughout a greater extent of the European continent and, compared with America, it has left there but few un- drained bogs and morasses. The amelioration of the Amer- ican climate will be produced only by a universal system of drainage, accompanied with such an arrangement of forests as will afford the best local protection. He who has cleared of wood and judiciously and thoroughly drained an acre of wet land, is a benefactor to the country, and though he has accomplished nothing more, he has not lived in vain. He will leave the world better than he found it. and health and plenty will smile upon his humble labor. Under certain circumstances, instead of draining a morass, it would be better to transform it into a lake, or it may be drained by the formation of a lake in the centre of it. It may be transformed into a lake when it lies so low that it cannot be drained, but admits of the passage of the water of the contiguous wet lands into it. After this overflow it would not produce any bad influence upon the temperature of the local climate. "A piece of land entirely covered with water is never unwholesome. It becomes so only when the water that covers it evaporates and exposes to the air the mud of its bottom and sides. The putridity of a morass might as eff"ectually be remedied by transferring it into a lake as into dry ground ; and which of these two ob- jects is to be preferred must be determined by its situation." It is not my object to point out the best methods of drain- ing, which is a subject that has for many years commanded the attention of agriculturists. I am simply aiming to prove that the draining of marshy lands is as beneficial to the health of the community as to the interests of agriculture ; 492 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. and that the same causes that render a cold climate warmer render it both more healthy and more productive ; not be- cause a climate is necessarily made more healthy when it is warmer, but because the draining of wet lands, which con- tributes to one effect, contributes also to the other. If it be necessary to drain a morass by making a pond in the centre of it, the best plan of operations would be to commence at the central point to excavate, carrying all the soil that is taken out to the extreme outward boundary ; ap- proaching inwards with the material taken from the hollow and advancing outwards with the hollow until the two meet. A lake is then constructed which might be stored with fishes and surrounded with a good depth of arable soil. The depth of this water should be sufficient to secure it from evaporation in a dry season, This plan is expedient only in bogs which are very wet and do not consist entirely of peat, and which are below the general level of the surrounding country. Thus far I have treated of the ameliorating and the dete- riorating influence of clearing a new country of wood, and have shown that each of these effects may be produced by two different ways of clearing. The pioneer is obliged to clear the uplands and leave the bogs covered with wood : deterioration follows. This is the point at which we have now arrived in this country. If the climate of Europe has been ameliorated by the removal of the vast forests which overspread that continent in the days of Julius Csesar, it is because the Europeans have passed beyond the point at which we have arrived. They have drained their bogs and converted them into a warm and arable soil. This has not yet been done in America. PEAR CULTURE IN BELGIUM. BY M. J. DE JONGHE, IN THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. We have in our previous volumes copied several articles by M. De Jonghe, on the history and progress of the pear NOVEMBER. 493 culture in Belgium. That they have been read with much interest we cannot doubt, as everything relating to the growth of so valuaable a fruit is important and interesting. That M. De Jonghe is a careful observer of fruits his articles can leave no doubt, and though we may disagree with some of the ideas which he has advanced — as we have in regard to thin- ning the fruit spurs — we still find much to commend to the attention of all cultivators, and to bespeak a careful perusal of his articles. He appears to be the only writer among the numerous amateur iand professional growers of Belgium who has attempted to give, in a shape accessible to the cultivators of England and America, the full details of pear culture, with the origin and history of the more important novelties that have been sent out from Belgium the last ten years. The Album de Pomologie of Bivort and the Annales de Pomologie of the Belgian Commission, as M. De Jonghe says, are both er- roneous and defective. The new wiik of M. Decaisne is still worse. To us it appears a retrograde movement in pomological progress. The latter, especially in his descrip- tions, shows a want of that knowledge which, as M. De Jonghe truly says, "to be of practical utility, must be made not from books, but from specimen trees in bearing." What the cultivator needs is something more than a technical description ; he wants, in addition, an account of the habit of the tree — its adaptation to the pear or the quince — its hardiness — whether most suitable for a dry or damp locality, and its tendency to diseases, &c. It is now well known that many pears require a more sheltered situation and a warmer soil than others, and it is only when the new sorts have been carefully studied under various conditions of cul- ture that these can be well ascertained and their real merits made known. It is the detail of all these which M. De Jonghe gives us in his papers, that gives them their practical value. The general culture of the pear is very well understood. What we want now is the particular treatment which partic- ular sorts require. For instance, the famous White Doyenne, once the cynosure — and still so when well grown — of all 494 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. eyes among pears, succeeds perfectly in cities ; why it does so, is what we would learn, that we may produce it in equal beauty in other places. The Beurre Diel always cracks in a light dry soil — and sometimes in a richer one — while in many places it is always grown perfect and to an immense size ; now the conditions necessary to produce this noble pear with certainty are what we would arrive at. The Easter Beurre, Chaumontelle, Brown Beurre, and other of our old but yet unsurpassed pears, will succeed in many places — for they are not yet worn out — and we would learn why they will not in others. The Dix cracks with some cultiva- tors, while with others it is always perfect. In some locali- ties many pears are very much russeted, and coarse in the skin, while in others they are quite smooth and have a bril- liant crimson cheek. The cause of all these variations is what we now seek, and what an enlightened system of cul- tivation must solve. M. De Jonghe has begun this ; let our own amateurs imitate his example and add to the stock of valuable and reliable information. — Ed. Every observer must have remarked that fruit trees, with- out exception, presented at the beginning of March the most promising appearance. The temperature of the external air was favorable to the development of flower buds and to their maturation. From the end of March, the time when the flowering of certain kinds of plums, apricots, pears and cherries commenced, until the blossoming was over, there prevailed during April and May strong east and northeast winds which caused serious fears to be entertained of the fruit not setting. Throughout this period, in consequence of these winds, neither flies nor bees could be seen among the expanded flowers, and fertilization must therefore have been eff"ected without the assistance of these agents. The seed of 1857 will therefore be possessed of a peculiar prop- erty, which will make the present year an epoch in raising seedlings from varieties which have been frequently re- newed. We may once more state, that these varieties, though fecundated by their own pollen, have a tendency to NOVEMBER. 495 vary when propagated by seed, and that seeds from the same flower, without having been artificially fertilized or acciden- tally so by bees and flies, may produce different varieties. This opinion was put forth by Van Mons, and I believe that it can be sustained by experiments which I have made in sowing the seeds of certain sorts of straAvberries and cher- ries, the results of which will be fully detailed on another occasion. But to return to our subject. Notwithstanding a temper- ature which varied from 27° to 68°, 84°, and even 88°, Fahrenheit, several hardy and well acclimatised varieties of fruit trees set a large quantity of fruit, and there still remains as much as they can bring to perfection. It is always in a situation having a western aspect, a soil enriched with suita- ble manure, and which is light, deep, and somewhat moist, that the best results as regards bearing are obtained with the pear, the apple, plum and cherry. In strong, cold, wet soils we find, on the contrary, a less quantity of fruit on the trees, and sometimes none at all. A scientific mode of prun- ing and training adapted to the mode of vegetation and bearing peculiar to the variety, as well as a careful extermi- nation of all kinds of insects, are conditions necessary for ensuring success. In our climate there is certainly no fruit tree comparable in productiveness to the apricot, when raised from the stone of a variety which has been frequently removed and acclim- atised. When these seedlings are raised according to the directions given in a previous article, superb trees of every habit of growth and of incredible fertility and hardiness are the result. One of our oldest seedlings has borne for the last six years. The first year of bearing there were some clusters of two, three, and four fruits ; in the second three times as many, and so on till the present season, when there are not less than 2000. Another seedling with large fruit, although not so old, has at this time 400 or 500 at least, and several others only from six to nine years old are bearing equally well. To prove the productiveness of the first two trees, I send two branches with the fruit upon them. [These 496 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. are marvellous examples of productiveness, literally loaded with fruit. We never saw the like in our English gardens. The sorts should be introduced immediately, although the fruit is small, — Ed.] These results, obtained in the last six years, appear to me conclusive, In short, it is to be hoped that for the next quarter of a century we shall not have such climatic variations in spring as those we have experienced since 1852. Of all fruit trees the pear tree is that which has most oc- cupied attention for the last century. Some of the varieties are due to chance ; the greater number to some amateurs, ail of whom appear to have had in. view the acclimatation of the pear so as to make it produce in the open ground fruits as delicious as those previously obtained on a wall. These amateurs, not being actuated by a desire of gain, distributed scions gratuitously to their friends and correspondents. Thus, with the exception of a limited number described by Yan Mons in the ''Annales des Sciences," and in the "Revue des Revues,'' the whole of these fruits were brought into cultivation without sufficient information respecting them having been afforded to the cultivator. The short notices which accompany the drawings in the "Album de Pomologie," and "Annales de Pomologie," are not perfect ; some are erroneous, others defective. Even M. Decaisne's work, which has the advantage of appearing after all that has been said and written for the last fifty years and more, will be of no utility as a guide to the cultivator. To be of practical utility in the present age pomological descriptions must be made, not from books, but from specimen trees in bearing. It is necessary to be able to study varieties of fruit trees with the actual tree in bearing before our eyes. Trees worked on the pear stock, and trained as a high, low, or half standard, according to the constitution and mode of growth of the tree, should be employed as models. These should be studied in different soils for a series of years. On anoth- er occasion we fixed the period for this at fifteen years. For certain productive varieties this term is sufficient, for others it is not long enough, as will hereafter be seen. NOVEMBER. 497 Previous to entering into details respecting the fructifica- tion of the pear tree last spring, we must observe that the hardiness of a variety of the pear in setting its fruit is inde- pendent of its vigor. Last spring we proved that under the influence of a dry, cold temperature, several extremely vig- orous sorts did not set their fruit so freely as others that are considered less vigorous. Of the latter, we may cite three examples, viz., the Easter Beurre, Flemish Beauty, and Ne plus Meuris. I cultivate three trees of the Easter Beurre for comparison. One of them is worked on the quince stock trained as a quenouille, and planted in a light moist soil, im- proved by the addition of manure. The tree has been bud- ded ten years ; it has set 300 fruits without any shelter, and after the requisite thinning has been performed there now remain fifty large, well formed pears. The second tree is a tall standard on the pear stock, graft- ed eight years ago ; it has fifteen fruits upon it. and is plant- ed in a cold moist soil, which is also heavier than in the preceding case. The third is a miserable pyramid, thirteen or fourteen years old, bearing a score of pears. It is planted in a shallow strong clay. This variety appears in my soil to be healthier on the quince stock ; still it is not perfectly so ; the stem and branches suffer from dry cankers, and the bark scales off from the spurs. In several old gardens in Brussels there are trees of this variety half a century old, which, notwithstanding their infirmities, produce excellent fruit in a light, deep, warm soil, and sheltered situation. They set fruit every year. What most prevents their bear- ing is not the spring frosts, but the multitudes of insects which attack the fruit as soon as it is set. It is now generally known that the Easter Beurre, when worked either on the pear or quince stock, produces the best and handsomest fruit as a half standard against a wall with a southeast or southwest aspect. Ne plus Meuris forms a healthy and vigorous tree, which sets its fruit better and sooner on the quince than on the pear stock. To produce perfect fruit it must have a west wall. On the quince stock and without this protection the VOL. XXIII. NO. XI. 63 498 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. tree assumes the quenouille form ; on the pear stock, when planted with a soil rich with humus, it requires to be grown as a half-standard, which becomes productiv^e in ten or twelve years. A quenouille on the quince stock only seven years old has set twentj^-five fruits. Tlie Flemish Beauty, cultivated as a half-standard on the pear stock, and planted in a light soil, forms a fine head with spreading branches, and bears in ten years a delicious and finely formed fruit. As a quenouille on the quince stock this variety is very productive. It also bears hand- some and excellent fruit against a wall. A fine pyramid on the pear stock, fifteen years old, has set upwards of 200 fruits, of which seventy or eighty remain. Of the other varieties of the present century and end of the last one, the following are those which have set their fruit the most freely in the open ground, and which, after having undergone the various changes and severities of the weather, have retained the most : — 1. Beurre' Diel, on the pear stock, grafted twenty-five years, planted twelve years ago, in a light, rather free, allu- vial soil, with a compact moist subsoil at the depth of five feet below the surface, trained as a pyramidal half standard, thirty-five feet high. It bears 400 fruits, but has only pro- duced half that quantity for ten years. This proves that the tap roots have penetrated beyond the bed of alluvial soil. It is a magnificent tree and its branches cover a space of fifteen feet in diameter. This variety succeeds very well on the quince stock, upon which, after having been budded four or five years, it is very productive. Upon the pear and quince stock the fruit is only second-rate ; but when planted in a moist soil, rich in humus, against the o^able end of a house with a western aspect, it acquires a larger size and better quality. We have observed this vari- ety succeed, even in the present year, in more than a hun- dred places when worked on the pear stock and planted in a light, deep, moist soil ; in a strong soil with a gravelly sub- soil ; or even in calcareous, marly, and clayey ground. The original tree still exists in the garden of Trois Tours, be- NOVEMBER. 499 tween Brussels and Mechlin, and to all appearance is seventy or eighty years old. Trees fifty years old or thereabouts, are to be found in most gardens throughout Belgium, but more particularly at Brussels. At the present day this vari- ety is no longer propagated or planted in gardens of recent formation, as it has been eclipsed by others equally vigorous and hardy, but more productive and yielding fruit of better quality. 2. Urbaniste. — Three trees, one a half standard on the pear stock, grafted fifteen years ; another on the pear stock, budded seven years ; the third a tall standard on the pear stock, grafted four years. They all bear as many fruits as they formed clusters of flowers at the extremities of the twigs. It is chiefly upon these that this variety bears its fruit, and they must, by pinching, breaking and pruning, be kept as much as possible towards the interior of the tree. The variety succeeds well on the pear stock, in a light moist deep soil, and it does not dislike a gravelly subsoil. It re- quires to be grown as a half standard, and as such attains a large size. After having borne fruit for a few years it has the appearance of a Weeping willow, as the boughs, even of this variety, are borne down by the weight of the fruit. The seedling tree of the Urbaniste first fruited in thfe garden of the Count Coloma at Mechlin, in 1786. The original tree exists there now, and has the appearance of being at least eighty years old. The excellent quality of the fruit and the beauty of the tree having been fully appreciated towards the end of the last century, the variety was soon planted in every garden. Near our nursery at St. Giles there is in an old garden one of the finest specimens of a pendulous Urbaniste that is anywhere to be found. It is at least fifty years old, and its branches extend over a space of sixty feet in circumference, with a stem forty feet high. It bears every year from 150 to 300 pears. This variety is perfectly hardy. Its productiveness exclusively depends on the pruning, which consists in removing forked shoots in summer, and shortening the terminal shoot two thirds of its length in spring. The interior of the tree is not touched. 500 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. It has been said that this variety is barren, or at best only a poor bearer, but reproach is certainly deserved not by the tree, but by the want of attention and incapacity displayed in its management. The fruit, as large as that of the Flem- ish Beauty but shorter, has the buttery melting flesh of that pear, but the vinous juice is of a much more aromatic flavor. It usually ripens in November and continues good during December. Twenty years ago a nurseryman at Paris sent out this variety as new under the name of Beurre Piquery, although it may be observed that the Pomological Congress held at Lyons in September last believed that the two were distinct. In conclusion, as well for the beauty of the tree, when properly managed, as for the excellence of the fruit, the Urbaniste deserves to be propagated and cultivated in gardens. 3. CoNSEiLLER DE LA CouR. — This uamc was intended to designate M. Theodore Van Mons, a barrister in the Court of Appeals at Brussels. Van Mons considered this variety to be the best of those raised by him, and he therefore named it after his son. It is the most vigorous, hardy and prolific variety that need be desired in our climates. I grow for experiment and examination ten trees upon all kinds of stocks, and in different soils and situations. Everywhere it influences the stock, even the quince, by its vigor. It re- quires to be grown as a half standard, or still better as a tall standard, and as such it bears fruit after four or fi.ve years' growth. Here again success depends upon the particular mode of pruning, which consists in pinching back the secondary laterals in the end of May or beginning of June to five buds, and breaking, in the end of July, at two buds above the fifth one, to which the shoot was first pinched. In the begiiming of March the leading shoots are pruned so as to leave seven or eight buds, and ten on the stem leader. Every year at the beginning of July all forkings, over luxu- riant shoots, if there are any, in short all useless shoots are removed. By following these instructions a very productive tall standard with a large pyramidal head will be obtained after four or five years' culture. If, on the contrary, the NOVEMBER. 501 tree is subjected to inconsiderate mutilation, shoots and burrs producing a crowd of spray will be produced instead of fruit. It was thus we had for twenty years in our garden a mag- nificent but barren pyramid, which in twelve of those years might have produced abundant crops of excellent fruit. At present a standard grafted seven years bears at least sixty good pears. As is known, the fruit of this variety is nearly as large and quite as handsome as that of the Marie Louise. It is equally melting and buttery, and the vinous juice has a higher flavor than that of the Marie Louise, which ripens a month earlier,. and is considered to be one of our best mod- ern sorts. The Conseiller de la Com', which first bore fruit in the experimental gardens of Louvain thirty years ago, is now generally cultivated in the gardens of amateurs, and pretty generally also the trees are unproductive in conse- quence of a mutilating system of pruning being pursued. Like the Urbaniste it has been accused of barrenness, but erroneously so, as has just been stated. In our opinion, formed from personal experience, there is no kind of pear that deserves to be planted in gardens so much as this, either on the quince stock as a low or half standard, or on the pear stock as a tall standard, if sufficient space can be afforded. It may be planted as a tall standard on the pear stock in the orchard. If this variety is not sufficiently hardy for the English soil and climate, then the cultivation of the pear tree must be abandoned. 4. CoMTE DE Flandres. — Ou auothcr occasion we devoted a special article to this variety, which first fruited at a much later period than the preceding. It is already sufficiently tried and known. During five successive years, notwith- standing the severity of the springs, it has freely set an abundance of fine fruit on a handsome pyramid, not more than twelve or thirteen years old. This year it has at least fifty pears on it. 5. Beuure' Clairgeau. — I can only reiterate what I have already stated respecting the hardiness and fertility of this variety, both on the pear and on the quince stock. By this time, I think, there ought to be no doubt as to its qualities 502 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. in England, even m the minds of the most circumspect am- ateurs. In my garden I observe more than 100 fine fruits on the original seedling. I remarked that tall standards, grafted two or three years, and trees budded on the quince stock only three or four years have borne fruit in the nur- series. 6. Leopold I. — It is scarcely eleven years since this vari- ety first bore fruit. It was sent out seven years ago, and already we believe that we can establish its principal char- acters. It engaged our attention by the beauty of the fruit, the elegant form of the tree, and its noble foliage. On the pear stock it forms a handsome dwarf pyramid, resembling a small Italian poplar in miniature. In the fifth year from the bud, on the pear stock, I obtained three fruits from a small pyramid ; last year it bore five, and this year seven fruits. On a tall standard on the pear stock, grafted six years, and growmg in my town garden, the soil of which is lighter and warmer, I counted a score of fruits. The latter is not read- ily blown down. As a quenouille on the quince stock this entirely distinct variety produces rounder fruit the third year after budding. Against a wall, either on the quince or pear stock, the fruit is larger and in unfavorable years of much better quality than in the open ground. We have been ena- bled to make these observations by side grafting old pear trees, on the pear stock, against a wall with a west aspect. Three years ago we stated the result, which has been con- firmed in 1855 and 1856. In every respect Leopold I. de- serves to be planted in gardens where there is a small amount of space and where it is desirable to have dwarf pyramids and quenouilles. The usual time of ripening is towards the end of December. A seventh variety which first bore fruit at an earlier period than the two preceding, merits on account of the beauty of its fruit, which does not yield in that respect to the Beurre Clairgeau, and on account of its productiveness and its hard- iness, special mention. The original tree exists at the vil- lage of Tongres, near Alt, Hainault. It belongs to M. Du- randeau, a bleacher. For this reason the variety has been NOVEMBER. 503 called Poire Darandeau, or Poire de Tongres. It is very productive on the pear stock, either as a dwarf, half, or tall standard, and still more so on the quince stock as a qnen- ouille, or espalier, withont protection. It is a superb fruit of first rate quality, ripening ni November. Against a wall with an east or west aspect the fruit comes nearly as large as the Calebasse Bosc against a wall, Van Mons Leon le Clerc, or Poire Van Marnm of Vans Mons, preserving at the same time a better shape than the last two varieties. This notice is the result of observations made of late years in my own garden, and in those of amateurs who for ten years have cultivated it in every form. In this as in previous years the Poire des Tongres has freely set its fruit in my own garden and those of such of my friends as I have visited. It is in a soil rich with humus or clay marl, with a gravelly subsoil, that the greatest number of fruits and of the finest flavor were produced on the pear stock. Amongst a large number of other varieties which are dis- tinguished by their handsome growth and the quality of their fruits, ripening in the autumn and winter, we may mention Esperin, Beurre Kennes, Nouveau Poiteau, Eliza d'Heyst, Alexandre Lambre, Dnchesse Helene d'Orleans, Dr. Trous- seau, Willermot, Sabine, CuUum, Phillippe Gaes, Docteur Capron, Charles Fredrica, Alexandrine Helie, and Beurre Berckmans, all distinct varieties obtained from seed by Van Mons. Emilie Bivort by Simon Bouvier, Emile d'Heyst and Frederic le Clerc by Esperin, will likewise contiiuie to be cultivated. All these varieties possess for the most part the requisite conditions for succeeding in our climate. Passe Colmar, raised by d'Hardenpont a century ago, notwithstand- ing a few dpfects, continues on account of the good quality of its fruit to be propagated and planted even as a half stand- ard in the open ground. Every year I gather several fine fruits from a tree planted without shelter, and trained as a half standard. This year I observed as many fruits as the tree can support. Among the fruits which ripen at a later period of the sea- son than the preceding, the Beurre Ranee, a hardy and pro- 504 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ductive variety in the open ground, is also esteemed. In gardens having a light deep soil, rather dry than moist, the fruit, far from attaining the same size as when grown against a wall, is nevertheless of finer qualities. The fifty years old tree which 1 have in my garden bears every year, whatever way the temperature, provided it is properly cleaned from insects in the winter, at the time the fruit is setting, and in the month of July. Another tree twenty-five years old and worked on the pear stock bears 50 to 100 fruits every year, and the fruit is of a better quality than in the preceding case, which I attribute to the circumstance of its being grafted on a good seedling whilst the other is worked on a root-sucker. This opinion may, it is true, be disputed, but it is based on various circumstances known to old practitioners. In con- clusion, this variety is not much propagated, the Bergamotte d'Esperen and Josephine de Malines, two varieties which are far from being faultless, being preferred. The variety Prince Albert, which is of a very fine habit of growth and of a cultivated appearance, is a first-rate late sort. This year I observed several fruits on grafts placed four years ago on the lateral branches of an old pyramid, a winter variety. The sort in question succeeds both on the quince and on the pear stock, and quickly forms on either of them a magnificent pyramid. Having been sent out only six years ago, it cannot yet be positively spoken of ; but we must not forget that by pruning there is no late variety which cannot be made to produce fruit upon the rosettes* in the third year of their formation, when, according to its vigor, the head of the tree is six or eight feet high. As late fruits we may also mention Colmar Josse Smet, Beurre Caty, Su- preme Coloma, Rameau, and Prevost. It requires a very good season to appreciate these varieties w^hen fruited in the open ground. It has been complained that too many autumn fruits have been sent out. It might * There is no term in English to express these. By rosette is to be understood a nascent fruit spur, producing, in the first instance, a tuft of leaves; and such may only be produced for years ; or amongst them a blossom bud or buds may appear in the course of two, three, or more years. NOVEMBER. 505 be replied, how many good autumn fruits have been obtained previous to the present century which can be cultivated in the open ground in our climate ? At any rate these com- plaints, whether well founded or not, will soon cease. Of late years there have been raised from seed, by ourselves and friends, varieties bearing fruit of various forms, and ripening from the end of February to the end of May. The trees in general are of fine habit of growth, healthy, and vigorous. Although still on trial in our nurseries, they will soon be sent out to amateurs. As to the beauty, hardiness, and produc- tiveness of the trees, as well as to the quality of the fruit, there is no longer the slightest doubt. The experiments in the nurseries have been carried on with the view of ascer- taining on what kind of stocks and by what mode of propa- gation these varieties succeed best. It may be added that the spring of 1857 has been very favorable to the seedlings of apricots, cherries, pears, and apples growing on their own roots, with heads more or less elevated, thin and spreading. All the seedlings which were sufficiently old to flower, have set and retained their fruits : yes, all their fruits without a single exception ! This suc- cess depends, in our opinion, not upon the external tempera- ture, whether hot or cold, moist or dry, but upon the prepar- ation of the seed beds, and especially the amount of care that is taken in preparing the soil from which the roots are to derive the elements of future vigor. Before finishing this long article, and at the risk of ad- vancing a paradox to your readers, we may add that after having planted a collection of 200 sorts of apples, worked upon the Free, Doucin, and Paradise stock, and which were obtained from the first establishments in Europe, and trained in whatever form appeared to suit them best for 8, 10, or 15 years, from the very beginning perfect seeds of such of these varieties as appeared to be the best were commenced to be sown. The seedlings gave a more satisfactory result than the 200 varieties from which they were produced, that is to say, with four or five exceptions, the seedlings yielded finer and better fruit, and in greater abundance than all the other VOL. XXIII. NO. KI. 64 506 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. trees put together, of which we have been able as yet to see and taste the fruit. From this it would appear to be abso- lutely useless to procure grafted trees, when we only wish to have apple trees raised on half or tall standards, to which more room must be allowed than to those on Doucin or Par- adise stocks. As for cherries, or plums, an entirely contrary opinion ap- pears to us, from experiments, to be nearer the truth. DESCRIPTIONS OF SELECT VARIETIES OF PEARS. BY THE EDITOR. The pear crop of the present year, owing undoubtedly to the severe cold of last winter, has been much below the av- erage. In many localities it has been almost an entire fail- ure, while in others it has been as abundant as usual. In dry and protected gardens trees suffered very little, but in exposed and damp situations they were greatly injured ; some kinds were killed outright, while others lost many of their branches or leading shoots. The Bartlett, Beurre Bosc, and Marie Louise suffered most with us, and we believe were the kinds generally affected everywhere. It is the only winter we have ever known, in our own experience, to in- jure trees in this neighborhood. We intend, at another time, to give a list of such varieties as appear the hardiest, with some remarks upon the severity of the cold and the manner in which the trees were affected. From these causes we have been disappointed in our ex- pectations of fruiting many new pears which promised well last autumn, and another and more favorable year will be necessary to enable us to procure good specimens of fruit. We are consequently only now enabled to figure and de- scribe a limited number. 3d Ed. NOVEMBER. 507 199. Easter Beurre''. Hoi't. Soc. Cat. Bergamot de la Pentocote, ") Beurre de la Pentecote, Bfeurr6 d'Hiver de Bruxelles, Beurre de Paques, Bezi Chaumontel tres gros, Chaumontel tres gros, Cannino- V According to Hort. Soc. Cat. Doyenne d'hiver, Doyenn6 d'hiver Nouveau, Doyenne du' Printemps, Seigneur d'iiiver, Philippe de Paques, Du Patre, j The Easter Beurre (fig. 20) is one of our oldest pears, introduced to Great Britain from the continent, but its origin is unknown. Lindley, in his Guide to the Orchardist, (1831) says, -'of all the late keeping pears this is decidedly the best," and from that time up to the present no variety has been produced which would fill its place. Among the numerous seedlings of Van Mons, Esperin, Bouvier, Gregoire, Bivort, and others, raised the last fifty years, many superior pears have been found, but not one late-keeping variety which will compare with the Easter Beurre. We have in our previous columns often spoken in praise of this variety, and urged its cultivation. From some cause, probably the want of judicious management, it at one time fell into disrepute, and many cultivators regrafted their trees with other sorts, as they failed to reap satisfactory results. The fruit they stated would not ripen, but remain hard and green or else dry and shrivel up. Neither were very large or handsome specimens raised. But since more attention has been devoted to pear culture, this variety has rapidly im- proved in the estimation of amateurs, and at the present time it is considered an indispensable addition to every good col- lection. It requires a warmer and richer soil than many other pears, and when the trees find such a locality, they produce abundantly and of the finest quality. In cold damp soils, the specimens are ill shaped, russetty, thick skinned, gritty at the core and nearly flavorless ; while in the former 508 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. they are large, handsome, smooth, deep green, often with a ruddy cheek, and with a buttery melting flavor of the highest excellence. The fruit rarely if ever cracks, and when prop- erly preserved and ripened, it may be eaten in perfection from February to May, later than we have found any really good pear to keep. 20. THE EASTER BEURRE' PEAR. The Easter Beurre is a moderately vigorous and very hardy tree. Among all the great variety we cultivate none suffered less by the last severe winter than this. Not a tree, to our knowledge, had a branch or shoot injured, either upon the quince or pear stock, or in dry or damp situations where some of our native pears were more or less hurt. It may be there- NOVEMBER. 509 fore set down as one of the hardiest pears. It also grows freely upon the quince, unites well with the stock, and makes a vigorous tree. Only one thing is necessary to be observed in its culture, and that is to have the soil well drained, deep, light and rich. The tree is an irregular grower, somewhat branching, and does not readily form a handsome pyramid. The wood is short jointed, moderately stout, and of a reddish brown. It bears rather young. Size, large, about three and a half inches long and three and a quarter in diameter : Form, obovate, or roundish ob- long, largest about the middle, narrowing little to the stem, rounding otf to the crown, which is large and occasionally slightly ribbed and frequently compressed on the sides : Skill, fair, slightly rough, dull green, becoming yellow when fully mature, with a brownish red cheek in the sun, often having a striated appearance, and regularly covered with large, conspicuous russet specks : Stem, medium length, about an inch long, very stout, straight, and obliquely in- serted in a small contracted cavity : Eye, small, closed, and moderately depressed in a small puckered basin ; segments of the calyx narrow, stiff, and curved inwards : Flesh, yel- lowish white, little coarse, buttery, melting, and very juicy : Flavor, rich, brisk, vinous, slightly perfumed and delicious : Core, large : Seeds, medium size, sharply pointed. Ripen from February to April. ♦ 200. Des Nonnes. Album de Pomologie, Vol. IV. De Nonne, ) ^^ p^g^ch collections. Poire des JNonnes, ^ Among the numerous pears which we have received from France and Belgium, comprising many hundred names, we by some mistake have not had this variety. Neither have we seen it in fruit among any of the amateur collections around Boston. For specimens of the fruit, from which our drawing and description are made, we are indebted to Messrs. Thorp, Smith & Hanchett of Syracuse, New York, who introduced and fruited it three or four years ago, and 510 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. who have shown it at various Horticultural Exhibitions in western New York. They received it from M. Leroy of Angers, in whose catalogue we first noticed the name. The Des Nonnes pear (fig. 21) is a very excellent variety ; and if the qualities of the tree are as good as those of the fruit, deserves general cultivation. Since the receipt of these specimens we have endeavored to look up the history of the THE DES NONNES PEAR. variety. In the Album de Pomologie of Bivort, we find a plate with a description of the De Nonne pear. The de- scription is very incomplete, and the representation of the pear evidently imperfect, being made from fruits sent to him by an amateur, and perhaps not an average specimen : he had never seen the tree. The drawing and description are evidently taken for this pear, for they correspond in every NOVEMBER. 511 particular but the form of the fruit, which is more elongated than the specimens sent us by Messrs. Thorp, Smith & Han- chett ; as it is known, however, that such variations often take place, we consider the De Nonne of the Albwni the same as the Des Nonnes of M. Leroy ; we notice Bivort com- mits errors in the names of some well known sorts, and he may have done so in this case, giving the singular instead of the plural termination. As we have no knowledge of the tree, its habit, growth, productiveness, &c., we copy the following letter accompa- nying the specimens sent us : — " We sent yesterday to the address of your firm a few specimens of the Des Nonnes pear. Holding this fruit in high estimation ourselves we submit it to you in the hope that our opinion may be confirmed by yours. The tree is one of the best and handsomest growers in the nursery, both on its own and the quince stock. It is moreover a great and early bearer, of uniformly fair and perfect fruit. The speci- mens sent are from three year old trees, now standing in nursery rows, with the exception of one or two, which are taken from the original imported trees. We are not aware that this fruit was ever described until it fruited with us in the fall of 1852, at which time we forwarded an account and de- scription of it to the Horticulturist." Size, medium, about two and a half inches long and two and three quarters in diameter : Form, roundish obovate, large about the middle, rounding off to the crown and obtuse at the stem : Skin, fair, smooth, green, becoming pale yel- low at maturity, tinged with pale blush on the sunny side, and covered with large, round, conspicuous russet specks, thickest on the exposed side : Stem, long, about an inch and a half in length, nearly straight, stout, and inserted in a very shallow cavity, under a slight projection : Eye, small, open, and set in a very small regular and shallow basin ; segments of the calyx very short : Flesh, white, fine, melting, and very juicy: Flavor, rich and sugary with a strong bergamot aroma : Core, small : Seeds, medium size, brown. Ripe in September and October. 512 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 201. Des Chasseurs. Among a lot of new pears received from Belgium some ten years ago was one under this name. Nothing was known of its qualities save what was found in the catalogue, where it was stated to be of the first quality. Fortunately it has proved to be so. Our tree began to bear four or five years ago, but the specimens were at first small. Since the tree THE DES CHASSEURS PEAR. has attained age and size, they have been much finer, and this year come well up to the size of an ordinary Marie Louise, which it somewhat resembles in shape and color. The Des Chasseurs, (fig. 22,) according to the Belgian catalogues, is from the collection of Van Mons, and probably NOVEMBER, 513 one of his seedlings. We do not find it described in any pomological work. The tree is of a tolerably vigorous growth, with a tall and somewhat spreading habit, the branches bending readily with the weight of fruit. It flourisiies well upon the quince, and our tree, now about ten years old, produces abundantly, having borne an annual crop. Wood yellowish brown. Size, medium, about three and a half inches long and two and a half in diameter : Form, pyramidal, regular, large about the middle, rounding off to the crown and contracted near the stem : Skin, slightly rough, pale green, becoming yellowish at maturity, somewhat traced with dull russet, and dotted with minute russetty specks : Stem, medium length, about an inch long, rather slender, nearly straight, and ob- liquely inserted without any cavity : Eye, small, open, and set nearly even with the surface of the crown ; segments of the calyx short ; Flesh, yellowish white, little coarse, melt- ing and juicy : Flavor, rich, saccharine, brisk, slightly per- fumed and excellent : Core, small : Seeds, roundish ovate, obtusely pointed and dark. Ripe in October. 202. Ananas d'Ete. Loji. Hort. Soc. Catalogue. Many years ago, when the late Mr. R. Manning of Salem was forming his collection of pears, this variety among others was received by him from the Horticultural Society of Lon- don. It proved to be a very excellent early autumn pear, especially at that time, when the number was not quite so large as it is now. It was subsequently described as the Ananas, a name that has been applied to two or three other pears. The Ananas d'Ete, (fig. 22,) was distributed by Mr. Manning among our various nurserymen, and was subse- quently described by Downing in his Fruits and Fruit Trees, who gave it so high a character, that it was eagerly songht for by various cultivators. But thongh a good fruit, it does not now hold quite so prominent a place ; still it is a very excellent pear, and should be in every large collection, though it may be dispensed witli, in smaller ones. It ripens VOL, XXIII. NO, XI. 65 il4 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. at about the same season as the Bartlett, and hence is not so valuable. The tree is not a rapid grower, but it soon comes into bearing and produces well. Size, medium, about three inches long and two and a half in diameter : Form, obtuse pyramidal, large at the crown, contracted at the stem into which it suddenly tapers: Skin, fair, smooth, pale yellow, mottled and clouded with light red in the sun and thickly dotted with small russet specks : THK ANANAS D ETE PEAR. Stem, medium length, about three quarters of an inch long, stout, little fleshy at the base, and obliquely attached without any cavity by a fleshy union : Eye, medium size, open, and but little depressed in a rather shallow basin ; segments of the calyx short : Flesh, yellowish white, fine, buttery and melting : Flavor, rich and sugary, with a pleasant spicy aroma : Core, medium size : Seeds, medium size, broad and flattened, dark. Ripe in September. NOVEMBER. 515 POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. All the new Pears not worthless. — As long ago as the organization of the American Pomological Society at New York, when the subject of publishing a rejected list of fruits was proposed, we, with other members, objected to such a mov'ement, believing ourselves the best course to be to give those who had the time an opportunity to make a fair trial of them and ascertain the real merits of every variety before condemning it. We thought the time might come when this could be safely done, but for the present the greatest good M^ould be accomplished by placing before the cultivators of the country the names of such as could be highly recommended by such an assemblage of pomologists, without disparaging the qualities of others of which we had not ample experience to form an accurate opinion. This course was sustained, though at a subsequent meeting the rejected list was adopted with however, the proviso, that three objections should save any variety from being placed on the list. But for this some excellent pears would have been found in very bad company. We are led to these re- marks by noticing in a late number of the Ohio Farmer, a communication from Prof. Kirtland, which illustrates our own experience, and confirms what we have advanced above. In describing some new pears he writes as follows : — '• More than one half of the pears enumerated in the catalogues of American nurserymen are known only by name, or per- haps by the recommendation of the individuals who intro- duced them to public notice. The prevailing opinion is, that most of them are unworthy of cultivation, an opinion which I have entertained. ]More recent experience, with a better knowledge of the proper modes of cultivation, and especially of maturing the fruit, has of late led me to sus- pect, that my conclusions were not. in all instances, well founded. Many varieties which I formerly considered worth- less, I now place tolerably high in the scale of merit. The condemned varieties of our pomological conventions often possess more good qualities than poor ones, and are entitled 516 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. to higher consideration than to have their names thus un- ceremoniously blackened." Such is Prof. Kirtland's opinion, which accords with our own. M. de Jonghe, in his article on another page, fixes the period for testing the merits of a pear from ten to twenty years, which according to our experience we believe to be correct. How then should we undertake to condemn varie- ties which have not been introduced one half of that time ! We hope the experience of such cultivators will induce every one to reflect before he sacrifices a tree and loses three or four years in his desire to regraft it with some newer or bet- ter fruit. New Gooseberries. — Very little improvement has been made in this fruit among our own cultivators, though the English gardeners, it is well known, have brought it to the highest perfection, to the great weight of nearly an ounce each : it is also as equally well known that their growth is so uncertain here, owing to the liability to mildew, that few individuals attempt to raise them, and generally the goose- berry has not been a popular fruit. But since the introduc- tion of Houghton's seedling, — an improvement upon our indigenous berry, — which is perfectly free from mildew in all soils and situations, it has been more sought after, and is rapidly taking its place with the currant and raspberry in all gardens of any extent. - For a long period, now nearly twenty years, this has been the only seedling of any value, until within a short tune, when other seedlings have attracted attention, and bid fair to equal or surpass this old favorite. Within a year three new sorts have come to our notice, all with high encomiums of their merit, and, so far as we have examined two of them, fully sustaining their reputation. One of them is from New Lebanon, N. Y., where it was raised by the Shaker community, and is called the Mountain Seedling. They speak in high terms about it. It is a more vigorous plant than Houghton's seedling, bears more pro- fusely, and is quite equal in flavor to that variety. A box of the fruit sent us, including a branch as it was cut from the bush, shows it to be a most prolific bearer, and quite free from mildew. NOVEMBER. 517 Another of these is from Vermont ; it very much resem- bles the last in appearance, and is quite equal to it in flavor. A third, and the one we have not seen the fruit of, is a seedling raised by Mr. Charles Downing of Newburgh, N. Y., three years ago, from Houghton's seedling. It was selected from a lot of plants, and was the only superior one in quality and size ; the bush is erect and a hardy and vigorous grower. liike the grape and other fruits, when once variation com- mences there is no foretelling the results, and with care in the selection of seed we doubt not a few years would give us a collection of native seedlings of all colors, far better than any already produced. Fine Pears at the Exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. — The season of 1857, though not so favorable for the pear as last year, has, notwithstanding, produced some very excellent specimens, as seen at the ex- hibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Sep- tember. Though the collections as a whole were not so fine as in 1856, many of the specimens were quite equal, and some superior, showing that while a wet and cool season suits some varieties, a warm and dry one suits others. The following are the names of the kinds in two of the principal collections : — From Col. Wilder. Counselleur Ranwez, Andrews, Belle Epine Dumas, Beurre Superfin, B. Langelier, B. Diel, B. d'Anjou, B. Sterckman, Pie IX, Dallas, Belle Lucrative, Dunmore, Swan's Orange, Nouveau Poiteau, Doyenne Bous- sock, Baron de Mello, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Winter Nelis, Vicar of Winkfield, Adams, Triumph of Jodoigne, Glout Morceau, Lawrence, Abbott, Lodge, Co- lumbia, Jalousie de Fontenay, August Benoits, Jersey Gra- tioli. From Hovey & Co. Beurre Clairgeau, B. Diel, B. Bach- elier, B. d'Anjou, B. Montgeron, B. Superfin, B, Bosc, B. Langelier, Bartlett, Swan's Orange, Duchess, Flemish Beauty, Urbaniste, Passe Colmar, Belle Lucrative, Henkel, Paradise of Autumn, Sheldon, Lawrence, Nouveau Poiteau, Duchess 518 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. of Orleans, Doyenne Boussock, Gerando, Fulton, Gloiit Morceau, Adams, St. Michael Archange, Marie Louise, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Dunmore. Wharton's Early Pear. — Prof. Kirtland describes a na- tive pear under this name, probably a seedling of the West : — " In Mr. Elliott's work on fruits (p. 387) may be found a figure and description of Wharton's early pear. They were made out from specimens produced on a graft kindly furnished me by Eli Nichols of Walhonding, in Coshocton Co., Ohio, and are correct. Since that publication appeared I have had repeated opportunities to test this pear, and I am now disposed to class it among the most valuable of the early varieties of that species of fruit. It is an annual bearer, of fine flavor, of larger size than the Madeleine, or the Blood- good, and attracts attention by its fine appearance in our market. Friend Nichols is, I believe, familiar with its origin, and would, no doubt, favor the Ohio Farmer with its his- tory, as well as with his experience with this fruit. It is my impression that B. Kirtland and Thomas Frame of Poland, Ohio, have also cultivated it for a number of years, and are familiar with its merits. It is my impression that it origin- ated somewhere in the Western States, but in this I may be in error." The Early York Peach. — This fine variety was exhib- ited by Mr. T. Rivers before the British Pomological Society, in London, on the 30th of August, and in the report of the meeting it is thus spoken of: — " Early York. First week in August. An American peach of medium size and of a bright red next the sun : flavor full, deliciously melting, with a fine aroma. This is without doubt by far the best early peach known." This is high praise from the British pomol- ogists, and admitting a good deal for our American fruits. According to the reports of the London Horticultural Soci- ety and the British Pomological, the best pear known is the Seckel, and the best peach the Early York. They have only to try other of our American varieties of both pear and peach to ascertain that we have many of equal quality, which are well worthy of introduction into all English collections. NOVEMBER. 519 Among all the fine American varieties of these two fruits not ten are known or appreciated in Great Britain. It is hard work to persuade her cultivators that Knight's Monarch, Crassane, and similar old pears, are not the best fruits in the world. We hope the great exhibition which took place in London on the 24th of October, will tend in a slight degree to diminish the prejudice against foreign fruits, and an op- portunity to taste some of our finest varieties show them how much they have lost by delaying the introduction to so late a period. Even with the finest Belgian and French collec- tions of pears within a hundred miles of London, they scarcely yet know anything of the great number of new va- rieties which have enriched our American collections for so long, and enabled our cultivators to produce, at the present day, a finer display of this fruit than can be made even in that land of pear culture — Belgium. The Logan Grape. — This is the name of a new variety exhibited by Dr. Grant of Iowa, N. Y., at the annual exhi- bition of the Massachusetts lloiticultural Society in Septem- ber last. We know nothing of the history or general char- acteristics of the grape, except from the simple examination of the fruit. It appeared to be riper than the Delaware, exhib- ited by Dr. Grant at the same time. It is a black grape with a deep blue bloom, smaller than the Isabella, and of good quality. Its earliness and excellence entitle it to the attention of grape growers. Enormous Profits of Fruit Culture. — At the annual sessions of the pomologists of western New York much is said about the great profits of fruit culture, and we took oc- casion last year to copy the remarks of our friend Mr. Hooker upon the subject, supposing what he said to be an honest expression of his views ; but we were mistaken, as it ap- peared, for in a note which we published, (Vol. XXII, p. 268,) he informed us that his remarks were intended " simply as pleasantry directed at those persons who had been informing us of the great prices to be obtained for winter pears." But this year not only are the reports of great profits the same as last year, but " more so," and in noticing them we 520 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. know not whether they are intended as "pleasantry " or the truth. If the latter, we think they are pretty "tall talk,"' and ought to be known, that in these dull times everybody may go into fruit raising, and realize a share of the fabulous profits. Speaking as a nurseryman, it would be for our interest to circulate these reports of the great profits of fruit culture ; we shall therefore not be accused this time of having an •'axe to grind," when we say these reports repeated every year are simply absurd, and should not be countenanced by any association of pomologists having the true progress of the science at heart. Some isolated case of large profits of some single tree or half a dozen trees may be named, but to argue from this that similar profits accrue to the extensive cultivator is not true. We copy some of these statements : — Mr. C. Downing stated that "the Hudson River Antwerp Raspberry was the only sort cultivated for the New York market. The product was from $300 to $800 per acre." At ten cents per quart, besides the expense of picking, sell- ing, interest of land and cultivation, it would require 8000 quarts to the acre to produce the latter sum ! Mr. A. Pinney '' had 500 dwarf pears, six to eight years of age, nearly all White Doyenne ; these had cracked badly this year, and his profits were not large from them ; but of other varieties he had sold at nine dollars per basket (of half a bushel each) or 10 cents each. He cultivates chiefly White Doyenne, Duchess, Bartlett, and Louise Bonne of Jersey. The latter he has found exceedingly productive — eight year trees yielding two to four baskets {one to two bushels) and bringing ^2 to $4 per basket." We should like to look at a lot of dwarf pears, eight years old, bearing two to four bas- kets to a tree. But Mr. C. H. Burtis tells the greatest story, viz : "that he knew trees of the White Doyeime which bore ten, barrels a year (!) These are from the reports of the meetings at Rochester and Buff'alo, as we find them in the Country Gentleman. In the same journal and of the same date, (Oct. 22,) a . NOVEMBER. 521 correspondent who visited Dr. Grant's vineyard, near New- burgh, N. Y., states that he sold 400 pears, the produce of a six year old tree, for 12^ cents each (.$50), and obtained $18 per bushel for his Seckel pears." Can this be true ? We should hke to have the Doctor inform us. But we trust, for the interest of horticulture, that our soci- eties will not tolerate such statements, or at least give cur- rency to them. They arouse the expectations of those who know bnt little of the culture of fruit, so high, that the failure to realize anything like similar results induces them to neg- lect their trees, give up planting, and leave fruit culture for some other crop. A SCENE IN NATURE. BY WILSON FLAGG. A description of a scene in real nature is apt to be very tiresome, and is seldom interesting even to those who would look with delight upon the scene described. It is difficult to convey to the eye of the mind a picture that shall awaken all the emotions which are excited in presence of the real scene. In this respect the painter has greatly the advantage of the author, since t!ie former has but to present a literal copy, or, as it were, a photograph of the landscape, and his object is accomplished. The author labors under the obvious difficulty attending all descriptions in words, which is, that that the language he uses to express his ideas is liable to be equally descriptive of a hundred other different landscapes. He must be precise without obscurity, and general without prolixity. To describe a scene consisting chiefly of natural objects, so that the reader will feel the same emotions which are excited by viewing it, and at the same time be able to identify it, or to paint it from the description, is one of the most difficult of literary tasks. Hence we find that such pictures are in general very obscure, resembling cloud scenery rather than the more definite objects of a landscape. I have premised these remarks as an apology for my fail- VOL. XXIII. NO. X. 66 522 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ure, if I do not succeed in giving the reader a clear idea of the scene which I have attempted to describe. My object is to present to the reader's mind a picture of one of a certain class of landscapes, which are very common in this part of the country, and which fail to attract attention only because the generality of our people can see nothing admirable in nature except her monstrosities. I am not obliged to visit Mount Washington or the Falls of Niagara, in order to experience the full force of the sublimity of nature, which I can equally perceive in the fading fires of the heavens at sunset, or in their starry glow by night. The common scenes of nature are capable of affording the most intense delight to those who have accustomed their minds to the study of all her aspects. We may sail round the globe in queJH; of scenes of grandeur and beauty ; but we shall seek in vain for any thing more beautiful than a rainbow, or more sublime than the sun emerging as it were from the ocean, at sunrise, en- shrouded in the dappled hues of morning. About a mile from the Divinity School in Andover, and lying a little on the north of the old Salem road, is a hill which is among the highest elevations in Essex county. It consists apparently of two hemispherical hills united, leaving a depression between them, so that at a distance they seem like two distinct elevations. For the want of a better name, and as expressive of the brotherly union of the two, I will call this eminence Mount Fidelity. On the south side of it, between the hill and the Salem road, is a wooded swamp, consisting of a growth chiefly of maples, pines, and larches ; and the most interesting way of approaching the hill is through a bye-road that leads one round on the northwest boundary of this wood. Lying contiguous to this bye-road are two or three very romantic situations, which we encoun- ter before we reach Mount Fidelity. These I shall not at- tempt to describe. The view from the summit of the hill is very extensive, but not sufficiently varied to compare with views from other similar elevations nearer the coast. No village is very distinctly seen, nor a single lake or sheet of water. Hence with all the grandeur of the view, it is very NOVEMBER. 523 monotonous, and cliiefly interesting to those who are satisfied with examining distant objects through a telescope. As I have often observed when ascending other elevations, the views obtained from different points on the slope of the hill are more pleasing than from the summit. But it is not any one of these views which I shall attempt to describe. If we descend the hill,'and follow a bye-road that leads under its eastern declivity, we soon arrive at a deserted house which is probably one of the most ancient in this vicinity. It is perhaps one hundred and fifty years old, bearing all the marks of the style of dwelling-houses erected at so early a period. It consists of two stories, one room deep, with the front door in the centre, having a room on each side. This house has not received that addition which has been made to many similar houses, of an appendage to the back part, covered by an unbroken extension of the roof sloping down to one story. A St. Michael's pear tree stands in front of the 'house, apparently in vigorous health, though the fruit is cracked and woody. The house is no longer habitable, and the old well stands near without curb or cross-pole. Apple trees, coeval with the house, stand, like old faithful sentinels, round the enclosure which was once a garden ; and a bed of spearmint, the only remaining herb of the old gar- den, luxuriates in one corner. From the hill-side in the rear of the house, we look down upon a whortleberry pasture, which is, at this season, before the tints of the foliage are spoiled by the frost, one of the most pleasing objects in the landscape. The bushes were all brightly tinged with orange, crimson and purple, and as the}'' were irregularly mapped out on the green plain, the groups of shrubbery seemed like hundreds of variously shaped islands of flowers resting upon the green bed of the ocean. This pasture was probably a cornfield or hay field when the original inhabitants of the old house lived there and tilled the neighboring soil. The pasture is without many trees, and of such extent as to present to the sight of the spectator a chart as singular as it is beautiful. Nature seems to anticipate the wants of her creatures by thus plant- 524 'THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. ing the whortleberry in all deserted grounds. In the primi- tive forest, where the produce of this shrub if abundant would be wasted, it is extremely scarce. After man has re- moved the forests, and the familiar birds that follow in the wake of agricultural labor have become numerous, nature immediately raises up the whortleberry, that produces abun- dant harvests of fruit both for man and bird. But not the view from the mountain, nor the sheltered and romantic approach along by the woodside, nor the vari- egated whortleberry pasture with its flowery embroidery upon a green velvet groundwork ; nor the old house, with its rustic well, its old sentinel apple trees and its plat of fra- grant spearmint, will bear comparison with the valley that lies below them. Nature is infinite in her expedients and her resources. She uses the most ordinary materials, to form her most delightful landscapes ; and she often keeps in re- serve prospects of the most enchanting beauty, and causes them to rise up, as it were by magic, when we least expect them. From the eastern slope of Mount Fidelity we look down upon the plain in which this valley is embosomed, and we see the whole arrangement of field, orchard and wood. There is nothing striking in this view ; and we are, there- fore, unprepared to encounter a beautiful scene when we de- scend into the midst of it. Here the rule that " distance lends enchantment to the view " is reversed. As we pass along a bye-road that leads to a farm house, situated about half a mile southeast of the mount, we suddenly find our- selves encompassed with a magnificent amphitheatre of hills and woods ; and it seems as if nature had just stept out of paradise into this valley, crowned with all those virgin beauties that gladdened the sight of the first inhabitants of Eden. Mount Fidelity forms nearly one-half of the circular bul- wark that bounds the valley on the north and northwest. A smaller ridge, containing a thrifty orchard protects it on the south, and the remainder of the boundary is a natural wood. When on passing along this bye-road, we find ourselves thus suddenly in the midst of a natural garden, it seems marvel- NOVEMBER. 525 Ions that the scene should be created by so little change in our position. We are now on a pleasant level. A neat farm house and its outbuildings stand on a moderate elevation on the south. As we look across the valley towards the east, a green meadow lies before us, occupying an area of about fifty acres. It is impossible to describe the beauty of this little savannah, which is covered with indigenous grasses, having never been subjected to the plough, and forming a smooth lawn, without any evidence of art or ornamental effort, which always renders a scene tame and prosaic. Here we see one of the charming results, which are so frequently observed, of the labors of those who operate without any regard to picturesque effects. I have seldom witnessed a landscape that was purposely laid out according to the prin- ciples of '-landscape gardening," that was not utterly deprived of beauty. I could see that it possessed certain conveniences for the proprietor and his family; and these possibly might be worth the labor and expense which had been lavished upon it, and the sacrifice of its original charms. The most remarkable of all the artificial, or rather the designed land- scapes which I have seen, with one or two exceptions, are surpassed both in interest and beauty by twenty rustic farms to be found in every county in the State. Nature seems to look upon the labors of the ploughman with more complacency than upon the eflforts of those who are endeavoring to im- prove her features; and while the latter most generally spoil the landscape they attempt to embellish, the most beautiful objects and combinations slowly gather around the rude works of the husbandman. In this valley are groups of trees and shrubberry like islands rising out of the plain, fortuitously arranged as the artist in landscape would arrange them, if it were possible to give to nature those forms and dispositions of things, which are ea- sily conceived, but which nature only can execute. There is all that intricacy in the relative position of these groups and other objects which, when sufficiently circumscribed, consti- tutes a picture. If it were not that such views are common in our land, I would go further to behold one of them than 526 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. to obtain a view from Mount Blanc. The time of my visit- ing this place was in October, just before the variegated tints of the forest were destroyed by the frosts, and when the colors of the foliage render every scene more charming. When I left, I could not avoid attaching a moral to my re- flections, being deeply impressed with the fact which we do not readily learn, that the most pleasing scenes are not the most celebrated, and that nature needs no assistance from art operating with design to produce the most delightful pictures. Passacjjusctts |jorticultiiraI Socktg. Saturday, Oct. 3, 1857. — The annual meeting of the Society was held to- day,— the President in the chair. The first business before the meeting was the choice of officers, and the following gentlemen were elected for the ensuing year. Presidtnt — Josiah Stickney. Vice Presidents — E. S. Eand, Eben Wight, Joseph Breck, C. M. Hovey. Treasurer — William R. Austin. Corresponding Secretanj — Eben Wight. Recording Secretary — F. Lyman Winsliip. Professor of Botany and Vegetable Physiology — John Lewis Russell. Professor of Entomology — J. W. P. Jenks. Professor of Horticultural Chemistry — E. N. Horsford. Committee on Fruits — J. S. Cabot, Chairman ; W. R. Austin, C. M. Hovey? W. C. Strong, E. A. Story, J. F. C. Hyde, Robert Manning. Committee on Flowers — E. S. Rand, Jr., Chairman; Azell C. Bowditch, John Lolhrop, C. H. B. Breck, Charles Copeland, W. J. Underwood, Mat- thew H. Burr. Committee 071 Vegetables — D. T. Curtis, Chairman ; P. B. Hovey, Eliphalet Stone, Francis Marsh, Bowen Harrington, Galen Merriam, Azell Bowditch. Committee on Librniy — C. M. Hovey, Chairman ; Azell Bowditch, E. S. Rand, Jr., F. Winship ; R. McCleary Copeland, Librarian. Committee on Synonyms of Fruit — M. P. Wilder, Chairman ; B. V. French, Samuel Walker, C. M. Hovey, Chairman of the Committee on Fruits. Executive Committee — The President, Chairman ; the Treasurer, Marshall P. Wilder, Samuel Walker, J. S. Cabot. Committee for establishing Premiums — Chairman of the Committee on Fruits, Chairman ; Chairman of the Committee on Flowers; Chairman of the Committee on Vegetables ; Chairman of the Committee on Gardens ; Cor- responding Secretary ; Recording Secretary. OCTOBER. 527 Finance Committee — Josiah Stickney, Chairman ; Marshall P. Wilder, Samuel Walker. Committee on Pub'ication — Corresponding Secretary, Chairman ; Chair- man of the Committee on Gardens; Chairman of the Committee on Flowers; Cliairman of tlie Committee on Vegetables ; Recording Secretary ; C. M. Hovey, R. M. Clark. Committee on Gardens — Samuel Walker, Chairman ; W. R. Austin ; Re- cording Secretary ; Thomas Page ; Chairman of Committee on Fruits; Chairman of Committee on Flowers ; Chairman of Committee on Vegeta- bles. The meeting was adjourned two weeks to October 17th. I^ortifulfiiral ^ptratioiis FOR NOVEMBER. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. The month of October, with the exception of one week, was dry and fine throughout, with but two frosts of any severity. This very favorable weather has ripened off the wood of all kinds of trees, and they now appear to be in a much better condition to stand the Avinter than last year. It is to be hoped that such disastrous effects will not again be produced for a long time. As we have had a wet summer, we anticipate dry and favorable weather in November. Now is the time to forward all kinds of planting and go on with prepara- tions of land for spring work. All November will be suitable for setting out trees, unless early and repeated frosts set in; but to be ready for them the sooner everything is done the better. Protecting all kinds of fruit which need it should not be forgotten or neglected. Grape Vines in the early vineries will soon be in bloom, and with the short days and diminished sun heat will require careful attention. Keep up a good day temperature, making fires in the morning rather than at night, especially in cloudy damp weather. Give air as freely as possible. Con- tinue to stop the laterals and tie them in. Keep up a genial atmosphere but guard against damp. Vines in greenhouses and late graperies may be pruned this month or they may be left till December. They will not re- quire any particular care. In cold houses the vines should all be pruned and protected against cold by laying them down and covering them with mats and manure or tan. The experience of last winter, when many vines were injured, should caution all cultivators to err on the safe side. Strawberry Beds should be cleared of all weeds, and as soon as the ground begins to freeze, they should have a thin covering of manure, sea- weed, salt hay, leaves or tan. We prefer seaweed when it can be had. Tan we consider the poorest covering. Raspberry Vines, of the more tender kinds, should be laid down and covered with a few inches of soil. 528 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Currants and Goosebkrries may be pruned now; it is also a good time to transplant, as they start so early in the spring that they do not make so good a growth. Fruit Trees of all kinds should be transplanted this month. Now is the time to clean, wash, and manure all young or bearing trees, especially such as are inft?sted with the scale or bark louse. Whale oil soap, of the thickness of paint, or potash, dissolved in water at the rate of one pound to seven gallons of water, will accomplish the work. FLOWER DEPARTMENT. The month of November should find everything ready for the winter. In the houses the plants should be put in their best order, in order to give them the most cheerful appearance and render them inviting. The smaller and hardier plants should be kept in frames as long as possible, that their place may be filled with chrysanthemums and other showy flowers; remove the latter when their bloom is ovei. Light fires on cool nights, and air freely every fine day, as nothing is more injurious than to draw up the plants at this early season. Camellias will begin to bloom soon ; keep them well watered and syringe often ; top dress such as need it if not already done. Azaleas Avill now remain dormant for a while, and should be sparingly watered. Pelargoniums will now require attention. The flowering specimens should now have a shift and be arranged where they can have plenty of room as near the light as possible. Water carefully. Fancy sorts should be kept on a shelf near the glass, topping the young shoots in order to keep them stocky. Chrysanthemums, now coming into full bloom, should be well watered, using liquid manure occasionally. Calceolahias should now be potted off from the seed pods, and have a good place near the glass. Older stock should have a shift. Cinerarias may be kept in frames as late as possible, guarding against frost. Now is the time to repot and forward the early flowering specimens. Verbenas for winter bloomini> should have a siiift into good sized pots. Young stock should be potted off". Heaths growing freely should be repotted. Water carefully. ■RosEs taken from the open ground and potted now should stand in a frame for a month or so before being taken into the house. Early potted plants should now be pruned and have a good situation. Nemophila and other annuals for winter blooming should be shifted into larger pots. Stocks should be kept in frames as long as the Aveather will admit. Trop^eolum tricolorum should now be repotted, and started into growth. Water very sparingly till the young shoots are well advanced. Cactuses, except the autumn blooming ones, should be sparingly wa- tered. Gesneras should have a shift, and the warmest situation in the liouse. Monthly Carnations, coming into bloom, may have larger pots. Frames should be well protected from frost. PREPARATION FOR WINTER. In a climate so variable and severe as onrs, where we cul- tivate indiscriminately plants from all the temperate regions, there is scarcely a winter in which a greater or less number are not injured to so\ne extent, either in their roots, their wood, their foliage, or their flower-buds, and frequently in all of these ; sometimes so as to kill them outright, or cause them to live out a lingering death ; or to disfigure and dam- age them, so that they are neither objects of ornament or use. If these disaster^ do not occur every year, they have their periodical return ; and once in ten or even twenty years, as in those of 1835 and 1857. many fine plants and shrubs are hopelessly injured or disfigured. With these con- stantly recurring dangers, the zeal of the energetic amateur or industrious gardener receives a blow that is often well nigh fatal to his future eff'orts; and but for the fact that careful and unremitted attention have endeared the various objects of his solicitude to him, he would have very little courage to go on, with the hope of accomplishing anything satisfactory. But summer comes, and with it the genial dews, the gentle rains, and bright sunshine, which give new life to exhausted vegetation ; as if by magic, even the shrivelled remnant of some favorite plant, looked upon as beyond recovery, springs into vigorous growth ; and, before autumn again tinges the foliage with her kaleidoscope hues, outgrows its former self, and appears, with fresh verdure, more beautiful and more attractive than ever, to gladden the hopes of the possessor, reward him for his labor, and show how great are the powers of all vegetable life. Year after year these changes take place, discouraging the cultivator at one season and rewarding him at another, till age has given a vigor to both root and branch, which enables every plant to contend better against the vicissitudes of cli- mate, and, except in constitutions hopelessly tender, become VOL. XXIII. NO. XII. 67 530 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. an object of real beauty. All this, however, is indeed a work of time, which it should be the object of the cultivator to abridge as much as possible by all the means in his power, that in a young as well as older state every plant may retain its healthiest and most vigorous aspect. Fortunately we can aid in this ; and, by well-directed and judicious efforts, accomplish in a few years what time will only give to the neglectful and indolent cultivator. Though we hear of the vigor and hardiness of many plants and trees in Great Britain, very few know how much care and time have been given to make them so. At Drop- more, the seat of Lady Grenville, the famous Araucaria imbricata, and Douglas Fir, as well as many otlier species of evergreens, were for a long period protected during winter in the most thorough manner, as Mr. Frost, the intelligent gardener, informed us, at the time of our visit. And the fine magnolias in the collection of Mr. J. A. Kenrick, NeWr ton, would not have been what they are but for the pains he took in protecting them from the severity of our winters. Not only have the native locality and soil of certain trees to be studied, but they must be imitated to have entire success. The region from whence they come is not always an indication of their hardiness. If we desire to have them, means must be used to accomplish this. If our gardens were to be filled with only such trees, shrubs, and plants as grow naturally in regions as severe as our own climate, we should be confined to a very small number. We rely for variety, as well as beauty, upon many which come from almost a tropical region, or at least from high altitudes in warm climates, where the winters may be severe, but of much shorter duration. Here they flourish in their youth protected by deep snows, or sheltered beneath the foliage of larger trees, till in time they obtain that firmness of wood which defies cold, and renders them no longer susceptible to injury. Following nature, we must afford them similar pro- tection when planted out in our exposed pleasure-grounds and gardens, or it would be folly to expect anything but disastrous results. To reject them because they require DECEMBER. 531 some protection, would be to divest our gardens of many of their most beaiitifal ornaments. Instances of the need of protection to several trees and shrubs have come under our observation. Onr own grounds are for the most part composed of a stiff loam on a clayey subsoil, very unfavorable for all half-hardy things. They are also quite exposed. In some places we have planted many choice new shrubs, which have invariably suffered every year, and some of them so as to be comparatively worthless ; but by removing them to a situation where the soil was lighter and partially sheltered, they have recovered and established themselves beyond danger of even the last unusually severe winter. At Mr. Hunnewell's in Needham, whose place we have described, he has such a favorable soil, and a locality sheltered by native pines, that he has suc- ceeded in cultivating several trees and shrubs which have failed iu other places. The Douglas Fir and English Laurel he has of very respectable size for the time they have been planted ; and, in a few years, these and several others will undoubtedly become hardy enough to stand our winters unharmed. Appreciating, therefore, the importance of this subject, we are led to refer to it at this time, and to offer some ad- vice in regard to winter protection, and the best means of accomplishing the work : — Evergreen Trees and Shrubs. — The beauty of many evergreens, even though quite hardy, — that is, so as not to lose either bnd or branch, — is greatly enhanced by a slight protection. The rhododendrons, for instance, whose broad and deep green foliage is so rich and beautiful, are fre- quently touched by severe frosts so as to present a browned and sunburnt look. All tliis is the effect of heat, and not cold ; or rather cold alone would not cause it without heat. The warm sun of February and March shirjing upon the frozen leaves produces this effect. All that is necessary is therefore to guard them from the influence of the sun. This may be done simply by sticking pine boughs among them, just thick enough to cover the foliage. They will 632 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. then come out as fresh in the spring as they appear at the present time. The same treatment applies to all the broad- leaved kinds : the Holly, Kalmia, Tree box, Mahonia. &c. The latter comes from the Rocky Mountains, at a high alti- tude, where it is covered with snow during the entire winter; and its magnificent glossy green leaves, surpassing in rich- ness almost any other shrub, can be preserved from slight injury only by such a protection as we have named. Box edgings always suffer from the same cause. The evergreen trees, such as the Douglas Fir, Abies morinda. Cedar of Lebanon, &c., absolutely require such protection, or their leading* shoots will be likely to perish, though their roots receive no injury. The fact that they may become hardy needs no better confirmation than the entire freedom from injury of the lower and older portion of the tree, which makes an attempt every year to recover its lost shoots, without apparent diminution of vigor, till it becomes a dwarf bush. All that is necessary is, when once the frost sets in, to keep them from the sun and sharp cut- ting winds. Straw is frequently used, as well as bass mats, for covering such trees; but it is, in most instances, worse for them than if they had not been touched. A cone of straw holds the moisture from every rain, and does not allow a circula- tion of air, which is the one thing essential to success. It is far better that they should be exposed to the north, than that they should be entirely covered ; for it is damp cold that is so fatal. On this account all straw coverings, as usually applied, by tying up into a cone, should be rejected. If none other can be obtained, the cone should be left open on the north side, with a cavity all around the tree for the air to circulate freely. In addition to whatever covering is used, the ground should have a good coat of leaves or strawy manure to keep the frost from penetrating to the roots. Deciduous Trees and Shrubs. — Many of these need protection if good specimens are wanted without delay. The Magnolias, particularly macrophylla and tripetala, lose DECEMBER. 533 their terminal buds while yriing, which mars their beauty, by causing them to form shrubs rather than trees. The Soulangea??a, conspicua and purpurea likewise attain a more vigorous growth by early protection. We are not sure but what the M. grandiflora might be made to survive our winters with due care and attention. At any rate, the others are beautiful enough to merit all our care. Some of the Spirasas are quite tender; but they are so easily protected by pegging down the shoots, and covering them with litter, straw, or leaves, that they may be always seen in perfec- tion. S. arasifolia and Lindleya?^a are of this description ; frequently losing just enough of their shoots to prevent them from blooming. That elegant climbing plant, the Large-flowered Bignonia, may be grown in fine condition simply by laying the branches upon the ground and cov- ering them with five or six inches of leaves. Another class of deciduous shrubs, though quite hardy, still well repay a slight protection : the Tree pa3onies push more vigorously, and flower much better, if covered with a few leaves than if left wholly exposed, though no branch- es may be injured ; and of many kinds of roses, partic- ularly the mosses, a far finer display of flowers may be obtained if tiie shoots are bent to the ground and lightly covered with manure or earth. These and similar low growing shrubs demand so little labor, that they amply repay all that is done with a more profuse display of their beautiful flowers, and a more robust and vigorous habit. Herbaceous Plants are always best protected with a thin covering of good old decayed manure, as it serves at once the double purpose of protection and enrichment. But if not at hand, or easily to be had, leaves, or even pine or evergreen boughs, of any kind, are perfectly suited to the purpose. Even tan will answer better than nothing, though we much prefer the manure. Leaves should never be put on too thick, as they frequently prevent the admission of air, and often cause the plants to heat and rot. A thin covering of leaves contains more warmth than a much thicker covering of manure. Lilies, tulips, and other bulbs 534 THK MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. should be sufficiently covered to keep the frost from pene- trating as low as the bulbs ; otherwise they do not push their roots early, and start with dimimshed vigor in spring. We might particularize other plants which require jiidgment in covering, bnt they are too numerous to enter into detail. What we wish to urge is the general practice of protection, according to the nature of the plants ; all being better for it. and some impossible to possess without it. The rationale of it is to obstruct the escape of terrestrial heat and prevent exposure to solar warmth, and stop sudden freezing and thawing, which always more or less destroys the organism of all plants. PROSPECTS. WILSON FLAGG. 'Prospects may be arranged under three heads: the pan- 07'amic, the dioi-amic, and the picturesque prospect. The pa?wramic prospect is one that commands an uninterrupted view, as far as the eye can reach, of the surrounding country in every direction. Such is that which is viewed from an eminence, when the view is not interrupted by contiguous objects. Every mountain prospect is not panoramic, because it may be confined by the close proximity of other moun- tains. A valley prospect, on the other hand, may partake of the character of a panoramic view, when the rising grounds encompassing it are so gradual in their ascent as to afford uninterrupted distant views on all sides. These, of all ex- tensive prospects, afford the most lasting delight, producing an emotion of sublimity, without any sense of uncomfort- able altitude, as from a mountain. Sublimity is the emotion which is most palpably felt on viewing a mountain panoramic prospect, and a sense of delight on viewing a panoramic valley prospect. The first, as 1 have intimated in another essay, is attended by a feeling which informs us that we can see no more ; as, by descend- DECEMBER. 535 ing, we obtain partial views only of what we now behold in its full magnitude. In the valley prospect we indulge the feeling that, how beautiful soever the present view, we may, by proceeding to the outer circle that bounds it, obtain the sight of still more beautiful landscapes beyond. Hence such a prospect is attended with a mental state of hopeful- ness, that adds something to the delight with which we contemplate it. The dioramic prospect is one seen through ranges of hills, through a deep ravine, or from any place which affords a view of only one point of the heavens. We experience a peculiar modijfication of pleasure on viewing in this manner the same objects which we had just beheld as part of a great panoramic scene, because they are now sufficiently circumscribed to command our involuntary attention. It is to secure the same advantage, in an inferior degree, that we use the hollow tube, that shuts out lateral objects, and con- fines our attention to those directly before the sight. The superior pleasantness of these partial views is made evident when we obtain a glimpse of the landscape through an arch, a vista, or an opening in a wood. When we behold an extended dioramic prospect, we ex- perience a feeling of grandeur combined with a pleasing sense of progression. We see something ahead which we imagine would afford us still higher pleasure when we draw near enough to enjoy a full sight of what is now only dimly seen. For this reason a road that leads us down a declivity, through a narrow ])ass in the mountains, with a view con- stantly before ns of distant villages, plains, rivers, and collec- tions of water, is extremely delightful. While performing such a journey we feel a constantly-increasing pleasure ; as when we are listening to an approaching band of music along a winding road, that causes it now and then to die almost away upon the ear, increasing in loudness every time it comes out from behind the intervening hills. There is more or less of the same exhilirating pleasure experienced on passing up or down a narrow river, w^hen, although we seldom obtain an extensive prospect, we are 536 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. constantly expecting something brighter and more beautiful than anything we have yet encountered. Lake voyaging, on the contrary, awakens the emotions we feel on beholding a wide panoramic view. We may meet with agreeable sur- prises, but we are less excited by that pleasant feeling of expectancy that accompanies almost every stage of a river voyage. The pictiiresqiie prospect is any view which is sufficiently circumscribed to constitute a picture, or to be adapted to the purposes of the painter. If we stand on a gentle eminence, and look down into a narrow valley, containing a single farmhouse and its appurtenances, with a small collection of water embosomed in it, or a small stream meandering through it, with the accompaniment of flocks and herds, we behold a genuine picturesque prospect. We behold one single picture, unembarrassed by any surrounding scenes that divert the attention and mislead the mind of the spec- tator. Picturesque prospects abound in mountainous and hilly countries. Levels afford extended prospects ; but the effect of many agreeable scenes is destroyed by their blending with contiguous objects. Yet the most picturesque views are situated on a level, when seen from an eminence, or encompassed by woods or rising grounds. Forests partially cleared and settled afford many pic- turesque scenes, even on a plain, because the woods serve as boundaries to those charming little settlements, which, viewed in an open plain, would be without interest. Such clearings, however, must not be too recent. SufRcient time must have elapsed to allow nature to repair the defacement of her own features by the hands of the pioneer, and to harmonize the broken ground by a new creation of wildliowers, herbs, and shrubbery. Hence New England exhibits more of these charming scenes than the western country, where the bald- ness occasioned by the labors of the new settler has not been repaired by the slower operations of nature. In the southern part of the country the huts of the negroes, and the grounds about them, are often highly picturesque ; but seldom, in this quality, equal the cottages and grounds of DECEMBER. 537 the poorer classes of laborers in New England, whose appur- tenances are more suggestive of neatness and comfort. It is a general opinion that a level plain cannot, under any circumstances, be very interesting ; yet I have seen some of the most lovely views, and some of the most beau- tiful combinations and arrangements of natural and artificial objects, on a perfect level, uninterrupted by a single emi- nence. Our most pleasing reminiscences are commonly associated with hills and valleys. But there are valleys formed by surroiniding woods as well as by surrounding hills; and these are rendered the more charming because they are the more sequestered, — being more completely shut out from observation than a valley between hills, which are indeed so many observatories for the spectator. Surprises are likewise just as remarkable on a wooded plain as among the hills. Among the hills we are constantly on the watch for them ; the character of the ground gives us reason to expect them ; and this expectation causes them to lose some of their effect. When rambling through the woods on a level, nothing in nature is more delightful than suddenly emerging into an open space, or into a little clearing, con- taining all the usual accompaniments of a rustic farm. The most desirable prospects are tl|ose which command a view of water. Whether this water be a noble river, spreading itself out into a broad expanse, a wide lake, or the sea itself, the effect in all cases is very much the same. In many cases the landscape is marred by wharves and other edifices built around the shore of navigable waters. One must, under these circumstances, stand far enough from the shore to overlook these objects, upon the waters and prospect beyond; or he must remove to a spot from which he can view the shore undefaced by the implements of trade and commerce. For how beautiful soever the sight of a sail, or a fleet of sails, upon the waters, they must be situated out- side of the harbor, and be seen disconnected with the un- poetical objects about the wharves. There is an essential difference to be remarked between a sea view, and a lake or river view of equal apparent extent VOL. XXIII. NO. XII, 68 538 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. of waters. Besides the associations connected with the ocean, and the hahit, which is unavoidable, of extending our thoughts into the boundless space beyond it, thus ren- deruig a sea view more sublime tlian any other water scene would be that exactly resembles it, there are also important differences presented to the observation. The ebbing and flowing of the tides cause a pleasant alternation of appear- ances about the shore, which are oflfensive only in those places where the ocean bed has been made the reservoir of the foulness of a city. The banks of the sea-shore are likewise very unlike those of a lake or a river. The former are divided by more sinuosities; and the rocks, if they have a rocky foundation, are usually more bold in their outlines, and more completely divested of soil at their base. The sounds we hear in any situation produce a great modification of the influences of prospect. In this respect a sea prospect may be ranked above all other water scenery. A river produces no very audible sounds, except when it flows over a bed of rocks, forming rapids; or down a de- clivity, forming a waterfall. When constantly within hear- in*^ of these, the sound is tiresomely monotonous and incessant. Not so the sounds produced by the ebbing and flowing of the tides, or of the dashing of the waves upon the shore. These sounds are constantly changing, and never incessant, except during a storm, and a few hours after it. The alternation of sound and silence that attends the ebbing and flowing of the tides, is beyond comparison more agreeable than the roar of the waterfall. But for its cheering influence on the imagination, no pros- pect is so excellent as one that commands the view of a small river, exhibiting to the eye all its beautiful windings along the plain, now losing itself behind a hill or a wood, and suddenly reappearing beyond it, until it melts away into the blue haze of the distant horizon. Scenes, however, of narrow limits, of ordinary features, and of pleasing but not remarkable expression, are what I should prefer for the con- stant recreation of the sight and the mind ; which can revel longer and more continually among quiet and rustic scenes DECEMBER. 539 than among those which are highly dressed, or exciting by their wildness or their snblimity. Not only are prospects modified by diversities of the earth's snrface ; they are also essentially modified by the changes of the seasons, which give to northern climates an immense superiority over the tropics. Hence almost all genins has originated in the northern temperate zone. Not only does the winter compel the inhabitants of the north to exercise their full energy in providing themselves the com- forts and the necessaries of life, which in a tropical country come to them almost spontaneously from the hand of nature, but every change in the seasons affords a new subject for thought, and a new incitement to study the works of nature. The changes in the aspects of nature attending the arrival of each new season, and almost of each new month, present something ever new to attract the eye, and to render the landscape, even in its desolation, interesting to the mind. There must be a tiresome sameness in the appearance of na- ture under the tropics; for there we are obliged to change our place to obtain a change of scene. Not so in high northern latitudes. Here, though confined from year to year in one place, the scenery around it is never the same more than one season at a time ; and every succeeding month brings with it some new phase in the landscape. In high northern latitudes the earth, during winter, is entirely covered with snow, and no change takes place until the arrival of spring. In the temperate regions the earth is alternately covered with snow and divested of it, or agree- ably diversified with bare ground contrasted with tracts of snowy whiteness. This circumstance affords us some ad- vantages not experienced by the inhabitant of Nova Zembla. There is something very exhilirating to the sight in a land- scape entirely covered with snow. To the majority of ob- servers, especially if they are unaccustomed to it, it affords a very deep emotion of sublimity. There is in this uni- versal sleep of nature a quality which is suggestive of the deepest impressions of awe, somewhat allied to those feel- ings with which we contemplate the impenetrable shades of 540 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. a vast wood. To feel that tho.se powers Avhich are so active in their work during spring and summer are entirely at rest, without having lost any of their energies, — which are only waiting to be revived by the genial light of the sun, now too feeble to awake them, — and to think of the immense hosts of living creatures which will come forth to a new resurrection upon a slight increase of the duration of day- light, arouse reflections so nearly allied with infinity that not even the contemplation of the heavenly hosts can be more sublime. Besides the unspotted purity of a landscape entirely wrapped in snow, there is a stillness of all things at such a time, that prepares the mind to feel with a peculiar sen- sibility the influence of every accidental sound that meets the ear ; and the dreariness, at the same time, enlivens our sense of every moving object. The sight of a bird, or any animal, in winter, in the wild-wood or pasture, which in summer would pass unnoticed, immediately fixes our atten- tion. According to the same principle we recognize a person whom we have seen only once in the country, on seeing him the day afterwards ; while the faces of persons we meet every day in the city, unless we have conversation with them, make no impression on our minds, and pass from our memories forever. The moral influence of these changes of the season and of the prospect must be very great, and wholly incalculable. We may reasonably suppose that the inhabitant of the tropics who has never seen a winter landscape, must be destitute of ideas which form an important part of our intellectual stores ; and we can easily be persuaded of the truth of an assertion frequently made, that the inhabitants of northern latitudes are more imaginative than those of a more temperate region. Hence religion, which in a warm and luxurious climate grows sensual and inert, becomes in a northern climate, as in Scotlani^, highly imaginative, supei- stitious, and combined with an active enthusiasm. While the voluptuous Italian worships the image of the Virgin, with a feeling intimately associated with the passion of DECEMBER. 541 love, and tliinks only of the ceremonies required by his creed, the Scot mingles all his religious sentiments with the storms and darkness of winter nights, and associates the image of the Deity with the sublime and varied phenomena of the earth and the heavens. At no season of the year has the landscape so little to charm the sight as in the commencement of spring. The dreary beauty of winter has vanished, and in the place of it the earth presents only a monotonous appearance of bare ground, scarcely enlivened by any vegetation. It is the mitid, not the eye, which is charmed by such a prospect. The dark brown hills, with their still leafless woods, — the ground still black with the decayed foliage of autumn, ex- hibiting only here and there a few stripes of verdure, — the meadows half covered with water standing in unsightly pools, — present nothing beautiful to the eye; while every nook abounds in something that suggests a cheerful and enlivening image to the imagination. As the season ad- vances, every scene grows more attractive ; until the unfold- ing of the leaves, and the blossoming of trees and flowers, constitute a true vernal prospect. Spring has a unique character of landscape, as plainly distinguished in this respect from summer, as summer is from autumn or winter. The characteristic marks of a vernal prospect are a certain lightness and airiness, and a freedom t'rom almost everything that is sombre. A wood scene is more beautiful in May than in any other month ; for I cannot regard the tints of Autumn, though more bril- liant, as so truly charming, or so great in their variety. As the summer advances, the foliage of the trees assumes a deeper tint of green, and the whole wood a greater uni- formity of hue. The distinguishing marks of a summer prospect are its universal greenness and luxuriance. Our clime is at this period more beautiful than the tropics, which exhibit, along with their noble variety of trees, a surface seared by the hot sun, and destitute of that green carpet of herbage which is thj peculiar mark of the northern tem- perate zone. In October we witness the last change that 542 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. precedes winter, when nature, as if to soften the melancholy inspired by the decline of the year, benevolently draws a veil of beauty over the whole face of creation. POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. The great Fruit Exhibition of the London Horti- cultural Society. — This great show took place on the 24th of October last, and a full account of it appears in the Gardeners'' Chronicle^ from which we give an extract in another page. It will afford a pretty good idea of the pomological advancement of Great Britain. What may ap- pear singular to our cultivators is the disposition of pre- miums to foreign competitors, who were invited to contribute. The prize in this class was awarded to Mr. Solomons, a fruit dealer of Covent Garden, whose specimens were se- lected from the numerous cultivators from whom he pur- chases his fruit ! This certainly is a new way of awarding prizes to foreign competitors. It will be noticed that the best twelve varieties of dessert pears, which obtained the prize, contained Belle Angevine, Uvedale's St. Germain, (both the same,) Spanish Bon Chretien, Winter Bon Chre- tien, Gilogil, Le Cure, and old Cohnar, all merely baking pears ! The Seckel obtained the prize as the best single dish, having been shown by Mr. Tillyard, an English gar- dener. After the high praises bestowed upon English cul- tivators by Dr. Lindley, in his notice of the exhibition, it is some merit to have an American pear take the lead. At another opportunity we shall notice this exhibition again, and now refer our readers to the report of the same. The Winslow Grape. — Dr. Kirtlaud describes a new seedling under this name in the Ohio Farmer. According to his account of it, the variety attained perfect maturity in his grounds, this season, two weeks before the Diana and the Clinton. The berries are small, and in oblong compact bunches; color coal black, resembling somewhat Miller's DECEMBER. 543 Burgundy; the pulp and flavor much like the Clinton, though superior. It was raised from a seed, in the grounds of Charles Winslow. Es(i., of Cleveland, from whom Dr. Kirtland obtained his vine. As the growth of the wood is small and compact, and it seems to be as hardy as the Clin- ton, it will stand the winters of the north. The early ripening of the fruit will perhaps render it worthy of culti- vation ; at least it deserves further trial. We have great confidence in the good judgment of Dr. Kirtland. and should not suppose he would notice a grape thus particularly unless it has some merits ; but when he states that "the pulp and flavor are like the Clinton, though superior," we are somewhat doubtful of its real qualities, for a poorer graj)e was never ofl'ered to the cultivators of this country than the Clinton. What it may be v.'orth for making wine we cannot say, but as a table grape it is worthless, being small, sour, and pulpy. Its only merits are its earliness, hardiness, and abundant bearing. The Northern Muscadine is as much superior to it as the Diana is to the Clinton. We know of no grape of recent intro- duction, as a table fruit, that is inferior to the Clinton. Des Nonnes Pear. — This fine variety, which we de- scribed and figured in our last number, we learn from Messrs. Thorp, Smith & Hanchett, since that appeared, is a fine grower, and an early and abundant bearer, being unex- ceptionable in this respect. We should have included among the synonyms the name Beurre de Brignais, it being de- scribed in the Albani de Pomolngie as Des Nonnes or Beurre Brignais. We notice Mr. C. Downing, in his recent revision of his brother's work, the Fruits and Fruit Trees of Amer- ica^ calls it the Beurre de Brignais on the authority of the author of the former work, which we deem a mistake, as he says "Des Nonnes or Beurre de Brignais." The New Blackberry Named at Last. — Such is the heading of a paragraph now going the rounds of the agri- cultural papers in reference to the well known Lawton-Black- berry, which we thought had a name long ago. At the recent meeting of the Fruit Growers of Western New York 544 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. it was voted to call it the New Rochelle ; and at the meeting of the American Pomological Society, held at the same place, ill September, 1856, it was voted to retain the name of the Lawton. We ourselves care very little what the vote of any society may be in such a matter, as we invariably adhere to the rule of priority in all names, — the only way to prevent a multiplicity of synonyms; but it appears to us that the vote of the American Pomological Society must be (piite as important upon such a subject as that of the Fruit Growers of Western New York. It seems to us a very small matter to keep constantly agitated, as this has been for three or four years. Neither the quality of the fruit, nor its im- portance to the community, require so great an exhibition of petty jealousy as appears to be mixed up with tliis subject. The Dorchester Blackberry will be preferred as soon as its qualities are generally known. FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. The Pampas Grass. (Gynerium argenteum.) — This new grass, which has now become generally distributed in Eng- lish collections, and introduced into American gardens, is described as being one of the most striking and ornamental objects. Various accounts of it have appeared in the Eng- lish gardening journals, in regard to its beauty, hardiness, manner of cultivation, &c. It has proved quite hardy in Great Britain ; but, coming from Brazil, we supposed it would require jirotection here, and therefore be of little value ; but, from recent statements, we observe that it grows so rapidly, and blooms so abundantly, that, should it not prove hardy, it may be protected in winter, and planted out in spring, when it will attain its full growth, and flower throughout September and October, If this is the case, of which there appears no doubt, it deserves immediate intro- duction into every collection, as nothing can be finer, not DECEMBER. 545 even the much admired and popular Dielytra, than this gigantic grass ; it being, in fact, when in perfection, a per- fect fountain of green foliage and feathery flowers, which, under a brilliant sun, appear spangled with silver. It grows in tussocks, and the leaves are seven or eight feet long. It throws up ten to forty stems, terminated with a panicle of light colored flowers. It grows in any soil or situation. It is thus noticed in a leading article in the Gardeners' Chronicle : — " Being perfectly hardy, and indiff'erent to soil or situa- tion.— at least in the Midland Counties of England, — and. moreover, growing with singular rapidity, it soon rewards us with the display of its floral beauty. For example, a small plant raised from seed early in 1856, and turned into a border at the midsummer following, is already (October, 1857) twelve feet high, covers a circle nine feet in diameter, and is bearing eleven of its beautiful plumes of silver flow- ers. Thus a few blades of worthless grass, in four months, has formed a tuft large enough to be trusted to the unpro- tected ground ; in four months more it had formed a great hemisphere of gracefully curving leaves ; when winter came it went to rest ; with warm weather it roused itself, and immediately commenced a gradual overflow of beautiful foliage, till in six months more it stood revealed in all the grace and majesty of its nature. It might be described as a fountain of vegetation, acquiring more and more force from day to day, till at last the gushing fluid sprung up into jets of living silver. "If such is the result of a iew months' growth, what is to be expected after the lapse of further time? 'I have a Pampas grass,' says a correspondent, ' with ov ex forty flower stems, ten to thirteen feet high. The flowers are light col- ored, almost white when seen in some positions. If this is a male, which you say is inferior to the female, the latter must be beautiful indeed, for mine is very striking.' "It appears that this grass is like some other plants which produce both male and female indiscriminately from seed, like the poplars and willows : and the female is the most VOL. XXIII. NO. XII. 69 546 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. beautiful, as it retains its flowers longer in perfection ; but if it comes in contact with the male, the former soon loses its beauty; her flowers, which, when in perfection, resemble little flakes of mother-of-pearl, fringed with white silk, close up and lose their transparency, and thus the duration of their beauty is much curtailed. In this the Pampas grass conforms to the universal rule observed through the vege- table kingdom, that as soon as a flower is set, its lustre be- comes dim, and its gay leaves wither and fall off, or fold over the seed vessel, as shrivelled dingy scales. It is doubt- less because the setting is so difficult among Epiphytal orchids that these plants retain their brilliancy so much longer than others. And it certainly is a powerful reason why perfectly double flowers are so universally preferred in gardens; being incapable of setting, [not in all cases, Ed.,] their beauty is far more durable than that of their single originals. So that when pseudo botanists sneer at gardeners for their love of double flowers, they only display their own ignorance of the circumstances which render plants best adapted to purposes of decoration.'- Phyge^lius cape'nsis. — This new plant, which we de- scribed under this head some time ago, has also proved quite hardy in England. With us it will undoubtedly require the protection of a frame or greenhouse ; but it will probably bloom as freely as any of our herbaceous plants under the same treatment. It is stated that a plant which lived out last winter,, started with vigor about the end of May. and has been a beautiful bush, about two and a half feet high, all the summer, and still (October 20) remains in flower, after ripening seed. It will therefore take rank henceforth among first class ornamental herbaceous plants. The flowers are similar to a pentstemon, bright scarlet, and in spikes a foot or more long. 383. Rhodode'ndron calophyllum Niitt. Handsome- leaved Rhododendron. (Ericeae.) Bootan. A lialf Jiardy shrub; srowiu? iliree feet liigli; witli white flowers; appearing in spring; increased by layers; cultivated in sandy peat soil. Bot. Mag , 1Sj7, pi. 5003. It was a matter of surprise and of interest to cultivators DECEMBER. 547 to learn that Dr, Hooker discovered no less than forty-three new species of rhododendrons in his exploration of the Sikkim-Himalaya mountains, thirty of which were new ; and it has been no less a matter of surprise tliat Mr. Booth should find sixteen additional kinds in the adjacent moun- tains of Bootan; making in all forty-six new sjjecies. There is great reason to believe, writes Dr. Hooker, that if the Malayan Archipelago were explored, an equally extensive harvest would be the result. The present species is a very beautiful plant, nearly allied to R. Maddene, but yet distinct in its habit and growth. The foliage is very handsome, and the flowers are white, in tolerably large heads. It makes a compact bush, and is a fine addition to this now extensive family. It was raised from seeds by Mr. Nuttall, at Rainhill, and flowered for the first time in May last. {Bot. Mag., Sept.) 384. VioYa peduncula^ta Torrey and Gray. Long- stalked Golden Violet. (Violarieae.) California. A half hurdy iilfiiit; t'rowinij six inches liish; with ytllow flowers; appearing in spring; increased by seeds and division of the roots; grown in leaf mould and loam. Bot. Mag., 1S57, pi. 5 04. " The handsomest of the genus," though lacking the fragrance of the European species. It is one of the acqui- sitions from California, where it was discovered by Douglas, just before he met with his accidental death in the Sand- wich Islands, but, unfortunately, not sent home. Mr. Nuttall also saw it at Monterey. It has since been found by Mr. Lobb, and seeds sent to England, from which fine plants have been raised by Messrs. Veitch &. Son of the Exeter Nurseries, who exhibited them at one of the horticultural shows at Chiswick, where they attracted great attention. It is a perennial plant, requiring the protection of the green- house or frame, and flowers abundantly in May. The leaves are large, deep green, and the flowers are of a rich golden yellow, with the back side of the two upper petals streaked with maroon. It is a beautiful species, and will prove a fine acquisition. [Bot. Mag., Sept.) 548 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 385. AzA^LEA OCCIDENT A^Lis ToiTeij (111(1 Gray. Califor- NiAN Azalea. (Ericese.) California. A hnrtly shrub; growing three feet high; with wliile and yellow lloweris; appearing in spring; iiir.reaseil by layers; grown in sandy peat soil. Bot. Ma:;., 1857, pi. 500J. Another new American azalea, from the Pacific coast, where it was first seen during Capt. Beechey's voyage, and dried specimens obtained, and subsequently described as the A. calendulacea of Eastern America. Douglas and Hartweg also sent home dried specimens from California, and Mr. Burke from Oregon. Specimens were more recently gath- ered by Lieut. A. W. Whipple's exploration party for a railway route to the Pacific, and now Mr. Lobb has obtained seeds, from which plants have been raised by Messrs. Veitch. It proves to be quite different in color from A. calendulacea, though specifically scarcely distinct, — probably only a vari- ety. Messrs. Torrey and Gray called it A. occidentalis, and Dr. Hooker adopts the name. It is the only species yet found west of the Rocky Mountains. In general habit, blooming, &c., it compares with the well known calendu- lacea ; but the flowers, instead of being yellow, are white, streaked with red on the tube and outer segments of the upper lobe of the limb of the corolla within, yellow on the disc. It will probably prove hardy. {Bot. Mag., Sept.) 386. Agave densiflora Hook. Close-flowered Agave. (Amaryllideae.) Mexico. A greenhonse plant; growing six feet high; with yellowish flowers; a|)pearing in summer; in- creasfd by division; cultivated in light rirh soil. Dot. Mag., ISal, pi. 5036. A new and apparently undescribed species, received at Kew Gardens from Mexico, where it flowered last spring. Unable to refer it to any of the thirty-eight species described by Kunth, the most recent writer on this genus, Dr. Hooker has called it A. densiflora. The plant has lanceolate leaves, the outer spreading and the centre erect, and throws up a scape or flower stem six or more feet long, terminated with a very dense spike of flowers, which are yellowish, with rich purple stamens and pistils. When most of them are expanded it forms a showy and handsome object. {Bot. Mag., Sept.) DECEMBER. 549 387. Grevi'llea alpestris Meisn. Mountain Grevillea. (Proteaceas.) South Australia. A erpenliniise pliiiit; srowini^ lour fiTt hii^h; witli rid (lowers; appeariii;; in spring; increased by cuttings; arowii in leaf mould, Idiuii, and sand. Bot, Mag., 1S57, pi. 5107. A very handsome shrub, of erect and regular growth, with small delicate foliage, and terminal clusters of red flowers, which literally cover the plant. In its native coun- try it forms a bush many feet high, and blooms throughout the whole year ; but under cultivation it blooms copiously on plants of small size. Its neat habit, bright colored and curiously formed flowers, and abundant blooming, render it a fine acquisition to our greenhouse plants. It was raised by Messrs. Rollinson. [Bot. Mag., Sept.) 388. Rhodode'ndron Windso'rii Nutt. Mr. Windsor's Rhododendron. (Ericese.) Bootan. a lialf hardy (or hardyl shrub; growing four feet high; with deep crimson flowers; appearing in June; increased by layers; cultivated in sandy peat and loam. Bot Mag., 1&57, pi. 5(0j. One of the Bootan species, found at an elevation of 7-9000 feet above the sea, in exposed and arid situations, among pines, &c , raised from seeds sent to Mr. Nuttall, at his residence, Nutgrove, Rainhill, in Lancashire. It proves to be quite hardy, having stood out the last winter, even small seedlings. It is a very showy and bright colored species, and, from its hardiness, will prove valuable for hy- bridizing our native sorts to produce deeper colored varieties. The leaves are obovate lanceolate, four or five inches long, strongly reticulated or nerved, white and silvery beneath. Heads of blossoms compact, many-flowered, and darker in color than the old arboreum, to which it is allied. [Bot. Mag., Oct.) 389. Uroski'nnera s'pecta'bilis hind. SH0\^Tr Uroskin- NERA, (Scrophularinea3.) Guatemala. a stove or greenhouse plant; growing two feet high; with rosy blue flowers; appearing in sum- mer; increased by cutiings: grown in light rich soil. Bot. Mag., 1857, pi. 51)09. A showy and beautiful plant, of an erect habit, something in the way of a gesnera, with leaves two to four inches long, and large terminal heads of funnel-shaped violet bios- 550 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. soms. It may perhaps prove a valuable summer blooming plant, like the salvias. It was sent to the London Horti- cultural Society by Ure Skinner, Esq., an indefatigable collector and the most generous of merchants, and named, by Dr. Lindley, in compliment to him, by blending his two names into one " which shall unmistakably record the labors of one who ought never to be confounded with any other Skinner whatever." {Hot. Mag., Oct.) OUR ORNAMENTAL TREES. by the editor. 16. The Broad-leaved Euonymus. (Euonymus latifolius.) The Euonymus, or spindle tree, or burning bush, as our American species is appropriately called, is a well known ornamental shrub or small tree, quite common in most gardens, and everywhere admired for the abundance of its red berries, which cover every branch and twig, and render them conspicuous long after the early frosts have divested the trees of their foliage, even until winter clothes the earth with her mantle of snow, when their scarlet hue glows with increased brilliancy from the great contrast. Among the berry-bearing shrubs, the Euonymus will al- ways maintain a prominent place ; for though its fruit may not glisten with the lustre of the Prinos, the greater abun- dance in which they are produced, not to mention the other fine qualities of the tree, must give it the preference in every ornamental plantation. The number of species belonging to this tribe is twelve, six or eight of which are quite hardy ; four of them are natives of the United States. There are also four varieties of the common English, differing in the color of their ber- ries or leaves. All are more or less attractive, though the E. latifolius, the one we are about to describe, being, in our opinion, the most beautiful. Next to this comes our E. DECEMBER. 551 americaniis, which surpasses the European in the profuse- ness as well as deeper color of its berries. The E. latifolius, (fig. 24.) says Loudon, "forms much the handsomest species of the genus, from its broad shining leaves, and its large, red, pendulous fruits, with orange- colored seeds, which, when the capsules open, are suspended from their cells somewhat in the manner that magnolias hang from their strobiles. Even the wood of this species, during winter, is much handsomer than that of any other, 24 THE BROAD-LEAVED EUONYMUS. the branches being regularly divaricate, with a clean bark of a reddish green, and with long-pointed dark brown buds, — by which alone this species may be distinguished from the others.*' It is a native of Europe, and particularly of the South of Germany and some parts of France and Switzerland, where it grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, producing its greenish white flowers in June and July. It was first intro- duced to British collections in 1730, and has so recently been added to our own gardens that we do not know of any 552 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. plants larger than our own, which are yet young, and but eight or ten feet high. The tree grows upright, with stout reddish shoots, and long pointed buds, which are entirely unlike the other spe- cies. Tlie leaves are broad and shining^ and very ornamental. The berries are produced in the manner described above, and, from the size of the capsules as well as the berries, depending as they do from a silken cord, they are at once the most showy as well as brilliant objects of the autumnal season, enlivening every shrubbery with their rich coral and golden hues. " Unfortunately for this species," again says Loudon, "it is generally treated as a shrub, and crowded among other shrubs or trees, so that it is never allowed a chance of attain- ing either its full size or its proper shape. Notwithstanding this, at Purser's Cross, and in the arboretum at Kew, it is fifteen feet high, (in 1837.) If treated as a tree, planted by itself on the lawn, it would form one of the very hand- somest small trees that we possess during summer, from its fine broad shining leaves, and one of great singularity and beauty in autumn, when covered with its brilliant scarlet fruit." To such a faithful description we have little to add, except the mode of propagation and growth. Like all the Euonymuses, the latifolius may be easily propagated, either by seeds, or by cuttings of the young or ri- pened wood. The seeds should be planted in the autumn, in beds, in light rich soil, where they may stand until the second or third year, when they may be removed to nursery rows. If raised from cuttings, they may be treated the same as cut- tings of similar shrubs, selecting a light rich soil, and in- serting to a good depth. In a year or two they may be removed, and managed the same as seedlings. At their final planting a deep rich loam suits them best. All the species are desirable, especially in extensive shrub- beries or pleasure grounds, where their neat form and scarlet fruits are conspicuous objects; but for lawns, or prominent points near the house, the E. latifolius must claim preemi- nence over all the others, and a rank second to no tree of its size. DECEMBER. 553 REVIEWS. The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America; or, their Cul- ture, Propagation, and Management in the Garden and Orchard ; or. Fruit Trees generally, &c. By A. J. Down- ing. Revised and corrected by Charles Downing. New York: 1857. The revised edition of this work, which has been some time in preparation by Mr. C. Downing, a well kJiown and experienced pomologist, undoubtedly quite as well, if not better, acquainted with fruits than his brother, the author, has just been published, and, from the numerous additions which he has made, more particularly to the apples and pears, has rendered it a formidable volume, at once showing the progress which pomology has made during the last twenty-five, or even ten, years. Then Mr. Kenrick's un- pretending volume, not more than one third the size, con- tained nearly every fruit introduced at that period. Now, with the briefest descriptions, in many instances, Mr. Down- ing, with the addition of more than one hundred and fifty pages, has hardly been able to do justice to the work and confine it to one volume. In a work of this kind, in the present condition of our pomological knowledge, it is not to be expected that we should find it without some errors. In the multiplicity of new fruits which are yearly — we might almost say daily — coming to our knowledge, it is very difiicult to obtain an accurate account of all of them ; certainly far more difficult to test them under the eye of the author, — the only way in which a correct work can be made. Our American cultiva- tors cannot wait for this ; and many varieties must be omitted altogether, or such information accepted as can be obtained. It is with this view that we must judge of the value of the labors of Mr. Downing in his revi^on of the volume. VOL. XXIII. NO. XII. 70 554 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. •' 111 preparing this revised edition of the ' Fruits and Fruit Trees of America,' no alteration has been made in the general principles of cultivation and propagation, and but little in the description of those varieties that are retained ; but some, after repeated trial, having proved unworthy of general cultivation, have been reduced and put in a class of inferior sorts; some of which, however, have advocates, and succeed in particular soils and localities. " Many new ones of - very good ' and ' best ' qualities have been added ; some well proved, and others partially so, requiring more time to judge their true merits ; some giving promise of excellence ; others may prove, when fully tested, but of inferior value." Such is a portion of the prefatory remarks to this revised edition, showing the ])rincipal alterations in. and amend- ments to, the volume. To this, however, should be added a new arrangement of the varieties of fruits. The editor states that he has thought best .to reject the classes ac- cording to the season, and adopt the principle of the system recommended by the late A. J. Downing ; but instead of using the terms "best," "very good," and "good," he has designated the qualities as first, second, and third, answering to the above." Now it is this alteration which we think has rendered the volume much less valuable than it would otherwise have been. It is altogether an arbitrary classification, founded upon the mere taste of the author ; but, unless he has tested every variety under his own eye, and from one local- ity, the change of soil, situation, &c., may make quite a diff'erence in the quality of the specimens. We certainly think this must be the case from the classification of the pears particularly. We have not time, in this closing number of the volume, to go through all the fruits, but will briefly notice the pears, and point out what we think are errors of judgment on the part of the editor. For instance, the first list of pears "contains only those which are well known to be of unexceptionable quality, DECEMBER. 555 and have been found to thrive in ahnost any situation suited to the cultivation of the pear." Here we have thirty varie- ties,— only thirty : after the labor of a century, and the introduction of a thousand sorts, only thirty unexception- able pears ! And what are these thirty " which thrive in almost any situation, and are well known to be unexcep- tionable " ? Why, among them are the following : Beurre gris d'hiver, Beurre Diel, Bloodgood, Church, Doyenne d'hiver Nouveau, White Doyenne, Kirtland, Ott, and Made- leine. The Beurre gris d'hiver and Doyenne d'hiver Nou- veau are not known to fifty cultivators ; the Beurre Diel cracks badly in all light soils; the Church is entirely new. as well as the Kirtland and Ott, and the Madeleine is not by any means a very certain fruit. Now let us look at the second class, which comprises those " of good quality, or that are new and untested.'" Here we have the Abbott, Adams, Andrews, Gansell's Ber- gamot, Beurre Langelier, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Beurre d'Aremberg, Beurre Superfin, Cushing, Duchesse, Fulton. Glout Morceau, Heathcot, Howell, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Marie Louise, Passe Colmar, Swan's Orange, Oswego Beurre, Paradise d'Automne, St. Ghislain, and Washington, not to mention many others. Are not the Louise Bonne de Jersey. Glout Morceau, Marie Louise, Fulton, &c., quite equal in quality to the Beurre gris d'hiver, Doyenne d'hiver Nouveau, and the others ? and are they not quite as well known and far better tested ? If twenty-five years has not done this we fear they never will be known. Evidently such an arrangement altogether misleads the young cultivator, and is so defective that it affords no guide to a selection of the best fruits. It would have been far better to retain the old classification, with the author's opin- ion of the quality of each variety, and let the novice decide for himself Of the adoption of several names, and the correctness of many of the synonymes, though in the main very satisfac- tory, there are some grave errors. Doyenne d'hiver Nouveau should be Doyenne d'Alencon ; it is so in the Album, de Po- 556 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. mologie. Beurre Diapiez is well known as a synonyme of Urbaniste. Beurre Philippe Delfosse is Fondante de Noel. Beurre Beaumont is a distinct and fine pear, described as Beymont. Boston is stated to have been raised by C. M. Hovey ; it was only inij'odiiced to notice by him. On what authority Excelentissima is called Due de Brabant is not stated. Omar Pacha is St. Menin. Beurre Spence is well known as the Flemish Beauty. Pound should be Uvedale's St. Germain. These few we notice among the pears. In a work of so much merit we regret to see it needlessly marred by either carelessness of the proof-reader or the in- attention of the editor. Shelden should be Sheldon ; Beurre Clairgean should be B. Clairgeau ; Conseiller Rauwez should be Conseille?' Ramvez, &c., (fee. Hull is described in both the second and third classes. Van Marum and Beurre Van Marum are described as different fruits with different synonymes. Benoist and Beurre Benoist are de- scribed as two fruits. Dana's No. 16 and 19 are merely the private numbers of the raiser, and as soon as named will not be recognized. These errors, with many others, will un- doubtedly be rectified in another edition. It is not to be wondered that, in the attempt to embody every known variety, such mistakes should be made. Notwithstanding all this, the work of revision, laborious as we well know, has been most faithfully done ; and we are well aware that the editor is more apt to underrate than overrate, — a fault which, in describing new fruits, almost becomes a virtue. The volume will be a welcome addition to every cultivator's library. (inural Boticts. Great Exhibition of the London Horticultural Society, Oct. Q4. — The report of this exhibition occupies several columns of the Garden- ers' Chronicle, being a detail of the principal varieties. We have only room for the following, which is nearly all that will be interesting to our cultivators : — DECEMBER. 557 Of French pears, M. Liron d'Airoles, of Nantes, sent a collection in which were Belle Angevine, small compared with Avhat have just been quoted : Bezi de Heri, Poire de Curr , Beurr^ Clairgeau, of a rich reddish brown, without the pink color which this variety acquires in England ; fine specimens of Beurr6 Diel, covered with brown russetty spots ; Alexandrine d'Ouillard, a pale, yellow, good-looking pear ; Bergamotte Crassane d'Au- tonine, Green Crassane, Winter Bon Chretien, Bergamotte de la Pentecote, a large green variety, thickly spotted with brown ; Beurr6 de Lu^on, a handsome fruit ; and Duchesse de Angouleme. The last were large and fine, and like the Beurre Diel and others, richly spotted and flaked with cinnamon. Their flavor is reported to have been more rich than is ever the case with our own growth. In short, the whole collection had a sun- burnt aspect, very different from our English fruit. Grapes were particularly good, more especially Muscats, the best of which came from Mr. Drewitt, gardener to Mrs. Cubitt, The Denbies, near Dorking. The next in point of merit came from Mr. Hill, gardener to R. Sneyd, Esq., Keele Hall, Staffordshire; three bunches of the latter weighed together 8 pounds. Mr. Little, gardener to A. Darby, Esq., Stoke Court, Slough, also sent fine bunches of this variety. Mr. Snow, gardener to Earl de Grey, had well colored cut smaller bunches of Muscat ; and we noticed good bunches of this kind from Mr. Fleming, gardener to the Duke of Sutherland at Trenlham, who stated that they Avere from vines which had been lifted in September last year, concerning which see another column. Messrs. Sparrow, Wortley, Frost, and Thomas also showed in this class. Beautiful bunches of White Tokay were furnished by Mr. Fleming, and the same variety also came from Mr. Hill. Mr. Drewitt had a large somewhat loose bunch of the Welbeck Trebbiana. Mr. Tillyard, gardener to Viscount Eversley, at Heckfield, sent a large bunch in the way of the Syrian of some Grizzly grape, which is said to have been raised by Mr. Mitchell, of Brighton. We also noticed specimens from Mr. Spary, of a large green grape called Marchioness of Hastings, a kind reported to have also been obtained from the same raiser. Of Black Hamburgh Mr. Hill contributed splendid bunches as regards size both of bunch and berry ; but hardly so well colored as we have seen them from that excellent grower. Mr. Tillyard showed fine specimens of Mill Hill, but they were disqualified on account of their having been wrongly entered. Mr. Snow, gardener to Earl de Gray, likewise .showed Black Hamburgh, as did also Messrs. Allport, Eckford, Bousie, and Thomas. Of Black Prince Mr. Hill sent three cap- ital bunches, black as sloes, and covered Avith a beautiful bloom. Mr. Bousie, gardener to the Right Hon. H. Labouchere, also sent good bunches of this variety. Fine specimens of West's St. Peter's were exhibited by Mr. Allport, gardener to H. Ackroyd, Esq , Doddington, near Nantwich, and good bunches of Black Hamburgh and Black Prince came from Messrs. Lane, of Berkhamstead, from a house reported to have been open on all sides but one. In the Market Gardeners' class of boxes of 15 pounds, Mr. Davis of Oak Hill, carried off" the first prize with fine examples of Black Hamburgh and Muscat. Mr. Spary, of Brighton, had a capital basket of 558 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Black Hamburgh, and the same kind of grape was also exhibited by Mr. Bell, of Norwich. In the class of pears of home growth, 12 sorts, six of each, the first prize was nobly won by Mr. Ingram, Royal Gardens, Frogmore, with fruit which for size and beauty were truly matchless. These were, as they well deserved to be, the admiration of everybody. They consisted of Beurr6 Diel, large, and finely colored ; Van Mons Leon le Clerc, an immense pear ; Glout Morceau and Marie Louise, two Flemish varieties of well known excellence : the latter is in use at Frogmore for three months ; it is found to hang well on the tree, therefore by gathering at different periods the season of this fine pear is greatly extended. In addition to these there were Seckel, of large size and fine color, from a north wall : this is the very best of the American pears ; Knight's Monarch, a truly valuable sort, ripening gradually through the winter months, and aflTording a supply for the table from November to March ; Beurre de Capiaumont, large, and beautifully colored, a very hardy kind for growing as standards, (its season is very short ;) together with Beurr6 Ranee, fine specimens from a north wall ; Vicar of Winkfield, a large second-rate pear ; Beurre Bosc, Hacon's Incomparable, and Brougham ; the latter, one of the late Mr. Knight's seedlings, is a very hardy variety. From Viscount Eversley's garden, at Heckfield, Mr. Tillyard sent good specimens of Marie Louise, Winter Nelis, Beurre de Capiaumont, Forelle or Trout pear, Ne Plus Meuris, Hacon's Incomparable, Beurre Diel, Louise d'Orleans, Easter Beurre, Cale- basse, very large and fine fruit of Duche.sse d'Angouleme, and Beurre Ranee. From Mr. Harrison, of Oatlands Palace, VVeybridge, came the following: — Marie Louise, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Beurre Diel, Beurre Ranee, Easter Beurre, Hacon's Incomparable, Winter Nelis, Passe Colmar, Monsieur le Cur6, Ne Plus Meuris, Chaumontel, Glout Morceau. From the Earl of Stair's, Oxenford Castle, near Edinburgh, came very fine fruit of Marie Louise, Flemish Beauty, Althorp Crassane, Gandesheim, Winter Nelis, Napoleon, Beurre Diel, Gansel's Bergamot, Crassane, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Easter Beurre, and Duchesse d'Angouleme. In the class of pears of home growth, six sorts, six of each, the first prize was awarded to Mr. Sorley, gardener to E. Zwilchenbart, Esq., Roselands, near Liverpool, whose varieties were Winter Nelis, Marie Louise, Beurre Diel, Easter Beurre, Brown Beurre, and Glout Morceau. The next six in point of merit came from Mr. Wood, gardener to R. Scott Murray, Esq., and consisted of very fine specimens of Vicar of Winkfield, Van Mons Leon le Clerc, Beurr6 Diel, Ne Plus Meuris, Duchesse d'Angouleme, and Easter Beurre. The third best lot in this class came from Mr Fowle, gardener to G. W. Cooke, Esq., Beesthorpe, near Newark, whose sorts were Easter Beurr6, Marie Louise, Passe Colmar, Buchanan's Spring Beurr6, Althorp Crassane, and Glout Morceau. In the class of single dishes Mr.Tillyard had the first prize for Seckel, beau- tifully grown and highly colored; and in every respect nearly as good as the fine specimens of the same variety in Mr. Ingram's collection. The next dish in point of merit was one of Marie Louise, from Mr. Fowle, DECEiMBRR. 559 gardener to G. Cooke, Esq. ; and Mr. Snow had a very fine dish of the Doyenne Gris. Other single dishes were Duchesse d'Angouleme, from Mr. Brown, Rockingham Castle ; Benrr^ Diel, from Mr. Daniels, of Ruthin Castle; Chaumontel from Mr. Mortimer ; Hacon's Imcomparable from Mr. Evans, Nuneaton, Warwickshire ; Marie Louise, small and green, from Mr. Chesher ; good Beurre Bosc from Mr. Ingram, gardener to J. J. Blandy, Esq. ; Bergamotte d'Esperen, from Mr. Roberts ; Marie Louise, from Mr- Saul, of Stourton, and others ; Beurre Diel, from Mr. Elliott ; handsome specimens of Beurre Clairgeau from Mr. Cox, Redleaf ; and a large yellow pear called Hitton's Seedling from Mr. Ilitton. In the class of pears of foreign growth the first prize was awarded to Mr. Lewis Solomon for very fine fruit of the following, viz. Duchesse d'Angouleme, Easter Beurre, Glout Morceau, Crassane, Beurre Diel, Winter Nelis, Winter Bon Chretien, Bon Chretien d'Espagne, Belle Angevme, Marie Louise, Mons le Cure, Uvedale's St. Germain, Brown Beurre, Colmar, and Gilogil. Messrs. Hovey & Co., Boston, showed a collection of American pears in this class; they had a warm brown look with them, but in point of growth were greatly inferior to English fruit. We understand, however, that this has been a bad season with the Americans for pears, and those exhibited were likewise damaged very much from travelling, all which in some measure served to detract from what merit they would otherwise have possessed. They consisted of Beurr6 d'Anjou, Beurr6 Gris d'Hivcr, Beurr6 Bosc, Beurr6 Superfin, Beurre Diel, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Paradise d'Automne, Swan's Orange, Beurre Clairgeau, Passe Colmar, Van Mons Leon le Clerc, Glout Morceau, Nouveau Poiteau, Marie Louise, Edwards' Elizabeth, Sheldon, Winter Nelis, Colmar d'Aremberg, Louise Bonne of Jersey, and others. Of American apples Messrs. Hovey Sl Co., of Boston, sent Rhode Island Greening, a green looking fruit, which, notwithstanding its unfavoiable ap- pearance, proved, when cut, crisp, juicy, and excellent; similar good proper- ties also belonged to the Baldwin, a medium sized variety, with a warm red color. These were by far the best apples in the American collection. Societies. MASSACHUSETTS STATE AGRICULTURAL. The first exhibition of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture was held in Boston, on the grounds occupied by the U. S. Agricultural Society in 185.5, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Oct. 21, "22, 23, and 24. The weather was cool and unpleasant during the entire week, and the attendance of visitors was not so large as expected. The show was very fine in every department, especially of fruits, con- sidering the lateness of the season. Apples, pears, grapes, and peaches, 560 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. were exhibited by various contributors, and of excellent quality. The President, the Hon. M. P. Wilder, had one hundred varieties of pears; Hovey & Co., one hundred and fifty varieties ; J. Gordon, fifty varieties ; and Messrs. W. Bacon, li. Vandine, R. W. Ames, A. Low, and others, handsome collections. Mr. T. Clapp exhibited some splendid apples and peaches; and Mr. E. W. Bull, very fine Concord g-rapes. Isabella grapes, of fine quality, were also shown by C. E. Grant. G. B. Cutter, and other contributors. We annex the award of the principal prizes : — Pears. — For the largest and best collection, to Hovey &. Co., $i20. For the next best, to J. Gordon, $15. For the third best, to H. Vandine, #10. For the best twelve varieties, to A. Low, $15. For the next best, to W. Bacon, $10. For the next best, to R. W. Ames, $5. For the best dish of pears, to T. Clapp, for the Seckel, $5. For the second best, to W. Bacon, $3. For the third best, to J. Haley, for Duchess, $2. Peaches. — For the best collection, to T. Clapp, $15. For the second best, to A. Clement, $10. Apples. — For the best collection, to T. Clapp, $20. To J. Lake, for a collection, a gratuity of $10. To A. Clement, for the same, a gratuity of $10. For the best twelve varieties, to R. Stratton, $15. For the second best, to D. C. Brewer, $10. For the third best, to W. W. VVheildon, $5. For the best dish, to J. Fenno, for Hubbardston Nonsuch, $5. For the second best, to J. B. Moore, $3. For the third best, to Hovey & Co., for Baldwin, $'2. Grapes (native.) — For the best seedling, to E. W. Bull, for the Con- cord, $20. For the best display, to C. E. Grant, $20. For the next best, to G. B. Cutter, $15. For the third best, to K. Bailey, $10. Grapes (foreign) — For the best display, to Dr. N. Durfee, $20. Plums. — Gratuities of $2 each to Ed. Clark, Northampton ; H. Vandine, and Sam'l Chandler, Lexington. THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. The last fair of the American Institute closed on the 30th of October. The display of fruits and flowers was large and excellent, and numerous prizes were awarded. We have only room for a few of the principal awards for fruits. First Series of Prizes, from the 15th to the 29th of September: — Collection of Fruits. — For the best named collection, to EUwanger & Barry, Rochester, silver cup, $20. DECEMBER. 561 Apples. — For the best named collection, to J. W. Bailey, Plattsburg, N. Y., silver cup, $15. Pears. — For the best fifty named kinds, to J. Buill, Newark, N. J., silver cup, $15. Grapes. — For the best four named varieties of foreign grapes, to Mrs. F. B. Durfee, Fall River, silver cup, @10. Second Series, from September 30th to October 14th: — Apples. — For the best named collection, to J. W. Bailey, Plattsburg, N. Y., silver cup, $15. Pears. — For the best fifty named varieties of pears, to Hovey «fe Co., Boston, silver cup, $15. Grapes. — For the best four named varieties of foreign grapes, to Mrs. F. B. Durfee, Fall River, silver cup, $10. Third Series, from the 14th to the 29th of October: — Apples. — For the best named collection, to J. W. Bailey, Plattsburgh, N. Y., silver cup, $15. Pears. — For the best fifty named varieties, to A. Saul & Co., Newburgh, N. Y., silver cup, §15. new tork horticultural. The annual exhibition of this Society was held in New York, Tuesday evening, September 29th, at Niblo's Saloon ; and the display is said to have been, beyond all question, the finest ever made in the city. Of plants in pots there was a fine show. They were from L. Menand of Albany, T. Richardson of West Farms, and Isaac Buchanan of New- York. A superb specimen of Arum integrifoliura, from Mr. Richardson, a rare kind, attracted much attention. Cut flowers were contributed in abundance. The floral designs were very fine. Of fruits the display was superb. There were over 500 varieties of pears, of which Messrs. Hovey &. Co. of Boston supplied 120 distinct vari- eties, which were not entered in time for competition, as the judges had awarded the first prize to A. Saul & Co. of Newburgh, before Messrs. Hovey's fruit arrived. Their Bartletts, Flemish Beauties, Paradise d'Au- tomne, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Louise Bonne de Jersey, and other fine specimens, however, were enough to make the mouth of an epicure water. The exhibition of grapes, vegetables, &c., was also very good. The principal awards were as follows : — FRUIT. Grapes. — For the best six named varieties of foreign grapes, to Mrs. F. B. Durfee of Fall River, silver cup, $10. Pears. — For the best collection of named varieties, to A. Saul & Co., Newburgh, silver cup, §10. For the second best, to Win. S. Carpenter, Rye, §5. A gratuity of a silver cup, value §10, to Messrs. Hovey & Co., Boston. 70L. XXIII. NO. XII. 71 562 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. Peaches. — For the best dish of one variety, to Wm. Huggin, $3. Nectarines. — For the best, to H. Hudson, silver medal, $5. PLANTS AND FLOWERS. Plants in Pots. — For the best twelve miscellaneous plants, to M. Collopy, Brooklyn, silver cup, $10. For the second best, to L. Menand, $5. Roses. — For the best cut flowers, to C. More, New York, $5. Dahlias. — For the best, not less than fifty blooms, to J. S. Burgess & Sons, West New York, silver cup, i$10. Numerous other awards were made in the several classes, and also liberal prizes for vegetables. NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL. The. annual exhibition of this flourishing Society was held at Bufialo, on the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th of October last. According to Col. Johnson's able report "no previous fair has ever equalled this in the number of people entering the gates before noon upon any day," and the receipts were very much larger than on any year since the society was organized, amounting to $17,000. With one exception, we have been present at all the fairs of this society except this for several years ; but unavoidable causes prevented us from attending this year, much to our regret. An address was delivered by the Hon. Edward Everett, which is said, by Ihose who heard it, to have been one of his happiest efforts, and one of the most appropriate and elo- quent ever delivered by him on any occasion. The show of fruit is stated to have been excellent. A propitious year for apples rendered the exhibition of this fruit highly attractive. We have only space to give the principal awards of prizes : — FLOWERS. PROFESSIONAL LIST. For the best display, A. Frost & Co., Rochester, silver cup, $10. Best Dahlias, to Mrs. K. Webb, Buff"alo, $6. Best Roses, to A. Frost & Co., $8. Best Phloxes, to Ellwanger & Barry, $5. Best Asters, to W. Newcomb, $3. FRUIT. — PROFESSIONAL LIST. Apples. — For the largest and best collection, to Ellwanger &. Barry, silver cup, $15. For the second best, to Thorp, Smith & Hanchett, $10. For the best twenty varieties, to Thorp, Smith & Hanchett, $10. Pears. — For the greatest and best collection, to Ellwanger & Barry, silver cup, $15. For the second best, to Thorp, Smith & Hanchett, silver cup, $10. For the best twenty varieties, to A. Frost & Co., silver plate, $10. For the second best, to Ellwanger & Barry, $5. Peaches. — For the greatest and best collection, to A. Pinney, Clark- son, $5. Plums. — For the greatest and best collection, to Ellwanger &, Barry, $5. DECEMBER. 563 AMATEUR LIST. Apples. — For the greatest and best collection, to C. B. Burtis, silver cup, $15. For the second best, to R. 11, Brown, $10. For the best twenty varieties, to B. Baker, E. Hamburgh, silver plate, $10. Pears. — For the greatest and best collection, to W. R. Coppock, Jr., Buffalo, silver cup, $10. For the second best, to Jno. Eaton, $5. For tlie best twelve varieties, to R. H. Richardson, Rochester, $8. For the second best, to F. A. Lord, Buffalo, $5. Plums. — For the greatest and best collection, to E. Dorr, Albany, $.3. foreign fruit. Apples. — For the greatest and best collection, to H. Beal &. Co., Water- ford, C. W., silver cup, $15. Pears. — For the greatest and best collection, to Hovey & Co., Boston, silver cup, $15. MICHIGAN STATE HORTICULTURAL. Agreeably to a notice issued for the purpose, a convention assembled at Jackson, in September, to form a State Society. A committee was ap- pointed to submit a constitution and by-laws, which were adopted, and the following officers were elected for the year: — President — H. G. Wells, Kalamazoo. Secretary — R. F. Johnston, Detroit. Treasurer — P. B. Looniis, Jackson. Directors — H. Walker, Detroit ; D. K. Underwood, Adrian ; I. T. Blois, Jon?sville ; Lewis Cone, Troy ; G. W. Nelson, Grand Rapids ; and Wm. Bort, Niles. CjILIFORNIA STATE AGRICULTURAL. The fourth annual fair of this young Society was held at Stockton, on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of September last. From the California Farmer we learn the display of fruits surpassed all expectations. The exhibition of flowers was also good. Considering the short period since fruit trees were first planted in California, the exhibition must have been one of exceeding interest. Numerous specimens of the Gloria Mundi apples weighed thirty to thirty-three ounces each, and Duchess pears one to two pounds each. We mention a few of the awards : — Flowers. — For the best display of pot plants, $"25. The best collection of roses, (150 varieties,) $10. The best collection of dahlias, $10. Best pair of vase bouquets, $10. Best hand bouquets, $10. And best collection of native ornamental trees, $'25 to J. O'Donnell. Fruit. — For the best and largest display, to A. Delmas, $15. For the second best, to A. P. Smith, Sacramento, $10. Joseph Aram, San Jose, exhibited 85 varieties of apples. L Lewelling, 564 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 35 varieties do. M. Dalmas, 30 varieties of grapes. Capt. F. W. Macon- dray, 19 varieties of grapes, greenhouse and out-door culture, very fine. Pears, in limited variety, were exhibited by various contributors ; also quinces, nectarines, gooseberries, peaches, plums, &c. ||tass:icl}iisctts |)ortitu[turaI ^ocictg. Od.3. — Exhibited. Flowers: Cut flowers, dahlias, &c., from Barnes and Washburn, Mrs. Richardson, J. Nugent, F. Winship, C. Copeland and E. S. Rand, Jr. Owing to the severe frost of Monday, the 28th Sept., the exhibition of dahlias was nearly an entire failure. A few cultivators named above had a few plants in favorable situations which were not injuied, but the large growers, from whom a fine display was expected, had scarcely a plant spared ; in consequence of this only a few were exhibited, and these very poor specimens ; but few of the prizes were therefore awarded, which were as follows : — AWARD OF PREMIUMS FOR DAHLIAS. Various Colors. — For the best yellow, to Barnes and Washburn. For the best variegated, to Barnes &. Washburn. For the best crimson, to J. Nu- gent. For the best dark, to C. Copeland. For the best edged or tipped, to J. Nugent. $1 each. Twenty Blooms. — For the second best, to C. Copeland, $5. Eighteen Blooms. — For the best, to C. Copeland, $6. Six Blooms. — For the best, to J. N\)gent, $5. For the second best, to C. Copeland, $3. Gratuities. — To C. Copeland for 12 dahlias, $5. To F. Winship for 24 do., $3. To Barnes & Wasiiburn, for cut flowers, $3. To Mrs. Richardson and C. Copeland, for cut flowers, ^2 each. Fruit: From J. A. Stetson, Late Crawford peaches and Orange quinces. From E. A. Brackett, Union Village and Delaware grapes. From E. Sherman, Duchess pears. From H. Vandine, 7 var. of plums and 2 of pears. From J. Monroe, Chelmsford pears. From F. Dana, fine speci- mens of his Seedling pear, Nu. 17 and No. 3 ; also Late Crawford and Seedling peaches. From J. P. Robinson, Isabella grapes. From J. Cass, Isabella grapes. Oct. 10th. — Exhibited. Fruit: From F. Dana, No. 17 Seedling pears, Diana grapes and Late Crawford and Late Seedling peaches. From G. B. Cutter, fine Isabella grapes. Frorn R. M. Copeland, Isabella grapes. From C. E. Grant, Isabella and Catawba grapes, fine. From K. Bailey, Isabella grapes, fine. From J. Cass, Isabella grapes. From J. Breck & Son, Isa- bella and Concord grapes. From F. Marsh, Isabella grapes and 3 var. pears. From H. Vandine, Coe's Golden Drop and Green Gage plums and 8 var. pears. From Rev. W. H. Ryder, Late Crawford peaches. From Wm. DECEMBER. 565 Page, 5 var. pears. From E. S. Rand, Jr. Black Hamburgh grapes. From J. F. Allen, Paradise of Autumn and Seckel pears, fine, and Diana grapes- From T. Clapp, extra Seckel pears. From J. Gordon, Bonne des Zees pears. Ocf.]7. — Exhibited. FnuiT : From J. Munroe, Swan's Orange, Seckel. Striped Long Green and Calebasse pears. From N. Harding, Isabella and Sweet Water grapes. From H. Vandine, 4 kinds of pears. From C Hol- brook, strawberries. From C. E. Grant, Isabella and Catawba grapes, well ripened. From G. B. Cutter, handsome Isabella grapes. From K. Bailey, Isabella grapes, fine. From J. Cass, Isabella Grapes. From J. A. Easter- brooks, Isabella and Diana grapes. From R. M. Copeland, Isabella. From Dr. E. Wight, Delaware grapes, and from J. Murray, Isabellas. From F- Marsh, pears. From J. B. Loomis, extra Louise Bonne pears. From P. T. Homer, White Doyenn^ pears, fine. From J. F. Allen, extra Beurre Bosc and Louise Bonne and Flemish Beauty pears. From F. Dana, Louise Bonne of Jersey pears. From J. Haley, fine Duchess, Urban iste, Louise Bonne, Beurr6 d'Aremberg, and E. Beurre pears. From J. Eaton, fine Louise Bonne, Beurr6 Diel, Sieulle and Beurre Langelier pears. From B. Lus- comb, fine Beurre Clairgeau pears. From B. Corey, handsome Merriam pears. From J. Gordon, Buffum, Beurre Bosc, and Marie Louise pears. The Report of the Committee on Vegetables, at the annual exhibition, was sent to us by the chairman, but too late for insertion in our last. As we have already given a list of the premiums, we only copy the prefatory remarks : MASS. Sort, society's exhibition of vegetables for 1857. The Society's display of vegetables this year formed one of the most pleasing features of the exhibition. -The variety was great; and the excel- lence in each department was certainly equal, and in the opinion of many superior to that of former years. It would be unjust and even impossible to particularize, where every exhibitor vied with his neighbor in loading the tables with the finest varieties and the largest specimens. Perhaps, if a vegetable were mentioned as the most richly represented in fullness of growth, beauty of appearance, and varieties most worthy of extended cultivation, it would be the squash. But the whole collection was excellent, and indicated that j^lenty had crowned the labors of the husband- man in these departments, so necessary to the comfort and sustenance of man. The exhibition must have shown to the most indiflferent observer, that the successful cultivator of a new vegetable, and the improver of an old branch of agricultural industry, deserve a high position in the Temple of Fame, and merit the thanks and support of an intelligent community. Want of space prevents the mentioning of the numerous varieties, and the published list of premiums and gratuities indicate the successful producer. — D. T. Curtis, Chairman. Oct. 2ith. — Exhibited. Fruit : From E. W. Buswell, Flemish Beauty pears. From Messrs. Burr, Hingham pear (a seedling.) From Aaron Bar- rett, Beurre Clarigeau pears. From Francis Dana, pears in variety ; also his 566 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. seedlinjTs, Nos. 16 and 19. From E. A. Story, Chelmsford pears. From E. Wight, Delaware grapes. From Henry Plympton, Doyenne Blanc (St. Michael) pears, of the fairest and handsomest specimens. They were plucked from a tree which has been in hearing for sixty years, and has never had a cracked pear. Mr. P. (McLean street, Boston), has kindly offered to furnish scions for members who may wish to make use of them the coming season. Gen. Phinney, Illinois, contributed 17 varieties of apples — all were handsome specimens. From E. Correy, Merriam pears, extra fine. From John Sawyer, pears and apples. From E. W. Bull, Concord grapes. From Hovey & Co., Carter grapes. Oct. ^\sl. — Exhibited. Fruit : From K. Bailey, Isabella Grapes. From E. S. Rand, Syrian grapes and quinces. From J. Cass, Isabella grapes. From J. Washburn, Fall Harvey apples. From H. Vandine, Seckel, Flem- ish Beauty and Louise Bonne pears. From Messrs. Burr, White Doyenne pears. From J. F. Allen, Beurr6 Bosc pears, fine. From Dr. Pheiflfer, Hesse Cassel, Bremen, a collection of pears and apples, about one hundred varieties. AWARD OF PREMIUMS FOR FRUITS. Grapes. — For the best specimens grown under glass, to William P. Perkins, $8. For the second best, to Lyman Kinsley, $6. For the third best, to C. S. Holbrook, $4. For the best specimens of native grapes, to George B. Cutter, $6. For the second best, to C. E. Grant, $5. For the third best, to Kendall Baily, $4. For the fourth best, to J. Cass, $3. For the fifth best, to R. M. Copeland, $2. Melons. — For the best musk melon, to E. M. Richards, for Christiana, $-2. Nectarines. — For the best twelve specimens, to S. G. Perkins, $3. For the second best, to J. F. Allen, ,$2. Peaches. — For the best twelve specimens, gro>^n in open culture, to F. Dana, for Late Crawford, $5. For the second best, to W. H. Ryder, for Early Crawford, $i. For the third best, to C. E. Grant, for Cooledge, S3. For the fourth best, to J. A. Stetson, for Late Crawford, $2. Plums. — For the best specimens, not less than two boxes, to Henry Van- dine, $4. For the second best, to J. B. Loomis, for Reine Claude de Bavay, $3. For the third best, to Thouias Hastings, for Diamond, $;2. JVov. lith. — Exhibited. Fruit : From W. R. Austin, very fine Duchesse d'Angouleme pears. From M. & F. Burr, fine Dix pears. From J. F. Allen, 10 var. grapes. From F. Dana, No. 16 and Ladies' Favorite pears. From H. Vandme, Beurre Clairgeau, fine, and 11 other varieties of pears. From A. Barrett, Beurre Langelier pears. M}V. 2\st, — Exhibited. Fruit: From J. F. Allen, 10 var. grapes. From J. Eustis, Baldwin apples. From F. Dana, Late Seedling pears. From H. Vandine, 5 varieties of pears. DECEMBER. 567 IJorticiilfnnil ©jjcrntions . FOR DECEMBER. FRUIT DEPARTMENT. November, though accompanied by two or three hard frosts, was a favor- able month for autumn work. The early part was very pleasant and warm, and the ground throughout, with the exception of a few days, Avas in fine order for transplanting. If the industrious gardener has not seized upon such an opportunity to accomplish what he had in hand, it is his own fault. If, however, from any ciuse, everything is not ready for the winter, it should be done as speedily as possible, as December usually admits of only a few favorable days for such work. Grape Vines in the 9ar\y houses will soon begin to color, and will need continued care. Fires should be kept up, so as to maintain an equal tem- perature, and as much air admitted as possible, as on this depends the flavor of the crop. Damp tiie house less than formerly and protect tlie border as the cold increases. Vines in the greenhouse may be pruned this month, and have a thorough cleansing from all insects, by means of washing with whale oil soap. Cover the border with three or four inches of manure. Cold houses, if attended to according to our directions last month, will need no further care till March. Strawberry Beds should have a slight covering of manure, leaves, sea- weed, or even evergreen boughs, when the other materials are not at hand. Fruit Trees may yet be transplanted safely as long as the Aveather is not frosty, and an inch or two of frozen ground will not obstruct operations, if the weather is not too cold and cutting to expose the roots. All newly planted trees as well as old plantations should be protected by a full barrow of manure around each tree. Continue to clean and wash all trees infested with the bark scale or louse. Insects should be looked after, particularly the cankerworm grub, which will continue to run as long as the ground remains open. Scions may be cut now and placed in the cellar in earth or moss, where they will keep till spring. FLOWER DEPARTMENT. With the closing up of out door operations the attention of the gardener should be directed to the houses, where they are under his care. December is us lally the period when flowers are less plentiful than any other month, and pains should be taken to keep us as good a display as the means at hand will admit. As the chrysanthemums and other kinds go out of bloom, their places should be supplied with others from frames or the reserve house. Young stock should also be repotted and allowed more room, and every means used to keep up a healthy growth, and gay appearance, even if flowers are not abundant. Keep up a moderate temperature without ex- citing the plants into a premature growth, which is sure to give them a sickly appearance before spring, besides rendering them liable to injury from 568 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. any sudden fall of temperature or long continued cloudy weather. Syringe in fine weather, and admit air at all times when it can be done without danger from frost. Chrysanthemums will soon be out of bloom, when they should be cut down and the roots protected in frames or a cool cellar. Pelargoniums will now be prominent objects of attention, where there is a good collection. Attend at once to the repotting, which should be done early in-order to get the pots well filled with roots. Late potting excites the plants too much ; tie out and stop all strong growing shoots, and keep them in the coolest part of the house near the glass. Azaleas will require but little "water this month. Camellias corning into bloom will need liberal waterings, and frequent syringing ; wash the foliage of all that appear unclean. Cinerarias will need repotting this month ; to have fine specimens a good stocky growth should be obtained early in the season. Calceolarias will need a shift into larger pots. Violets in frames, now brought into the house, will give an abundance of flowers. Verbenas for winter flowering, should be kept near the glass, and be carefully watered. Achimenes for early blooming may be potted the la^t of the month, and placed in the warmest part of the house. Gloxinias require similar management. Monthly Carnations, now growing vigorously and showing flower, may be repotted. Heaths should be more liberally watered as they begin to bloom. Orange Trees should be rather sparingly watered until they begin to make a new growth. Oxalises done blooming may be placed away on a shelf beneath the stage, Chinese Primroses, growing vigorously, should be repotted. Petunias, Salvias, and other young bedding stock should be kept on a shelf near glass, in order to obtain a stocky, hardy habit. flower garden and shrubbery. Carnations and Picotees, in frames, should be protected by a slight covering of leaves or straw. Tulips, Lilies and other bulbs should be protected from frost by a cov- ering of leaves, manure or tan. Neapolitan Violets should be covered well from frost, and aired freely every fair day. Herbaceous Plants of all kinds require to have a little covering of ma- nure. Hollyhocks should be protected with a frame, so as to keep off" all damp, otherwise the plants will decay. Hybrid Perpetual Roses flower much better if the shoots are bent down to the ground and covered with manure. X