o
ness. The first assertion is, certainly, incorrect."
There would be no probability of keeping this most beautiful plant
in the open ground, as it is more tender than most of the species.
Those that have green-houses will find no difficulty in preserving it,
and perhaps, it may be kept in a cellar in pots through the winter.
Campanula grancUjlora. Class Pentandria. Order Monogynia.
Natural order Campanulaceae. This beautiful Campanula we have
in our collection, flowering for the first time last season. It is about
a foot high, producing its large deep blue, open bell shaped flowers in
June and July. It increases slowly at the root and yields but few
seeds ; it will not, therefore, be very plenty with us at present. The
most congenial soil is peat and loam, in a cool situation. Very hardy,
as we might suppose from the fact, that it is a native of Siberia.
Campanula excisa, is another perennial species of this large genus,
of humble stature, with fine blue drooping, deeply cut corollas; from
Switzerland ; five inches high. " This beautiful little species pro-
duces an abundance of flowers. It is well suited to the foreground
of the parterre, and to artificial rock-work."
Campanula hederacea. Ivy leaved Campanula, is still more dimin-
utive than the last, its height not exceeding three inches. Flowers in
June and July, erect, small, light blue. A close grovving plant ; its
foliage forming a green tuft on the surface of the s )il. A sandy peat
and loam soil is recommended as a suitable soil, with a rather shady
situation, This little plant is a native of England.
Nuttallia papaver. Class Monadelphia. Order Polyandria. Naf/-
ural order Malvaceee. This is a new perennial from Louisiana, flow-
ering from July to October. The flowers of the figure are a purple
NOTICES OF FOREIGN WORKS. 117
crimson, and resemble in shape and color iV. digitata, which we have
seen at Cambridge Botanic Garden. The genus was named in honor
of Thomas Nuttall, Esq. formerly professor of botany at Cambridge.
We give the following extracts from its history, &c.
"Seeds of this very showy plant were first sent by Mr Drummond,
from the Southern States of North America, to this country, and dis-
tributed among several collections ; and although this took place so
lately as the year 1833, yet in the last year, 1834, it might have been
found in almost every nursery of repute in Great Britain. Such are
the rapidly increasing means by which the rapidly increasing taste for
botanical pursuits is met and gratified. It is productive of pleasure,
in every point of view, to see so healthy a national appetite, receiving
daily, as it were, such delightful and wholesome stimulants from for-
eign lands, — novel as well as exotic." " Every new plant is received
as a new and unthought of gift, and carries with it all its consequent
delight."
" The Nuttallia papaver is, indeed, a very splendid accession to our
gardens, and we have not the least doubt but it will be received as an
inhabitant, and not as a visitant only. It is at present, so much a
stranger, that we scarecly can oifer any certain rules of management.
It appears, however, to be of very easy culture, when grown in pots,
in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand ; in which it will flower freely,
from July through autumn. It produces several flowering stems from
the crown of the root, and may be divided, and thereby increased,
with facility : which cannot be effected with other species of this genus.
" There can be no doubt but plants turned into the borders in the
spring, will flower in great luxuriance during a great part of the sum-
mer, and also perfect seeds if artificially fertilized. Till its habits
and powers of resisting cold are thoroughly ascertained by experience,
it will of course be prudent to give it a little protection against frosty
weather. It appears, notwithstanding, to be hardy, and, it may be
hoped, will prove so ; still its habitat would lead us to suspect that it
is fully proof against the inclemency, or rather variability, of our cli-
mate. It would be advantageous, in several respects, if foreign col-
lectors would register both the latitude and altitude of the native
situation of every newly discovered plant. As men of ability are en-
gaged in this pursuit, such advantage is of easy attainment."
Qeranium praiense, (flore variegata). Class Monadelphia. Order,
Decandria. Natural order, Geraniaceae. We do not recollect ever
seeing this fine variety of English meadow Crane's bill, but from the
figure and description imagine it to be very desirable.
118 ANSWER TO QUERY.
It is said that " its flowers partake of a degree of delicacy by
which it greatly surpasses in effect its more common blue congener.
Its flowers vary much in the portion of color which they display, some
being nearly all blue, whilst others are produced completely white."
Geranium angulatum. Angular stalked Crane's bill. This spe-
cies is a native of Europe, and has been cultivated since 1789. A
perennial of easy culture, eighteen inches high, with a profusion of
pink flowers in June. We have this in our collection.
" The Geranium angulatum, from its numerous flowers, is highly
ornamental. It may be appropriately planted among low shrubs, or
strong herbaceous plants ; and it will succeed in rather shady places,
which renders it oftentime a desirable plant. Divisions of the roots
aflford sufiiicient increase."
Linuni monogynxLm. One styled flax. Class Pentandria. Order
Pentagynia. Natural order Linese. A hardy perennial with white
flowers in July and August; eighteen inches high, from the South of
Europe, cultivated since 1831. Said to be a delightful species; its
habits are luxuriant, and its numerous flowers showy. It proved
hardy in the Birmingham Botanic Garden, in a bed of sandy peat.
It must be raised from seeds or cuttings, as it does not admit of fre-
quent division.
Our own beautiful little Houstonia ccerulea, is very prettily and
correctly figured in this work ; but from these half a dozen flowers,
we could obtain but a faint idea of its beauty as it is seen profusely
scattered over the ground, with its dense tufts of delicate pale blue
flowers in early spring, " adorning every mossy bank or shorn mea-
dow, and presenting themselves in all directions, like the eyes of Ar-
gus ; seeming almost as handfuls of pale scattered flowers of the Lilac
which had come too early to maturity."
Akt. XI. — Ansicer to Q^iici'y.
In reply to the query on page 74, last number, — they will bloom
if planted early ; or it will be better to place them in a box or boxeis
with earth, in a warm cellar, and transplant in the spring. I have
succeeded this way, and have every year removed Hyacinths, &c.
even after the formation of the flower buds. It should be done with
TWO transplanting trowels, retaining as much earth as possible round
each root. A Subscriber,
119
Art. XII. — Flowers in Bloom in February, in the Green House
of the Messrs Winship, Brighton.
Acacia armata,
" longifolia,
" lophanta,
Alonsoa aciuifolia,
Aloe variegata,
Arctotis laciniata, vel superba,
Azalea indica alba,
" " purpurea pleno,
" " phoenicea,
" purpurea,
Bryophyllum calyciiium,
Calla ethiopica,
Camellia alba simplex,
" alba pleno,
" anemone flora,
" atrorubens,
" Granvilli,
" hexangularis,
" peeoniseflora,
" sasanqua rosea,
" variegata,
" rubra pleno,
' pompone, or Kew blush,
with other varieties.
Canna angustifoJia,
" coccinea,
Chloranrhus inconspicuous,
Cineraria cruenta,
" platinifoiia,
Cyclamen persicum,
Daphne odora,
" variegata,
Diosma alba,
" liliata,
Epacris grandiflora,
Erica arborea,
" verticillata,
" herbacea.
Erica mediterraneana,
" elegans, or speciosa,
Eupatorium elegans,
Heliotropiuin peruvianum,
" grandiflorum,
Hoitzia coccinea,
Hibbertia volubilis,
Hyacinthus botryoides,
" moschatum,
Hermannia althseifolia,
Indigofera australis,
Justicia cerulea,
" pan icu lata,
Jasminum revolutum,
Kennedia monophylla,
Lupinus arboreus,
Melianthus major,
Mesembryanthemum barbatum,
" linguffiforme,
Ornithogalum grandiflorum,
Othonna pectinata,
Oxalis elongata,
" rosea,
PEeonia papaveracea,
Passiflora alata,
Pittosporum tobira,
" undulatum,
Plectranthus fruticosus,
Primula sinensis,
" V. alba.
Rhododendron arboreum,
Ruellia persiceefolia,
Rubus rosaetblius,
Salvia africana,
" fulgeus,
" splendens,
Sparmannia africana,
Teucrium fruticans,
Ti'adescantia discolor,
Westringia rosmarinacea,
Vinca rosea.
Verbena cerulea.
120
Art. XIII. — Miscellaneous Matters.
Clarification with Charcoal. — The effects of charcoal in clar-
ification are both curious and important. They were first noticed by
M. Lowity, of Petersburgh, and have for the most part been amply
confirmed by succeeding observers, although the precise cause of
these remarkable changes has not been satisfactorily ascertained.
All that is essential for this purpose is, that the charcoal should be in
fine powder and very dry ; hence the only preparation requisite is to
pulverize some well burnt common charcoal, and then heat it in a
covered crucible to a glowing red, till it ceases to give out an inflam-
mable vapor. If it is not employed immediately, it ought to be kept
in a ground stopped glass bottle, and may then be preserved unim-
paired to any length of time. The effects of this prepared charcoal
are very striking. Being mixed with common vinegar or any kind of
wine, a thick froth rises to the surface, and the liquors after filtration
are found to be as limpid as water. The filthi6st and most putrid
ditch water is in like manner rendered perfectly clear, inodorous and
insiped ; and rancid oils are also deprived of their smell and taste
by repeated filtration through this prepared charcoal. Hence also
its peculiar efBcacy as a dentifrice; it is sufficiently hard to remove
concretions from the teeth without injuring the enamel, while it neu-
tralizes and destroys for a time any foetor which may arise from a ca-
rious tooth. — Rccs Cyclopedia.
Cherry Tree Gum. — The gum that exudes from the trunk and
branches of the cherry tree is said to be equal to gum arable. Has-
selquist relates that during a siege more than one hundred men were
kept alive for two months nearly, without any other sustenance than
a little of this gum taken into the mouth sometimes and suffered grad-
ually to dissolve. — English pa.
Vital Principle of Seeds. — A small portion of Royal Park of
Bushy was broken up some time ago, for the purpose of ornamental
culture, when immediately several flowers sprung up, of the kinds
which are ordinarily cultivated in gardens; this led to an investiga-
tion, and it was ascertained that this identical spot had been used as
a garden not later than the time of Oliver Cromwell, more than one
hundred and fifty years before. — Monthly Mag.
EaR4.TCM. — In the last number, pige 74, for " Fernal Grape," read Ferrol
THE
AND
GARDENER'S MAGAZINE^
APRIL 1, 1836.
Art. I. The Cultivation of Forest Trees. Communicated
by Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn.
Of all the numerous studies, which can occupy the human mind,
that of nature is the most interesting, important, boundless and ex-
alting. The immense expanse of the firmament, and the vast rotun-
dity of the earth, are the capacious fields of inquiry — each presenting
innumerable subjects, for the most sublime contemplation, extensive
research and elaborate experiment. The astronomer traverses the
infinite region of space, and from the most distant star, points, with
the finger of an Anaxagoras, to heaven. Reason, upborne on the
wings of science, proclaims the harmonious revolution of the celestial
orbs, as conclusive evidence of an omnipotent and beneficent God,
reveals to aspiring man the immortality of his own soul, and gives
assurance of an eternal existence beyond the skies.
' Transcendently glorious are the wondrous conceptions, the mighty
efforts of intellect, and the momentous results of those gifted philos-
ophers, who thus "look through nature up to nature's God." But
they pursue a route of rnoral grandeur, which none, save of the loftiest
genius, can presume to tread. Still, there is left the extensive realm
of natural history, in which those of the highest endowments, as well
as the humblest individual, may discover objects of the deepest interest,
commensurate to the capacities and tastes of each, in all the gradations
of talent, fortune and rank. And, what gives peculiar value to this
instructive and delightful study, is its intimate connexion with the
condition, and appropriate adaptation to the various pursuits of the
16
122 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES.
husbandman. He resides in the midst of the natural productions of
the earth, whose construction and elementary materials are constantly
being exposed to observation, in the daily excursions and operative
labors, incident to cultivation. The mountain precipice, the deep
channel of the torrent, and the furrow of the ploughshare, offer per-
petual means for investigating the geology and mineral resources, of
a considerable extent of country ; while the vegetable and animal
creations constitute the very objects of his attention, and the chief
sources of his subsistence, prosperity and wealth.
If it has been said, with as much truth, as vigor of expression, that
" An undevout astronomer is mad,"
Vv'hy may it not be alleged, with equal propriety, that a resident in the
country, who is not a naturalist, must be deficient in vision, or obtuse
in perception. There is some one, of the many subdivisions of this
copious science, which each may select for inquiry and experiment, as
best accords with his taste and ability, and which can be prosecuted
with pleasure and advantage, as subsidiary to the general improvement
of his estate, or to those rural embellishments, which the refinements
of the age have rendered indispensable.
As it may be pertinently asked, why our country does not present
more palpable illustrations of the prevalence and influence of the
views, principles and sentiments which have been expressed, it be-
comes necessary to attempt a partial explanation.
Natural History long lingered in the rear of the other sciences, and
was never cultivated in any country, until an exalted state of civili-
zation had been developed. Among the ancients, none of its depart-
ments were thoroughly explored, and but partially illustrated. In
zoology, but little has been transmitted, other than imperfect descrip-
tions of some of the most extraordinary animals, with exaggerated
accounts of imaginary quadrupeds, birds, fish and reptiles. The
minotaur and unicorn, the phoenix and griffin, the python and dragon,
were enumerated, as veritable realities, among the wonders of creation.
The only authors, whose works have descended from the ages of
antiquity, that can be considered worthy of being named with a Lin-
OcBus, a Buffon and a Cuvier, are Moses and the elder Pliny ; but the
former was brief in his descriptions, and generally presents a mere
poetical nomenclature of the inconsiderable number of the animal
and vegetable productions, which were peculiar to the small portion
of the globe, with which he was acquainted. The other illustrious
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES. 123
naturalist had formed no systematic theory, by which the classes,
orders, genera and species were intelligibly arranged. Neither of the
great divisions were treated scientifically, and there was more of fan-
cy, than the results of exact observation, in the descriptions, by which
a curiosity for the marvellous was excited, rather than a taste for the
advancement of useful intelligence induced. To afford entertain-
ment, appears to have been the predominant object of those writers,
who made the most extensive researches, and instruction, but a sub-
ordinate consideration. All was generalized, and instead of facts
and accurate information, vague and traditionary statements were so
profusely intermingled, with idle speculation, that philosophy gained
but scanty additions, to her accumulations of truth.
While we go back to the splendid eras of Grecian and Roman
history, for the most perfect examples of eloquence, poetry and the
arts, — explore the wide spread ruins of their intellectual grandeur
for the most brilliant gems in letters, the most recondite investigations
in the exact sciences, and the most captivating lessons in morals, as
well as for all those wondrous efforts of genius, talent and erudition,
which illumined the ages of Pericles and Augustus, — we must de-
scend to the eighteenth century, to find definite and satisfactory in-
struction, in relation to the natural productions of the earth. If a
few individuals acquired distinction at an earlier period, their labo-
rious researches were but little known, and it is only within the last
fifty years, that their more successful and eminent rivals in the same
career, have been duly and generally appreciated. How many per-
sons are there still living, who can well remember, when the terms
zoology, botany and geology were seldom heard in this country, and
were only understood by a very small number of isolated individuals,
who, in retirement, prosecuted the study of those sciences, rather for
self-gratification, than for those great purposes, to which they are ca-
pable of being rendered subservient ; and now, what section of the
Union is there, that cannot boast of institutions, expressly founded for
their cultivation, or where numerous and zealous pupils are not fol-
lowing in the refulgent wake of a Bartram, a Bigelovv, a Cleaveland,
a Silliman, a Say, a Harris, a Wilson and an Audubon'?
To Sweden, France, Germany and England, is the world indebted
for those adventurous cultivators and successful founders of that taste
for natural history, which now so universally prevails, and has produced
such important results. The far reaching mind of Linnasus, left no
field unexplored in the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms.
124 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES.
With an industry as vigilant and untiring, as his capacious genius and
ardent temperament were inquisitive and active, that illustrious many
in the emphatic language of Chatham, " trampled impossibilities un-
der his feet," and cheerfully devoted a whole life, in perfecting his
magnificent work on the System of Nature. This gave the first
effective impulse to botanical inquiry, which has ever since advanced
with rapid strides.
The study of Zoology was suddenly excited by the glowing elo-
quence of Buffon, whose powerful influence has never ceased to be
felt, where greatness of intellect and the eloquence of literature are
admired. No writer has done so much to render natural history
entertaining, and to elevate its rank among the objects, on which the
human mind is employed.
Germany, so prolific in authors, and so distinguished for her eminent
men in all the branches of literature, science and the arts, may justly
be considered as the birth place of mineralogy, and the cabinet of
Werner as its cradle. Less than sixty years have elapsed, since the
promulgation of that eminent miner's theory, and we now behold his
disciples in every section of our republic.
As the vegetable realm is the most important to man, in all the
stages of his progress, from the savage to the highest state of civili-
zation, it has justly claimed more attention than all the others.
As a science, merely, botany is a most interesting study, but when
rendered tributary to the useful and ornamental arts, in all their rela-
tions with national industry and domestic economy, its immense
importance is conspicuously revealed. A knowledge of plants, in the
most extensive meaning of the term, is so intimately connected with
A]\ our pursuits, our wants, our comforts, our enjoyments and our very
existence, that it were difficult to enumerate the infinite variety of
purposes, to which it may be applicable. To the farmer, gardener
and fiorist, an acquaintance with the distinctive characteristics, by
which the genera and species are recognised — with vegetable physiol-
ogy, and with the habits, nutriment, soil and mode of cultivation, best
adapted to each kind, is indispensable to successful experiment,
where more exact and extended information is as much the laudable
object of pursuit, as the advantages to be derived from the products
obtained. Still there is a practical intelligence, relating chiefly to
the art of rural tillage, which, to a certain extent, may dispense with
botanical theories and scientific instruction, and yet accomplish many
of the great purposes of agriculture, and produce, highly important
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES. 125
results. It is therefore proposed, to call the attention of the husband-
man, as well as of every class of citizens, who admire the country, or
have a taste for picturesque scenery, to the rearing of Forest Trees, as
one of those peculiar branches of culture, in which industry, enter-
prise, and mere operative skill, may achieve all that is desirable, so
far as a profitable or a pleasing effect is intended.
The first law ever promulgated was concerning trees, and the next
is as ancient as Moses, which prohibited their destruction, even in
an enemy's country. As an illustration of the extensive knowledge
of Solomon, his biographer states, that " He spake of trees from the
cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall."
By the earliest decrees of Rome it was a capital offence, " nlienas
arhores incidere," and the Lex Aquilia, as well as the Twelve Tables,
contained regulations for the preservation of forests.
All history teaches us in what high estimation groves were held by
the most flourishing nations of antiquity. The majestic cedars of
Lebanon were distinguished by the holy psalmist, as " the trees of
the Lord."
It was under an oak, that the venerable progenitor of the Israelites
received and entertained his divine guests ; and when he confirmed
the league of Beersheba, he there " planted a grove and called upon
the name of the Lord ;" thus consecrating it, as a place of devotion,
as was the universal custom in the east, until all ceremonial worship
was confined to the tabernacle or the temple.
Our Saviour, the prophet Elijah, and John the Baptist, frequently
retired into the wilderness for profound meditation and prayer,
Quintillian observes : "Groves were, of old, the temples of the gods,
and men at this day consecrate the most superb trees to some divinity ;
nor do we more adore our glittering shrines of gold and ivory, than
the groves in which, with a deep and awful silence, we worship them.
From hence, temples began to be erected in such places, and there
was scarcely a grove without its temple, and almost every temple was
surrounded by a grove."
Socrates, Plato and Democrites entertained their auditors under
the spacious avenues of trees, which the gardens of the Academy
and those of the other public edifices afforded. Thucydides composed
his incomparable history, in the Scaplan groves, and in Cicero's dis-
course on Oratory, the interlocutors were seated under the lofty plane
trees of his Tasculan villa.
126 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES.
Groves were consecrated to all the distinguished divinities of an-
cient mythology. The Aricinian was sacred to Diana, and those of
Helicon and Parnassus to Apollo and the Muses. Neptune was hon-
ored in the Helicean, while the Lebodian, Arsinoan, Paphian and
Sinonian were dedicated to all the gods.
Besides these sacred purposes, to which the most superb forests
were appropriated, the memories of heroes, and other illustrious men,
were thus perpetuated, and the groves of Achilles, Hector, Bellerophon
and Alexander are celebrated in the literature of antiquity.
Pliny, who lived in the palmy days of Rome, observes, that the
people in the country, imitating the simplicity of their pious ancestors,
consecrate the most beautiful trees to their divinities, and we do not
less revere the sacred woods and the religious silence which there
reigns, than our magnificent statues of the gods.
The Minturnesian grove was esteemed so venerable, that strangers
were not permitted to enter it ; and when Xerxes was passing through
Achia, with his immense army, he expressly forbade any violence to
be done to a grove dedicated to Jupiter.
Thus it appears, that from the earliest ages, forests were consecrated
to holy uses ; not only by superstitious nations, to their deities and
heroes, but to the true God, by the patriarchs themselves, who frequent-
ed such places to serve him, and to celebrate sacred mysteries, prayers
and oblations. From thence the Druids of Britain, Gaul and other
Celtic nations had their origin, and there scarcely exists a modern
nation, which can boast of civilization, that does not evince a deep
reverence for the stately forest, the umbrageous valley, secluded wood
and mountain groves. Why, then, are the citizens of the United
States less interested, even in the mere embellishments of woodlands,
than their European contemporaries ? Are not the principal causes,
which have rendered our respect for forest trees less intense, to be
sought in the peculiar history and position of Americans? We have
been, for more than two hundred years, the pioneers of a wilderness
•and have not advanced, in the more refined arts of civilization, with
a rapidity, quadrating with our progress, in those of absolute necessity
and substantial utility. There is a refinement of the mind, not de-
pendent upon the extent of intellectual cultivation, general wealth
and universal prosperity, but is more the result of a long succession
of ages, during which the gradual progress of information, diffuses
an ameliorating, chastening and elevating influence over the whole
mass of the population. Distinguished attainnrents, a delicate per-
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TUEES.
127
ception of the beautiful, in the creations of nature and the productions
of art, and universal propriety and gentleness of manners, can only
be induced by the revolution of centuries. Time has a most potent
agency in this great work of national reformation, when united with
the instructions of philosophy, the ardor of honorable ambition, the
enthusiasm of the student and the excitement of general competition.
Then and then only, all that genius, talent and learning can achieve,
will be accomplished, and the most attractive and imposing attributes
of the human character fully developed, richly embellished by the
loftiest principles of morals, and sanctified by the most sublime senti-
ments of religion.
When our forefathers landed upon these shores, the primary and
most important object was, to prepare the earth for the rugged pursuits
of the rudest agriculture, and the partial destruction of that intermi-
nable forest, which overshadowed the whole continent, was indispen-
sable; but the worli of devastation has been wantonly continued, by
each generation, with but little regard to the wants, comforts, or
embellishments of the future. So immediately was the idea of a wil-
derness associated, with the deprivations of subsistence, the enjoyments
and protection of society, and the terrors which it enveloped, that
trees ceased to be objects of admiration to our pilgrim forefathers,
and their extermination was deemed as indispensable for security,
against ferocious wild beasts and the savages, to which they were a
mighty fortress, as for the purposes of agriculture. These causes
continued to operate so long, that not merely a disregard, but an abso-
lute antipathy to trees, ultimately became almost universal ; they were
the chief obstructions in the progress of colonization, and the beauties
and grandeur of forests were invisible to those, who were compelled to
uproot the lofty pine, the graceful elm and majestic oak, ere they
could establish a home, obtain the means of existence, and be secure,
from the appaling incursions, of vindictive and remorseless enemies.
The effects of this primitive system were experienced, long after the
motives which rendered it necessary had ceased, and custom became
as efficient in its deleterious consequences, as were the reasons in
which it originated ; and even upon the borders of the ocean, where
the immense domain, of extinguished barbarous tribes, is thickly popu-
lated by flourishing States, it still predominates, — if not in all its
former energy, yet to an extent, which is so sufficiently apparent, as
to be justly obnoxious to rebuke, and requires frequent appeals to, even
the most intelligent, to co-operate, in strenuous efforts, for counteract-
128 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES.
ing the disastrous consequences. The object has now become worthy
of the most serious consideration ; but before a great change can be
effected, example must give potency to theory, and practical illustration
confirm the inductions of reason. That native spirit of enterprize,
which but slumbers from the absence of excitement, must be aroused
by the hope of advantage, the pleasure of the pursuit, or the actual
enjoyments, which intelligence and industry may realize, in this vast
field of adventure. A national taste for rural pursuits should be
inculcated, fostered and extended, by individual exertion and public
patronage. It is essential to the completion of those characteristics,
which designate the age, and properly belong to our actual condition
as a people, from the elevated place we occupy, in the ranks of civili-
zation.
It is notorious, how much has been accomplished in other countries,
by the instructions of the illustrious in letters, the experiments of the
most elevated in rank, the munificence of the affluent, and the
enlightened policy of government. Bacon, Milton, Temple, Pope,
Addison and Shenstone, zealously endeavored, both by precept and
example, to awaken their countrymen to a just perception of the
beauties and magnificence of rural scenery, and the necessity of vig-
orous efforts being made, for enhancing the value of private estates,
embellishing the great avenues, squares and public grounds, and
improving the general aspect and comforts of the whole country, by
extensive parks and other plantations of forest trees. With Evelyn,
they deplored the waste and cheerless appearance of large portions
of their admired isle, — the denuded condition of the once celebrated
forests of Sherwood, Dean, Woodstock and Windsor, and eloquently
appealed to the patriotism, intelligence, taste and interests of the
princes, nobles and gentry of the realm, to unite in advancing this
interesting and valuable species of cultivation ; and now, there is
scarcely a land proprietor in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland,
who is not ardently engaged, in clothing the bleak hills, barren downs
and long neglected moors of his domain, with superb groves of timber
and ornamental trees.
The importance of establishing new parks and public squares,
either within, or near all the cities and large towns, has recently been
a subject of Parliamentary inquiry ; and a very interesting and able
report was made, by a committee of the House of Commons, in which
it was urged, as a measure indispensable to the health, comfort and
innocent recreation of the inhabitants ; and especially to the indus-
CULTIVATION OF KOREST TREES. 129
trious classes, who were confined most of their time, by mechanical,
manufacturing or other occupations, requiring exclusion from the open
air, — and this, too commonly, in the most narrow, densely populated
and insalubrious streets.
Notwithstanding great expenditures had been made during the last
half century, by enclosing and planting with trees, several capacious
parks and public squares in London, the committee earnestly recom-
mended, that others should be commenced on extensive plans, not only
in that city, but every considerable town in the kingdom. They
considered such places of general resort, for exercise and innocent
recreation, so necessary, that they should be speedily provided, either
by the national government, the various municipalities, or the liber-
ality of the affluent ; that this was demanded from motives of humanity,
as well as a regard to the best interests of the country, as being not
only emiiiently conducive to the general health, the improvement of
the morals and the refinement of the manners of the people, but as
administering, in an especial manner, to the happiness of those, who,
after days of unceasing labor, have no other means of participating
in the rural enjoyments, or of ever indulging in that solitary yet tran-
quilizing morning or evening walk, which the green fields, hawthorn
lanes, refreshing groves and shaded avenues of the country afford, to
a large mass of the population, and which is so desirable to all.
So important are forest trees considered in France, that they are
protected from destruction by severe penal laws, while the most liberal
encouragement is afforded by the government, for their multiplication.
Agricultural Societies, experimental farms and national nurseries
have beer* established in all parts of the empire, under the immediate
patronage of the sovereign, for the purpose of exciting a general inter-
est, favorable to the growth of timber, as much as for all the other
branches of rural industry. There, as has long been the case in
Great Britain, seeds of trees are collected from every portion of the
globe, which are capable of being cultivated in the diversified climates
of that country ; and there may be found, in the national parks and
on the estates of many large proprietors of land, all the forest trees
and shrubs, which are indigenous to the United States. The Mi-
chauxes have traversed every section of our republic, in search of
plants, to enrich the valuable collections of their native land.
We must follow the example of older nations, as the condition of
our country approximates to that, which rendered it indispensable
elsewhere. It is not merely for the purposes of civil and naval archi-
17
130 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES.
tecture, and as fuel, that the culture of forest trees should be promoted
and fostered ; but they are of the first necessity, in many of the me-
chanic arts, the extensive manufactories of innumerable articles, and
to supply the private and public demands, for an infinite variety of
other objects of application.
. Besides the enormous domestic consumption of the products of our
forests, the annual exports amount to nearly five millions of dollars.
The rapid destruction of trees for all these purposes, with that still
more extensive one, occasioned by those wide spreading settlements,
which are advancing with hasty strides towards the waves of the Pa-
cific Ocean, as well as by those accidental conflagrations, by which
thousands of acres are annually laid waste, demands the most grave
consideration of individuals and of the government. To New En-
gland, in particular, this subject is of the deepest interest, and of the
first consequence. Being the most commercial portion of the Union,
we should not neglect the means of furnishing the most essential mate-
rials, for those immense commercial fleets, which are destined, in the
not distant future, to throng our harbors, and cover the seas of every
clime.
For many years, ship timber has been procured with great difficulty,
and it is now so scarce, that our building yards are supplied from the
borders of the great lakes, as well as the middle and southern States,
with the most essential portions of the frames. The forests of white
oak, once so extensive, have nearly disappeared, and can only be re-
produced by artifircial means.
As fuel, and for the many various purposes of husbandry, how
indispensable is a wood lot ; yet how few farmers, in many sections
of this Commonwealth, have that valuable appendage to their estates,
when it is in their power to create them, at but little comparative labor
or expense. Notwithstanding the Agricultural Society has, for years,
offered a liberal premium for plantations of forest trees, it is believed
that not a single application has been made, for the promised reward
of successful experiment.
In this country very few have attempted to raise groves of forest
trees from the seed, in consequence of a too prevalent opinion, that
the process is difficult, the labor and expense so great, the growth so
slow and the prospect of remuneration or picturesque effect so distant,^
as to render it a hopeless nndertaking. But we have the fullest
instruction as to the method, and conclusive evidence of the complete
success, with which the practical operations have been long prosecuted,
in numerous British and French works on Arboriculture ; and from my
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES. 131
own experience, I am confident, it is in tiie power of every landholder
to surround his dwelling, border the avenues and different compart-
ments of his estate, for the purposes of comfort and embellishment, '
and establish a grove sufficiently extensive, that in twenty years it
will supply fuel and timber for all the required domestic purposes,
and forever after, if properly managed.
I have raised from the seed, several thousands of Elms, Button-
Woods, Rock Maples, White Ashes, Hickories, Black Walnuts, But-
ternuts, White, Red and English Oaks ; and some of them have ob-
tained, in fifteen years, a height of more than thirty feet, and from
eight to ten inches in diameter.
Whoever attempts this interesting and valuable culture, cannot
fail to be cheered on in his progress, by the pleasiug occupation, and
will be sure of leaving a rich inheritance to his children, while he
will merit the gratitude of his countrymen, both for the example and
the beneficial result. None are too young to commence, and that no
one is too old has been beautifully illustrated by Homer. When
Ulysses returned from the Trojan War, he found his aged father plant-
ing trees, and asked him, why, being so old, he subjected himself
to the labor of doing that, of which he could never expect to enjoy the
benefit: the venerable Laertes, not recognising the person who ad-
dressed him, replied : " I plant against my son Ulysses comes back."
Is there not many a father, who would be glad to leave such a me-
morial of his parental affection, while he would experience the most
soothing reflections, in the decline of life, to repose under the shadow
of trees, whose seed had been planted, by the hand of a darling child.
Why then should not the youth of our land be imbued with a taste,
for the beauties of picturesque scenery, carefully instructed in the art,
and early enabled to appreciate the advantages, which are to be de-
rived from Arboriculture. It is an occupation which more perfectly
blends the useful and honorable, with the interesting and agreeable,
than any which man can pursue ; and differing from all others it nev-
er ceases to excite renewed exertions, for the passion to continue it
even increases with age, and only expires on the brink of the grave.
Sires of New England, you have a high and responsible, yet a most
pleasing and acceptable duty to perform, which will not only embalm
your memories deep in the hearts of your offspring, but entitle you to
the grateful benedictions of future generations, Hasten, then, to
illustrate precept by experiment, and, with the ardor of an Evelyn, call
upon your sons to "rise up and plant;" for you may be assured,
132 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES.
that the anxious solicitude which induced, and the kind attentions
which encouraged these labors, will constitute their most sacred and
pleasing reminiscences, when you shall have been gathered to your
fathers.
The external aspect of a country residence, without the appropri-
ate embellishments of groves, trees, shrubs and flowers, appears as des-
olate and cheerless, as would the interior, divested of those conven-
iences and decorations, which are intended to administer to the com-
fort and gratification, of the independent or affluent proprietor. What
more dreary and melancholy scene can be presented, than an isola-
ted house, on some bleak and naked hill, or treeless plain, — exposed
to the driving snow storms of winter, and the dazzling influence of
summer's ardent sun. The ruins of Balclutha would be infinitely
less revolting. The idea of loneliness would not be associated with
commiseration, for in those, we should be reminded of former days of
chivalry and splendid hospitality ; and instead of having awakened
the sentiment of despair, the imagination would mingle the natural
beauties and grandeur of the surrounding landscape, with the muster-
ing recollections of the by-gone affluence, sylvan sports, convivial pa-
geantries and martial deeds of their ancient lords, when in the full
enjoyment of prosperous fortunes, and the plenitude of their baronial
glory.
Who in passing such a dwelling, as has been .described, and is
too often seen in this favored land, does not look upon it, as he
instinctively hurries onward, as the only remaining structure of a
once populous region, and which had become the temporary encamp-
ment of barbarians, whose devastations had stricken the soil with
sterility. The thought of suffering humanity is painfully united with
the barren solitude of a desert, — an Arab's tent pitched in the midst
of the boundless waste of Barca.
Of all the nations of the earth, there is no one, which oflfers such
powerful inducements as the United States, for undertaking the cul-
ture of useful and ornamental trees, for those of our forests are unri-
valled for their variety, size and magnificence. Michaux observes, in
the introduction to his Silva, "that, in America the trees more than
thirty feet high exceed one hundred and forty, while in Europe there
are but thirtyseven, which attain this height; and of these but
eighteen enter into the composition of forests, and only seven are
employed for domestic or maratime purposes."
There are fiftythree species of the Oak, in North America, seven-
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES. 133
teen of the pine and eight of the Maple; of the superb trees which
compose the genus of Magnolia, but fifteen are known to exist upon
the glebe, five of which belong to China, one to the West Indies and
the remaining nine to the United States. We have eleven species of
the walnut, while not one is indigenous to Europe, as the variety
commonly cultivated there, is a native of Persia.
Besides the reasons which have been suggested, as inducements
for devoting a part of our leisure to the history, science and art of
Arboriculture, there are others, in which even the antiquarian cannot
fail to be interested. A knowledge of the longevity of trees would aid
him, in illustrating the history of the monuments of civilization, and
thus become auxiliary, in elucidating that of the globe we inhabit.
De CandoU, the learned professor of natural history, in the univer-
sity of Geneva, observes with equal truth, beauty and boldness, that
*' old trees may be considered as the medals of distant ages." Are
they not then, as worthy of consideration as those of gold, silver and
bronze, which bear the impress of imperial ambition, and are so zeal-
ously sought, carefully preserved and eagerly consulted for the verifi-
cation of chronology ? This may appear extravagant and inexplica-
ble, but still no position is more tenable, no fact more firmly estab-
lished, or more capable of demonstration.
A tree has been considered, by writers on vegetable physiology,
either as an aggregate of as many distinct plants, as there are buds on
its extremities; or as one being, analogous to that, which is called an
individual, when speaking of animals. By the first hypothesis, as
new buds are continually added to the old, the aggregate tree, which
is the result, has not, necessarily any term to its existence. By the
other theory, which is that very generally adopted, as a ligneous ac-
cretion is annually formed round the trunk, and branches, and en-
dowed with new organs, it is evident, that there should not occur that
induration of the functions of life, which produces death in the ani-
mal kingdom, by what is called old age, and therefore trees should
never die, but from some accidental cause, as a deficiency of aliment,
an imedicable wound, or the rigors of an uncongenial climate.
This being conceded, it is evident, that examples should exist of
an extraordinary age, which is indubitably the fact, as has been clear-
ly established by the most conclusive evidence.
The process of ascertaining the longevity of trees, is simple and
unerring ; being cut transversely through their trunks, circles are seen
from the centre, to the circumference, each of which indicates the
134
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES,
annual growth of the tree. As, however, but few, comparativeJy, care
be thus examined, tables have been carefully constructed, by several
learned and ingenious naturalists, from which the approximate age of
trees, of like species, may be readily ascertained. Having collected
admeasurements of the diameter of many trees of different kinds and
ages which grew in the same latitudes, whose annual circles had been
numbered, or whose exact age was known, from some record of the
period when they were planted, the annual average increase is dis-
covered ; and when the lon2;evity of a standing tree is desired, it is
only necessary to find its circumference, when the table of the annual
average increment of the species will give its age, with sufficient
exactness, to prevent an error of any moment.*
By this method, Adanson and De Candoll have ascertained and
published accounts of the probable longevity of numerous celebrated
trees. Some of the cedars of Mount Lebanon, measured in 1660 by
Maundrell and Pocock, were found to have been nearly eight hun-
dred years old, — the oak of Welbeck-lane, described by Evelyn,
must have been 1400, — the lindeaof Choille 538, and that of Irons
583 — the olive trees in the garden of Jerusalem certainly existed at
the time of the Turkish conquest of that city, and one at Pescia in
Italy had endured seven centuries. The English yew trees of Fontaine
Abbey, in the county of York, have survived twelve centuries, those
in the church yard of Crowhurst, in Surry, fourteen hundred, — that
of Fotheringall, in Scotland, from tvventyfive to twentysix hundred, — ■
that of Braburn, in Kent, three thousand. But they describe two other
trees of a most remarkable character, viz. the Baoback, estimated to
be five thousand one hundred and fifty years old, and the Cypress of
Taxodium, in Mexico, which is one hundred seventeen feet ten inches
in circumference, is still more aged. Other examples, less remarka-
ble, seem to confirm their assertion, that in all probability there still
exist trees, of not only a prodigious antiquity, but such as are living
witnesses of the last great physical revolution of the earth. f
The longevity of trees then, is a subject which possesses real inter-
est, beyond that of mere curiosity ; and if we attach the greatest
value to those relics of letters and the art*, which have been so ea-
gerly collected from the ruins of ancient nations, why should we not
feel as deep a solicitude, to ascertain whether trees do not exist which
were contemporaries with the oldest generations of the human race.
In many cases they would enable us to establish the date of ancient
monuments, while the later would aid in fixing the age of trees which
« See Note I. . tSee Note ?.
CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES. 135
grew in their vicinity. Such inquiries cannot fail of being essentially
useful ; but if they are merely curious, still are they not worthy of
being prosecuted 1 For curiosity is the most distinctive and elevated
propensity of our nature; it is the impulsive attribute of the mind,
which rouses and propels into vigorous action, all the other faculties,
with which we are endowed. Under its potent influence the incon-
sequential and important are sought with equal avidity, and the desire
of gratification increases, with the advancement of civilization and the
acquisitions of knowledge. How numerous are the instances, where
momentous discoveries in science, valuable inventions in the arts,
and developements of highly interesting facts, have been the fortui-
tous results, of an unrestrained indulgence in this ardent disposition,
this restless passion, to behold whatever exists, or to ascertain, what
has been, or can be accomplished, by the physical and intellectual
powers of man. It was this inquisitive and all searching spirit, this
aspiring and far reaching emanation of the soul, which produced the
telescope, the magnetic needle, the electrical battery, and the theory
of gravitation, — hurried a Park and a Clapperton into the immense
desert of Africa, to trace the course of the Niger, induced Ledyard
to traverse the wilds of Europe and Asia, that he might stand on
the shoresof Kamtschatka, and induced the learned and daring Hum-
boldt to scale the snow capt summit of the Andes, merely that he
might detect a new lichen, or identify those points of elevation, which
were the equivalents of the degrees of latitude, in climate. What, in
fact, are the vast additions which have been made, in all the depart-
ments of natural history, but the trophies of its zealous votaries, who
willingly braved the severest hardships, for the acquisition of a single
unknown mineral, plant or animal. Are not nearly all the books of
travels, but so many verifications of the position, which has been
assumed. Do they not anonunce, from the expedition of Hano, to.
those of the last tourists of Jerusalem, the Alps and the banks of the
Indus, that the disposition to explore is as universal, as it is indomita-
ble and insatiable. Let not any object then, however insignificant, be
regarded as unworthy of consideration ; for it may be the cause of
some wonderful invention, the first scintillation of some splendid tri-
umph of genius, or indicate the route to some glorious victory of rea-
son. Nothing, in fact, should be excluded from observation, because
of its apparent unimportance, for it should be recollected, that angels,
under the humblest vestments of humanity, have been unconsciously
entertained, whose visitations involved the destinies of empires.
136 CULTIVATION OF FOREST TREES,
NOTES.
1. Several simple methods may be employed for increasing the data, by which
this interesting inquiry may be so far extended, as to enable any one to ascer-
tain the age of remarkable trees, whose circumference is known, in any part of
the globe. De Candoli uses and recommends strips of paper of various lengths,
and about an inch wide, for obtaining the diameter and number of annual circles,
where trees have been felled. One of these being extended across the stump,
or trunk, the thickness of each years growth is marked thereon with a pencil,
from the centre to the bark, and the diameter ; but as it is quite as desirable to
ascertain the circumference of standing trees, whose age is known, a pocket
graduated measuring tape, will be found to answer best for both purposes ; as
the diameter can be ascertained in feet and inches, the circles counted, and the
results entered in a memorandom book. These facts, as from time to time, col-
lected, can be arranged in tables, under appropriate heads ; and if individ-
uals, who have it in their power to prepare such tables would do so, and publish
them in some scientific journal, they would furnish the elements, for construct-
ing one, sufficiently extended, to answer all the purposes desired. This is being
done in many parts of Europe, and it is to be hoped, that there are cit zens, in
every section of this country, who will be induced to devote so much attention
to the subject, as that in a few years, complete tables may be prepared, by which
the age of any of our native trees may be ascertained, while they are yet flour-
ishing. No country affords so good an opportunity, as the smallest to the most
gigantic, of all our numerous species are continually falling, under the blows of
the farmer and the luniberman, in all parts of the Union.
In a recent publication, the learned and distinguished De Candoli, has earn-
estly requested, that all persons, in every part of the globe, who take an interest
in rural affairs, t,T investigations in the vegetable kingdom, and are disposed to
aid in the accumulation of intelligence, on this subje( t, would do him the
favor of transmitting such facts, as it may be in their power to collect.
2. The ages of the following remarkable trees have been ascertained, with
as much exactness as historivial data, or the principles, which have been derived
from the actual admeasurement, and counting the circles of trees of like kind,
afford.
Age.
A Date tree in Egypt, ........ 300 years.
Apricot tree in Damascus, ....... 324
Grape Vine in Damascus, ....... 378
Red Oak of Mount Etna, 400
Walnut tree of Balbic, 406
Almond tree of Damascus, ....... 640
Fig tree of Damascus, 648
Olive tree of Palestine, ........ 710
Fig tree of Palestine, 780
Olive tree of Asia Minor, ........ 850
A Live Oak in Louisiana, . . . . . . . 1000
- Sycamore or Plane tree of Palestine, ..... 1050
Sycamore of Heliopolis, . . . . . . . 1805
«N THE SELECTION OF PLANTS. IS?
One of the Cedars ol Mount Lebanon, ..... 1824
Peletin [Terebinthus] of Asia Minor, 1890
A Cedar of Mount Lebanon, ....... 2112
The celebrated Chesnut of Mount Etnii, .... 2660
Sycamore of the Bosphorus, ....... 4020
The Sycamore near the ruins of Heliopolis, according to the tradition in Egypt,
existed before the visit of Joseph and Mary, and that they sat under its shadow,
and drank water from a neighboring well. The accumulation of mud, fiom the
deposite of the Nile, has long destroyed the original tree, but sprouts having put
forth from the stump, and forming part of a circle, calculations were formed
therefrom of the size and age of the original tree, which was added to that of
those which now exist.
The Sycamore of the Bosphorus, under which it is said Godfrey of the first cru-
sading army encamped, has also disappeared, leaving ten tr^es, which sprang
from the stump ; one of which being measured was found to be 1050 years old ;
and it is possible others of equal age have been removed, and that the present
trees are the second remove from the parent stock.
The Chesnut of Mount Etna grew from the stump of a felled tree. These,
and other like instances, show how tenacious of life, are the trees of countries,
most favorable to their constitutions, and ihe practice of perpetuating a forest, by
cautiously preserving a proper number of sprouts, proceeding from the stumps,
is of the most remote antiquity.
Art. 11. Desci'iption of Select Hardy Herbaceous Plants,
suitable for Ornamenting the Parterre, Border or Shrubbery.
Communicated by Mr Joseph Breck.
(Continued from page 89.)
The genus Pentstemon embraces a family of beautiful plants,
worthy the attention of every amateur : many of the species are per-
fectly hardy, while others require the protection of a frame during
winter. T'he genus is peculiarly American, abounding in the west
and southwest of our vast country and Mexico, but none in New En-
gland. Many beautiful species have been discovered within a few-
years, by Drummond, Douglass, and other indefatigable botanists, and
to whom we are much indebted for these pleasing acquisitions to our
pleasure grounds.
Class Didynamia : (four stamens; two long and two short; but in
this genus, there is an imperfect stamen in addition.) Order, Angio-
sperma (seeds in capsules ) Natural order, Scrophularineae.
18
138
ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS.
The genus is distinguished by its five leaved calyx, a bilabiate,
(having two lips,) ventricose, (swelling) corolla ; a fifth sterile fila-
ment longer than the rest, and bearded on its upper side. The cap-
sule is ovate, two celled, two valved, containing many angular seeds.
Its generic name is from Pente, (five,) stemon, (stamen,) in allusion to
its four perfect and one imperfect stamens.
Pentstemon pubescens, produces its purplish blue flowers about
June : the pubescent (downy) leaves are lanceolate, oblong, sessile,
and serrulate ; the flowers in a thin panicle, with the sterile filament
bearded above the middle : one foot and a half high.
Pentstemon Isevigatum is very similar, but smooth, with paler, later
flowers, and is less common : two feet high. These two species are
described by Mr Nuttall as being found at the south in barren fields
and dry rocky ground : they are not common in our collections, nor
do we know that they are to be found in any in this vicinity.
Penstemon staticifolius, is a beautiful, hardy, new species, figured
in Edwards' Botanical Register, for June last, which was sent to the
London Horticultural Society, by the lamented Douglass, from Cali-
fornia. It is said to be nearly related to P. diffusus, from which it
differs in its much larger and more lilac flowers, in the form of the
leaves, and in those next the root being perfectly entire. It was then
extremely rare, only one plant having been originally raised.
Pentstemon diff"usus, is said to be very ornamental ; but we have
not seen it in flower. We raised plants the last season from seed,
which will come into flower the present year.
Pentstemon pulchella, is a handsome species, with large bell shaped,
pale purple flowers, and long lanceolate, smooth serrate leaves; one
foot high. It flowered finely through the last autumnal months, in our
collection, although it was from seed the same season.
Pentstemon atropurpureus, is also an ornamental species, with fine
dark, ruby purple flowers, which are produced from July to October :
one and a half foot high. It is a native of Louisiana: it flowered
finely with us the last season, and succeeded best in a rich, black,
moist soil.
Pentstemon cosruleum, is one of the finest of the genus, a native
of the south, with beautiful blue flowers. Stem smooth : radical
leaves linear entire ; cauline ones lance linear, entire, all sessile : ster-
ile filament short, bearded above : divisions of the calyx lanceolate,
acute, glabrous. We saw this in bloom last season at Cambridge
Botanic Garden.
ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS, 139
Pentstemon Richardsonii, glandulosa, Bradburii or grandiflorum,
Nuttallii, dissectum, erianthera or glaber, hirsuta and campanulata,
are ornamental species, but not much known.
When seeds can be obtained, there will be no trouble in raising a
supply of plants. It is said to be difficult, or even impossibie to raise
the seeds in heat. We are inclined to believe there is some truth in
the remark, as we succeeded in raising only a few plants in a mode-
rate hot bed, while those sowed in the open ground in May, produced
an abundance. As the seeds are very small, they should only be
pressed into the soil, or very slightly covered. The young plant
should be sheltered from the mid-day sun. Most of the species are
easily propagated from cuttings or layers, which readily take root.
In the same natural order with Pentstemon, and in the same arti-
ficial class and order, may be found the genus Chelone, with which
there is a near relation. It is characterized by its thick, short, ven-
tricose form of the ringent corolla, in which the sterile filament is
shorter than than the rest : the anthers are woolly, and the see.ds
membraneously margined. " Chelone is from Greek, signifying a
tortoise, to the back of which, the helmet of the present genus, has
been fancifully compared." The species are all handsome flowering
plants, suitable for ornamenting the border, flourishing best on a soil
of loam with a little peat inclining to moisture.
The only species indigenous with us is Chelone glabra, found in
abundance in wet places, flowering from August to October, having
large white flowers in dense spikes ; the leaves lanceolate, oblong,
acuminate and serrate : three feet high. There is said to be a vari-
ety, purpurea, with purple flowers, and another with rose or red flow-
ers, var. rosea.
Chelone barbata. The lower lips of the corolla of this beautiful
species is bearded ; which circumstance, gives to it the specific name.
The flowers are a fine scarlet and orange, and produced in profusion
from July to August ; three feet high ; from Mexico : leaves opposite
connate (the bases united or growing into one, as the upper leaves
of the Honeysuckle) lanceolate, entire. It requires some protection
through the winter.
Chelone obliqua. Red flowered. We had this ornamental species
in bloom last season, but owing to its being placed in a dry soil, did
not succeed so well as the last species, which was planted in a moist
soil, and which is probably more congenial to its growth.
The flowers are reddish purple, and continue from August to Oc-
140 ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS.
tober : three or four feel high when grown in perfection : indigenous
to the South : leaves lanceolate, oblique stalked, opposite, finely serrat-
ed at the edge.
Chelone Lyonii, is a handsome species, with which we are not ac-
quainted, but desirable : a native, also, of the South : four feet high,
with purple flowers in dense terminal spikes, from July to September ;
stem smooth, much branched : leaves stalked, cordate ovate, serrate.
Chelone latifolia, is another fine Southern species, with red flowers,
in much crowded spikes, two feet high : leaves broad, ovate and oval,
serrate, abruptly acuminate ; tapering at the base, petioled.
Chelone centranthifolium, is a handsome species, figured and des-
cribed in Paxton's Magazine for April last, resembling C. barbata,
but free from the beard at the mouth of the corolla ; seven feet high :
leaves betwixt ovate and lanceolate, blunt at the point, smooth and
some\yhat shining. Flowers growing in a panicle, slender and long,
forming the upper part of the stem : Calyx, bluish green, five parted :
Corolla tubular, slightly inflated, somewhat funnel shaped, bright or-
ange scarlet, limb two lipped, upper lip divided into two parts, lower
one into three. A native of California, from whence it was introduced
by Mr David Douglass. It is said to make a fine appearance, when
growing among bushy plants, and that it will flourish in almost any
licrht soil, if the situation be not too exposed. All the speciSs may
be propagated by cuttings and slips from the roots.
The genus Mimulus contains some pretty ornamental plants, suita-
ble for the margin of ponds, or to occupy some place which is rather
moist and partly shaded ; most of the family requiring considerable
water to grow them in perfection
" The generic name is from Greek, signifying an ape or monkey.
The flower seeds in front resemble the face of a grinning monkey."
Class, Didynamia, order Angiosperma. Natural order, Scrophula-
rineae. Character of the genus : Calyx prismatic, five toothed ; corol
ringent ; upper lip folded back upon its sides; lower lip with a prom-
inent palate ; stigma thick two cleft ; capsule two celled, many seed-
ed : seeds minute.
Mimulus ringens, is the only species indigenous in N. England,
which is very common about our brooks and wet places in the month
of August, with blue, ringent, almost personate flowers, having the
palate of the lower lip prominent, and the upper lip reflected at the
sides ; erect and smooth, with sessile, lanceolate, acuminate leaves,
and axillary peduncles longer than the flowers.
ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS. '*' (^'141
Miinulus luteus. Yellow Monkey flower. A handsome species frofn
the South, with yellow flowers : one foot high. Stem erect, glabrous,
stoloniferous : leaves roundish ovate, nerved toothed ; lower ones ob-
tuse, petioled ; upper ones acute, closely sessile ; raceme terminal :
peduncle axillary, opposite, elongated ; calyx unequal ; teeth acutish.
In flower most of the season.
Mimulus guttatus. Spotted Monkey flower. The flowers of this
species vary much in cultivation. The flowers are yellow, spotted
with crimson or brown. One variety has a large round spot upon the
central division of the lower limb of the corolla, while other varieties
are spotted upon each division.
It produces flowers through the season, with the exception of the
hottest part : but is in the greatest perfection in September and Oc-
tober. The height one foot. Foliage very much like luteus,
Mimulus luteus, var. variegatus. Variegated Monkey flower. Fig-
ured in Edwards' Botanic Register for October. We give the follow-
ing extract. " The first plants of this species which appeared in this
country, were reared from seeds from Paris ; but we believe without
any intimation of its native country. Since that time Chili has been
stated to be the origin of the species, but v/e know not upon what
certain authority ; not a specimen have we ever seen of it from that
country. We should almost be inclined to suspect it to be some gar-
den production, if it did not remain true from seed ; at all events we
agree with Dr Hooker in referring it to M. luteus as a variety. It is
the prettiest of the genus, and is raised with the greatest facility, pro-
vided it is sown in a damp place under the wall, or where it is not
fully exposed to the sun's rays. So treated, it grows vigorously and
flowers beautifully in May and June. But if exposed to too bright
sun and dryness, it loses its vigorous habits, and becomes a poor
dwindling thing not worth cultivation."
This and perhaps M. guttatus, are undoubtedly varieties of M. lu-
teus, as they agree in their habits, foliage, and shape of the corolla,
which is open; upper lip two parted, folded back : lower lip three
pafted, central division notched In the variety variegatus, the tube
of the corolla is yellow, finely speckled with crimson : the lips, deep
purplish crimson. Having, the last season sowed the seeds of the
three species, or varieties, from them were obtained perhaps five hun-
dred plants, which sported into many varieties. Some were entirely
crintison except the interior of the tube ; others were plain straw, sul-
phur, yellow or orange, variously speckled, spotted, or margined with
142 ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS.
red ; — some were large, while others were inferior flowers; and pre-
sented, during the autumnal months a very gay appearance. Their
situation was in a moist place. All the species are easily propagated
from cuttings.
Mimulus rivularis, seems to be confounded with M. luteus and oth-
er species or varieties, as they have come under our observation ; but
as we raised the different varieties from seed, we cannot determine ;
there may have been some mistake in the seed, which was received
from England. — With the exception of our indigenous species, the
Mimulus cannot be considered hardy, although we did preserve some
last winter in the open ground with protection, but are easily kept in
a cold frame, or in the cellar in pots.
" Digitalis, named by Fuchs, from digitabulum, a thimble, in allu-
sion to the form of the flowers."
Class, Didynamia, order, Angiosperma. Natural order, Scrophula-
rinefe. Character of the genus, calyx five parted : Corolla campan-
ulate, five-fid : Capsule ovate two-celled, many seeded. Most of the
species are showy border flowers, of easy culture. All the species of
this genus, as well as all the genera in the natural order Scrophulari-
neae, if not poisonous, are suspicious plants.
Digitalis purpurea. Purple Fox Glove. This with its variety alba
are too well known to require a particular description. They are
properly biennials ; but if the old roots are divided every year they
are perennials. It is a native of Britain, and is there considered *' one
of the most ornamental native plants in rocky copses, neglected
hedges, and by the road sides. Its large tall spikes attract not only
the botanist and florist, but is even conspicuous enough to be intro-
duced in the painter's landscape of such scenery."
We have had account of specimens five or six feet high. The
common height is from three to four feet. All who cultivate this
plant, should be aware that it is a violent poison. It is cultivated as
a medicinal herb, by the Shakers, in their physic garden at Harvard,
but we believe there is not so much demand for it as formerly.
" When given to the full extent of which the system can admit, the
pulse intermits, and vertigo, indistinct vision and nausea, with vom-
iting or purging occur; and if after these indications, the quantity ^be
still increased, or if any considerable portion of the recent herb be
inconsiderately swallowed, it produces delirium, hiccough, cold sweats,
convulsions, syncope and death."
Digitalis ochrolenuca. Great flowered Fox Glove. This species
ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS. 143
has pale yellow flowers in July and August, four feet high. Leaves
ovate lanceolate, acuminate, toothed ; stem villus, (covered with fine
soft hairs ;) bractes twice as long as the flowers ; corolla villus, net-
ted. The whole of the genus are peculiarly European ; all the spe-
cies, embracing as many as twentyfive, are found in that section of the
globe.
Digitalis lutea. Small yellow Fox Glove. A pretty species from
France, two feet high. Leaves lanceolate, toothed, smooth. Flowers
in a dense, one sided raceme; corolla smooth, pale yellow, segments
ovate, bearded ; lower bractes longer than the flowers ; in June and
July.
Digitalis ferruginea. Iron colored Fox Glove. From Italy, four
feet high. Flowers in a dense pyramidal raceme ; sepals edged : co-
rolla bowed, lip ovate, three toothed : in July and August.
All the species are more or less ornamental, and would give variety
to the borders if introduced. Some of the most desirable are D. lo-
mentosa, fucescens, ambigua or grandiflora, fulva, aurea, leucophaea,
purpurascens and tubiflora.
Antirrhinum. Snap dragon. Class, Didynamia. Order, Angio-
sperma. Natural order, Scrophularinese. From " Anti, like, ?-A«w,
nose ; because the flowers of most of the species bear a perfect resem-
blance to the snout of some animal."
Antirrhinum majus, and its varieties coccineurii, rosea, bicolor lutea
and variegata, are popular border flowers, easily cultivated in a dry soil.
Best propagated from seeds, which should be sown yearly to produce
new plants, as old plants do not flower so well, and are subject to be
winter killed.
Antirrhinum linaria, of Bigelow, is included in the genus Linaria :
Linaria vulgaris. Were it not that this plant were a troublesome
weed, taking possession of the whole of the ground it would find a
place in the border, as its flowers are quite ornamental. It might be
planted in a tub sunk into the ground. It is found very common by
the road sides, near Boston, and probably is not indigenous, but im-
ported from England, its native place. Its yellow and^orange flowers
are in long crowded spikes ; the corolla being furnished with a long,
hollow spur beneath. " The mouth is closed with a protuberent pal-
ate from the under lip, and gapes open upon lateral pressure, a char-
acter which has given the genus the name of Snap-dragon." " The
species of Linaria are for the most part pretty annuals : and some of
them, as L. cymbalaria, well adapted for growing in pots or for rock
144 ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS,
work. C. triphylla is a popular border annual. L. triornithophora,
a half hardy perennial, is remarkable for the form of its flowers,
which resemble three birds seated in the spur."
The genus Linaria may be distinguished from Antirrhinum by the
spur on the corolla, and by the capsules which in the first is ovate two
valved, opening at the end in three-five segments, while in the last it
is oblique at the base, without valves, opening at the end by three pores.
Dracocephalum. Dragon's Head. Class, Didynaraia. Order Gym-
nospermia (seeds naked.) Natural order, Labiatai.
The extensive natural order Labiatge, affords but few ornamental
border plants : but it includes many that are usefiil, and not a single
genus that is unwholesome or suspicious. Some are used as aromatics
in our food, as Savory, Mint, Marjorura and Basil; others are prized
on account of the abundance of volatile oil, which they produce,
yielding agreeable prefumes as Lavender and Thyme : While many
are used in the preparation of slightly tonic beverages, as Sage, Gle-
choma hederacea. Balm of Gilead, &:-c. It includes the whole of the
order Gymnospermia in class Didynamia, and eight or ten genera, in
Diandria monogynia. The whole tribe have four cornered stems.
" Dracocephalum is from Z)/-a^o?«, dragon, and kephale, head. The
flowers resemble the figure of some grotesque beast. It is therefore
called Dragon's head." The genus may be known by the remarkable
inflation of the orifice of the corolla : the upper lip concave ; the mid-
dle divisipn of the lower lip roundish, notched ; stamens unconnected ;
calyx two lipped. Several fine species are found in the United States.
D. virginicum from Virginia, may be considered one of the finest,
which, with the following species, are common in many gardens.
It is a tall plant when cultivated, four feet high, with its conspicu-
ous pink flowers in regularly arranged, crowded and elongated spikes
from July to September ; leaves linear lanceolate, serrate.
D. denticulatum, is a handsome species from Carolina of lower
o-rowth ; it does not exceed one foot and a half in height ; the flowers
are pink, in spikes less dense than the last species, in August and Sep-
tember ; leaves obovate lanceolate, tooth-letted upwards.
D. austriacum, sibiricum, and grandiflorum with blue flowers, and
speciosum with pink flowers, would be desirable acquisitions to the
border.
Betonica grandiflora, with light red flowers, and some of the Mon-
ardas [tall balm) are about all, besides those named, worthy of atten-
tion as ornamental hardy plants in Labiate.
(To be eontiiiued.)
i
HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION. 145
(From the Boston Coinniercial Gazette.)
Art. III. — -Massachusetts Horticultural Society^s Exhibitions.
Messrs Editors, — I saw in the New England Farmer oi last week,
a report from Samuel Walker, of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, on an exhibition of flowers from the gardens of Mr Wilder,
that I read with great delight, as it was at once a proof that a taste for
the cultivation of flowers and for describing of them, had greatly in-
creased within a few years in our country. In former times if Flora
was named as a Nymph of lovely mein, it was Ceres alone who re-
ceived all the honors from the cultivation of the soil. A century ago
when Lord Kaimes and others were writing upon ornamental garden-
ing, but little attention had been paid to the subject in America. A
few Royal governors and opulent merchants began about that time to
cultivate ornamental gardening ; but most of these men knew nothing
of plants or of flowers, but sustained the expense of a garden as a mark
of distinction. The greater part of these cultivators of flowers, in
their own gardens, could have given you no more of technical, botan-
ical information, than they could of Heraldry, if you inquired of them
an explanation of their armorial bearings, blazoned on the panels of
their coaches. The Fess Point, would have been to them an enigma,
and nothing but the name of a flower was sought for. Not that these
were ignorant men : far from it; they were business men, politicians
and scholars ; but it was not the taste of the times to attend to such
things. In fact, with the great mass of the people, perhaps, it would
have been a mark of effeminacy to have shown a fondness for flow-
ers. But in this the taste has changed, and the gravest statesman
and profoundest philosopher may cultivate, admire, and minutely des-
cribe a flower, without losing any particle of his greatness with the
people. When the Vassals, the Brattles, the Tracys lavished their
wealth in gardening, it was not so. The doings of Royal governors ;
the rights of man; the conjectures upon the course the legislature
would pursue the next session 1 loho toould be Mandamus Councillors ?
whether the WalpoUs would still hold their power ? were the subjects
of discussion. The beauties of nature were but little thought of at
that time ; now and then some one would be singular and take some
pains to change, by cultivation, a single pink to a double one, but
then his neighbors, winking to each other, said, " he is more nice
than wise." Such refined and delicate pursuits 3s the study of botany
19
146 HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION.
were not proper for men who had frontiers to defend, institutions to
build up, and all the elements of society to fashion, in forming a new
nation. At least they thought so. The revolutionary war followed
this labor; and Ceres, Pomona, and Flora, were all more or less neg-
lected ; ploughshares and pruning-hooks were beaten into swords
and spears. The soldier, however tasteful, on the track of blood
could not stop to admire a wheat-field, nor to examine the beauties
of the flowers in his path-way. Soon as the country began to recover
from the evils of the revolution, a taste for agriculture and garden-
ing became fashionable, in some measure. Washington set the
example : he was a practical farmer, and an excellent gardener. He
brought trees, shrubs and flowers from every clime, and spent every
hour he could spare from indispensable business, in enriching his col-
lections for the field and the green-house. This example was followed
in every State in the Union ; in the city of Philadelphia with great
success. Every garden in that city, for eight years, was under his
eye. Massachusetts was not behind any other State in her attention
to horticulture as well as agriculture. The means of indulging in a
luxury of this nature were soon acquired after the peace of 1783 ; and
the nucleus of all the vast improvements of this day was then estab-
lished. The pleasure to be derived in cultivating flowers can now be
appreciated by most persons, as their biography and science have
become household ornaments ; and the utility of the pursuit is a little
more remote, but easily traced when our attention is turned to it.
The cotton plant, now the great staple article of the world, as to
growth and manufacture, was, as oriental tales inform us — and they
are always the truth or the shadow of it — once the garden plant of
some Asiatic beauty, who, to the delights of vision, as the pods of the
plants opened with snow-blown loveliness, with a natural curiosity and
taste, added that of touch. The soft and fibrous mass, as her dainty
fingers played upon it, seemed to attenuate under the pressure — and
at that moment the thought of making it a thread was conceived, and
the progress from the distaff to the loom, and from that to ornamental
dress, was rapid and astonishing. Taste and fandy have more to do
with improvements and science, than we imagine. The culture and
the manufacture of cotton have now become the support of more than
ten millions of the human race in Europe and America, and of more
than fifty millions in Asia and Africa.
Agriculture has received many advantages from accident. Celery,
now a common dessert of every table, it is saidj came into the garden
HORTICULTUftAL EXHIBITION. 147
plants from the following circumstance : — An Italian nobleman, in
a paroxysm of passion, slew his only brother; the church condemned
him for three years to a monastery, to prayer and penitence ; — his
food to be of the weeds which grew within the enclosures about his
prison ; celery, bleached in the shade of the cloister, then became a
favorite food ; and when released from his confinement, he transplant-
ed the weed, then but little better than a night-shade, to his garden
— it was set in trenches to bleach it, and to make it crisp and tender
for his palate. He was a leader in fashionable life, and his example
was imitated throughout Europe; and celery became at first a gar-
nishment for the table, then a luxury, and now a necessary for every
palate.
The dyes of all the looms of ancient and modern times were bor-
rowed from flowers. The philosophers of the East saw that to please
the world they must follow nature. "Mark the lily how it grows —
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these," says an
inspired writer. The poets of a later age, those great interpreters of
nature, have followed up the thought, and expanded it with philosoph-
ical ingenuity. This thought is scattered through every page of their
works, for they have adorned every column of their imperishable tem-
ples with these wreaths of nature.
" Who can paint
Like nature ? Can imagination boast,
Amid its gay creation, hues Uke these ?
Or can it mix them with that matchless skill,
And lose them in each other, as appears
In every bu-d that blows !"
Among a prosperous people, there is always a surplus measure of
time, which may be used to their advantage if properly improved ;
and how can it be better filled up than in such sweet and innocent
pursuits 1
A love of distinction is an innate passion of our souls ; the glories of
war and of eloquence are fast declining, and yet the love of distinc-
tion must be supplied from other sources : Nature is ready, when prop-
erly interrogated, by her responses, to fill up the void created by this
decline. That which was once said in bitter but playful sarcasm, will
soon be acknowledged as a settled truth: — "That he who makes
two blades of grass grow where only one grew before, is preferable to
all the warriors and statesmen put together ;" and in modern times
we shall find these occupations the more imperishable monuments of
148 HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION.
fame. The Lowells, the Kenricks, the Cushings, the Winships,* the
Wilders, the Walkers, the Haggerstons, and others, that I have forgot-
ten, have found that their labors have been " like words fitly spoken"
— the glory of wisdom — " flowers of gold in pictures of silver."
This cultivation of flowers at the present day, seems not merely
confined to gratify a laudable ambition ; but to extend itself far, very
far beyond it. The florists have gone back to ancient days, as every
one must, who intends to follow nature in matters of taste. The
greatest efforts of the present generation ot florists have been the use
of flowers in depriving the grave of its horrors ; I allude to the connex-
ion of a garden with a cemetery, as at Mount Auburn. The dark
and silent chambers of the dead have always been distressing to the
living ; they say, with Othello —
" Here is my journey's end, here is my birth.
And every sea-mark of my utmost sail."
The horticulturist of Mount Auburn leaves his flowers with a dif-
ferent feeling than that experienced by our great ancestor when driven
from Eden,
" O flowers,
That never will in other climates grow,
My early visitation, and my last
At ev'n, which I bred up with tender hand
From the first opening bud, and gave ye names,
Who sliall now rear ye to the sun, or rank
Your tribes, and water from th' ambrosial fount?"
The florist now knows that from the garden he loved, that those very
flowers which he reared to the sun, are to be planted around his grave ;
to shed their perfume and scatter their leaves on every summer breeze.
This "lovely conceit," like Ophelia's pure imagination, "has
turned everything to prettiness" ; — and the traveller, as he wanders
* On Saturday, March 5, our correspondent was presented with a splendid
BOUQUET, containing eighty different kinds of flowers, and he thus acknowledges
the receipt of his rare and beautiful present . —
[0= A CARD. — Philo-Florist takes this medium of the public press to ac-
knowledge the receipt of a garland of flowers, of extensive variety and of surpass-
ing beauty, from the Messrs Winship, of Brighton. For this kind offering he ten-
ders to them his thanks, and with them would express his earnest wishes for their
prosperity. If Flora had always been so attentive to the Muse of History, we
should have known more of the gardens of the Ancients than we now do; but
in coming time they will be better acquainted with each other, for the former has
given the latter a new subject to celebrate — her struggles with Nature in accli-
mating " herb and flower" to much higher latitudes than their native beds, and
still not retaining, but increasing their beauties ; — this truth is verified by glan-
cing at the sacred sun-flower of the Incas, which, under the hand of taste and
science, developes new varieties and splendor, in a strange soil, at each succes-
sive season.
ON THE CULTURE OF PERENNIALS. 149
through this labyrinth of flowers, which seem to cover the hearse and
the pall, and to hide the spade and the mattocks, whispers to himself
" can this be death ?" — if it be
" Death is the privilege of human nature :
And life without it were not worth the taking !"
Go on, ye florists ; and while you contend, in innocent rivalry, in
making earth's bosom each year more lovely than the last, be assured
that you will secure the affection and gratitude of all ; and that even
he who has no parterre of flowers to boast of, no garden from which
to gather golden fruits, will select those which the Muses have scat-
tered over the fields of knowledge and taste, and bind them on your
brow. Philo Florist.
(From Paxton's Magazine of Botany, and Register of Flowering Plants for October.)
Art. IV. — Remarks on the Culture of Perennials in general.
Perennials, are those plants, which do not, in their growth, form
either trees or shrubs, but which lose their tops wholly, or in part, ev-
ery year after they have done flowering ; the roots continuing to live
and regerminate for several years successively.
Perennials are of two kinds, bulbous and herbaceous, which, differing
materially from each other in habits, require, consequently, a different
kind of treatment. Such being the case, it will be necessary to make
a few remarks on each kind separately ; and
Bulbous Perennials.
These are of three kinds, viz : — Hardy, or such as will grow in the
open border ; Greenhouse, or such as require a little protection from
cold and wet, but very little heat; and Stove, or those that will not
grow to perfection without artificial heat.
Hardy Bulbs, with a few exceptions, are remarkably easy of culti-
vation, and if planted in proper soil and situation, seldom fail to pro-
duce plenty of oflfsets and seeds for propagation.
The best kind of soil for their growth is a light loam, rather sandy
than otherwise, yet not too light, or the bulbi will be injured during
the heat of summer, and if adhesive, they invariably grow weakly
and seldom flower.
As to the depth which the different bulbs require to be planted in
ioU ON THE CULTURE OF PERENNIALS.
the ground, no certain rule can be laid down ; some species require
to be planted not more than an inch and a half deep, and others from
four to six inches. This must, therefore, be left to the judgment of
the planter.
Encourage as much as possible the growth of the leaves, by giv-
ing them free exposure to light and air, for on them depends the suc-
cess of the bulb's flowering the following year. If the leaves grow
strong, a good quantity of strong pulp is stored up in the bulbs, and
a good bloom is the consequence.
Never, if it can be avoided, disturb the roots by removal during
the time of their growth ; but if obliged to do so, select a wet day,
and take them up with good balls, so as not to injure the fibrous roots.
The only time to remove them with success, is during the season
of their torpidity, at which time the offsets may be separated, and
planted where the cultivator may judge best.
The season of rest for iiiost of the spring-flowering bulbs happens
shortly after they have done flowering ; but the autumn-flowering ones
rarely become torpid till towards the following summer ; but the only
general rule that can be laid down in this is, that when the tops have
quite died down, then is the time to separate or remove them without
injury.
With a few exceptions, as in the case of tulips, and several other
florists' flowers, hardy bulbs always do better when not kept long out
of the ground, after being taken up. Indeed it is always advantageous
to plant them again at the same time they are taken up and separated,
because_^r5^, if kept in too dry a place, they are liable to become ex-
hausted, and in some cases to shrivel. Secondly, if kept in a damp
place, they invariably mould, and often perish. Thirdly , when left
in the ground, they make their roots sooner and much stronger than
under other circumstances. Fourthly, the season at which they
oucht to be planted, may prove so busy a time with the gardener, that
he may scarcely be able to attend to them, until after they have begun
to grow, which in general weakens their flowering, if it does not
totally prevent it. And, fifthly , if planted at the time of separation,
all anxiety about them is at an end.
Many of the more tender kinds of bulbs in the borders will require
protection from heavy rains, whilst in a torpid state, particularly if
the situation be low flat or damp; but if planted on banksides, under
the walls of hot houses or other dry situations, this precaution will
scarcely be necessary. The readiest and least troublesome way is to
ON THE CULTURE OF PERENNIALS. 151
place an inverted flower-pot over them, and lay a bit of slate over the
draining hole. The more hardy kinds rarely suffer, and there need
no particular care.
Green House Bulbs.
These differ from the last by being usually grown in pots, from the
facility with which they can be removed from one place to another,
either at the time of flowering or when in a torpid state, and from the
different temperature they require. There are five things indispen-
sable for the successful growth of exotic bulbs, viz. : — suitable soil, a
proper temperature, due precaution in watering, perfecting the growth
of the leaves, and allowing them a proper season of rest, called win-
tering.
The soil should be richer than that in which the hardy kinds grow,
because from their confinement in pots they are unable to obtain any
other nourishment, except what they receive directly from the aid of
the cultivator. A light rich loam mixed with very rotten dung, and a
portion of peat, perhaps is the best, as a general mixture for them ; but
there must be many exceptions to this rule ; for some species require
nearly all peat, and others flourish best in nearly all loam ; and in
these exceptions the cultivator must be guided by the native habitats
and strength of growth of each species.
Temperature. Those termed green house bulbs, require, during
their times of flowering, little more than shelter from cold winds and
heavy rain ; but at the time they first begin to grow, and after they
have done flowering, it is always advisable to give them a gentle
warmth, — first to assist them to flower fine, and, lastly, to encouracre
the leaves to grow fine.
Watering. All the kinds require a good supply of water when in
a state of active and vigorous growth ; but whilst in a state of torpid-
ity they should be removed to a place where they can remain perfectly
dry, until the season of their growth commences again.
Perfecting the leaves. Unless the leaves are perfected properly, no
certain success can be anticipated. To encourage their growth, do
not place them behind or under the plant stage as is a common cus-
tom ; but expose them to a little extra heat, give them plenty of light,
and gentle waterings occasionally with liquid manure ; but as soon as
the leaves begin to die, lessen the quantity of water, remove the plants
to a cooler situation, and eventually leave them dry altogether.
Wintering. During their time of their torpidity, any dry, cold pit
or frame will suit them, provided they are not exposed to the effects
152
ON THE CULTURE OF PERENNIALS.
of frost or water; and as soon as the season is arrived in which they
begin to grow, the bulbs should be shook out of the soil, the offsets be
separated and jepotted in fresh soil, and placed in gentle heat.
In potting, always be careful to drain well, for a stagnation of water
usually destroys the bulbs. After potting, as soon as the plants begin
to grow, give a gentle supply of water, increasing it as the plants get
more strength.
Stove Bulbs require the same kind of treatment as green house
bulbs in every respect, except temperature. Being natives of tropical
countries, they require the heat of a good stove, and at the time of
their torpidity, placing in a temperature not lower than that of the
green house.
Herbaceous Perennials.
The mode of cultivating this class of plants is perfectly easy : three
things chiefly have to be attended to. First, the manner of propa-
gating ; second, the most suitable soil ; and third, the requisite tem-
perature. There are five methods of propa^aizora practised ; by divi-
sions, suckers, seeds, layers and cuttings.
Dividing the roots. This may be done either with a kind of knife,
if the plant is small, or a spade, if the root is large and strong. The
best time for doing it, is when the tops are just beginning to grow,
after having been cut down.
Slickers. These may be taken up any time when they appear; but
the most usual time is when the plant is beginning to grow.
Seed. Sow, for the most part, early in spring, in light soil, and plant
out the following autumn in the situations where they are to flower.
Layers and Cuttings. Proceed precisely in the same manner as
for propagating soft-wooded shrubs and trees.
Soil. Different species of plants require rather different kinds of
soil : but a light rich loam will suit the greater part of plants. Those
confined in pots should have the soil enriched with a little very rotten ,
dung.
Temperature. Plants maybe divided into three or four kinds;
hardy, frame, greenhouse and stove. The first requires very little
cire, except keeping free from weeds after once they are planted ; but
the three last are more trouble, because they grow in pots. They all
require similar treatment to each other ; with the exception of the
heat. The first will bear all weathers without injury ; the second
require a slight shelter in winter : the third require a little protection
during most part of the year ; and the fourth, will not jlourish without
a brisk heat.
153
Art. V. — Extracts from Foreign Publications.
The following flowers are figured and described in the October,
November and December numbers of Edioards' Botanical Register,
edited by John Lindley, which have not been noticed in the back
numbers of the Horticultural Register. Some of the most singular
of those described, are found in the Natural order Orchidese, which
have of late attracted the attention of amateurs, as well as botanists.
The number of the species in this tribe, already discovered, amounts
to nearly fifteen hundred, and the number is monthly increasing, and
will increase, perhaps, for ages to come, until every nook and corner
of the earth has been explored. Lindley, m h\s Introduction to the
Natural System of Botany, says — " Orchideae are remarkable for
the bizarre figure of their multiform flower, which sometimes repre-
sents an insect, sometimes a helmet with the vizor up, and sometimes
a grinning monkey ; so various are those forms, so numerous their
colors, and so complicated their combinations, that there is scarcely
a common reptile or insect to which some of them have not been
likened."
" They are found in almost all parts of the world, except upon the
verge of the frozen zone, and in climates remarkable for dryness.
In Europe, Asia, and North America, they are found growing every-
where, in groves, in marshes, and in meadows ; in the drier parts of
Africa, they are either rare or unknown; at the Cape of Good Hope,
they abound in similar situations as in Europe ; but in the hot damps
of the West and East Indies, in Madagascar, and in the neighboring
islands, in the damp and humid forests of Brazil, and on the lower
mountains of Nipal, these Orchideous plants flourish in the greatest
variety and profusion, no longer seeking their nourishment from the
soil, but clinging to the trunks and liinbs of trees, to stones and bare
rocks, where they vegetate among ferns, and other shade loving
plants in countless thousands. Of the epyphytic class, only one is
found so far north as South Carolina, growing upon the branches of
the Magnolia, if we except the species from Japan, which, as I have
elsewhere stated, appears to have a climate peculiar to itself, among
countries in the same parallel of latitude." We will first notice those
plants in the Natural order Orchideae. Gynandria Monandria of
Linuceus. " Coryanthes maculata. Spotted Coryardlies. A native
of the woods in Demarara, where it is not uncommon, hanging from
20
154 EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.
the branches of trees, and suspending in the air the singular lipa of
its flowers, like fairy buckets, as if for the use of the birds and in-
sects that inhabit the surrounding foliage. There certainly is not a
more singular genus than this in the whole vegetable kingdoms, nor
one whose flowers are less like flowers, to the eye of the ordinary ob-
server. The sepals are of the most delicate texture ; when young
they spread equally round the centre, but after a few hours they col-
lapse, and assume the appearance of a bat's wing half closed. The
lip is furnished near its base with a yellow cup, over which hang two
horns constantly distilling water into it, and in such abundance as to
fill it several times ; this cup communicates by a narrow channel
formed of the inflated margin of the lip, with the upper end of the
latter, and in this, also, is a capacious vessel very much like an old
helmet, into which the honey that the cup cannot contain, may run '
over."
" Govenia superba. Superb Qovenia. So called in compliment
to James Robert Gowen, Esq. under whose care were conducted
many of the curious experiments upon cross fertilization at Highclere,
the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon. This noble species was originally
discovered by Messrs Lexarza and La Llave on the mountains near
Valladolid, a town of Mexico, flowering in August. The native
name is Azuzena amarilla. It is one of the handsomest of the whole
order of Orchidese, and is especially remarkable for its stately ap-
pearance, the rich orange of its flowers, and the long time they con-
tinue to open. The specimen in the Messrs Loddiges' collection
grows to the height of a man. It is found to bear the hottest and
dampest stove, but, like all terrestrial species, requires a season of
repose.
" Pleurothalis Grobyi. The Grohy Pleurothalis. A native of Dem-
arara, whence it was imported by Mr Bateman, who named it in com-
pliment to Lord Grey of Groby. It belongs to a very pretty species,
all of which are characterised by having their leaves so much longer
than the secondary stems as to conceal them and form dense tufts."
A dwarf plant three or four inches high, with small yellow, red striped
flowers.
" Maxillaria crocea. Saffron-colored Maxillaria. Introduced
from Rio Janeiro in the spring of 1833. Flowers before expansion
having some resemblance to the beak of a bird ; pale green, with a
brownish tinge at the spur. Perianth of a greenish yellow, becom-
ing of an orange yellow when expanded. Sepals narrow and pointed.
EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 155
the three exterior ones being each about the same size and length,
with their edges turned back. The two interior ones are rather
shorter than the others, somewhat curbed, and crossing so as to con-
ceal the column. Lahellum about half the length of the sepals, thick,
and fleshy, connected to the lengthened base column, which forms
the spur ; cucullate and crisp at the margin, which is rather paler
than the sepals, otherwise it is of a brownish red color, together with
the column."
" Stanhopea oculata. Eyed Stanhopea. Imported by Messrs
Loddiges. It is the most interesting of this splendid genus, on ac-
count of the extremely delicate waxy appearance of its surface, the
softness of its ground color, and the richness of the deep purple spots,
which, lying upon a bright yellow field, so very conspicuously orna-
ment the base of the lip and petals. It is said to be a native of
Brazil."
" Maxillaria picta. Painted B'laxillaria. A truly beautiful plant,
found wild in the Organ mountains of Brazil, and originally intro-
duced by the late lamented Mrs Arnold. When well managed, it
throws up a profusion of its gay speckled flowers, which remain per-
fect for some time."
" Maxillaria densa. Dense-flowered Blaxillaria. A native of
Mexico, whence it was imported by the Messrs Loddiges, in whose
stove it flowered in January last. Flowers in a dense head, white
and pink. The stems rise some height above the ground, and are
closely invested with brown withered scales, from the axils of which
spring the pseudo-bulbs and flowers."
" Fernandezia acuta. Sharp-leaved Fernandezia. A native of
Trinidad, whence it was imported by Mr Knight, in whose col-
lection it flowered in June last." A neat little plant, with orange
and crimson flowers, with numerous short, acute, sheathing leaves
which are closely imbricated upon the stem."
" Vanda teres. Taper-leaved Vanda. This superb epiphyte was
originally discovered upon trees in Sylhet by Dr Wallich, and it has '
more recently been met vath by Mr William Griffith abundantly near
Medown in the Burmese Empire, also growing on trees in the woods.
When Dr Wallich came to England, tliis species formed one of the
numerous living plants brought home under his care, and blossomed
during the voyage. The very flowers which were then produced, we
are so fortunate as to possess in spirits, through the kindness of their
liberal discoverer. They measure nearly four inches and a half from
156 EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.
the tip of one petal to that of the other, but only two were formed
upon the spike. The specimens from Mr Griffith are not quite so
large in the flower, but there are three blossoms to each spike."
" Nothing can exceed the flowers of this plant in delicacy of tex-
ture or softness of color ; the deep purple of the petals softens away to
the margin, and seems to melt as it were into the purer white of the
sepals, while the rich yellow and crimson of the lip renders the bril-
liancy of the other parts still more conspicuous."
" Maxillaria cristata. Crested Maxillaria.'" A remarkably beau-
tiful epiphyte, which flowered in the collection of Mr Knight last
July. " It is a native of Trinidad, growing on old decayed branches
of trees near the Mud Lake. The lip is a most curious organ. It is
of a firm fleshy texture, and is deeply divided into three parts ; of
these, the two lateral ones are falcate and smooth, while the middle
one is rounded, has a strong tooth on each side, and is bordered by a
deep white fringe of necklace-shaped hairs ; then the short stalk of the
lip, has four or more such hairs, growing straight from its border,
and the disk is furnished with a large white two lobed flat tooth, the
divisions of which diverge from each other. The striping, banding,
and painting of the delicate white flowers with rich crimson, pro-
duces a very rich and striking effect."
" Macradenia triandra. Triandrous Long-gland. A native of
Surinam, whence it was brought by Mr Lance," having a decumbent
spike containing six yellow and crimson flowers.
" Eulophia lurida. Lurid Eulophia. One of the easiest of all
stove Orchideous plants to cultivate, growing upon a damp wall, or
rough stone, or under almost any kind of condition, provided the air
be hot, and damp, and uniform. It then flowers profusely at inter-
vals throughout the year. A native of Sierra Leone, whence great
quantities are occasionally brought. It appears to be very common
upon the trunks of trees in some parts of the colony."
Lindley remarks that " It often happens that those productions of
nature which charm the eye by their beauty, and delight the senses
with their perfume, have the least relation to the wants of mankind,
while the most powerful virtues or most deadly poisons are hidden be-
neath a mean and insignificant exterior ; thus OrchideEe, beyond their
beauty, can scarcely Le said to be of known utility, with a few excep-
tions. The nutritive substance called Salep is prepared from the
subterraneous succulent roots of Orchis mascula and others."
" Fuchsi discolor. Port Famine Fuchsia. Octandria Monogynia.
EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 157
Natural Order, Onagraceae. A native of Port Famine in the Falk-
land Islands, resembling F. gracilis and tenella, but decidedly a dif-
ferent plant ; remarkable for its compact, bushy manner of growth,
its deep purple branches, its small very undulated leaves, and also for
its being apparently more hardy than any other Fuchsia yet in the
gardens. For the latter reason we attach especial importance to it,
for by a judicious intermixture of its pollen with such beautiful plants
as F. conica, globosa, and its more tender relatives, the whole race
may probably be rendered capable of bearing the climate of Great
Britain, and may thus become far more generally valuable than they
yet are."
Elichrysum bicolor. Two-colored Elichrysum. Syngenesia Super-
flua. Natural Order, Astracese, (Compositse). A beautiful new
hardy annual, a native of Van Dieman's Land. In appearance it re-
sembles the new common E. bracteatum, [Golden Immortal Flower),
but is much handsomer.
Oxalis PiottsB. Piotta's Oxalis. Decandria Pentagynia. Nat-
ural Order, Oxalidacese. A truly beautiful little half hardy, or
frame perennial, flowering most copiously during the months of July
and August. A little tuft does not, indeed, produce much appear-
ance, but a pot filled with its dense green leaves, and covered with
the large salmon colored flowers, is a lovely object. Said to be a na-
tive of the Cape of Good Hope."
" Galatella punctata. Dotted Galatella. Syngenesia Polygamia
Frustranea. Natural Order, Asteracese, (CompositEe). A hardy
herbaceous plant, native of salt marshes in Hungary, Podolia, and
elsewhere in the east of Europe. In this country, it flowers in July
and August, growing to the height of about two feet, and forming a
thick compact bush." A plant of no great interest, with blue
flowers.
" Rhododendron pulcherrimum. The lovely Rhododendron. De-
candria Monogynia. Natural Order, Ericefe. A most beautiful
plant, obtained by Mr Waterer of Knap-hill ; between R. arboreum
and caucasicum. It is of rather delicate appearance, but we are in-
formed it is quite hardy, and an abundant flowerer." Flower light
pink, shaded with dark. The flower of another variety, called R.
Nobleanum, is also figured, very much like the other in all respects,
except that its flowers are of a deep and brilliant rose color. Both
are among the handsomest hardy shrubs cultivated in England, but
too tender for our climate.
158 EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.
Ochranthe arguta. Fine-toothed Palehloom. Pentandria Tryginia.
Natural Order, Hypericaceas Anomalae. A pretty green-house
plant, native of China, with handsome foliage, resembling that of the
Camellia. Flowers yellowish white, small, in terminal racemes.
Prunus Japonica. The Single Chinese Plum. Icosandria Mono-
gynia. Natural Order, Rosaceee. This pretty, hardy shrub, will
be an object of interest to the botanist if not to the florist, being the
origin of the " Double Chinese Plum, or Almond, as it is often incor-
rectly called." " It is always interesting to procure the wild forms
of cultivated species, and so see from what humble originals Nature
produces some of the most striking works." The double flowering
Almond is one of the most ornamental shrubs that adorns our gar-
dens.
" Edwardsia chilensis. Chilian Magu Tree. Decandria Mono-
gynia. Natural Order, Leguminosoe. A fine tree, native of Chili,
where the inhabitants call it Magu. Introduced by Messrs Lodiges,
in 1822. It proves to be a hardy, handsome tree, flowering in May
in great profusion. Flowers yellow, papilionaceous, in spikes.
" Ipomcea Aitoni. Mr Alton's Ipomo&a. Pentandria Monogynia.
Natural Order, Convolvulacese. A pretty perennial stove climber.
It flowers from April till October. Flowers lilac, with purple centre,
and striped with the same color."
" Eutoca viscida. Clammy Eutoca. Pentandria Monogynia. Nat-
ural Order, Hydrophyllacese. A new, hardy annual, found in Cal-
ifornia by Mr Douglas, and raised by the Horticultural Society, in
whose garden it flowered this summer for the first time. It is per-
fectly hardy and will grow in any common soil. The blue of the
flowers is remarkably deep and brilliant, so that the plant has a hand-
some appearance ; but its leaves are rather course and weedy. We
know, however, of no plant better adapted for bouquets ; for it will
go on growing and flowering in water for two or three weeks after
being gathered."
" Cereus triangularis. Triangular Torch-thistle. Icosandria Mo-
nogynia. Natural Order, Cactacese. A native of Mexico and the
West Indies. The plant had been in the collection at Leigh Park
upwards of fifteen years without blossoming, until September, 1834,
when two flowers were perfected. One was despatched to London,
and is thus described :
" It was, indeed, a beautiful object ; its petals were of the most
dazzling whiteness, the effect of which was greatly heightened by the
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 159.
dense mass of yellow stamens occupying the centre, and by the bor-
der of olive green sepals, on which the petals reposed. This is said
to have the largest flowers of all the species, not even excepting the
common night-blowing Cereus : its fruit is described as being quite
smooth, of a rich scarlet, and with the size and form a goose's egg."
" CratEBgus Douglasii. The Douglas Thorn. Icosandria Mono-
Pentagynia. Natural Order, Rosacese. A native of North West
America, where it was collected by Mr Douglas. A hardy tree of
small size, flowering in May."
A few other plants are figured in this work of no great interest ex-
cept to the botanist. The numerous works devoted to botany, Flori-
culture and Horticulture, published and patronised in England, indi-
cate a very different state of feeling in relation to these subjects
there, than what exists in this country.
A monthly publication here at the expense of from six to ten dol-
lars per year, would find but few supporters ; but there it is not so,
as the many beautiful works prove. We shall be able from time to
time, to give extracts from some of the leading works devoted to these
subjects ; and sincerely hope the time will soon come when we shall
not be quite so far behind our transatlantic friends. J. B.
Art. VI. — Miscellaneous Matters,
Mildew on Grapes. — A gentleman of this village, who takes
much interest in these things, informs us that he has discovered a sure
remedy for mildew upon grapes. The mildew has been the great
bane to the success of growing the more tender but delicious kinds of
grapes in this quarter, and even the much prized Isabella suffers more
or less by it. The gentleman above-mentioned, says, that he last year
discovered that his grapes began to mildew badly, that he had former-
ly tried sulphur and other remedies without success, and that he made
the experiment of applying strong soap suds with a syringe to a few
bunches, and these came to maturity, plump, smooth and fair, while
all the rest upon the same vine were so badly mildewed as to be unfit
for use. Should this simple remedy prove effectual, our courage will
again be revived in cultivating this delicious table fruit. — Fredonian
Censor.
160 MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
Strawberries. — Among the numerous kinds of fruits which are
indispensable to good living is the strawberry. Besides being a most
delicious dessert fruit, it is considered by medical men a valuable
medicine in several diseases — particularly putrid fevers and pulmo-
nary consumptions. A free use of strawberries, it is said, will both
prevent and cure the rheumatism. There are several varieties of
excellent flavor, and by a judicious selection, and a little labor, a full
supply may be had through the season. The ordinary method of cul-
tivation is to prepare the ground, by manuring and spading, and trans-
plant in August. The distances betvi^een the rows is generally from
eighteen inches to two feet, and between the plants from nine to fif-
teen inches, according to the varieties. The runners the first year
are cut off before they take root. Some cultivators cut off the leaves
in autumn. The second year the runners are permitted to take their
course — filling up the space between the plants and producing, ordi-
narily, a good crop of large sized strawberries. Some lay down
straw or grass for the runners to run upon. The utility of this is man-
ifest in many respects, but especially in keeping the fruit from com-
ing in contact with the earth, by which it would be injured by dirt.
After the fruit is gathered the straw should be removed and the plants
cleared of weeds. They should be transplanted every second year.
Anthracite Coal Ashes. — The Philadelphia Horticultural Soci-
ety has awarded Mr J. A. Snyder the premium for the best assortment
of fruits. The account states that the fruit consisted of Peaches^
Nectarines, and Green Gage Plums, produced within the city and in
an unfavorable situation. Mr Snyder had been in the habit of plac-
ing ashes of Anthracite Coal about the roots of his fruit trees, and to
that circumstance he attributed their preservation from the attacks of
insects. Col. Carr stated that he had practised the same for two
years past, and that it seemed to afford effectual protection from those
insects which attack the roots. — Silk Cul.
Rhubarb, or Pie Plant. — The seed of this plant having ripened,
it may be sown immediately with advantage, on a bed of good earth.
Sow in drills, cover the seeds half of an inch, press the earth smartly
to them, thin the plants, and next spring they may be planted out, at
a yard apart, and the stalks may be used the first season. — Cultivator,
i
THE
AND
GARDENER'S MAGAZINE.
MAY 1, 1836.
Art. I. — Rearing SUk-Worms. Communicated by Hon. H.
A. S. Dearborn.
As the culture of silk, excites universal attention, throughout the
United States, every kind of information, in relation to that subject,
cannot fail of being highly interesting to those, who have already
commenced, or contemplate entering into that important branch of
husbandry ; and having recently read a most able and instructive
report, made to the Society for the Encouragement of National In-
dustry, in France, on a novel mode of rearing silk-worms, in apart-
ments artificially warmed and ventilated, I have translated it for
publication. The intelligence it contains, may, possibly, be employed
to great advantage, in the New England and Middle States, where
the climate is much more rigorous, than in the northern departments
of France, for the benefit of which the experiments were suggested,
and prosecuted ; and with so much success, that it is now considered
practicable, to extend the cultivation of one of the most valuable pro-
ducts of the south, over the whole of that empire.
Although it has been conclusively shown, that the mulberry and
silk-worm can be profitably reared in all parts of this country, still it
is worthy of consideration, whether more satisfactory results cannot
be obtained, by adopting the system which has been practically illus-
trated near Paris, to obviate the deleterious influence of cold, humid-
ity, noxious exhalations, and the sudden changes of weather upon
that delicate insect.
This is, emphatically, an age of invention, enterprise and advance-
ment. Each day becomes distinguished by some triumph of genius,
21
162 REARING SILK-WOKMS.
in science or art. What were once considered as wild and visionary
conceptions, or extravagant and impracticable anticipations, have
been more than realized. Enthusiasm, based on the profound con-
victions of fact and induction, instead of being deterred by the sin-
ister smiles of incredulity, or the discouraging doubts of prejudice,
now boldly announces what it knows can be accomplished, confi-
dently appeals to experiment, for the verification of theory, and com-
mands admiration for success, where public opinion had prognosti-
cated disappointment and ruin.
Suggestions of what may be achieved, are no longer deemed the
evanescent flashes of rapt imagination. The triumphs of erudition,
talent and skill have been so numerous, so astounding, and so
momentous, — have wrought such remarkable changes in the condi-
tion of nations, and given such a mighty impulse to individual
exertion, that no one can look back from bur present elevated posi-
tion, for the brief period of half the age of man, without being
overwhelmed with amazement, at the progress which has been made,
in whatever tends to promote the comfort, independence and happi-
ness of the people, and the grandeur of nations ; and if we look
towards the future, even with that limited power of prescienc-e, which
is founded on experience, who can comprehend the still more won-
derful developements of mind, which this accelerated movement of
the human race, is destined to exhibit ; who will presume to scan the
infinite resources of intellect, or dare to fix the bounds of enlightened
genius, and say, — here shall your proud career be stayed 1
In the vast republic of letters, science and art, how numerous are
the votaries of truth, who are emulous for distinction, either as the
heralds of some important fact, the discoverers of some great principle
in philosophy, or as the originators of some" new combination of the
mechanical powers. No object, — not an incident occurs, — not an
event or fact is promulgated, which does not immediately attract the
eager attention of numerous individuals, in all quarters of the globe,
who have made the particular branch of physics, or morals, to which
each pertains, their peculiar and especial study ; and the results of
their several researches are but so many demonstrated truths, from
which are ultimately deduced, by some master spirit of the age,
those great theories and comprehensive systems, by which human
reason is securely guided, in the future pursuit of knowledge. Logi-
cal precision, and mathematical exactness are the elements and tests
of modern research. The understanding is addressed rather than
REARING SILK-WORMS. 163
the imagination ; proof has been substituted for hypothesis, and
genius now relies on principles, instead of chance, for the attainment
of its objects. Are we not then admonished to read without preju-
dice, to listen with a disposition to be instructed, and to examine with
deep attention, whatever comes within the range of our observation;
and be more cautious to condemn suggested inquiries, than fearful of
being deceived, in the anticipated results, however startling, or ap-
parently improbable their import. There is not an improvement, or
discovery, — not an acquisition in knowledge, which had not its
origin in some unobtrusive and long neglected fact, or some bold
intimation, which seemed to forbid investigation, from its very magni-
tude. To advance, nothing must be disregarded. One momentary
flash sufiiciently illumines the tempest darkened night, to reveal the
land-marks in our course ; so, a single hint, — a word, may indi-
cate the route to some unexplored region of inquiry. How fully
is this illustrated even in the ranks of the vegetable and animal
kingdoms. The moss which clings to the bleak rocks of the Azores,
and an insect of Mexico, now furnish coloring pigments, which rival
the imperial purple of the Tyrians. If man has not yet discovered
the useful purposes to which all the productions of nature may be ren-
dered subservient, — if of the fifty thousand species of insects, and the
thirty thousand of plants, which naturalists have described, he has
found only five or six of the former, and but a very few of the latter
which are of any known value, he has, at least, ascertained sufficient
to give assurance, that nothing has been vainly created, and tliat
thousands of others may ultimately be made tributary to his wants, his
comforts or his luxuries.
The history of the cultivation of silk in the United States, is in-
vested with peculiar interest. Nearly a century had elapsed, after
the first experiment, before it began to attract public attention ; and
had it not been for the industrious and intelligent daughters of Con-
necticut, that precious oriental race, of one of the most numerous,
yet minute, feeble, short-lived, and neglected classes of the animal
realm, would have been extinct in this country. By them, has its
brief and precarious existence been watched and prolonged, with a vig-
ilance and perseverance, as unremitted, and faithful, as that, which an-
nually renewed and perpetuated the holy fire in the temples of Vesta.
Some instinctive sentiment of its future importance, or some niysteri.
ous predestinate influence, appears to have impelled those self-created
guardians of this sacred trust, to cherish and transmit it to an age.
164 REARING SILK-WORMS.
when its intrinsic value, and their faithful and meritorious services,
would be justly appreciated, and honored. When the ever changing
fortunes, and peculiar situation of our country are considered, during
the long period which has intervened, since the planting of the first
mulberry seed, and the birth of the first silk-worm ; when we estimate
the adverse circumstances attendant upon this culture, and fully un-
derstand what patient attention, and determined zeal were required,
in the divided occupation of preserving the insect, as well as its na-
tive plant, — for the latter is as indispensable for the procreation of
its species, as for the construction of that sumptuous tent in which it
expires, and leaves, as a rich inheritance to its patrons, to be con-
verted into the most magnificent vestments of nations; when, in fact,
all the various conditions for the successful management of these
little Asiatic colonies are known, it looks like one of those inexpli-
cable incidents, which seem to sanction a credence in fatality. Yet,
after all, what is this fatality, — this destiny, which superstition
announced, and ignorance has believed, but the necessary result of
causes, sometimes capable of explanation, but often too recondite for
human ingenuity to divine, still not the less certain of existence.
Gravitation, heat, light, magnetism, and electricity, which have,
through all time, been the gaze and admiration of the multitude, and
subjects of the deepest research, and intense study, are but sublime ef-
fects, and philosophy has not yet been able to discover the cause of
either of those great phenomena.
At all events, there has been a very remarkable and most propitious
combination of circumstances, attendant upon this department of
rural industry, which have, at last, brought it into such distinguished
notoriety and general favor, that there is no longer any doubt of its
rapid extension.
Here individual enterprise has achieved, what required the power
and munificence of a Justinian, in the Bizantian empire, of a Henry
IV. and his regal successors in France, and of the governments, mon-
archs, and princes of Venice, Genoa, Naples, and the other states of
Italy. Without national patronage or encouragement, the cultivation
of silk has reached a point, which gives assurance, that it will become
as important to our agricultural, mechanical and commercial industry,
as it has been to those of China, Hindostan, Persia and Southern
Europe. If we had no statesmen like De Serres, or Colbert, or afflu-
ent nobles, like those who surrounded the thrones of the Eastern
Continent, still the desired object has been as completely attained, by
REARING SILK-WORMS. 165
the spontaneous and zealous efforts of a few private citizens in this
republic. Du Ponceau, Pascalis, Cobb, Fessenden, Kenrick, Gay
and Whitmarsh, with other intelligent and practical compatriots, have,
by their extensive correspondence, numerous publications, experi-
ments, discoveries, improvements and practical operations, given an
impulse which is felt throughout the land ; and multitudes of our
most enlightened and energetic farmers and capitalists, are making
demonstrations, which indicate the speedy realization of their most
sanguine anticipations.
The first piece of silk made from the raw material, raised, reeled,
thrown, dyed, and wove in this country, was a national flag. It was
manufactured in an establishment erected by the venerable and illus-
trious Du Ponceau, and presented by him to Congress in 1831. It
was immediately suspended in the Representatives' Chamber, over the
portrait of Lafayette, as an appropriate emblem of national gratitude
and respect, for that great and honored man, and as indicative of the
favorable disposition of the government to naturalize one of the most
valuable products of his native country ; while it is a splendid memo-
rial of the distinguished services of him, who so richly merits the
thanks and benedictions of every American, for his liberal and suc-
cessful labors, to enable them justly to appreciate, and avail of the
advantages, to be derived from the culture of the material of which it
is formed.
The name of Du Ponceau, will not only live in the memory of his
fellow citizens, as a gallant soldier of the revolution, a learned and
eminent jurist, " a ripe scholar," and one of the first scientific and
literary men of the age, but as the generous promoter of national
industry, — as a benefactor of the Republic.
Report made to the Society for thk Encouragement of
National Industry,
By Mr Soulange Bolin,
in the namk of the committee of agriculture,
On an experiment in breeding silk-worins , made, in 1835, hy Mr
Camille Beauvais, on his estate of Bergeries de Sennrt, near
Montgeron, in the department of the Seine-et-Marne.
Gentlemen, — You have referred to your Committee of Agricul-
ture, the examination of a letter, which was addressed to you, on the
20th of June last, by Mr Camille Beauvais. It calls your attention to
166 REARING SILK-WORMS.
one of the most important subjects, of agricultural and industrious
economy, which interests the age in which we live.
Indeed, gentlemen, among the thousand various branches of indus-
try, encouraged and rendered fruitful by your institution, a certain
number of which gradually attain perfection in each year, and which
you are anxious to verify, reward and render profitable to all, there
cannot but be perceived the favorable indications, and anticipated
results of that great phenomenon, which characterizes modern
society, — Progression. Everything advances and is elevated, under
the same secret impulse, — ^ individual benefit, towards the same ap-
parent end, — the public good; and in this universal movement,
which is governed by an exalted philanthropy, each receives quietly,
in his turn, the reward of his eiforts, under the common banner of
circumspect emulation, which neither contains, or occasions the least
germ of dissention, or active opposition.
But it is different, when one of those bold, exclusive, and innovat-
ing ideas, which are occasionally advanced, by ardent minds, and
whose natural enthusiasm is sustained by profound conviction, which
astonishes the multitude, and tends to displace some ancient order of
things. These commanding ideas, necessarily, disconcert inveterate
habits, as to the correctness of old opinions, and excite against them
precedents, which are enveloped in the legitimacy of time. A con-
flict of opinions is then produced, during which the human judgment
long combats natural facts, and truth, on whichsoever side she may
preponderate, will, sometimes, be very dilatory in her triumphs.
It is, gentlemen, a spectacle of this kind which is now oflTered for
your consideration, by an able agriculturist, who has established him-
self within a few years, near Paris, on an indifferent, refractory and arid
soil. It has been said, that this man only wished to put his foot upon
our land; that to advance, he calculated but little on the profits of
the plough, and that he only sought a spot, where he could realize the
treasure, which, as yet, existed, but in his head.
This treasure, which Mr Camille Beauvais, now offers to your in-
spection, was not, in fact, gentlemen, but an abstraction, which he
could thus have stated :
" To lay the foundation of his own fortune and increase that of the
nation, by an improvement, which will certainly promote the cultiva-
tion of silk, in the centre and in the north of France."
After many experiments, he believes, that he has, at last, caused a
new fountain of private and public wealth to arise, out of his own
REARING SILK-WORMS. 167
arid land, and far from desiring to engross it, for his exclusive ben-
efit, he invites us to draw from this fountain, which will be inexhaus-
tible, if his zeal for the public good, has not greatly deceived him.
Mr Camille Beauvais belongs to the South : he had only to estab-
lish his magnanery* in the South, and to manage it, in conformity to
the system with which he was already familiar ; he knew the efforts
which had been vainly attempted in preceding ages to breed silk-
worms in the North. Everything attracted him on one side, while
all was repulsive on the other ; but he said to himself:
"Every branch of industry is advancing; why does that of silk
always remain, very near what it was, when it passed from Italy into
France? The sciences, as physics and chemistry, — the recent dis-
coveries in which have been so remarkable, and whose aid can be
invoked, were then scarcely known to the husbandman ; why then
should this branch of industry remain irrevocably confined to its
ancient cradle? Should the losses, which have sometimes been so
discouraging, be attributed, rather to the constitution of the precious
insect, by which this culture is maintained, than to the insalubrity of
the situation, and the variations of the atmosphere, which have such a
powerful influence upon a life, at the same so full and so brief? They
cannot be imputed to the north, where the silk-worm is not now
bred, when they so cruelly afflict the delightful climate of the south,
which is reputed to be exclusively propitious to them. Wherever the
mulberry tree grows and prospers, the worm which feeds upon its
leaf, ought to be able also to grow and prosper. Do not perpetually
neglect the accidental conditions of beings ! Why cannot I create,
under the shelter, where this worm accomplishes its destiny, an iso-
lated climate, free from all local influence ? I can, in fact, more
easily protect them from the less sudden changes of the intemperate
climate, of the north, than they can be screened from the capricious
temperature of the south. What 'do I say? There is no longer
either north or south ; for I perceive that it is possible to command
and combine, in their confined asylum, fire and water, — those two
great promoters of all organizations, and to imitate, for them those
winds, which maintain without, the salubrity of the air, and scatter
to a distance deleterious effluvias."
I have put these words in the mouth of Mr Camille Beauvais, gen-
tlemen, not to extol or over estimate his theory, but because they ex-
* The name given to the apartment in v/hich Bilk-worms are bred.
168 REARING SILK-WORMS.
press the bold and profound thoughts, which must have presided at his
establishment, and contain the principles upon which all his labors
were prosecuted. It was at his own expense, and his own risk, that
under the influence of his own convictions, he, for seven years, put
these principles in practice, with continually increasing results, with-
out being discouraged by a few mistakes, which he nobly confessed,
without being intimidated by the inquietude of his friends, or the
doubts which he saw arise, like clouds, ready to obscure the brilliancy
of his first successful experiment, and to blast, perhaps forever, his
fondest hopes.
It would be superfluous to enter, here, into the general details of
cultivation, which every friend of agriculture, is invited to examine,
at the establishment of Bergeries. They have been described else-
where ; and that is not now the subject of inquiry ; it is sufficient to
say, that it is upon 67,000 mulberry trees, of the best species, and of
the most luxuriant growth, among which are to be seen a great num-
ber of the Morus multicaulis, that Mr Camille Beauvais princi-
pally founds his hope, of a second annual brood of silk-worms, which
he proposes to undertake. These trees, including nurseries and estab-
lished plantations, contain sixteen hectares and a half of land.
The establishment, in its present condition, is capable of rearing
annually the number of silk-worms which are produced from one hun-
dred and fifty ounces of eggs. During the five last years the mean
product of an ounce of eggs in the establishments of the south, has not
exceeded from fifty to fiftyfive pounds of cocoons, that is to say, only
about 10,000 silk-worms out of the 42,000 eggs, which an ounce con-
tains, reached that last period, which unites a simple worm to the en-
joyments of a refined civilization. On the contrary, Mr Camille Beau-
vais' first brood, gave him sixtyseven pounds of cocoons, for each
ounce of eggs. He has 'been constantly progressing, during the
years 1830, 1831, 1832 and 1833; in 1834, he obtained 104 pounds
of cocoons. All these facts are generally known. His last brood
gave him 137 pounds; this brood was from eight ounces of eggs, and
the worms were kept in a temperature equal to from 18 to 20 degrees
of heat according to Reaumur's thermometer, — [equal to 72 and 77 of
Fahrenheit.] They continued their labors for thirtyseven days, and
consumed 16,830 pounds of leaves, the product of trees, half of
which were grafted and the other half seedlings. They yielded
1,101 pounds of cocoons, of the most beautiful quality, large, firm
and of an admirable whiteness. It does not appear, that such a re-
REARING SILK-WORMS. 160
suit has been obtained anywhere else, in any large establishment :
nevertheless, Mr Camille Beauvais, is the first to inform you, that one
of his pupils, Mr Henry Bourdon, who had recently left the Poly tech-
nical School, and is a proprietor at Ris, terminated an experiment, in
which the proportional product, amounted to one hundred and seventy
pounds of cocoons, to an ounce of eggs.
We have seen that an ounce of eggs produces 42,000 worms ;
Mr Camille Beauvais employed eight ounces of eggs ; he should,
therefore, have had 336,000 silk-worms. He actually realized 1,102
pounds of cocoons; it requires, at Bergeries but 360 cocoons to
make a pound ; he has then obtained only about 286,520 silk-worms.
He lost 4,000, when they began to rise, to form their cocoons, by the
bad arrangement of the heaths, or twigs, and an imperfect ventilation.
He has then lost in the first ages, including the eggs which did not
hatch, 45,480.
It results from an analysis, whicii Mr D'Arcet has been so kind as
to communicate to me, that the air of the magnanery of Bergeries,
during the fourth age was slightly alkaline. The water, which was
there condensed, by means of a globe filled with ice, and which was
found to be as limpid as distilled water, was slightly alkaline. The
nitrate of silver did not form a precipitate at the moment of admix-
ture, but it immediately after assumed a faint brownish red color.
At this period of the brood the ventilation was well regulated. The
air was so little altered, that it was difficult to discover carbonic acid
upon the tub of water, and ediometrical experiments made with this
air, either by phosphorus or deutoxide of azote, indicated as much
azote and oxygen as the atmosphere ; it contained very feeble traces
of ammonia, combined with carbonic acid.
At the period the worms began to ascend, the ventilation, as has
been stated, was interrupted and in part suppressed, by the heath;
the air of the magnanery ceased to be pure. Mr Henry Bourdon,
who made the analysis of the air, found it to be composed of
Azote and carbonic acid 82,57 parts
Oxygen 17,43
100,00
It is known that atmospheric air contains 79 parts of azote and 21
of oxygen. It is apparent, then, that the air had become very much
vitiated. At this period the water in the magnanery, and which was
condensed, by the means of ice, was limpid ; it had neither odor, nor
22
170 REARING SILK-WORMS.
savor, was akaline, and not rendered lurbid by the addition of nitrate
of silver ; but almost immediately assumed a faint brownish red
color, and that there was suddenly formed, an abundant brownish red
precipitate, which did not appear to have been perfectly defined.
An opinion can be formed of the eiFect produced on silk-worms,
which are constantly confined in the magnanery, which is not pro-
perly ventilated, by the following experiment, which Mr D'Arcet
made upon some which were reaching their last state, and which
were bred in a pure air ; he confined twelve large silk-worms taken
in their fourth state, in a quart bottle, in which had been placed some
mulberry leaves ; at the end of twentyfour hours, the air contained
in the bottle had diminished in volume, was alkaline and contained.
Azote 79,11 parts
Carbonic acid 17,50
Oxygen 3,39
100,00
The air therefore, in the bottle was almost completely vitiated, one
of the worms was dead ; the others were shortened and shriveled,
and of a dirty greenish yellow color, and scarcely moved ; three died
soon after being placed on fresh leaves ; the eight others ate but little,
three only made a small quantity of silk before they died, two changed
into the chrysalis state, without spinning, and three died without
spinning or changing.
I have before stated, that Mr Camille Beauvais should have had
336,000 silk-worms, from his eight ounces of eggs. He then realized
from one hundred eggs only 85,27 cocoons, and lost 14,73 worms and
eggs, which did not hatch. By adding to the 286,520 worms which
spun, the 4000 which died, at the time of ascension, we have 290,520
which completed their growth. These worms consumed 16,830
pounds of leaves. Fresh leaves contain, of
Dried vegetable matter 32 parts
Water 68
100
Each silk-worm, then, had eaten, in the whole course of its life 29
grammes of fresh leaves, or 6,28, g. of dry vegetable matter.*
* Mr D'Arcet has ascertained, that there are 5,58 parts of azote in 100 parts of
the dry vegetable matter of the leaves. A silk-worm, then, does not find in all
the leaves it eats during its whole life but 0,518, g. of azote. Silk contains 11,33
parts of azote in 100.
REARING SILK-WORMS, 171
I have, gentlemen, pronounced the word Pupils. Mr Camille
Beauvais defines himself to be a man of conviction and progression ;
but that conviction, that progression and his ardent and disinterested
zeal loyally seeks to establish an empire, an extension, in which their
influences shall indefinitely increase. To attain that object, he has
gratuitously opened a school of theory and practice, whither resort
the young proprietors from all parts of France. This year they hur-
ried,— that is the word, to his establishment, to the number of fif-
teen. Among them are to be found, with Mr Henry Bourdon, the
pupils of Roville, the Marquis Amelot^ a large proprietor in Gatinais,
the son of Baron Mallet, who has an extensive sugar refinery at
Choisy-le-Roi, Mr Bella, son of the director of the model-farm of
Grignon ; Mr Baynard, late prefect of the 'Haute-Alpes, and of
Maine-et-Loire, who is now establishing mulberry plantations near to
Bergeries. After having employed a part of their time, in attending
to the breeding of the silk-worms in all its minutest details, and as-
sisting with their own hands, in the cultivation and management
of mulberry trees, under the direction of a nursery man of the south,
who is attached to the establishment, their worthy master assembles
them, for two hours, in each day, for the purpose of instructive con-
versation, when they recapitulate, or compare all the observations of
the day, or discuss all the advantages, which, from their elevated point
of view and their social condition, they are enabled to perceive, their
country will derive, from the interesting subject of their studies and
experiments. What truly logical ideas, what lights, without shadows,
what germs of amelioration, rendered fruitful by this powerful recon-
ciliation of observations and facts, have already been produced, by
those young and studious citizens, — the legitimate hope of Agricul-
ture and the State ! To present to you, gentlemen, in a single word,
their deep conviction of the advantages they have gained, from their
connexion with Mr Camille Beauvais, and the sentiments, which
his generous attentions had excited in their hearts, I should inform
you, that before their departure, they unanimously voted to present
him a gold medal, as a brilliant testimony of gratitude, the most sen-
sibly felt and the most worthily merited. This medal has been struck
at Monnaie, but the resolution is yet unknown to Mr Camille Beau-
vais. A great number of persons have already made application to
him, to be received at his establishment the approaching season.
One of these pupils, Mr Peycams, nephew of Mr Caussade, Col. of
Artillery and proprietor of an estate in Guadaloupe, has paid particular
172 REARING SILK-WORMS.
attention to the management of the filature. He is going to that
Island, at the request of the principal planters, to instruct the black
females, in the reeling of silk, from the cocoons; for this purpose, he
will take with him the complete apparatus for a filature. But Mr
Camille Beauvais, acknowledges, and has published in terms which at
the same time delineate his character, his gratitude and his love for
truth, that for the pleasing results which he has obtained this year,
and which were chiefly produced by his own intelligence, the lofty
reach of his genius and his determined perseverance, he is incontest-
ably indebted to the apparatus for ventilation, which Mr D'Arcet has
already made known to you, which was applied to Mr Grimaudet's
very complete magnanery, and the plan and description of which, the
Society for the Encouragement of National Industry has published in
its Bulletin, under the name of Salubrious Magnanery , which Mr
D'Arcet had given to it. After various experiments, Mr Camille
Beauvais says, this simple and cheap apparatus has finally proved,
what he had conceived might possibly be attained, and what he had
for a long time sought ; an equal temperature and a pure air constantly
renewed : conditions, which joined to careful attention and cleanliness,
approximate as nearly as possible, the artificial breeding of silk-
worms, in those limited apartments, where it is necessary to confine
them in Europe, to the most favorable condition in which they have
been placed by nature*
The first application of Mr D'Arcet's system of ventilation, at the
establishment of Bergeries, has, at once, imperfect as must yet be,
an operation, which, for want of time, could only be considered as an
experiment, had a success, which cannot fail to interest every en-
lightened mind. God forbid, that what remains for me to say, should
diminish the merit of the applicator, and his right to your respect !
On the contrary, Mr D'Arcet, has, himself declared that it was Mr
Camille Beauvais, who communicating to him an opinion, which that
learned man had formed, in traveling through the south of France,
on the culture of silk-worms, and had requested him to consider the
subject, and make a plan of a magnanery. French agriculture, will
please then, I hope, to unite in the same sentiment of esteem, the
learned and the practical man. I say French agriculture, for it should
not be doubted, if the interesting experiment which has been sub-
* There is in China, a wild species, whicli feed in the open air, on the mulberry
trees of the country, and which have not yet been domesticated.
REARING SILK-WORMS. 173
mitted to your consideration, should have such an important influence,
on the production of silk in the central and northern parts of France,
how much more efficacious still, will it be in ameliorating the culture
of the south ! Will not the most cautious men — those ancient agri-
culturists, who have so great a right to intrench themselves behind
that prudence, which we respect in them, and which is the treasure
of their life, wish at least, that such experiments be repeated and
extended? But the subject is so important, and the inquiry so grave,
that I request, gentlemen, your permission, to enter into some details,
previous to presenting a short summary of the essential conditions,
for the proper management of silk-worms, and the means, which are
now employed, to render the air of the magnanery salubrious.
If the organization of the silk-worm is carefully examined, and it
is found that they respire only by their stigmata,* and if the gas they
expire, especially during the period of their last change, is analysed,
no one can fail of being convinced, of the importance of a gentle
and continuous circulation of air, in an apartment where millions of
these little insects are assembled and extended on frames which emit
deleterious exhalations.
On attentively observing the continual exertions which are made
by these small animals, both by dilation and contraction, and which
are repeated without cessation, especially, at the moment of moulting,
it will be seen, that all their functions are in operation, with greater
or less activity, according to the heat, to which they are subjected,
and it will be readily perceived to what danger they are exposed,
from sudden changes of weather.
Great humidity in the magnanery is of itself fatal to silk-worms,
while it produces a fermentation in the vegetable and other matter
which collects on the frames where they are fed, and thus vitiates
the air they breathe ; therefore cultivators dread, especially in the
fifth state, the cold and damp winds of the south. Besides the exte-
rior humidity, a great quantity is developed in the magnanery, from
the leaves and from the worms themselves.
The dryness of the air, besides being essentially injurious, to silk-
worms, as to all other animals, even when in the greatest possible
purity, withers, and crisps the leaves ; and the worms instinctly per-
ceiving that they require a certain quantity of water in their food,
* The silk-worm, and the larva of other insects, instead of breathing through
the mouth, like other animals, breathe through the spiracles or stigmata, which
are holes in the rings on each side.
174 REARING SILK-WORMS.
reject the leaves as soon as they wither; there is consequently the suf-
fering of the worms, as well as the loss of leaves.
All intelligent cultivators know, from their own experience, how
important it is, to fulfil all the conditions of a continual renewal of
the air, a uniform temperature, and an invariable humidity ; but from
a want of the means for doing this properly, they are compelled to
guard against the injuries which may arise, as well as they can, and
to this end, they are in the habit of burning in the apartment aromatic
plants, boiling vinegar, with cloves in it, sprinkling the worms with
chloride of lime, &c. &c. But the inefficiency and even danger of
these expedients is readily perceived.
Dandolo, the distinguished cultivator of Piedmont, delayed not in
ascertaining that these means were detrimental to the silk-worms, and
immediately and completely reformed, the art of managing his es-
tablishment. To purify a magnanery, he made holes in the floor,
ceiling and lateral walls, for the admission of fresh air and the
escape of these fumigations, which he had ascertained were danger-
ous; and in the magnanery, constructed on his plan and called
Dandolories, the proprietor obtained from 100 toliO pounds,* of
cocoons, instead of from 50 to 60 for each ounce of eggs ; but his
imitators, unfortunately are but few, in consequence of the want of
encouragement in Piedmont. Here is the subject presented for con-
sideration, in France, where encouragements are not wanting.
Nevertheless the system of Dandolo is yet defective ; he established
his fireplaces or furnaces in the magnanery, and the immediate ac-
tion of the heat which is developed, and the exhalations which arise
from the combustibles, cannot but be injurious to the silk-worms.
Besides, his means are often ineffectual, especially in lowery and
stormy weather, when the air does not freely circulate, and when it
is necessary to have recourse to fumigations of chloride of lime, the
application of which, it is far from being practicable, at all times, to
make, with the desirable exactness.
It is necessary, then, to employ more powerful and infallible means,
for illustrating the principles of sanitory purification developed by
Dandolo : it is thus that science assumes its control over the subject,
and completely annihilates the action of exterior influences, removes
the source of heat beyond the magnanery, and is enabled to realize,
simultaneously, the four conditions, so essential to success in the
management of silk-worms.
* The pound of 16 ounces.
REARING SILK-WORMS. 175
In the system of D'Arcet, the magnanery is in the second story, and
the furnace or colorifery, is in a small apartment in the lower story,
which is called the air chamber. The air issues from this chamber into
pipes, which extend the whole length of the floor of the magnanery,
and from which it issues through circular holes of various sizes. In
the ceiling, are made a number of conduits and openings, perfectly
symmetrical with those below, and it is by these superior openings that
the air escapes through a funnel into the chimney of the furnace,
which receives the pipe of the colorifery, after having been intro-
duced into the magnanery, by which a continual warmth is kept up.
It is only necessary, then, that a proper temperature and humidity
should be maintained in the apartment ; and this result is easily ob-
tained, for, by the aid of a furnace, ice, moist cloths, and desicating
substances, there can be produced heat, cold, humidity and dryness.
In the month of April, 1833, Mr D'Arcet sent to Mr Camille Beau-
vais, his plans of a " Salubrious Magnanery," and as the period of
breeding the silk-worms was near, the application of the system, and
a knowledge of the result, would be postponed for a year, if it was
suffered to pass, Mr Camille Beauvais was impatient to test this sci-
entific theory by an experiment, the success of which was guaranteed
by his experience in the management of silk-worms. In a month he
constructed a new magnanery, which was so judiciously arranged, as
to insure to him all the advantages, which could be derived from the
proposed improvements. He corrected, as soon as possible, such im-
perfections as necessarily arose from the novelty of the system applied
to the rearing of silk-worms, and the precipitate manner, in which
the work was executed.
Mr Camille Beauvois, immediately found, in the interesting and
successful result which he obtained, the prize of his assiduity, and
his devotion ;* and has the gratification of having demonstrated, more
clearly, than had before been done, that a new era may be com-
menced in the culture of silk, — thanks to Mr D'Arcet's system of
salubrity, for the application of which, it only requires a careful and
attentive workman to execute the instructions which he has given, in
a perfect manner. (^)
* The current price of raw silk, was at that time, twcntyfive francs per half
killogram, and Mr Camille Beauvais sold his for fi.^ty. It was produced by that
beautiful race called Sina, which Lewis XVI. obtained from Canton in 1784, and
was hy degrees changed, in consequence of the negligence and avarice of the
first cultivators of this species of silk-worm ; but Mr Poidebard has been enabled,
by lon[i- and assiduous efforts, to regenerate it in a remarkable manner, and Mr
Camille Beauvais has endeavored to restore it in all its primitive beauty.
176 REARING SILK-WORMS.
Still, gentlemen, if the important fact which has been established,
near the capital of the empire, seems to countenance those bright
hopes, which numerous enlightened men have entertained, it is proper
to declare, — it is proper to repeat, in the sincerity of truth, which
repulses all equivocal triumphs, that whatever confidence this remark-
able experiment merits, and has already obtained, it only appears, as
yet, but as an isolated and very recent result, and is at present de-
prived of that influence, which can only be obtained by its reproduc-
tion, by different persons, under other circumstances and in other
places, and it should also receive the sanction of time. The author
of this experiment, merits encouragement, without doubt ; the atten-
tion of those who are interested in it, ought, at the same time, to be
roused, and possibly restrained ; new trials appear desirable, to the
true friends of our prosperity, — that is to say, gentlemen, to you all ;
it is important that those trials be continued, for that which attracted
your attention, has also attracted the attention of the able cultivators
of the South — strangers to all prepossessions, superior to all preju-
dices, they await new trials with an eagerness, the more legitimate,
because they well know, that the experiments which are now making
in the North, cannot but be advantageous to the South, which is
ready to receive with gratitude new methods of culture which appear
to them sufficiently well tested ; they know that the industry on which
large fortunes are founded in the South, will be able without injuring
them, to create like fortunes in the North, and gradually relieve the
common country from the tribute of fortyfive millions of francs, which
it annually pays to foreigners for raw silk ; and which the agricultur-
ists of the North, hereafter the emulators and not the rivals of those
of the South, will be able, in a quarter of a century, to divide with
them, as brothers, the ever increasing fruits of their own industry.
From these various considerations, gentlemen, your Committee on
Agriculture, has charged me with the honor to propose to you, that
this report be inserted in the Bulletin, and referred to the Commis-
sioners on Medals.
Approved, at a meeting held on the SOth of September, 1S35.
SOULANGE BODIN, Reporter.
(1) It is liiglily probable, thai the apparatus for heating green houses wilh hot
water, or tlie cockle or furnace for warming private houses and public buildings,
may be advantageously substituted for Mr D'Arcet's method. If the theory of
Mr Beativais should be deemed worthy of adoption in this country, the ingenuity
of our enterprising citizens will, beyond a doubt, discover some simple, cheap,
and better mode. — Translator,
177
Art. II. — Influence of Temperature on Plants, ^c. Commu-
nicated by J. E. T.
Sir — According to accounts from all parts of the country, con-
current testimony has pronounced the winter now past, as the severest,
in point of intensity of cold, and unintermitted duration, of any
within the memory of man, and the usual thermometrical observa-
tions coincide with this fact. It becomes, therefore, a kind of inter-
esting duty, for the lovers of horticulture and agriculture, to note
down with as much precision as they are able, for the benefit of those
who have to pass through seasons yet to come, any variation or new
appearance in vegetation, which may, on fair rules of reasoning, be
attributed to this unusual severity of temperature.
Trees and plants, both of the useful and ornamental species, are
endowed with capacities enabling them to resist various degrees of
cold, and any observation throwing light on this, at present, obscure
portion of vegetable physiology, cannot fail of being gratifying to the
lover of natural history. It is not improbable that the same may be
the case with the insect tribe in its various stages of torpid existence,
from the egg to the subterranean grub and chrysalis, — but this may
be left to the entomologist, although certainly not without its interest
to the cultivator. I therefore throw out the hint to your numerous
.readers and correspondents, to commit to the press,, through the vari-
ous agricultural and horticultural publications in the Union, all facts
and observations in any way bearing on this subject ; these may here-
after be collated and collected into a point, by able and experienced
hands, and perhaps produce the result of some clear and obvious law
of nature, the promulgation of which, may be eminently useful.
The geographical distribution of plants, is, at this moment, attract-
ing much attention amongst botanists, and as the different zones into
which it is divided, depends somewhat on the capacities of the various
plants to exist and flourish in peculiar temperatures, much light might
be expected on the subject, by correct observations during periods
of its extremes. As a guide to some of these facts, I would offer the
following points for remark, of course feeling persuaded that any one
taking an interest in the subject, will soon find out for himself the
appearances bearing upon it in the most direct manner.
It is well known that nature has provided protection in the shape
of scales, and a gummy secretion, for the buds of many trees ; among
23
178 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON PLANTS, ETC,
the most conspicuous are those of the chesnut and varieties, and the but-
ternut. Are these thicker, or the secretion in greater quantity than
usual ; or have the scales been more penetrated and destroyed by the
action of the intense frost ? Short hairs, (pubescence,) are also of
use in protecting plants ; are these more dense than usual ?
In this neighborhood, from the falls of snow vrhich covered the
earth early in the autumn, the frost has penetrated but a little depth
into the ground. Should any peculiar effect be observed it may,
therefore, be attributed chiefly to the low degree of temperature of
the atmosphere alone. It is very possible that many plants whose
upper branches may have been cut off by the intense frost, are yet
alive at the roots, and will make vigorous shoots in the spring and
summer months, if not taken up under the idea that they have been
frost killed ; for many plants, deciduous, that is, torpid during the
winter, when exposed to the open air, are full of life and viridity,
when kept during this season in the green-house. Observations on
the efficacy of the various artificial coverings made use of here, such
as sea-weed, pine boughs, &c., will not be without interest.
From the cause above alluded to, of the frost having penetrated but
a little way into the earth, it is presumed that the class of herbaceous
perennial flowers, will not have suffered much. Woody shrubs, on
the other hand, will have been more exposed, and many which thrive
only in sheltered situations, have been, probably, killed ; such as,
perhaps, the double flowering Althea, (Hibiscus Syriacus) several of
the later imported azaleas, &c.
It is, however, more to the fruit trees, that I would invite atten-
tion. Many of the pears are rather tender, so are several of the cher-
ries and apricots ; I have also known the imported raspberry to suffer
from intense cold, as well as many of the newer varieties of straw-
berries. The action of frost on the wood of plants, is not much un-
derstood — whether it penetrates the bark covering and freezes the
juices in the vessels, which by their expansion on being converted
into ice, rupture and burst these vessels, and thus destroy the plant,
or whether intense cold alters the state of these juices, and render
them unfit for the support of vegetation, and what is the nature of
this change, or, as is most probable, whether both these methods of
action occur — whether frost has any effect on the ligneous fibre of
various plants, and what that effect is. All these are interesting
points for the vegetable physiologist.
It occurs to me, that a set of amusing experiments might be made
FLASHES OP LIGHT FROM FLOWERS. 1!J^
on the temperature of the internal parts of trees, by boring a hole
nearly as deep as the centre of the trunk, and cutting a perpendicular
slice out, so as to insert a delicate thermometer, which may be left
there until the bulb of the ilistrument is grown over by the new made
wood cicatrizing the wound of the auger. If this bulb were protected
against the pressure of the growing wood and the index kept clear by
the use of the knife, the bulb would always be in immediate contact
with the sap vessels, and the temperature of the juices indicated ;
many curious observations would be then made, concerning the win-
ter and summer temperature of the sap, and its different degrees in
different trees. The blood, which circulates in the human body, has,
I believe, always an equal temperature in healthy persons. In vari-
ous animals it differs. This may be the case with the fluid which cir-
culates in different plants. Folding bands of hay around the trunks
of trees, has been long known as an efficient protection against severe
cold. This argues that some direct effect is produced on the bark
by frost. The Boston market has been tolerably well supplied with
winter spinach, notwithstanding the intense cold. This vegetable, I
am informed, is covered with boards and then with sea-weed or other
litter ; the before -mentioned early snow has also been a favorable cir-
cumstance for this plant. Should any observations occur to rae, I
shall take the liberty of sending them to your Register.
Yours, truly.
Art. III. — So?ne Ohserimtions on the Flashes of Light from
Floioers. By Mr J. R. Trimmer, Brentford.
The power of some plants to emit flashes of light, is a subject so
curious as to be deserving of more investigation than has at present
been bestowed upon it. It is thus described in a note in Darwin's
Botanic Garden, vol. 2, page 144 : " Miss E. C. Linnaeus first observed
the Trop(£olum majus, or Garden Nasturtium, emit sparks or flashes
in the morning, before sun-rise, during the months of June or July,
and also during the twilight in the evening, but not after total
darkness came on ; these singular scintilla*ions were shown to her
father and other philosophers, and Mr Wilcke, a celebrated electri-
cian, believed them to be electric. Nor is this more wonderful than
that the electric eel and torpedo should give voluntary shocks of
180 PLASHES OF LIGHT FROM FLOWERS.
electricity ; and in this plant perhaps, as in those animals, it may be
a mode of defence, by which it harasses or destroys the night-flying
insects which infest it, and probably it may emit the same sparks
during the day, which must then be invisible. This curious subject
deserves further investigation. The ceasing to shine of this plant
after twilight, might induce one to conceive that it absorbed and
emitted light like the Bolognian Phosphorus, or calcined oyster shell.
The light of the evening, at the same distance from noon, is much
greater, as I have repeatedly observed, than the light of the morning ;
this is owing, as I suppose, to the phosphorescent quality of almost
all bodies in a greater or less degree, which thus absorb light during
the sunshine, and continue to emit it again for some time afterwards,
though not in such quantity as to produce apparent scintillations."
On the same subject, Darwin has an additional note in the same
volume, page 182. " In Sweden a very curious phenomenon has
been observed on certain flowers, by Mr Haggren, Lecturer on Nat-
ural History. One evening he perceived a faint flash of light repeat-
edly dart from a marigold ; surprised at such an uncommon appearance,
he resolved to examine it with attention, and to be assured that it was
no deception of the eye, he placed a man near him, with orders to
make a signal at the moment when he observed the light. They
both saw it constantly at the same moment. The light was most
brilliant in marigolds of an orange color, but scarcely visible in pale
ones.
" The flash was frequently on the same flower two or three times
in quick succession, but more commonly at intervals of several
minutes ; and when several flowers in the same place emitted their
light together, it could be observed at a considerable distance.
" This phenomenon was remarked in the months of July and
August, at sunset, and for half an hour after, when the atmosphere
was clear ; but after a rainy day, or when the air was loaded with
vapors, nothing of it was seen.
" The following flowers emitted flashes, more or less vivid, in this '
order : — 1. The marigold (Calendula officinalis) ; 2. Garden Nastur-
tium (TropceoZMm mq/ws^ ; 3. Orange hily (Lilium bulbiferum) ; 4.
African Marigold ( Tagatcs patula et erccta). Sometimes it was also
observed on the Sun-flower ( Helianthus annuus) ; but bright yellow,
or flame color, seemed in general necessary for the production of this
light, for it was never seen on the flowers of any other color.
" To discover whether some little insect, or phosphoric worms.
PLASHES OF LIGHT FROM FLOWERS. 181
might not be the cause of it, the flowers were carefully examined,
even with a microscope, without any such being found. From the
rapidity of the flash, and other circumstances, it might be conjectured
that there is something of electricity in this phenomenon. It is well
known, that when the pistil of a flower is impregnated, the pollen
bursts away by its elasticity, with which electricity may be combined.
But Mr Haggren, after having observed the flash from the Orange
lily, the anthers of which are considerable space distant from the
petals, found that the light proceeded from the petals only, whence
he concludes, that this electric light is caused by the pollen, which in
flying off" is scattered upon the petals."
I am not aware of any other author who has added any new fact
to those already mentioned by Darwin.
I have often observed the curious circumstance of the flashing of
flowers, without being at all able to ascertain its cause. Sometimes
I have been almost led to suppose it to be an optical deception, occa-
sioned by an impression made on the eye by the bright color of the
flowers from which the corruscations seemed to proceed. But at times
I have seen the flashes of light so vivid and plain, and extend to so
great a distance, that it is impossible for me longer to entertain that
opinion ; besides, too, I have seen the flashes proceed from pale
colored and even white flowers, which would not make that impression
on the eye. On the whole, I am much inclined to believe it to be
electric, particularly from a circumstance which occured a few years
ago. In walking in my garden in the evening, in which was a con-
siderable quantity of Nasturtium in bloom, not at all thinking of the
flashing of plants, I was struck by the very vivid flashes that pro-
ceeded from them, the scintillations were the most brilliant I had
ever observed, and at the same time the sky was overcast with a
thunder cloud ; directed by this circumstance, I have on several
occasions looked for the flashes, when in the evening there has
appeared electric clouds collecting, and have always found them, at
that time, most to abound, and to be most brilliant. My observations,
in this respect, seems to differ from that of Mr Haggren, who only
witnessed plants to flash on clear nights.
All the plants mentioned by Mr Haggren I have observed to flash,
with the addition of many others. The Nasturtium is that in which
I have most frequently seen the most brilliant flash; the Scarlet
Geranium I have observed as vivid as any flower, but I have seen
them in many lighter colored flowers, though much fainter, and even
182 ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS.
in white flowers, particularly in the white Rose, and a white species
of Oenothera.
I have troubled you with these particulars, in the hope that yourself,
or some of your correspondents, may have some further facts on the
subject to communicate, or that at all events some of your readers
may be led to make observations and experiments in regard to so
interesting, a subject. — Paxton's Magazine of Botany, page 193.
Art. TV. Description of Select Hardy Herbaceous Plants,
suitable for Ornamenting the Parterre, Border or Shruhhery.
Communicated by Mr Joseph Breck.
(Continued from page 144.)
The Natural order Campanulacese contains nearly three hundred
species of plants, mostly natives of temperate regions, and constitute
a class whose chief value is in their beauty, and from these a goodly
number of highly ornamental border herbaceous perennials may be
selected, most of which may be found in the genus Campanula, its
type. We have already noticed the family of Lobelias, which have
been united by some Phytologists in the same natural order with
Campanulacese ; but by the most modern and correct classification
they have been separated. Lobelia, should then be arranged in the
natural order LobeliaeeBe, instead of Campanulacese, as it is placed
in March number, page 84. There is, to be sure, a close affinity be-
tween the two orders, but a distinction sufficient for their separation.
One of the most prominent distinctions is in the form of the corolla,
which is regular in Campanulacese, and irregular in Lobeliaceae, with
numerous other minor differences known to the botanist. The milky
juice of the former is slightly acrid, but the roots and young shoots
of many of the species are occasionally used for food ; while the ex-
cessive acridity of the milky juice of the latter, is in all cases suspi-
cious, and in many species dangerous. " Lobelia longiflora, a native
of some of the West India Islands, is one of the most venomous of
plants, proving fatal to horses who eat it, swelling until they burst.
Taken internally, it acts as a violent cathartic, the effects of which
no remedy can assuage, and which ends in death."
" Campanula. A diminution of campana, a bell ; on account of
the form of the corolla, which resembles a little bell."
ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS. 183
Class Pentandria. Order Monogynia. The genus has monopeta-
lous (of one piece,) superior flowers ; seeds in a capsule : corolla
campanulate, closed at the bottom with staminiferous valves ; stigma
3 — 5 cleft ; capsule inferior opening by lateral pores.
We have one indigenous species, which is very pretty, and worthy
a place in the border ; found abundantly on the banks of Merrimac
river, at and above Lowell. It is very much like C. rotundifolia of
England. Having cultivated them side by side, we can see but a
shade's difference. Mr Eaton calls our species also rotundifolia ;
each species has nearly round, or heart kidney crenate radical leaves,
from which the specific name is given, and linear entire cauline ones,
with drooping, solitary, fine blue flowers ; those of the English species
being rather the largest, with the cauline leaves, d little broader.
The common name with us, is Flax bell flower, or Hair bell. It is in
flower July and August ; 1 foot high.
Campanula medium. Canterbury Bells. This species with its
varieties, may be considered one of our oldest ornamental plants,
having for a longtime been cultivated in our gardens ; it is, neverthe-
less, a showy plant, and will doubtless always be retained, as a prom-
inent ornament of the border. The varieties are rose, blue, and
white, double and single. The double varieties, however, are much
inferior to the single ones, and will be cultivated only for their singu-
larity. Being biennials, it will be necessary to sow the seeds every
year. The young plants must be transplanted to the place in which
they are to flower in August or September, for if deferred until spring
the bloom will be greatly weakened ; the same holds good with all
biennials, and most seedling perennials.
Campanula persicafolia. Peach leaved Campamda. This is one
of the finest species, containing a number of beautiful varieties, with
large showy flowers, more bowl shaped than the last. The varieties
are single and double blue, single and double white, maxima or large
peach leaved, and grandis or large flowering ; all of them are per-
fectly hardy, with handsome foliage, which makes them valuable as
border flowers. Stems angular ; leaves stiff", obsoletely crenate ser-
rate ; radical ones, oblong ovate ; cauline ones, lanceolate linear ;
three feet high, in flower from July to September. The white varie-
ties are not common with us.
Campanula pyramidalis. Pyramidal Bell Flower. This is a
grand ornament when cultivated in perfection, forming a pyramid
from four to six feet high, producing innumerable flowers for two or
184 ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS.
three months if shaded from the sun. It was formerly a great favor-
ite in England, but its popularity has long since passed away to give
place to other more fashionable flowers, which have in their turn also
been succeeded by other rivals more fair. But the old fashioned Hol-
landers are not quite so fickle ; flowers with them seem to be esteemed ,
notwithstanding their antiquity. The pyramidal bell-flower is said
to be in demand there still, as an ornament to halls, staircases and
for being placed before fire-places in the summer seasons. We have
seen some splendid plants the'past season at Belmont Place, under the
care of Mr Haggerston.
" In its cultivated state, it has thick ramose roots, which are milky ;
oblong leaves, and strong stalks, from the sides of which the flowers
are produced for more than half their length. The most common
color is blue, but there is a variety with white flowers. It is a native
of Istria and Savoy, and was cultivated by Gerrard in 1596."
" Propagation and Culture. By seed, cuttings from the stem, or by
dividing the roots; the last method makes the strongest plants in the
shortest time. The season for this operation is after the bloom has
faded in September ; the sections are to be planted in pots, and pro-
tected by a frame during winter. In spring they may be transplanted
into large pots, and in the beginning of summer into still largerones,
in which they are to flower the summer following."
" By Seeds. The plants so raised. Miller says, are always stronger,
and the stalks rise higher, and produce a greater number of flowers.
Good seeds are to be obtained by placing a strong-flowering plant in a
warm situation against a wall or under a glass case. They are to
be sown in pots of light earth soon after being gathered, protected by
a frame during winter^ and will come up in the spring. When the
leaves decay in October, they are to be transplanted to beds of light
sandy earth, without any mixture of dung, which is a great enemy to
this plant. Here they are to remain two years, being protected by
rotten tan; they are then to be removed to their final destination in
September or October, and the year following, being the third year
from sowing, they will flower. The plants, Miller observes, of this
species, as of many others that have been propagated by roots, offsets
or cuttings, do not so readily bear seeds as those which have been
raised from seed.
" The C. Carpartica, grandiflora, and several other showy species,
may be similarly treated." — Loudon.
Seedling plants in our climate will flower the second year gener-
ON THK SELECTION OF PLANTS. 185
ally, some not until the third. A slight protection is necessary dur-
ing winter. Under our fervid sun, there will be no difficulty in
ripening seeds.
Campanula grandiflora is now separated from Campanula and is
united with the small genus WaJdenbergia and is called Wahlenher-
gia grandiflora. For a description of it, see page 116 of the present
volume. Campanula trachelium, Tliroatwort. There are four varie-
■ ties of this species, viz. single and double blue, single and double
white. A native of Britain woods, three to four feet high, with
flowers from July to August. Stem angular ; leaves stalked ; calyx
ciliated ; peduncles trifid.
Campanula rapunculus. Rampion. A native also of the woods
of Britian and cultivated not only for ornament, but also in " France
and Italy, and sometimes in Britain, for the roots, which are boiled
tender and eaten hot with sauce, or cold with vinegar and pepper.
It is sown in the spring on deep light soil in drills, and will be ready
for use by the autumn of the same year. C. persicafolia and rapun-
culoides may also be cultivated for the same purpose." A biennial,
with purple flowers in July and August, three feet high.
Campanula glomerata. Cluster flotoered, " is a handsome rock or
pot plant : it requires a dry lean soil, otherwise, as in most plants, the
flowers lose the intensity of their color in that which is very rich."
Flowers purple, in clustered heads in May and June; two feet high ;
a native of Siberia. Leaves scabrous, oblong lanceolate sessile ;
Campanula urticifolia, speciosa, versicolor, azurea, bononiensis, lacti-
flora, aggregata, with numerous other species are worthy of a place in
every garden, as they are easily cultivated, succeed admirably in our
climate, and will endure the severest of our winters. But a small
portion of this large genus require protection.
Papaver, (poppy), Class Polyandria(many stamens), order Monogy-
nia, is the type of the Nat. Orel. Papaveraceae which contains a few
beautiful perennials, but mostly annuals ; the properties of which are
well known as possessing narcotic qualities. Eschscholtzia califor-
nica, and Argemone grandiflora, have within a hw years past become
popular border annuals, but with the protection of a frame perennials.
The best way to propagate them, is to sow the seeds in August: the
young plants will then stand the winter and flower earlier and much
stronger than when sowed in the spring. They continue flowering
all the season even after the frosts have commenced in autumn. The
double variety of Eschscholtzia is propagated by dividing the roots,
24
186 ON THE SELECTION OF PLANTS.
and requires some care to keep it through the winter without the pro-
tection of a green-house. The single variety, after all, is the pret-
tiest; a large patch of it with its hundreds of brilliant yellow and
orange flowers, opening to the sun from day to day for months, sur-
rounded by their delicate glaucous foliage, is an interesting sight.
E. crocea is a beautiful new variety not much disseminated, with saf-
fron colored flowers.
The genus was named in honor of Dr Eschscholtzia, a botanist.
It was introduced into England from California in 1826.
" Argemone. From argema, the name by which the cataract of
the eye was known, and which was thought to be cured by the plant."
The seeds of A. mexicana are said to be much stronger narcotic than
opium. The genus has a three leaved calyx, six petals, and a cap-
sule half valved.
Argemone grandiflora is the most showy of the genus, a native of
Mexico, and the first introduced into this country : its large flow-
ers with delicate white petals and numerous yellow stamens, make a
splendid appearance, and we think nmch superior to
Argemone ochroleuca with pale yellow flowers : the leaves, capsules,
and the whole plant are armed with formidable spines, and having
once had the hands or any part of the body come in contact with
them, the plant will be forever after viewed with feelings far from
those of pleasure.
Argemone barclayana is equal to it, in its powers of annoyance;,
but its more showy, brilliant yellow flowers, make amends, in some
measure for its repulsive appearance.
" Papaver. Said by De Theis, to have been so called from the Celtic
papa, which signifies pap, or the soft food given to children, in which
the seeds were formerly boiled to make the infants sleep." Capsule
one celled, opening by pores under the persistent stigma : Calyx two
leaved : petals four. A showy well known genus, with large brilliant,
but perishable flowers. It is a pity this family of flower are so un-
popular, for they are truly beautiful, and were it not for their bad
character, and the propensity they have to make themselves too com-
mon, would undoubtedly, be thought much of. Papaver Rhceas, con-
tains numberless varieties with double, semi-double, and single flowers
of every shade of red, lilac, purple, white edged, variegated and
mottled. P. somniferum, the true opium poppy, in its double varie-
ties, is equally variable as the last, sporting into almost every hue,
except yellow and blue. The variety picotcc of recent introduction
ON tllE SKr.ECTlON OF PLANTS. 1 S7
is Uie most elegant. Some of tlie flowers are white or rose, delicately
spotted on the margin of the- petals with red ; the number of the
petals is surprising, and we are led to wonder at the transformation,
which cultivation has made in a flower with only four petals, into one
■in which they are almost innumerable.
Papaver orientalis. Oriental poppy. This is a most magnificent
perennial, and worth all the rest of the poppy tribe. Its large,
gorgeous, orange scarlet flowers, display themselves in the month of
June. The bottom of the petals are black; the stigma is surrounded
by a multitude of rich purple stamens, the anthers of which shed a
profusion of pollen, which powders over the stigma and the internal
part of the flower, giving it a very rich appearance.
The flower stems are rough, three feet high, each one bearing a
single solitary flower, five or six inches in diameter ; a clump with
twenty or thirty of these flowers, makes one of the most conspicuous
and showy ornaments of the garden. Leaves are scabrous (rough)
pinnate serrate. Propagated by dividing the roots, which should be
done as soon as the foliage has died down in August, as it commences
growing again in September and throws up leaves which remain dur-
ing winter, it being one of the most hardy plants. If deferred until
spring, if it flowers at all, it will be weak. It may also be propagated
from seed, but does not commonly flower until the third year. A
native of Levant.
Papaver bracteatum. Bracted poppy, is another superb perennial
very much like the last, a native of Liberia. The flowers are a
deeper red, and the only essential difference is in the leafy bractes,
by which the flowers are subtended. Propagated in the same way ;
with us, it has not flowered so freely. Neither the flowers of the
Argemone, Eschscholtzia, or any of the tribe are suitable for bouquets,
not only on account of their transitory nature, but also on account of
their propensity to invite to the arms of Morpheus, " the sleepy god-
dess," to whom the poppy is said to be dedicated. " Papaver cambri-
cum, is admired for its yellow petals." It is now called Meconopsis
cambrica ; not common with us. There are also a number of other
species and Varieties of perennial poppy, as P. nudicaule, with two or
three varieties with yellow, and one with scarlet flowers, from Siberia,
one foot, to one and a half high. P. pyrenaicum, from the Pyrenees,
with yellow flowers and a variety with red, one foot high. P. alpinum
from Austria has white flowers three quarters of a foot high.
Glaucium. So called on account of the leaves and the whole
l^S ON THE SELECTION OP PI,ANTS.
plant being covered with a glaucous bloom. The flowers of all the
species are fugacious, but are daily produced in long succession.
Calyx two leaved ; petals four ; pod two-celled, linear, 2 — 3 valved ;
seeds several, dotted,
Glaucium fulvuni. Horned poppy. It has an unlucky common
name, otherwise it would perhaps, be more generally introduced into
the garden than it appears to be, as it deserves a place m every col-
lection, not so much for its flowers, which are very pretty, but partic-
ularly for its beautiful " sea green dew-bespangled leaves," which
are universally admired, and peculiar to the genus. The flowers are
yellow or orange, and continue through the season. It is a biennial,
a native of the South of Europe. Stem smooth; cauline leaves
roundish sinuated ; pods rough ; flowers sub-sessile.
" 'J'he whole plant abounds in a yellow juice, is fcetid, and of a
poisonous quality, and said to occasion madness."
G. luteum with yellow, and G. phosniceum with red flowers, are
annuals.
Sanguinaria Canadensis. Blood Root. Puccoon. Indian paint.
A native of our own woods, deserving a place in the garden, where it
flourishes with increased beauty, and constitutes one of its prettiest
vernal ornaments; displaying its glossy, eight petalled white flowers
early in April. By cultivation^ undoubtedly, its numerous, oblong
yellow stamens, may be converted into as many petals. With this in
view the seeds must be sown : a kw generations of plants may
give us monstrosities, equal to those exhibited in the rose, poppy, or
any other double flower. Calyx two leaved ; petals eight ; pods ovate,
two celled ; the only species, if >S'. grandijiora is only a variety, which
it probably is.
The generic name is " from sanguis, blood. All parts of the plant
on being wounded discharge a blood colored fluid. This is a singular
and delicate looking plant. It has a tuberous fleshy root with red
fibres and a reddish juice ; from each bud of the root there springs
only a single fig-like glaucous leaf, with a flowered scape; the flower
has no smell, and is very fugacious." It is said the Indians stain
themselves with its red juice. " The root is a violent emetic." Easily
propagated by dividing the roots in the fall or summer.
The curious genus Saracenia belongs also to the Nat. Ord.
Papaveracese, and has been described in Vol. I. page 64. In that
account there is an error of the press, were instead of Panama, it
should read Canada. A plant suitable only for moist, or wet ground.
on THE SELECTION OF PLANTS. 189
S. flava, a yellow species from the south, we have seen at the Botanic
Garden, Cambridge.
The natural order Rosaceae contains many beautiful flowering
shrubs or trees, but kw ornamental herbaceous perennials, excepting
the genus Spirea already noticed, and Potentilla and Geum, which
afford a few, belonging to the artificial class Icosandria. Order
Polygynia. None of the plants contained in Rosaceae are unwhole-
some.
" Potentilla. In allusion to its supposed potential virtue in medi-
cine. These, however, appear to consist of nothing beyond a slight
vulnerary quality." Calyx ten cleft ; corolla five petalled : seeds
naked, wrinkled, affixed to a small, juiceless receptacle.
This is a numerous genus, consisting of strawberry like looking
plants with mostly yellow flowers.
Potentilla atrosanguinea. Dark Blood Colored Potentillas.
This is one of the finest species with beautiful foliage, and blood
colored flowers from Nepal, one and a half foot high, in flower from
May to September. Leaves ternate stalked ; leaflets obovate, cut ser-
rate, white with down beneath ; Sepals elliptical ; Petals obcordate.
Propagated from divisions of the root, and from seed.
Potentilla formosa. Synom. Nepalensis. This is another beautiful
species from Nepal, with fine rose colored flowers, which are produced
the greater part of the season. Radical leaves quinite, cauline ones
ternate; leaflets cuneate oblong serrate; stipules large adnate entire;
propagated the same as P. atrosanguinea and all the other species.
Potentilla splendens, has yellow flowers of not much beauty, but
the leaves are elegant, being silvered over with a silky down, and
interruptedly pinnate. Flowers dichotomous, in corymbs ; from
Nepal.
Potentilla grandiflora has fine large yellow flowers — a native of
Siberia.
Potentilla Russelliana, is a splendid hybrid with scarlet flowei-s.
P. Hopwoodiana with rose and scarlet flowers is also beautiful.
Most of the species, which are numerous, are pretty, but those named
are the finest. With the exception of the two last, which we have not
had an opportunity to try, they all stand the winter well : they suc-
ceed best in light soil.
" Geum from Geyo, to give a relish." The roots of Geum urban-
um, chewed in the mouth, correct a disagreeable breath. "Gathered
in the spring and put into fresh ale, they give it a pleasant flavor, and
190 EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN rUBI.ICATTONS. ,
prevent its turning sour." But the only species worthy the attention
of amateurs are Geurn queliyon or coccinnea, G. hybridum, and the
one of more recent introduction, G. grandiflora.
Geum coccinnea " is a very desirable plant for the borders, much
esteemed in Europe, with scarlet flowers from May to October, and
perfectly hardy. A native of Chili, introduced in 1826; from one to
two feet high. •
Geum hybridum, has brown red flowers in June and July one foot
high.
Geum grandiflora has large scarlet flowers.
Geum rivularis, common in our wet grounds in company with
Senecio aurens, is in flower about the first of June, and conspicuous
for its high, nodding, dark colored flowers. For the florist it has not
great attractions, but with the botanist it is a fine looking plant and
may be introduced into the borders for the sake of variety, as it costs
nothing but the trouble of taking up.
Art. V. — Extracts from Foreign Publications.
Paxton's Magazinf, of Botany and Register of Flowering
Plants. Edited by J. Paxton, F. L. S. H. S. Published monthly.
Price two shillings and sixpence ; each number containing four
beautifully colored plates.
We have received the December, January and February numbers
of this splendid work, which we consider one of the best of the Eng-
lish periodicals, containing much original, practical information.
The work has been in existence only two years. It contains also
numerous wood cuts, illustrating many systems of heating by hot
water, plans and sections of plant-houses of various kinds, machines,
instruments, utensils, plants, &c. Comparing it with other foreign
works, we should consider it a cheap publication, although some of our
readers may be startled at the expense, which amounts to the sum of
from ten to twelve dollars per annum when delivered in this country.
" Natural order Compositsee. Syngenesia Frustranea CalHopsis
bicolor atrosanquinea. Crimson two colored Calliopsis. Synomyms,
Calliopsis sanguinea,
Coreopsis tinctoria atrosanguinea,
Coreopsis sanguinea.
EXTRACTS FiiOM FOREIGN PUBMCA-TIONS. 191
A beautiful new variety of the common Calliopsis tiiictoria for-
merly Coreopsis tinctoria. The rays of the flower of this elegant
variety, are, dark crimson, sometimes bordered with yellow, fringed
and lacerated.
The flowers are liable to vary, some being entirely of that fine
deep blood color, which composes the centre of the old variety, and
others have a very narrow margin of rich yellow.
It is perfectly hardy, and, like the C. bicolor, requires the most
simple culture, the seeds merely requiring to be sown in the open
border, and the plants kept from weeds. Common light loam suits it
very well. The generic name is derived from the Greek word
kaUistos, most beautiful, and opsis, eye, or most beautiful to the eye,
alluding to the splendid show made by the flowers when expanded.
The specific bicolor is given from the two very distinct colors of the
flowers. It is not known wha originated or introduced this fine
variety."
" Natural order Scrophularinse. Dianciria monogyyiia. Calceolaria
hopeana. Mr Hope's slipper wort. Green-house perennial. Stein a.
foot or more high, clothed with pubescence- Leaves broadly ovate
oblong, stalked, wrinkled, and veiny, unequally toothed, hairy, large,
six inches long, and three or four broad. Flowers numerous, corym-
bose, pendulous. Flower stalks slender, an inch and a half long.
Ca?yx, segments green, ovate, acute, rather reflexed. Corolla bright
yellow, two lipped ; upper lip short, shaped like a helmet ; lower lip
large, much inflated, with three to five ribs, spotted and striped with
dark red inside the mouth. •
This beautiful hybrid was raised a few years ago, betwixt C. corym-
bosa and C. plantaginca. It is an exceeding free flowerer, and the
color of the flowers are of so rich a yellow that it is a very desirable
plant for the green-house."
" Calceolaria corymbosa , var. Jupiter. Jupiter calceolaria, or
slipper wort. Stem a foot and a half or two feet high, covered with
pubescence. Root leaves oblong lanceolate, obtuse, doubly notched.
Stem leaves ovate, obtuse, opposite. Corymbs forked, consisting of
thirty or forty flowers. Calyx ovate, acuminate. Corolla, upper lip
small, yellow, incurved ; lower lip large, of a deep brownish red, with
a yellow border, and slightly notched ; inside purple at the mouth,
and below yellow.
This is one of the many beautiful varieties of the Calceolaria
raised by Messrs Young. It is certainly a very splendid kind, and
192 EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.
well deserves to be in every collection. It is nearly, if not altogether,
hardy. Nevertheless it is best, whatever kinds are grown in borders,
to shelter them from excessive wet in winter, if they are not taken up
and placed in pots."
Natural Order Cinchonacece. Pentandria monogynia, Rondeletia
speciosa. Showy Rondeletia. Stove plant., compact dwarf shrub.
Stems smooth, erect, branching, yellow green, slightly colored with
rose-color when young, afterwards becoming red, and finally, when
the wood is old, of a reddish brown. Leaves obcordate, that is,
betwixt oblong and heart shaped, acute, opposite, dark glossy green
on the upper side, paler and often slightly tinged with red, on the
under. Flowers terminal, in corymbs, very showy. Calyx five
parted, segments acute, yellowish green, tinged with red. Corolla
tube three times the length of the calyx, rose-colored ; limb five, and
occasionally six-parted, lobes rounded, very rich orange red, darkest
at the extreme edges, and becoming lighter towards the centre of the
flower ; centre of the flower, bright orange yellow ; eye, dark crimson.
According to Messrs Loddiges, this brilliant plant is a native of
the Havanna, whence it was received at Hackney through the kind-
ness of their friend, W. J. MacLeag, Esq. in 1830, and has since
flowered in the stove beautifully. The flowers are exceeding rich in
color, and make a most striking appearance, being quite as splendid
as Ixora coccinea, if not more so.
It requires the stove, and should be potted in loam and peat, and
may be increased by cuttings. The generic name is given in honor
of a physician named Rondelet, and the specific name from the
showy appearance of the plant when in flower.
" Natural Order VoXQmomdiCe^. Pentandria Monogynia. Phlox
Drummonii. Mr Drummond's Lichnidea. Plant annual. Stem
from a foot to a foot and a half high, covered with long hairs. Leaves
on the lower part of the stem opposite, on the upper alternate, oblong,
acute, rather cordate at the base, hairy on the under side, bright
green, and partly clasping the stem. Corymbs terminal. Calyx of
fine acute segments, being like the stem, bright green. Corolla
salver shaped, tube long, very hairy, pale rose colored ; limb spread-
ing, pale rose colored without, rich rosy red within ; eye deep
crimson ; throat yellow."
This beautiful species was raised under the care of Mr Campbell,
Curator of the Botanic Garden, Manchester, from seed which arrived
from the late Mr Drummond, in March, 1835.
EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 193
Dr Hooker states the plant to be a native of Texas, and named by
him after its indefatigable discoverer.
" Should this lovely species turn out to be an annual, which to all
appearance it will, it must be regarded as a novel feature in this
favorite genus. The plant is perfectly hardy, and will prove a great
ornament to the flower garden."
" Natural order Solanese. Pentandria Monogynia. Petunia
linearis. Narrow leaved Petunia.
Synonyms, Salpiglossis linearis,
Nirembergia intermedia.
Petunia linearis.
Plant a small shrub, covered thickly with glandular hairs. Stems
upright, branching, clammy, about a foot high. Leaves alternate,
oblong, narrow, blunt, about half an inch long, pale green. Flowers
terminal, or situated opposite the leaves, very copious, and when ex-
panded shining in the sun like crimson velvet. Calyx campanulate,
five-toothed. Corolla funnel shaped, covered on the outside with
^soft hairs, hardly an inch long ; tube orange, beautifully veined with
purple, somewhat longer than the calyx ; throat bright orange within ;
limb five lobed, of a rich crimson purple, very brilliant in sunshine ;
the centre as it approaches the throat, very dark, towards the border
lighter, and more tinged with blue. Stamens all fertile.
This exceedingly pretty plant is a native of Buenos Ayres, where it
was discovered growing in sandy plains by Mr Tweedie, who trans-
mitted the seeds of it to Mr Niell, of Cannonmills, in 1832 ; from
this seed one plant was raised, which flowered in the stove in Sep-
tember, 1833. The habit of the plant is that of Nieremhergia; and
when quite young and out of flower, they can scarcely be distin-
guished from N. gracilis, except that the leaves of the latter are
rather narrower.
Natural order Rubiacese. Tetrandria monogynia, Ixora Band-
Imca. Bandhooka ixora. A bushy shrub; hranches numerous;
whilst young, smooth and bright green ; when old, rather rough and
of a dull brown. Leaves oblong, blunt, smooth, and shining, oppo-
site, having short foot-stalks, but appearing to clasp the stem.
Flowers numerous, in corymbs, terminal. Calyx rather purple
colored. Corolla scarlet at first, and afterwards becoming darker
until it is dark crimson ; tuble slender, more than twice as long as
the expanded limb; se^men^s of the limb elliptic-ovate, spreading;
berry purple ; little larger than a garden pea.
25
194
EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS,
It is a native of Ilindostan, from whence it was introduced by Ssf
Abraham Hume, about the year 1812. In ita native country it i»
said to form a good sized bush, which at the season of flowering
makes a splendid show ; indeed, in this country, when the plant is
well grown, the corymbs of flowers are large, and the petals well ex-
panded ; the richness of the crimson color being contrasted with the
bright green of the leaves, together with the dwarf habits of the
plant, the whole forms a spectacle scarcely surpassed for splendor by
any of the other inmates of our stoves. It requires to be constantly
kept in a damp stove, with much the same temperature as for
OrchidtB.
" Natural Order Orchideae, Gynandria monandria, Epidendron
fragrans. Sweet scented Epidendron, This species is not so re-
markable for the beauty of its flowers as for the very delightful fra-
grance they emit when expanded ; we cannot describe this better
than to say, that it greatly resembles that of the flowers of the haw-
thorn when first open in spring, only the scent in these is far from
being so powerful as that of the Epidendron. The flowers continue
without fading for a long time. Flowers greenish yellow. The gen-
eric name is derived from the Greek epi, upon, and dendron, a tree ,
because in the native woods they are always growing upon the branches
of trees, their little roots covering the outside of the bark, or hanging
pendant, in order to absorb the exhalations constantly arising from a
damp soil and dense underwood. The specific name is given od
account of the fragrance of the flowers."
Dendrohium. moschatum. Musk scented Dendrobium. Plant,
Epiphyte. Stem upwards of four feet high, pendulous. Leaves ob-
long-linear, blunt, alternate, striate with purple. Flowei'-stem radical,
ten or twelve feet long, pendulous, slender, naked and upright, from
eight to nine feet, producing on the pendulous part nine to twelve
flowers. Floioers beautiful, large, measuring when expanded, nearly
four inches in diameter. Sepals or calyx leaves and petals oblong,
obtuse, producing rich oranges faintly striped with cream color.
Lahellum or lip, slipper shaped, slightly hairy outside, same color as
the sepals and petals, inside richly feathered with dark crimson.
Column dark crimson.
The flowers are very splendid, and of a very large size, being
nearly four inches in diameter when fully expanded. The rich
orange color, contrasted with the bright crimson in the inside of the
lip, gives a very fine effect, and renders this one of the most desirable
OSAGE ORANGE. 195
kinds hitherto introduced. It is a native of Pegu, where it was dis-
covered by Dr Wallich, and introduced into this country in 1828.
The flowers emit a pleasant musk-like scent, very perceptible towards
evening, from which circumstance the specific name is given, we be-
lieve by Dr Wallich."
" Maxillaria Deppei. Mr Deppe's Maxillaria. Epyphite. Pseudo
hulb, ov&te, angles rounded. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, platted
or ribbed, usually three arising from the summit of the pseudo-bulb,
from eighteen inches to two feet long. Flower-stem erect, shorter
than the leaves, two-flowered. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, green, spot-
ted with purplish red. Petals white, smaller than the sepals, some-
what cuculate, spotted and striped inside with crimson. Lahellum or
lip three lobed, curling, bright orange, two side lobes spotted and
striped with crimson. Column cream colored.
" This fine species is a native of New Spain, where it was discov-
ered by Mr Deppe, in 1828, after whom it has been very properly
named." J. B-
Art. VL— -O^o^e Orange. (Madura Aurantica.) Commu-
nicated by William Kenrick.
The Osage Orange is a native of Missouri and Arkansas, where
it rises in elegant proportion to the height of sixty feet. The tree is
deciduous and hardy, as it has endured the rigors of the last seven
winters near Boston, and is one of the most ornamental of all our
native trees. The leaves are oval, lanceolate, of a beautiful shining
green, and bear striking resemblance to those of the orange, and tha
wood also like that of the orange, is armed with long sharp spinesi.
The trees are dioecious, or some male and some female, therefore re-
quiring more than one tree for the production of fruit ; but these how-
ever cannot be distinguished when young. The fruit is beautiful, but
not eatable ; of the size of a large orange, of a golden color, and the
trees when laded with the fruit are splendid. The wood produces a
fine yellow dye. It is valuable for furniture as it receives the finest
polish. It is remarkably tough, strong and elastic, and is therefore
called Bow Wood, being preferred by the Indians to all other wood
for bows. It is also supposed to be the most durable timber in the
world, and for ship building is esteemed preferrable to live oak.
196 CULTURE OF HARDY EVERGREEN SHRUBS,
Even the leaves so beautiful, may, it appears, be converted to very
important use, since according to a memoir lately presented to the
French Institute, they are valuable as food for silk-worms.
On the best authority I am assured that the trees of the Osage
Orange, vi'hen set at the distance of fifteen inches asunder, make
the most beautiful as well as the strongest hedge fence in the world,
through which neither men nor animals can pass,
Newton, April 18, 1836.
Art. VII. — Remarks on the Culture of Hardy Deciduous and
Evergreen Slwubs.
[From Paxton's Magazine of Botany.]
The culture of hardy shrubs is in general simple and easy, the
chief things to be noticed are — the proper season of planting — the
situation in which the plants will thrive — the kind of soil best suited
to their growth — and the encouragement given to enable them to
thrive afterwards.
The proper season for planting, — As soon as the leaves begin to
fall in October, deciduous trees may be planted with safety ; and al-
though this planting continues until the trees begin to swell their
buds again in the spring, yet those plants have invariably succeeded
best with us which were shifted in October, November, February,
and March and those the worst that were planted in December, Jan-
uary, and April.
Evergreens, in general, if taken up carefully, may be planted with
success any season of the year, provided dull or dripping weather be
taken advantage of for that purpose. There are particular seasons,
however, when they will thrive with much greater freedom than at
others. If the situation be dry, and the soil light and sandy, they
should be planted (with the exception of hollies) in November and
December, if the weather be mild ; on the other hand, if the situa-
tion be low and the soil retentive of moisture, they should be planted
in May. In both cases it is indispensable that all large trees and
shrnbs be removed with good balls, and that the roots be uninjured.
Hollies should be removed from the end of May to the and of June.
In planting evergreens, I perfectly agree with Mr M'Nab, that
CULTURE OF HARDY EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 197
whether it be done in a dull day, a wet day, or a dry day, it is very
necessary to keep in view the expediency of keeping the plants for aa
short a time out of the ground as possible — if only a few minutes,
so much the better ; and in all cases, when it can be done, when great
numbers are to be planted, we should, if possible, have some men
stationed to take up the plants, others to carry them, and a third set
to put them in the ground.
" In all seasons, situations, and soils the plants should be well
soaked with water as soon as the earth is put about the roots. Where
the water is not at hand, so that may not be easily carried or wheeled
by men, a horse with a water-barrel on wheels should be used. As
soon as the plant has been put into its place the earth should be filled
in, leaving a sufficient hollow round the stem, and as far as the roots
extend, to hold water, which should then be poured on in sufficient
quantity to soak the ground down to the lowest part of the roots ; in
short, the whole should be made like a kind of puddle."
" By this practice, which is particularly necessary in spring and
autumn planting, the earth is carried down by the water, and every
crevice among the roots is filled. Care must always be taken to have
as much earth above the roots of the plants as will prevent them from
being exposed when the water has subsided. The best plan is to
take an old birch broom, or anything similar, and laying it down
near the root, pour the water upon it ; this breaks the fall of the
water, and prevents the roots from being washed bare of such earth as
may adhere to them : in this way time is saved, for the water may be
poured out in a full stream from the pail, a watering-pot, or even
from a spout or pipe in the water-cart or barrel, when the situation is
such that this can be brought up to the plant."
" After the first watering has dried up, the earth should be levelled
round the stem of the plant, and, as far out as the water has been put
on, but not trod ; if the plants are large a second watering is some-
times necessary, but in ordinary sized plants one watering is quite
sufficient ; and after remaining twentyfour hours, more or less, accord-
ing to the nature of the soil, the earth about the stem and over the
roots, should be trod as firm as possible, and, after treading should be
dressed with a rake."
2. " The situations in which the plants will thrive. — With regard to
the situation in which each shrub should be planted little can be said
here ; to form a correct judgment of this, a knowledge of the natural
lyy CULTURE OF HARDY EVERGREEN SHRUBS.
habitats of each is required ; this knowledge may be easily obtained
by referring to a botanical catalogue, and other works treating on the
subject. Some shrubs love a dry and elevated situation, and will not
thrive crowded with others, — some are rather tender, and must have
warm and sheltered places, — others are very hardy, and will thrive
planted anywhere, others again will not grow freely unless they are
placed in low damp ground, — and others do not flourish if much ex-
posed to the rays of the sun.
3. " The kind of soil best suited for them. — With respect to soil,
hardy shrubs may be divided into two kinds, viz. first, shrubs requir-
ing common soil ; and second, those shrubs constituting the Ameri-
can garden. A rich, light hazel loam undoubtedly suits the greater
part of the" first class of plants, although many of the stronger growing
kinds will make fine bushes on almost any kind of soil. The Amer-
ican plants, asKahnias, Rhododendrons, Andromedas,&,c. &c., make
the finest plants and the best show if they are planted in a soil com-
posed for the most part of sandy peat ; but in the absence of this, a
very good compost may be made for them of light hazelly loam, river
sand, and vegetable or leaf mould, equal parts, or a little peat earth
mixed with it. After having taken out the original soil from the pro-
posed border to about a foot and a half deep, substitute the above
mixture in its place.
4. " To encourage the growth of the Shrubs after being planted. —
Whilst the plants are small, constantly keep down all rank growing
weeds, and clear off* all rubbish that would otherwise retard their
growth ; also they receive much benefit by the surface of the ground
being often stirred with a Dutch hoe, as it prevents the surface baking
hard in dry weather.
Watering shrubs, except in peculiar situations, during dry summers,
appears to be of very little, if any, benefit; on the other hand, it
takes up much time, and is the means of the ground baking hard
when dried by the sun again. When they have advanced to a large
size all the care required is to cut off" the overhanging branches, so as
not to allow them to smother each other, or the stems of those over-
hung will become naked and unsightly.
' MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 199
(From the Baltimore Farmer.)
The Greville Rose — This superbly beautiful rose, notwithstand-
ing fifty plants of it were sold in Baltimore, for five dollars each, in
the year 1828, is not so generally known as it ought and deserves to
be. I have had one to bloom for several years, and last year it had
fifty five branches of flowers, and made about 300 feet of wood, and
in my opinion, fully realizing the high character given of it in the
fourth number of Loudon's Magazine, page 467, and in the report of
the Horticultural Society of London, for the month of June, 1836,
which I have extracted for more general information.
Rosa Grevillii, or Greville Rose. — This species has attracted much
notice in different parts of Europe and in this country, being quite a
novelty in its general characteristics, and in commenting upon which
I cannot perhaps give a better idea to the reader than by extracting
the statements made in other publications. In the fourth number of
Loudon's Magazine, page 467, is the following description given, in
a letter from a correspondent to the editor : —
" You will no doubt recollect the shoot I showed you of my Greville
Rose, which grew 18 feet in a few weeks — it is now in bloom, and
is the most singular curiosity of all the rose tribe that has come under
my observation ; it grows on an east by north aspect, on the gable
end of my house, covering above 100 feet square, with more than 100
trusses of bloom. Some of them have more than 50 buds in a cluster,,
and the whole will average about 30 in a truss, so that the amount of
flower buds is little short of 3,000. But the most astonishing curiosi-
ty is the variety of colors produced on the buds at first opening ;
white, light blush, deeper blush, light red, darker red, and purple, all
on the same clusters."
In the report of the Horticultural Society of London for the month
of June, 1826, the following remrrks are made :
" Rosa Grevillii, in a single fasciculus of flowers, are roses of every
shade of purple, and from white to the darkest tint ; it is one of the
handsomest of climbing roses."
The leaves are beautifully serrated on the edges, and those on the
young shoots have a pink border running entirely round the leaf, and
which, contrasted with the green, gives them a delicate and beautiful
appearance ; the petiole or leaf-stalk is broad at the base, and deeply
indented on the sides, so as to form narrow hair-like segments : the
upper part where it joins the leaf is narrow and of the usual size. I
200 MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.
have succeeded during the past season in rearing about 150 young/
vigorous plants, two-thirds of which have been already disseminated
throughout the Union, and near 500 more are in a progressive state,
and will be fit for transplanting the ensuing season."
The undersigned having become fully satisfied of the utility and
beauty of this rose, and encouraged by the numerous orders coming
in for it, has been induced to propagate it largely, and to lower the
price to ^1 or $1 50 in large pots, by w^hich means they can be re-
moved at any season of the year. Robert Sinclar.
Clairinont Nursery, Jan. 9.
To Cook Cauliflowers. — Cut it when close and white, and of a
middling size'; cut the stem so as to separate the flower from the leaves
below it. Let it lie in salt and water awhile ; then put it into boiling
water, with a handful of salt. Keep the boiler uncovered, and skim
the water well. A small flower will require about fifteen minutes
boiling — a large one about twenty. Take it up as soon as a fork
will easily enter the stem : a little longer boiling will spoil it.
Serve it up with gravy or melted butter. — Gen. Far.
Elder Tree. — Sir J. E. Smith has remarked that this tree is, as
it were a whole magazine of physic to rustic practitioners. It is said
that if sheep that have the rot can get at the bark and young shoots
of elder they will soon cure themselves. The wine made from elder
berries is too well known by families in the country to need any enco-
miums; it is the only wine a cottager can procure, and when well
made, it is a most excellent and wholesome drink, taken warm before
going to bed. It causes gentle perspiration, and is a mild opiate. If
a rich syrup be made from ripe elder berries, and a few bitter almonds,
when added to brandy, it has all the flavor of the best cherry brandy.
The white elder berries, when ripe, make wine much resembling
grape wine. The buds and the young tender shoots are geatly ad-
mired as pickle. The leaves of the elder tree are often put into the
subterranean paths of moles, to drive those noxious little animals
from the garden. If fruit trees, flowering shrubs, corn or other veg-
etables, be whipped with the green leaves of the elder branches, it is
said insects will not attach themselves to them. An infusion of these
leaves in water is good to sprinkle over rose-buds, and other flowers
subject to blight, and the devastations of caterpillars. — Leigh Hunt's
London Journal.
THE
AND
GARDENER'S MAGAZINE.
JUNE 1, 1836.
Art. I. — Mr Van Mons' Method of Raising Fruit Trees from
the Seed. Communicated by Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn.
The name of Van Mons has become so conspicuous, that the
horticulturists of every country have felt a deep solicitude to be made
better acquainted with his character, and the novel means by which
he has been enabled to make such immense additions to our choice
varieties of fruit. Impressed with this sentiment, Mr Poiteau, one
of the most distinguished writers on rural affairs in France, has lately
published a very able memoir, embracing both of those interesting
subjects. With that liberality which we have so repeatedly experi-
enced, he has generously presented a copy to the Mass. Horticultural
Society; and I have thought I could not perform a more acceptable
act, than in furnishing a translation for the Register, that the
merits of that excellent man may be better known, and his invaluable
services more fully appreciated.
The theory, which had been assumed by Mr Van Mons, was
original, and the principle on which it was based, could only be
verified by actual experiment, which, from the peculiarity, delicacy
and difficulty of the conditions, necessarily required a greater number
of years for its execution, than any other which had ever been made
by man. He could not call to his aid, either the exact or physical
sciences ; the problem which he attempted to solve, the fact which
he desired to ascertain, was not to be accomplished or facilitated by
mathematical calculations, the process of induction, or such tests as
chemistry, the mechanical powers, or the practical arts afford ; the
204 RAISING FRUIT TREES FROM SEE»\
lights of philosophy illumined not his route } no energy of mind
could precipitate, no genius hasten, no talent abridge the operation.
All human power was utterly unavailable ; the anticipated develope-
ments were entirely dependent upon the secret, inexplicable, slow, un-
aidable and long protracted process of nature. Time, and time alone
could reveal the truth he so eagerly sought. Like an astronomer watch-
ing for the return of that comet, the term of whose revolution Halley
had confidently predicted, he must await the undoubted pbenomenony
as conclusive proof of the correctness of assumption. But in this case,
besides the mere lapse of time which was to be endured, before con-
jecture was ripened into conviction, there was a perseverance, a
constancy of purpose, and a patient industry constantly required, for
a long succession of years, no portion of which could be neglected.
The infinite care, labor and exact observation in collecting, plantings
and cultivating an immense variety of seeds, and keeping a minute
account of the characteristics of not only every generation, but of the
numerous plants, of the various species of fruit in each, were aU
conditions of such a peculiar nature, as to demand a mind so remark-
ably constituted, that no adverse event, no private or public vocation
should interrupt, postpone, or induce an abandonment of the experi-
ment.
In the whole history of discoveries there is no one, who is entitled
to higher commendation, for the attention and industry bestowed, as
well as for that remarkable fidelity of design, devotion of purpose
and indomitable perseverance, which were evinced. Alone, unaided,
unpatronized, and in fact discouraged, — if it were possible to dis-
courage such a man, — by the total absence of favor and protection,
the prejudices and customs of the enlightened as well as the ignorant,
and the apalling disasters he encountered, still he nobly sought to
establish a theory, which if even found correct, was not of a character
to produce immediate eclat, or affluence ; and would require a period
probably greater than was consumed in the experiment, to give gen-
eral publicity to his fame. He appears, in the course of his arduous
and prolonged researches, like the incarnation of wisdom awaiting,
with cool, collected, and determined resolution, for the recurrence of
results, which, when obtained, afforded no other compensation or
honor, than the enjoyment which a great mind derives from the dis-
covery of a new fact, or the correctness of a hazardous conjecture.
The theory and experiments of Mr Van Mons have established a
most important era in the history of pomology. It has resolved a
RAISING FRUIT TREES FROM SEED. 205
question which, if ever even proposed, had bid defiance to all pre-
ceding ages. The comparatively small number of the varieties of
each kind of fruit, were considered as the product of some other
clime than that where they were commonly cultivated, or the acci-
dental and mysterious present of fortune, in one of her sportive moods;
but the success which has attended the experiments of the Belgian
philosopher, has disclosed the process, by which nature accomplishes
her wonderful work in the creation of new fruits, and has enabled
man to avail of the secret, in such a manner, as not only to replace
those which are necessarily exterminated by age, but to multiply the
varieties to an illimitable extent.
After tlie lapse of half a century, the great merit of Mr Van Mons
begins to be properly appreciated, and he has fortunately lived long
enough to reap the only reward he desired, the gratitude of the world.
There have been a combination of circumstances, which have had a
most propitious influence, in giving notoriety to his highly commend-
able efforts. The rapidly increased taste for gardening and all
branches of tillage, within the last thirty years, throughout western
Europe and this country ; the establishment of horticultural societies,
and extensive nurseries ; the attention which learned and eminent
men have bestowed on useful and ornamental planting, and the
numerous publications which have appeared for diffusing intelligence
on all these subjects, seem to have been simultaneously brought in aid
of the great labors of Mr Van Mons ; and to render them peculiarly
interesting and acceptable. He has been fortunate too, in the acqui-
sition of such illustrious friends and colaborators, as Soulange Bodin
and Poiteau, to comprehend and make known his valuable researches
and precious contributions of excellent fruits. Those enlightened
and generous heralds of his deeds, have rendered the name of Van
Mons as familiar and dear to every intelligent cultivator of the earth,
as those of a Cato, a Bacon, and a Du Hamel.
While the storm of war swept over Europe, and devastation or
conquest, victory or defeat, alternately produced ruin, or advanced
the prosperity of individuals and nations; while empires were reared,
or monarchs dethroned, and military chieftains elevated or ruined,
Van Mons steadily pursued his quiet, unobtrusive and industrious
course ; and whether he suffered the evils of the times, or participated
in those benefits which all occasionally experience, he never for a
moment neglected the great object of his life, and his memory will
be cherished, when the names of many, who were blazoned to the
206 RAISING FRUIT TREES FROM SEED.
world, as the mighty spirits of the age, during the eventful period of
his unknown existence, will be either execrated or forgotten. In the
shades of rural retirement and the halls of science, he was zealously
engaged in advancing the glory of his .country, and the interests of
the human race, while sovereigns were contending for supremacy, and
statesmen to control or direct the movements of the madly excited
multitude. What a grand and imposing spectacle does the life of
such a man present! How dignified, how instructive, how influential
the example, and how consolatory the reflections which it awakens !
It is a verdant spot in the desert of the past, on which the imagina-
tion delights to dwell, vvhere reason finds a resting place. There
gush forth the fountains of intellect; there is reared the temple of the
true Jupiter Ammon, — enlightened genius presidingover the terestrrial
destinies of man, and announcing laws for his safe and honorable
guidance, in the career of utility and happiness.
But there are unfortunately dark and odious incidents in the history
of his country, and which have too often been the reproach of most
nations, — neglect and ingratitude towards one of its most illustrious
men and greatest benefactors. Instead of being cheered on by
public countenance and approbation, he received neither direct
assistance or encouragement. Even protection from outrage was
not afforded him; and three times were his invaluable nurseries
exterminated under the sanction of the government. Still, in defiance
of all the difliculties which he was compelled to encounter, he has
triumphed gloriously.
It is much to be desired, that Mr Van Mons' theory should be
adopted in this country, and more especially, as his process can be
commenced
proof against the ruthless hands of man, for it was speedily broken
into in search of pigs ; but none were found.
Leaving two of my collectors under the shelter of some bushes,
to transfer the plants collected from the boxes to paper, we pushed on
to our final destination, the highest point of the mountain, which we
reached a little after one o'clock, and ascertained the elevation by
barometrical measurement to be four thousand three hundred and
fifty feet above the level of the sea. This was by far the most difficult
part of the ascent, on account of its steepness, the broken character
of the ground, and the closeness of the bamboos. We found our-
selves enveloped in clouds and mist, though there was a bright sun
shining below. The thermometer fell from 75 degrees, the usual
height on the plain, to 60 ; the barometer to 25,800. The few trees
that are scattered about here, are stunted in their growth, and envel-
oped in a thick coat of lichens. Had time permitted, and locomotion
been easier, I should have tried to ascertain what they were ; but the
bamboos were so thick that we were obliged to cut our way and clear
a spot in order to set up the barometer. The bamboos had under-
gone a similar change to the trees, for in place of fine tall taper-
ing plants, not unlike clumsy fishing rods, they had acquired the
appearance and name of reeds. A species of Oxalis is very abundant
42
330 BOTANICAL EXCURSION.
among them, but whether an alpine variety of O. sensitiva or a dis-»
tinct species remains yet to be determined. It differs greatly in
habit in having a long branched stem, each branch being terminated
by a tuft of leaves and flowers, like those of O. sensitiva, but it is
less sensitive, which may be owing to the lower temperature of its
place of growth. The bamboo among which it grows is peculiar,
and so far as I have been able to discover a nondescript species,
which, however, I cannot adequately describe, for want of the parts
of fructification. It is a tall, straight, nearly branchless, reed-like
plant, attaining in sheltered situations, a height of between twenty
and thirty feet, with a slender, smooth, hollow stem, very firm and
ligneous below; the leaves lanceolate, sheathing, confined to the
extremities of the shoots, and furnished with a short but distinct
petiole ; in size these leaves greatly exceed those of all the other
bamboos I have seen in this country, the larger ones being from eight
to ten inches long and from two to three broad, tapering at both ends.
Altogether they are so like those used by the Chinese in packing tea,
except in being less coriaceous, that I am inclined to consider our
plant, if not essential, a very nearly allied species, perhaps variety,
the difference depending on situation.
Having at length accomplished the main object of our journey, we
commenced the descent ; the first part of which was performed as
rapidly as the close growth of the bamboo, or reeds, as they are usu-
ally called, and the broken nature of the ground would permit.
Although much Botanizing was out of the question, I got a few plants
which I had overlooked in the ascent ; but on re-entering the forest
I took the liberty of dropping behind my companions, who were not
botanists, and enjoyed such an hour's herborizing as rarely falls
to the lot of even the most enthusiastic individuals ; to the dismay,
however, of my friends, who at length fancying that I had lost ray
way, or been attacked by wild beasts, or a score of other things
equally near the truth, set up such a shouting as to leave me no
alternative but to rejoin them, which I did with great regret; I had,
however, again filled my boxes and formed a large parcel besides. I
could not but lament my inability to spend several days in that noble
forest, not at one season, but at every season in the year, if the
climate would permit it. To go there for one day only is extremely
tantalizing, as one is lost and jperplexed by the endless variety of
forms at once presented to the eye. From the time of our leaving
the wood the descent was so very rapid, that we had all remounted
BOTANICAI, EXCURSION. 331
our horses before five o'clock, and in a little more than half an hour
we were enjoying ourselves in a shower bath. I must now endeavor
to give you some idea of the richness of the Flora of these hills,
deduced from the observations of this excursion only, as it would
take too much time to go over my herbarium to arrive at a more sat-
isfactory result. My visit to Courtallam was a professional one, and
extended to eight days only, those of my arrival and departure in-
cluded. In that time I made five excursions, none exceeding one
fourth of the distance of that which I have above described, and
returned to Palamcottah with species belonging to about eighty Nat-
ural Orders, exclusive of about fifty species still undetermined, and
of a great number of plants lost in the drying from having run short
of paper. The number of species of which I have actually speci-
mens, considerably exceeds three hundred ; I cannot say how many
were lost. Besides these, no specimens were gathered of a large
proportion of high trees, which we had time neither to cut down nor
climb ; but several of them were ascertained from the fallen fruit to
be new. The more common plants, of which I had already speci-
mens, or could easily obtain at any other time, were altogether
rejected, making a total of probably not fevi^er than five hundred
species seen in flower or fruit in the short space of five days, and at a
rather unfavorable season of the year. These numbers afford data,
from which I think we may safely infer, that a very small portion of
these hills, say twenty miles square, possesses a Flora of probably
little short of fifteen hundred species of vascular plants, including
Ferns in the wider sense of the term ; and if the field be extended
to the higher hills to the north and south-west, I have no doubt that
five hundred more may be added. I say five hundred, for the hills
alluded to rise more than fifteen hundred feet above the one we
ascended ; a height at which an almost new Flora presents itself If
there is any truth in this calculation, it follows that on this mere
speck of ground, there is a Flora exceeding the phsenogaraous Flora
of the whole British Islands, and nearly equalling in amount the
number of species described in Roxburgh's Flora Indica. Surely if
ever a country deserved the scrutinizing search of an able and
diligent Botanist, it is this ; so satisfied am I on this point, that I
have now three native collectors employed here. It is true I do not
expect much from their exertions, as natives are always timid explor-
ers of the jungle, unless led by a European, when they will cheerfully
follow ; but as the field in itself is one of the richest I know, I send
332 BOTANICAL EXCURSION.
them to it, as one from which I have the best chance of procuring
vahiable additions to my already extensive collections, and one which
my other occupations do not permit me to investigate by my own
exertions. As this letter greatly exceeds its anticipated limits, I
must conclude with the hope that my unfavorable expectations re-
specting the success of my collectors, may not be realized.
Sept. 4, 1835.
P. S. There being no ships about to sail when I finished the preced-
ing communication, I kept it open in case anything additional should
occur to be added. And it so happened that my services being
required a second time at Courtallam, I availed myself of the oppor-
tunity to make several excursions, by which I have nearly doubled
my collections, and added a great many new plants. Among them
may be mentioned several Annonacese, five or six handsome Balsams,
one so very curious and distinct that I propose to constitute it a new
genus, under some such name as Koryanthus, in allusion to the
helmet formed by the two upper sepals. Two or three very remark-
able Melastomacese will form, I believe, a novel and very distinct
genus. I have also a very fine new Ceropegia ; two undescribed
species of Didymocarpese, one of them, I think, constituting a dis-
tinct genus, allied to the Wulfenia of Wallech's Tent. Fl. Nepal.; a
great variety of Orchideje ; a number of Aroideae, among which is
an enormous Pothos, and two or three genera quite new to me. Of
the Bamboos, I found flowering specimens, but not in a good state,
and several Carices which I have not seen before ; and lastly, a very
curious species of Phallus decorated with a wide loosely pendulous
net hanging from the inside of the hood, reaching to the ground and
covering the stem like a veil, (P. Daemonum) Hook. Bot. of Beech.
Voy. vol. 1, p. 78, 120. The result of this second excursion more
than confirms my previous calculation of the riches of these hills,
in distinct vegetable forms.
I am now disposed to think that two thousand species may be found
within the limits assigned above to fifteen hundred. I have come to
this conclusion from having extended my excursion on one occasion
to a more distant part of the hills, and found many more new plants
than on any former day. Hitherto I had explored only the northern
slopes ; but on this last occasion I examined the southern side, and
certainly paid for my temerity by having to stay in the jungle all
night, having gone too far and lost my way in returning home. I
DISCRIMINATION OIP SOILS, 333
Was, however, well repaid for my privations by an unusually large
harvest of good things. The hills here are not like those of Clova,
for you can rarely see a hundred yards before you, on account of
jungle. I have re-examined the Macroclinia and suspect that it is
too closely allied to Savia to be separated ; differing only in having
the filaments united into a tube the whole length of the styles, and
in the want of the fleshy mass to which in Savia the ovules are
attached.
Art. III. — On the Discrimi?iation of Soils.
There is no subject which can occupy the attention of the gar-
dener which ought to be considered of greater importance than the
due discrimination of soils ; and yet there are few that have been
treated of so vaguely. The press teems with periodicals, and we
have regular and accredited works upon horticultural subjects ; nev-
ertheless, let us read what we may, we find little else than indeter-
minate terms and general directions. The consequence is, that if a
regular and practised gardener, or an amateur, attempt to cultivate a
plant with which he is wholly unacquainted, he but too frequently
finds himself disappointed in the results which he has anticipated.
He reads of loams, peat, bog earth, sand, manures, &,c. and he fol-
lows the directions that are given, but his plants sicken, the leaves,
perhaps, turn yellow, and he can obtain no blossoms. He consults
the Encyclopedias and scientific catalogues, and compares the record-
ed periods of bloom, the size of the plants, and their general habit
and character, with the specimen before him, and perceives nothing
in common that can raise his hopes. He makes some alteration,
chiefly in the temperature of his climate, the volume of air admitted,
and the quantity of water, but his plants do not thrive, and vexation
succeeds his pleasurable anticipations ; and how pleasurable these
are, none can tell but those who are gifted with an ardent love of
plants, and feel, too sensibly, that " hope deferred maketh the heart
sick."
The cultivator in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis knows,
or did know, what the nursery terms loam and bog earth imply. We,
among others, are perfectly aware that by the former term was not
334 BISCRIMmATION OF SOILS.
meant the soil of a garden or field, but that peculiar pale, yellowisli,
or amber-colored soil, which nurserymen purchase at sufficiently high
terms, about the neighborhood of Hampstead, — a soil which would
suit nearly every species and variety of stove or greenhouse exotics,
either alone or blended with certain proportions of '* bog earth."
Now this loam, as far as our recollection serves us, was soft or
unctuous in texture, not gritty, capable of some adhesion of particles,
yet so light, that if a portion in a medium moist condition was pressed
in the hand, it would become a mass; yet if suffered to fall from the
height of two or three feet upon a hard surface, would crumble and
fall apart. There are few gardeners, remote from London, who can
obtain such a choice material ; and if indeed, any person possess
what he believes to be a light rich loam, he may be disappointed in
its application. It is in inquiries concerning the nature of soils, that
chemistry can afford an efficient aid ; and, therefore, we would
recommend every gardener to cultivate it to an extent that may ena-
ble him to analyse his loam so far as to be able to determine its chief
constituents. To do this, he will require a bottle of good muriatic
acid, (spirit of salt as it used to be called) ; another of sulphuric acid,
which ought to be diluted with three times its weight in rain water ;
and a third of solution of potassa; that is, a liquor produced by dis-
solving one ounce of salt of tartar in two or three ounces of rain
water. Two drachms, by weight, of any soil, dried on the stock or
hob of a sitting room grate^, and powdered in a mortar, may be tested
by adding two drachms of muriatic acid, mixed with an equal quan-
tity of pure water. If any sensible effervescence, or hissing arise,
the earth contains chalk or limestone ; and, after standing together
four or five hours, the liquor may be strained through blotting paper,
washed till sweet, and then dried in the same heat of the grate. The
loss of weight will prove the quantity of chalk naturally existing in
the soil. In 120 grains, from five to ten grains may be found ; and
to that extent it will prove useful, as it tends to add firmness of texture
and moderate adhesiveness. Beyond ten grains in 120, it might not
be applicable to many greenhouse and stove exotics.
After the abstraction of the chalk, and of the remaining acid, by
the frequent washing with soft water, the soil must be again dried
and weighed, and four times its weight of the diluted sulphuric acid
added. The whole must then be boiled in a glass vessel for one hour.
The boiling can frequently be effected in a short phial of thin glass,
or a Florence flask, placed upon the cheek of a common fire-grate.
DISCRIMINATION OF SOILS. 335
first at a distance from the fire. A small piece of paper should be
put under the phial ; and, as the liquor becomes hot, the vessel may
be safely made to approach the fire till the heat is found sufficient to
create ebullitions. When that is perceived, the boiling should be
maintained for one complete hour.
The sulphuric acid will take up iron from the soil, and also the
alumen, or pure clay which it may contain. The iron would be
abstracted without heat ; but the aid of boiling is required to effect
the solution of the alumen.
When the liquid has become cold, the contents of the phial are to
be poured upon a paper filter, previously weighed, and every grain
remaining in the vessel must be carefully washed out by repeated
rinsings of pure water, all the washings being poured into the filter.
More water is to be added till the drainings come away free from
acid taste, after which, the filter and its contents are to be dried, first
by absorption on a piece of chalk, and finally on the grate or other
hot surface, till they become completely dry. Being then weighed,
and the weight of the paper substracted, the net product will be the
amount of iron and alumen.
A good loam will lose, perhaps, ten grains out of the one hundred
and ten, which we will suppose to have been the weight of the soil
submitted to the test of sulphuric acid ; and of these, four will be
iron, and the remaining six alumen or pure clay. The substance
upon the filter may weigh from ninety-four to one hundred grains, or
nearly so; it will consist chiefly of siliceous or flinty earth.
The proportions adduced approximate to the results of actual ex-
periments ; and we know that the loam so tested was most admirable.
Some latitude must be permitted, and some soils may contain some
few grains more or less, of iron, chalk, and clay. But as a general
rule in analysis it may be stated, first, that in one hundred and twenty
grains of a rich light loam, from ninety to one hundred ought to
consist of flinty insoluble earth; second, that the soluble portion
ought to contain from six to ten grains of clay, and perhaps nearly as
much chalk and iron. The later ingredient varies much in soils of
different color. Those of the gryaish brown, or umber tint, appear
to be the best, the iron being in that peculiar state of chemical oxida-
tion which is most propitious to the health of plants. If a loam be
very deficient in chalk, or the matter of pure clay, — as the well
conducted experiments of analysis will demonstrate, — the chemical
horticulturist can amend it. Caution and precision, both of which
will be attainded by practice, will be of course required ; but if a soil
336 DISCRIMINATION OP SOILS.
be found so deficient in clay that one hundred and twenty gfainaf
contain but two grains, discoverable by the test of sulphuric acid, it
will be very easy to add three, four, or five grains of clay, dried and
reduced to fine powder ; or of pipe clay two, three, or four grains ;
the same may be said of chalk. If, on the contrary, a soil be found
to consist chiefly of coarse gravelly sand, it will not be difficult to
separate a portion of that predominant quality by washing off some
of the soil, and adding those fine separable matters to the bulk. Thus
one third of a barrow of harsh soil should be washed in two or three
waters ; the matters that float, or rather that are not deposited within
the period of a second or two of time in water being poured over the
remaining two thirds, and the whole intermixed as the water of lix-
iciation dries off. Thus the heavy sharp sand of one third would be
abstracted, and the mass become proportionably ameliorated, A
young active chemist, alive to the charms of horticulture, could effect
wonders with his soils. We, of course, speak of those intended for
pot culture, wherein a barrow, with the aid of vegetable soils, &c.
goes a great way.
The quantity of vegetable matter which exists in any soil may be
pretty accurately determined by burning ; that is, by keeping a
known weight of it at a red heat, till it retain no blackness upon
becoming cold. Vegetable matter is essential to the fertility of the
soil ; and, therefore, if a loam which is found to contain the staple
earths above mentioned in fair proportion, and is of a free working
texture, be very deficient in decomposable matter, it must be enriched
by leaf mould, decayed vegetable mould, or completely reduced
manure.
The best substitute for a perfect natural loam, is the reduced grass
turf of a meadov/ or common. Vegetable matters, it is probable, are
resolvable by decay in earth very similar in quality to that upon which
they grow ; and when short grass turf is cut into thin layers, it will
in a short time become a fine mould. The turf, not thicker at first
than an inch and a half, should be piled in a heap, the grass face
downward, and be kept so two or three months. They should then
be chopped to pieces, turned, and thoroughly incorporated ; and these
processes are to be repeated, at intervals, till the whole become a
mass, replete with tender vegetable fibres. Such a soil, at the end of
a year, will form a valuable substitute for good native loam, and be
available for every purpose of the gardener. A stock ought to be
prepared every year.
DISCRIMINATION OF SOILS. 339
We will now dismiss the subject of loam, hoping that a certain
degree of experience will teach the horticulturist the real value of
chemistry. He, by the aid of a few books, and a little patient assi-
duity, will acquire a tact ; and his pleasure be much enhanced by
the confidence his mind will acquire. None but the ignorant scoff
at knowledge ; the enlightened mind feels indeed, and is sensible of
its own imperfections ; but it possesses that which no one can have
any conception of but he who has it.
Sand is another substance of the components and qualities of which
most are entirely ignorant; as, however, the cultivator of exotics in
pots requires only a few sorts of sand to enable him to strike cuttings
and to give openness of texture to his soils and composts, we shall
mention but two species; the first is that fine, pure, siliceous sub-
stance termed silver, or writing sand; some of this ought always to
be at hand ; and where pit sand only can be obtained, we recommend
that it be washed repeatedly till it cease to yield any considerable
quantity of light earthy matter to water. That clear heavy substance
which precipitates in a second or two, leaving the water void of color,
is sharp enough for the purposes of striking cuttings, and blending
with loam and vegetable earth.
The second sort of useful sand, is the drift of a road, that has been
carried down by rain ; this is next in value to river sand, and may be
procured readily where that is wholly unobtainable.
In some districts these coarse sands are compound in their nature ;
they may contain lime, alumen, and iron, but in a state of chemical
union which renders them nearly insoluble. In gravelly districts,
road and river sand are the reduced, washed fragments of abraded
gravel stones ; they consist chiefly of flint colored with iron. In
countries where limestone abounds, the grit contains that substance,
and will effervesce with acids.
Both these sands are of great utility, because they give lightness
and freedom to the loamy composts that are used in the culture of
plants in pots.
Heath Soil. This substance is of primary importance ; it is the
earth which is found at the surface of commons or wastes, where
heath grows naturally. It is the peculiar soil of these plants to which
the distinctive title " American" is applied. Thirty years ago the
nurserymen in the neighborhood of London called it by the name of
hog-earth, and this title, though erroneous, was at least definite and
understood ; of late years, however, it has been fashionable to adopt
43
338 DISCRIMINATION OF SOILS.
the term peat and peat-earth; they are not only indefinite, but utterly
vague and inappropriate. Peat, strictly speaking, is the black decay-
ed vegetable matter dug out of bogs or tubaries ; it is to most plants
inert and useless; but to a few it affords an aliment of great power;
we may mention as examples Thunhergia and Amnryllidcs ; not how-
ever, to dwell upon a subject which is now irrelevant, we shall only
observe that, by the term jieat, writers of the day mean to express
heath-soil, the bog-earth of the last century ; hence we read of sandy
peat, turfy peat, black peat, &c. All these terms are applicable only
to heath-mould, and they express the varying texture of that material,
which certainly admits of much variation in the proportions of its
incrredients. The sandy heath soil of Bagshot is of a greyish black
tint, it contains a very great proportion of pure white sand, with per-
haps scarcely one tenth part of black, decayed vegetable matter.
The best heath soil contains much fibrous matter, and is either black
or of a brownish hue, which depends upon the peculiar nature of the
vegetable matter. All these soils abound with pure white sand,
hence the peculiar applicability to plants whose roots are very fibrous,
tender and delicate. Heath mould and loam in different proportions
are the staple soils of the gardener, and with them he can effect
almost every species of culture.
Peat, pure peat, or the earth of turf bogs, contains very little sand ;
it is a heavy, dead soil, forming, when burnt, a rich manure for cold
inert land ; but in most instances it is adverse to the gardener.
We earnestly advise our horticultural readers to desist from the use
of the term pta^, unless they really mean to express the substance
dug out of bogs and peat-mosses, and whenever this may be the case,
to style \i pure peat.
When the soil of heaths is understood, we recommend the inva-
riable adoption of the term heath mould, and to qualify it by adding
the descriptive words sandy, turfy, or the like, as occasion may
dictate.
We shall close our remarks by referring to another vague and
unsatisfactory title which is given to an earth of a still more com-
pound nature than any we have hitherto noticed. In descriptive
catalogues and horticultural periodicals, we continually meet with
the word rich mould. Now, we ask, what can any one understand
by thf! terms, for nothing can be more general and indiscriminate.
Good garden soil is a rich mould, so is a compost of loam and vege-
table or animal manures. We cannot detect the exact meaning of
NEW VARIETIES OF FRUITS. 339
the writers; but that we may in some degree give to mere empty
sound "a local habitation and name," we shall venture to describe a
soil or compost, which, in our opinion, may merit the name of rich
mould, and be found suitable to the purpose of the gardener in pot
culture. Let one part (say a handful) of pure maiden loam, or the
earth of decayed couch, harrowed from a loamy field, be thoroughly
blended with equal quantities of the soil from decayed leaves of two
years old, and perfectly reduced horse or sheep dung; let these be
turned three or four times during the winter months, and they will
form a uniform homogeneous mass ; the practised gardener will
readily render this compost more or less light by the additions of a
little more loam, or of pure silver sand.
In our future articles upon the propagation of plants, we propose
to abide by the opinions which are expressed above, and always to
employ those terms that we recommend to others ; thus we shall have
made the attempt at least to remove difficulties, and to introduce
simplicity and uniformity of expression, for nothing tends more
directly to confuse and mislead than the adoption of words, which, to
say the best of them, convey a doubtful meaning. — Paxton^s Mag.
Art. IV. — Description of some New and Valuable Varieties of
Fruits. Communicated by William Kenrick.
The following are the descriptions of the new varieties of Pears
which were sent to Paris by Professor Van Mons of Louvain. With
the exception only of the two first, I have extracted them from a very
recent work, lately sent me from France, and from that city, by the
celebrated author, M. Poiteau, entitled " Theorie Van Mons." Nearly
all the descriptions which I now shall offer are new, and have never
been seen in our country before. A good proportion of the fruits
here described have preceded the descriptions, having been sent to
America during the last two years. . W. K.
Wii.HELMiNE. Forme of the Doyenne, skin pointed with gray in
the shade — laved with red next the sun — flesh yellowish white,
beurre — juice abundant, sugary, perfumed. Feb. and March. —
Hon Jardinier for 1836.
Fortume'e. The fruit is large, roundish, flesh beurre, meltiog,
340 NEW VARIETIES Of ft^RUITS.
delicious. This fruit keeps till July, and is the best of all peafs,
according to M. Parmentier of Enghien, who has originated this
fruit or brought it into notice. — Bun Jardinierfor 1836.
Doyenne' d'ExE', V. M. The tree does not resemble that of our
Doyennes, It owes its name to the form of its fruit, which is turbin-
ate, and two inches in height ; the eye is small, stalk thick, short
and fleshy at its insertion ; skin clear yellow, shining, marked with
small red points in the shade, and sometimes slightly washed and
spotted with red next the sun ; the flesh white, melting ; the juice
very abundant, sugary, slightly acid and good ; ripe, end of July and
beginning of August, and the best pear of the season.
Marie Louise Nova, V. M. Originated by Van Mons in 1821
or 1822. The form obtusely conical, swoln towards the base, the
height three inches ; the skin speckled and spotted with red, and
slightly washed with red next the sun, changing from green to clear
yellow at maturity ; flesh white, melting; juice abundant, saccharine,
high flavored. This very fine fruit ripens early in Sept.
M. Poiteau who by permission of Van Mons was authorized to
affix a name to some of the unnamed kinds which were sent to him
at Paris, has renamed this fruit Van Donkelaar, which name I omit,
as Van Mons had previously bestowed the same name upon another
fruit. M. Poiteau seemed also aware of this circumstance. I retain
only the original. Fears had been entertained by him, lest this name
should be confounded with the Marie Louise of former years.
Beurre Witzhumb, V. M. Originated in ISll. Very beauti-
ful, oblong, obtuse ; the height three inches and an half, by three
inches in its transverse diameter ; the eye middling large, a little
sunken ; the skin covered with small points and spots or stains of
red, becomes of a beautiful yellow at maturity ; the flesh is very white,
like our Doyenne; apparently, its season when mature is soon past,
since we were unable to seize on the suitable time properly to judge
of its merits ; but, judging from the name of the celebrated amateur
which M. Van Mons has affixed to this fruit, we must believe it to be
naturally excellent. This magnificent fruit ripens in the former part
of Sept.
SuR-REiNE. Originated by M. Van Mons in 1828. The fruit is
oval, swoln or turbinate, two inches and a half in height, the same
in its transverse diameter ; the stalk an inch in length, and fleshy at
its insertion ; the eye slightly sunk in a regular cavity ; the skin
pointed with red, becoming of a clear yellow at maturity ; flesh white,
{<;EW VARIBTtES OF FRUITS. 341
fine, melting ; juice abundant, saccharine, agreeable. The period
of ripening is the beginning of September. The name would indi-
cate a fruit of pre-eminent good quality.
Ferdinand de Meesteu. Originated by M. Van Mons in 1822.
Fruit oval, swoln, height two inches and an half, diameter the same ;
the stalk six to eight lines; the eye large, in a knobby cavity ; the
skin pointed and marbled with red, stained or streaked with red next
the sun, and changing to yellow at maturity ; flesh white or yellowish
white, half melting, slightly granulous ; juice abundant, saccharine,
high flavored, excellent. Ripe early in September. This fruit, which
deserves to be multiplied extensively, bears the name of the gardener
of M. Van Mons. It has the flavor of the Messire Jean, but its
melting flesh renders it very superior.
FoNDANTE Spence. Originated by M. Van Mons in 1816. The
fruit is very large, irregular, swoln, obtusely formed at summit and
base ; the height nearly four inches by three in its transverse diameter;
the stalk inserted in a cavity; the eye of medium size; skin a beau-
tiful yellow with specks of red, and washed or streaked with red next
the sun; flesh white, fine, melting or beurre; juice abundant,
sugary, highly flavored and excellent. This excellent and very large
pear ripens in the beginning of Sept. and deserves to be extensively
multiplied.
Saint Germain Van Mons. Originated in 1819, in the garden
of the Comte D'Arenberg, from a seedling tree sent him by M. Van
Mons. Fruit not quite so long as the common St Germain ; height two
inches and a half; stalk equally as large, green, and fifteen or seven-
teen lines in length ; skin of a beautiful yellow, pointed and touched
with small spots of red ; flesh white, slightly tinged with yellow,
melting, slightly granulous; juice abundant, sugary, good. Ripe the
beginning of Sept. A very excellent fruit.
Claire. Originated by M. Van Mons in 1824. Fruit turbinate,
swoln ; the height two inches and three-fourths, the diameter nearly
the same; stalk large, eight lines in length: the eyes small, in a
slight cavity; the skin clear yellow, touched with points of red, and
washed with bright red next the sun, in which points of green sur-
rounded with yellow, are interspersed ; flesh white, fine, melting ;
juice very abundant, saccharine, high flavored and excellent. This
Tery superior pear ripens the beginning of September.
Imperatrice de France. Originated by Van Mons in 1809.
The fruit is nearly conical, a little swoln; height two inches and a
342 NEW VARIETIES OF FRUll'Si.
half; stalk fifteen lines, obliquely inserted ; the eye in a narrow cavity J
skin a beautiful yellow, very finely marked with red, and touched
with spots of the same color ; flesh white, melting ; juice abundant,
sugary, high flavored, delicious. This excellent pear ripens the
beginning of September. This pear is considered to be a synonyine
of La, Belle de Flanders or Flemish Beauty of the English, or Le
Brilliant.
Lou;sE DE Prusse (550, V. M.) Originated in 1826. Size and
form of the St Germain : little swoln and not so thick near the stalk,
which is obliquely inserted ; eye equally large, in a slight and regular
cavity ; skin green, a little rough, slightly pointed with red and
yellow at maturity , juice abundant, saccharine, agreeable. Ripe the
commencement of September.
Frederic de Wurtemberg. Originated by Van Mons in 1812
or IS 1 3. Fruit swoln towards the middle of 'its height, which is
three inches and a fourth, and nearly three inches in its transverse
diameter; conical towards the stalk, which is thick towards the base,
and an inch long; eye large; skin smooth, somewhat marbled or
pointed with red, becoming of a beautiful bright red next the sun,
and changing to yellow at maturity in the shade ; flesh very white,
fine, beurre ; juic^ abundant, sugary, delicious. Ripe the end of
September and beginning of October.
This fine fruit, which Dr Van Mons has lately sent to America, is
evidently the same fruit which was formerly sent to Mr Lowell by Mr
Knight, as the Cupiaumont. Judging by the habits of the tree, and
the peculiarity of its leaf and wood and growth, all circumstances
combined, we are perfectly satisfied that the fruit described in the
Po-noloorical Magazine as the Capianmont, which is evidently identi-
cal with that which was heretofore known by the same name with us,
is no other than the Frederic de Wurtemberg. Lately we have also
received from the London Hort. Soc. and from Dr Van Mons, another
\i\m\ ?iS \\\e true Capiaumont ; both specimens being in agreement.
Both kinds we have also received from other sources. Mr De Wael
fully confirms all I have now stated.
Grosse Calebasse, V. M. This is without a doubt the same
fruit which Dr Van Mons has lately sent to America as the Calebasse
Monstreuse. The fruit, which is wonderfjl for its length, is in form
of a cunical calabash ; height five inches and an half, and three
inches and an half in its transverse diameter, which is greatest near
the base ; staJk large, eight or ten Udcs in length ; eye of middle size
PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES. 343
for a fruit so large, round, its divisions large and diverging; skin
smooth, rather shining, of a bright green, changing to yellow at ma-
turity, and covered for the most part with grizly red next the t^un,
and marbled or spotted with the same color in the shade ; flesh white
and moderately finegrained, melting ; juice very abundant, sugary,
sufficiently high flavored. Although not highly perfumed, the quality
is good ; and the Horticultural Society of Paris have also decided
that the quality of the fruit is very good, a recommendation, indepen-
dent of its very extraordinary form and size.
(To be continued.)
Art. V. — On Plants which are peculiarly adapted for plant-
ing in Beds in Masses ; each hind being showy and profuse in
Flotoering. By Flora.
Eschscholtzia calif ornica, yellow. — Grows two feet high ; blooms
from June to September. The seed should be sown in pots in spring,
and placed in u hotbed ; when the plants are large enough, they may
be transplanted into a bed of rich deep soil, where they will begin to
bloom about the first of July ; they will endure the cold of winter
very well, if planted in a bed that has a dry substratum, or if the bed
be raised a few inches higher than the surrounding ground. It is
essential to their endurance of winter, that the roots have a dry soil.
The plants will bloom still more freely the second year. If required,
they may be parted at the roots, and an increase of plants be easily
obtained ; and by this means they may be perpetuated from year to
year. The time when I divide them is about the first week in April.
Scarcely any plant produces a greater degree of splendor than this :
when the full sun is upon it, it makes a complete blaze of color. It
is a most suitable plant for producing a distant eflfect. When it is
planted out in a bed, it requires a considerable number of sticks for
support, or the weak branches will be liable to lie close to the ground,
and then the bloom is not so fine. If planted in single patches, they
should have several sticks placed round, and a string fastened, so as
to keep the flower-stalks tolerably erect; by this attention a neat and
handsome effect will be given. I adopt the use of cross strings, as
well as a circular one, by which means I have the shoots regularly
disposed.
'344 PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES.
Calandrinia grandiflora, — Grows two feet high ; bloom from June
to October. The seed should be sown in pots early in spring, and
placed in a hotbed. When the plants are large enough to transplant,
they should be planted off into small-sized pots, which should be well
drained with potsherds, as this plant is very susceptible of injury from
damp. The soil should be a rich loam, with a portion of sand ; it
should not be sifted fine, but be well broken with the spade. The
plants should be placed in a frame, or other situation where they can
be forwarded. About the first week in May, a bed of rich soil, mixed
with sand, should be prepared. Care must be taken to have the bed
elevated, so that the surface be four or six inches above the level of
the adjoining ground ; and the surface should be slightly rounded, so
as to allow any excess of water, from heavy showers, to pass away.
Unless this precaution be attended to, the plants will most probably
perish, unless an awning of canvas covering be used to prevent it.
The plants should be turned out of the pots with balls entire, and
placed a foot or more apart. If it be wished that their flower-stems
should rise to their highest extent, (viz. two feet,) they may be placed
a foot apart ; but when it is desired to keep them lower, they should
be planted more distant, in proportion to their prostration. The plant
is very well adapted for covering a bed only a few inches high, the
branches naturally inclining to grow horizontally, or even pendulous.
Considerable care is required to keep them well secured, by tying,
&c., in consequence of the shoots being succulent, and very brittle.
When watering is required, none should be given to the heart of the
plant, but it should be poured over the surface of the bed. To pro-
vide against accidents that may arise, it is advisable to have a few
plants kept in pots, in order to replace deficiencies. If a bed is re-
quired to bloom profusely at a late period of the summer, or even in
autumn, seed should be sown at the end of May, or early in June,
and the plants treated in every respect as above directed. The plant
produces seeds in abundance, but it requires some attention to get it
before the capsule bursts. The plants may be taken up and preserved
during winter in a cool, dry frame. In spring, they may be increased
by picking off the leading shoots, thereby causing the production of
laterals, which being carefully taken off, may be struck ; or the main
stem, down to the root, may be divided, so as to have a shoot to each
part. To get them to strike well, a hotbed frame, or stove heat, will
be found useful. When the fine rosy lilac flowers of this very beau-
tiful plant are fully expanded, being produced in vast profusion, and
PLANTS APAPPED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES. 3^45
continuing for so long a season, they make a very pleasing appear-
ance, and never fail to give ample satisfaction.
Nieremhergia phosnicea. Syn. Petunia violacea. — This plant is
one of the most valuable additions to the flower garden, and with
which all admirers of flowers must be pleased. It will bloom con-
stantly in the open border from May to the end of October ; and the
fine rosy purple flowers being produced in vast profusion, render the
plant a most pleasing object. When allowed to grow upright, and
carefully trained, it will rise to six or eight feet high, or even more,
and be liberally furnished with lengthened lateral branches. The
plant is readily raised by seed, which should be sown in a pot early
in spring, and placed in a hotbed frame. When strong enough, the
plants should be transplanted into small pots, using a rich soil ;
and by the end of May, they may be planted out in the open border.
Such plants will rarely rise higher than three feet the first season,
but will produce a vast number of side shoots, and bloom abundantly.
At the end of October, the old plants, if taken up with care, may be
kept in a greenhouse through winter. About the end of September,
slips should be taken off, and struck in heat, which they do very
freely ; ten or twenty may be inserted in a pot, and after having
taken root, they may be kept in a cool greenhouse, frame, or any
similar situation, during winter. If large plants are desired, some of
the cuttings should be potted off at the end of February, using a
rich loamy soil, and well draining the pots. Each plant should have
a stick, to which it should be neatly tied, keeping a principal leading
shoot. These plants, when properly attended to, in repotting as soon
as required, and in training erect, will, if kept in a greenhouse, reach
three or four feet high by the end of May ; and if then planted out,
will reach six feet, or more, by the end of summer. Old plants, that
have survived the winter as above directed, if turned out, will be.
proportionably fine. A bed of this plant looks well, when the plants
are so ranged as to form a cone ; or, indeed, in any shape in which
the middle of the bed is the highest, gradually lowering to the edges.
The plant is admirably well adapted for pegging down to the ground,
the lateral shoots rising from six inches to a foot high. The leading
shoots being prostrate, checks luxuriance, and causes abundance of
bloom. Cuttings taken off in autumn are very suitable for this pur-
pose : they readily bend to the direction desired. Care is required
to have a number of shorts sticks pricked in the bed, to which the
shoots, in the early part of the season, must be tied, being very brittle;
44
346 PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES.
subsequently, however, when there is an abundance of shoots, no
tying will be required, but the sticks are necessary, in order to prevent
strong winds from blowing the plants out of proper form. This plant
is also admirably well adapted for training against a wall, or for cov-
ering a fence during summer : of course proportionably sized plants
must be used to suit the purposes. The flower of the original species
has a dark-colored tube, but a variety has been raised with a lilac
lube : the former is now commonly called N. phoenicea, and the latter
JV. phoenicea var. pallida.
Malope grandiforum. Monadelphia, Polyandria. MalvacejE.
This very showy plant is of the Mallow tribe ; grows two feet to two
feet six inches high. The flowers are produced in great abundance,
and being of a fine rosy crimson, make a very gay appearance, ren-
dering it a desirable plant for giving a distant attracting effect. It
blooms from June to the end of October, unless cut off by frost.
Seed should be sown in pots, early in March, and be raised in a hot-
bed ; or may be sown upon a hotbed, under a frame or hand-glass.
The plants may be set out in the open border by the middle of May.
I find it best to raise them in pots, as I can divide the plants without
injury to the roots, and thus retain all the fibrous ones ; this is essen-
tial for their striking again. Plants that are raised upon a hotbed,
and have the privilege of extending their roots to any desirable length,
run to a great extent. The fibrous roots being very distant from the
stem of the plant, are, in taking up, generally broken off, and it is
difhcult to get the plants to grow again ; if they survive at all, they
are generally very weakly : so that, if rsised on a hotbed, great care
must be given to get all the fibrous roots. The plant blooms most
profusely in a good loamy soil, mixed with a little manure or leaf-
mould. If the soil be very rich, the plant will be liable to grow too
vicrorously, and produce a vast profusion of foliage, which will rather
conceal the flowers; but if moderately enriched, it will produce one
mass of bloom. I find it profitable to give all my flower-beds an ad-
dition of fresh soil every winter, generally adding about two or three
inches deep. If the Malope grandiflora is not desired to come into
bloom befoi'v the beginning of August, the seed may be sown in
March, in the open border where it is desired the plants shall blossom.
The plant produces seed in abundance, which ripens well from plants
that bloom early in the summer.
Bouvardia triphylla. Tetrandria, Monogynia. Rubiaceae. There
are three varieties of this species, viz. Jacquini, glabra, and pubes-
PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES. 347
cens, all of which kinds are very handsome flowering plants. The
flowers are of a fine scarlet, and in shape like the Trumpet Honey-
suckle, and the blossoms are produced in clusters of from six to
twenty in each head ; and some plants which I have a bed of, pro-
duced this season thirtyfive clusters or heads of flowers upon each.
The plant is a native of Mexico, and is usually kept in the greenhouse
in this country, but I am of opinion that it may be found as hardy as
the old Fuchsia coccinea, and stand our winters in this part of the
world. It will, however, be necessary to have it planted where it
will have a very dry subsoil, and likewise to have protection, in winter
over the roots, by means of leaves, tan, or something of this nature.
I purpose trying my bed of plants the coming winter, and the result
shall be forwarded you next summer. I have employed this plant for
a bed for the last three years, and purchased in the first instance, two
dozen plants at Is. 8d. each. I had previously grown this plant,
from which I propagated young ones with facility, but I found that it
required two or three years' growth before they become bushy enough
to make show fit for a bed. I therefore, resolved on getting fine
plants calculated to answer the purpose at once ; and these I obtained
of a Nurseryman, at the above named reasonable charge. The same
plants will successively answer for the length of an age, and in each
season increase in size and beauty. The plan I adopt in the culture
of this plant is the following: — The soil of the bed is composed of
good rich loam, well manured with rotten leaves, a portion of old hot-
bed dung, and charcoal dust, with an addition of river sand. Previ-
ous to laying in the compost, I had the bottom of the bed covered to
the depth of three inches with some small gravel stones, upon which
I had the compost about eight inches deep, the surface being raised
above the walk and grass verge, four inches. On or about the twen-
tieth of May each year, I turned out the plants with balls entire,
except a careful loosening of the outer fibres. I placed them in the
bed, a round one, the tallest in the centre, and lowest at the outer
row, and so close that the plants furnish a covering to the bed, and
when in bloom appear a mass of flowers. I place the plant so low in
the soil that the top of the ball is about an inch below the surface of
the bed. After planting and before watering, I placed from four to
six sticks round each, and to them secured the branches — then water
them freely. The watering was repeated frequently during the sum-
mer season, more particularly the present one, and the plants have
most amply repaid for the attention, nothing exceeding the delicate
348 PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES.
splendid appearance of the flowers, and which continue from June to
October. The plant in the greenhouse attains the height of two feet
or upwards, but in the open bed it does not exceed more than eigh-
teen inches (generally twelve) ; the plant being allowed to root or
spread without obstruction, becomes bushy instead of being drawn
up weakly. About the middle of October, I usually take up the
plants from the bed, and repot them into the same kind of soil, well
draining the pots, and being careful to have fine soil to shake in
among the fibrous roots. I have also kept the plants through winter
by having them planted in a Mignonette box, closely together. In
both instances, I kept them in winter in a cool frame, sunk below the
surface of the surrounding ground, in which for the last two winters
they have kept well. Cuttings strike freely in loam and sand, placed
in a hotbed frame. Suckers are readily obtained, many of them
rooted, which grow readily.
Senecio elegans, Ragwort, or Double Groundsel. Syngenesia,
Superflua. Jacobeae. There are four kinds of this plant, viz. double
red, double crimson, double white, and double flesh-colored. Each
of these kinds will make a most handsome bed. The plant is very
pretty in its foliage, grows freely, and most profusely ; scarcely any
thing surpassing it for a neat and handsome show. It will grow about
18 inches high, and continue in bloom from June to the end of the
season. The soil I grow it in very successfully is fresh loam mixed
with leaf mould, and about eight inches deep, upon a dry subsoil. I
find that when the soil is much enriched, the plant has a tendency
to produce too much foliage ; but, grown in turf, loam, &c., as above
stated, an amazing production of bloom is the result. The plant is
readily increased by slips, scarcely one in a hundred failing to grow.
I raise them in pots, or under hand glasses, in fine sifted loam. They
require winter protection in a dry, cool frame, or green-house. I
usually take off slips in September, and keep them in the cutting-
pots till March, then separate them, and pot into small pots. I turn
them out entire, about the middle of May, into the beds.
(To be continued.)
349
Art. VI. — Culture of Strawberries.
As the time is now approaching, when those who intend to form
beds for raising this cheap and delicious fruit, should make the neces-
sary preparations, a few brief instructions on the subject may not be
unacceptable.
Varieties. — The following are a few of those which rank among
the best and most desirable varieties. Austrian Scarlet, or Duke of
Kent; Grove End Scarlet ; Roseberry ; Keen's Seedling; Methven ;
Old Pine; Red and White Alpine; Bush Alpine. The Austrian
Scarlet is the earliest of known varieties, and is also of excellent
flavor. The red and white Alpine possess the advantage of ripening,
when properly managed, through autumn till winter; we have seen a
dish of good fruit, picked on the first day of December. The bush
Alpine possesses the same advantage, and the additional one of not
spreading by runners; it is not, however, a first rate bearer, nor is
the fruit of the very best (piality.
Propagation. — With the exception of the bush Alpine, which is
only increased by divisions of the root, all the varieties multiply spon-
taneously every season, by numerous runners from the parent plant,
which, rooting and forming a plant at every joint, only require, for
the production of fruit in abundance, removal to a bed where they
may have room to flourish. Such plants will bear the summer suc-
ceeding the planting, and in the second year will be in full perfectiou.
The best way is to supply a new plantation, with plants which have
been taken from runners and set out in nursery beds the previous
season. But where such cannot be had, those of the present season
will answer.
Soil and situation. — Strawberries will grow and produce fruit on
almost any soil of moderate fertility ; but they are most productive on
a deep rich loam. They should be in an open situation, exposed to
the sun and air, and not under trees. The Alpine strawberries, how-
ever, admit of being placed in a more shady situation, as it is during
the hot and dry season of the year that they are intended for bearing;
which they will not do if allowed to suffer from drought ; and few are
willing to take the pains to water them as much as they would require.
Transplanting. — The best time for doing this is in the spring;
but if performed with proper care, they succeed nearly if not quite
as well when transplanted early in autumn, say in the early part of
350 CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES.
Seotember. The ground should be well manured and dug, a month
before transplanting. The chief care required when the work is
done in autumn, is to guard against the plants being thrown out by
frost, which is best effected by treading the soil closely about the
roots.
Culture. — The distance of the plants asunder, where the soil is
rendered sufficiently J ertile, should be, for the larger varieties (such
as Methven and Keen's seedling,) twenty inches from row to row and
fifteen inches in the row; the smaller varieties may be a little nearer
together. This distance may seem too great, but it is much better
than crowding the plants too closely, which is the more common
error. It is only by affording sufficient room for the plants to receive
the benefit of sun, air, and of culture, that the fruit will ripen early,
and acquire a good size and agreeable flavor. Keen, of Isleworth in
England, a most successful cultivator of this fruit, and who raised
the celebrated Keen's seedling, says, in speaking of the large dis-
tances he adopted in planting, — "these distances I find necessary,
for i\\e 'trusses of fruit in my garden ground are frequently a foot
long." The following is his method of culture, in his own words :
" After the beds are planted, I always keep them as clear of weeds
as possible, and on no account allow any crop to be planted between
the rows. Upon the growing of the runners, I have them cut, when
necessary; this is usually three times in each season.* In autumn I
always have the rows dug between ; for I find it refreshes the plants
materially; and I recommend to those persons to whom it may be
convenient, to scatter in the spring, very lightly, some loose straw or
loner dung between the rows. It serves to keep the ground moist,
enriches the strawberry, and forms a clean bed for the trusses of fruit
to lie on ; and thus, by a little extra trouble and cost, a more abun-
dant crop may be obtained. A short time before the fruit ripens, I
always cutoff the rnnners, to strengthen the root; and after the fruit
is gathered, I have what fresh runners have been made taken off with
* Lindley says, in speaking of the Alpine strawberries, "Iflhe runners are
planted out in August or the beginning of September, the beds will be covered
with runners by spring; these should not be removed as directed for the other
classes, because the first and strongest of them will produce frut during the
autumn, and continue in succession to a late period of the season. But a suc-
cession of finer fruit than these is produced by cutting off all the flower stems
as soon as they begin to blossom, from their commencement in spring till the
end of June. By this means a most abundant supply of the very finest fruit is
produced from the end of July till frost sets in."
HEATING BY HOT WATER. 351
a reaping-hook, together with the outside leaves around the main
plant, after which I rake the beds, then hoe them, and rake them
again. Tn the autumn, unless the plants appear very strong, I have
some dung dug in between the rows, but if they are very luxuriant
the dung is not required ; for in some rich soils it would cause the
plants to turn nearly all to leaf I also have to remark, that the dung
used for manure should not be too far spent ; fresh dung from the
stable door, is preferable to spit-dung, which many persons are so
fond of"
In thus recommending a thorough method of culture, we would by
no means wish to discourage those who have not yet attempted raising
this excellent fruit, and who think they cannot afford to adopt such
culture, from attempting it altogether; indeed, if proper varieties are
obtained, good crops may be had with little or no care after trans-
planting; we have known beds almost untouched for years to yield
plentifully. Nevertheless, we consider the cheapest method, ulti-
mately, of raising this fruit, is by thorough culture; that the greatest
amount of fruit is obtained in this way for the care and labor ex-
pended, and that the quality is so much superior to that obtained from
slight culture, as to give the former practice very decided advantages.
When the beds have much diminished in their product, new plan-
tations must be made to supply their place. This generally takes
place in four or five years. — Genesee Farmer.
Akt. VII. — Notices of Heating hy Hot Water. By the Con-
ductor.
The American Gardener's Magazine for July, 1836, contains " a
Descriptive Notice of Mr Hogg's new Method of Heating by Hot
Water. By A. J. Downing, Botanic Garden and Nursery, Newark,
N. Y." It consists of a strong, iron-bound wooden cask, air tight,
except through the tubes in which the hot water is circulated. This
cask contains the furnace, and serves as the boiler. Within the
boiler is a conical cast-iron furnace for burning anthracite coal, with
a grate and ash pit below as usual.
" The great improvement," it is stated in the article alluded to,
" in the present apparatus consists in placing the furnace in the midst
352 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
of the body of water, which completely surrounds it," &c. It is
stated also that the apparatus has been tried with success, and added,
" We believe Mr Hogg, Junior, is about patenting his excellent inven-
tion, and we cannot refrain from expressing our conviction that it will
(jointly with other systems for heating by hot water), in a measure, if
not entirely, supersede the common brick flues, so drying to the
atmosphere of plant-houses, and so deleterious in the escaping smoke
to the plant themselves."
There is ingenuity and plausibility in Mr Hogg's invention, but with
regard to its novelty and the utility of surrounding the furnace with
water in contact with the metal, we have some doubts. Tredgold, an
eminent English engineer, in " A Treatise on Warming and Venti-
lating Rooms," page 121,* has the following passages: " Some have
imagined a great effect would be gained by having the fire within the
boiler. It is a very old scheme (see Birch's History Royal Society,
vol. 1, p. 173.) Smeaton adopted it in his experimental engine, Re-
ports, vol. 1, p. 225, and Trevithwick for his high pressure engine.
But the plan is not so good as might be supposed, because the gene-
ration of steam takes the heat too rapidly from the fuel for perfect
combustion to take place."
In order to burn anthracite to advantage, it is necessary to give it
a very hot fire bed, which cannot be obtained if the pot or vessel in
which the coal is placed for combustion is surrounded by water; for
hot water will not only put out fire, but cool red hot iron to many
degrees below a red heat.
Art. VTil. — Massachusetts Horticultural Soeiety.
Satdkday, July 30, 1836
The following Report was made by the President of the Society.
I have the pleasure to lay before the Society two communications
from M. Emilien de Wael. This gentleman, it will be recollected,
was the bearer of letters to the Society from Dr Van Mons and M.
A. Poiteau, accompanying a donation of books, received a short time
since. Mr de Wael is an amateur cultivator, and the Secretary of
the Horiicultural Society of Antwerp ; he is now on a tour of the
* This work is in the Boston Atheneum.
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 353
United States for scientific purposes, connected with Entomology and
the examination of the marine plants of our country, and I have to
congratulate the Society on the addition to its list of corresponding
members of the name of an individual who is not only qualified, but
who is entirely disposed to subserve its purposes at Antwerp, located
as he is, in a country to which Horticulture, so far as pomology is
concerned, is indebted for more numerous and valuable acquisitions,
than to any other.
Mr de Wael's remarks on the results of various experiments
made in Belgium to protect the Morus Multicaulis from the effects of
cold must be interesting to those who are endeavoring to protect that
plant from the severity of our own winters ; it is desirable to know
what is now considered the best method of cultivating it in other
countries ; for it is by a careful collation of facts, connected with its
culture abroad in aid of the actual experiments making here, that we
may hope shortly to overcome every obstacle to the extensive cultiva-
tion of that invaluable plant.
Respectfully submitted by
ELIJAH VOSE, Pres. Mass. Hort. Soc,
Boston, July 25, 1836.
Since 1 have been in this country I have heard of several com-
plaints, chiefly from the Hartford Mulberry tree planters, of the diffi-
culty experienced the last two years in making the Morus Multicaulis
stand your winters well.
This kind of mulberry is easily acclimated if a proper mode of
culture be adopted in the places where it is planted.
In Belgium, the winters, notwithstanding they are not so severe as
yours, often give us great trouble, and the influence of the cold was
repeatedly experienced on these Mulberries, which were often killed
down to the roots.
The late J. Le Candele of Humbeck, near Brussells, suggested
the idea of having different modes of experiment adopted in distant
places. And the one which proved most efficient, was to cut down
yearly, the Morus Multicaulis, in the same manner as is done with
willows in a Salictum, that is to say, at a few inches above the soil,
and to cover the remaining trunk with dead leaves ; in three or four
years, the roots being stout enough, they did not require any more
covering. From the buds preserved on the plants, fine and hardy
shoots came forth, giving larger and more lively leaves to feed the
silk worms upon.
45
054, HORTICULTURAL SOCJETlf.
It has been since stated to me in a letter from Batavia, (island of
Java,) that this mode of culture is much in use near Manilla and in
China, not on account of the cold, but in order to keep the Morus in
a shrubby state, which affords greater facility for gathering the leaves
in the season when desired. There the mulberry seems to be planted
in fields as Indian corn is here, — in the fall of the year the plants
are deprived of their branches, the number of which is continually
increasing, and growing in one season from five to eight feet — which
growth is fully equalled by our own. I would advise a similar exper-
iment in this State; it might, perhaps, answer well.
Most respectfully, your ob't servant,
EMILIEN DE WAEL.
To Hon. Elijah Vose, Pres. Mass. Hort. Society.
A communication was also received from M. Soulange Bodin, of
the garden at Fromont.
EXHIBITION OF FRUITS.
Pears, by Mr Downer — A branch loaded with Petit Muscat pears,
an early but on other accounts not a very desirable variety.
Gooseberries, by Mr Walker — Roaring Lion, Hopley's Globe,
Crown Bob, Viper, Lancaster Lad, Golden Lion, Whitesmith, Bank
of England, and a Seedling of a dark green color — all fine speci-
mens.
By John Hovey, Roxbury — Whitesmith, Princess Royal, Hopley's
Globe and Red Lion — large and fine.
By Mr J. L. L. F. Warren, Brighton — Roaring Lion, very large.
Currants, by Mr Walker — A specimen of a Red Seedling of fine
promise, the foliage very large and of a deep green color, with long
clusters of fruit — the berries of good size.
Melons and Squashes — Two Musk Melons and one Squash, were
exhibited by Mr Warren.
For the Committee,
E. M. RICHARDS.
Saturday, Aug 13.
The contributors were Messrs Wilder, Breck, Mason, Winship,
Sweetser and S. Walker.
Among the new things was a seedling Dahlia from Messrs Hovey,
raised from seed of the Lord Liverpool, resembling a good specimen
of Barrett's Susannah. Mr Breck, a very large and very double seed-
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETV. 355
ling. Mr Breck has about two hundred seedlings which he expects
will bloom this season.
By Mr Thomas Mason — a fine bouquet.
By Mr E. A. Story, from Messrs Winship — A large collection of
herbaceous, and other flowers.
From Mr Dennis Murphy — Dahlia, var., auemoneflora rosea.
By Col. M. P. Wilder — Dahlias, var., (beautiful) Metropolitan,
Calypso, Inwood's Ariel, Dennissi Coccinnea, Levick's Shannon, fine,
Cedo Nulli, fine, Dennis' dueen of Whites, Wells' Paragon, Bella-
donna, British Q,ueen, Erecta, superb color, Dutchess of Bedford,
extra fine scarlet.
By Mr Samuel Sweetser — Dahlias, var., King of Yellows, (Brewer's)
Dennissi, Coccinnea, Laura, Lady Sefton, Purple Globe, Lady Camp-
bell, Foster's Premier, Othello, fine, Granta, Lass of Richmond Hill,
Chancellor, Yellow Turban, King of Whites, Cassina, Crimson Globe,
dueen Dahlias, Belladonna, Marchioness Lothain, Duchess of Bed-
ford. Some of the above were extra fine flowers.
From Hovey & Co. — Andromeda, Amanda, Agrippina, Rubri-
cunda formosa, Dutchess of Bedford, Emperor of the Yellows, Sul-
phurea perfecta. Beauty of Sheffield, Albion, Jaune Insurmountable,
Barrett's Susannah, fine, Springfield Rival, splendid specimens, Para-
gon of Perfection, Lord Liverpool, Widnall's Rising Sun, do. Perfec-
tion, do. Enchanter, Brewer's Rival King, Lord Liverpool seedling,
fine.
By Samuel Walker — Dahlias, var., Groombridge's Matchless,
Fanny Kemble, Queen of Belgium, Atropurpurea, Globe flowering,
with bouquets.
For the Committee,
S. WALKER.
Saturday, Aug. 20.
The display of Flowers was very fine to-day; our tables were
crowded with Dahlias and other pretty things from Mr William E.
Carter of the Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Messrs Hovey of Boston,
Mr S. Sweetser of Cambridgeport, Mr O. Everett, Jr. of Boston, Mr
Johnson and Mr Mason of Charlestown, and Samuel Walker of
Roxbury.
Among the seedlings this day presented, we noticed two Dahlias
by Mr Mason, one called "Bunker Hill" and the other the " British
Crown" ; we shall say nothing about either of these until we see fur-
ther specimens.
356 MORTICULTUEAL SOCIETV.
The seedling Lobelia cardinalis var. alba, by Mr Carter, we woaid
recommend to the attention of our friends and the lovers of new and
pretty things. We understood Mr C. to say that a plant of the L.
cardinalis var. alba, was brought to the Botanic garden, Cambridge,
some few years ago, which was propagated and sent out to applicants
as often as a duplicate plant could be obtained, and so great was Mr
Carter's desire to accommodate and gratify the admirers of Flora
with a plant of his " new comer" that he left himself with so small a
plant, or rather with a piece of a plant, that it died, notwithstanding
it was under his care.
Mr C. consoled himself for the loss of his favorite, as he had saved
some seeds, which he had recourse to, and fully expected to be able
to renew the variety in his own garden, but in this he has for years
been doomed to disappointment. The plants from year to year have
showed some of the original properties of the mother plant, viz. —
the stems and leaves of the plants were of a much lighter color than
the common var. of L. cardinalis. We mention these facts that
others may hope with perseverance like that of Mr Carter to be suc-
cessful.
Mr Carter also presented three new seedling varieties of Phlox,
which with only one exception we consider are equal if not supe-
rior to anything in this country. Magnolia grandiflora, Hedychium
gardenarium. Dahlias var., Teucer, Augusta, Miss Pelham, Daphne,
Amanda, Le Brilliant, Queen of Dahlias, fine Paphilia, William IV.,
Atropurpurea, Queen of Wirtemburg, seedling of Wirtemburg.
From O. Everett, Jr. Boston — Dahlias var., Rose d' Amour, Daniel
O'Connell, Levick's Commander in Chief, Agrippina, Shannon.
From Mr Johnson — Dahlias var., Granta, Angeline, Harris's
fulginus.
From Mr S, Sweetser — Dahlias var.. Lovely's Earl Grey, Lady
Sefton, Granta, Foster's Premier, large and fine. Calypso, Lady Grey,
King of Yellows, Dennis' Queen of the Whites, Jason, Negro Boy,
Springfield rival, King of the Whites, Paragon of Perfection, Duke
of Devonshire, Countess of Liverpool, Emperor of the Yellows,
Widnall's flora, do. Phillis, do. Chancellor.
From Mr Mason — Dahlias var., Transcendant, King of the Yel-
lows, Springfield Rival, Countess of Liverpool, King of the Whites,
Bonny Dee, White tea-sented rose, Viola purpurea and alba, Carna-
tions, &C. &/C.
By Messrs Hovey & Co. — Dahlias, var. Hermione, very fine, Cede
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 357
Nulli, Lord Liverpool, very fine, Rose d'Amour, Belladonna, Lady
Sefton, Amanda, fine, Agrippina, good. Queen of Dahlias, Paragon
of Perfection, Springfield rival, extra, dueen Bess, Coronet, Jupiter,
Negro Boy, Countess of Liverpool, extra, Dennissi, very fine. Rosea
Alba, La Inapproachable, Widnall's Clio, do. Queen of roses, do.
Virginia, do. Perfection, do. Rising Sun, fine^ do. Enchanter.
From Samuel Walker — Dahlias var.. Lord Liverpool, Globe, floH^-
ering, Agrippina, Brown's Ophelia and Le Brilliant, Viola seedling.
For the Committee,
S. WALKER, Chairman.
Saturday, Aug. 13.
Pears, by Mr Manning — Madeliene of the Pom. Mag., also Beauty
of Summer of Cox.
Plums, by John Warren of Weston — Warren's seedling Plums, an
oblong dark blue or purple fruit, of medium size, valuable for its early
maturity.
Raspberries, by Thomas Mason of the Charlestown vineyard —
Mason's seedling, which has been more particularly described in the
former exhibitions.
For the Committee,
WILLIAM KENRICK.
Saturday, Aug 20.
Pears, by Mr Manning — Rousselet Hatif of Coxe, an excellent early
fruit, of a fine musky flavor, and very productive; Fine Gold of sum-
mer, two specimens, one from a very vigorous tree in cultivated
ground ; Green Chissel ; also the Robine, or August Muscat as re-
ceived by him ; a small, pale, musky, breaking fruit, not recom-
mended ; another fruit, name unknown, handsome.
By Mr Downer — Fine Gold of Summer ; another fruit name
unknown, pleasant and astringent; also the Bloodgood Pear, a fruit
of middle size, oblong, of a rusty color, not handsome, but a fine
flavored early fruit.
Apples, by Mr Downer — Sopsavine, also Juneating, so called, a
middle sized, green colored fruit, of a flattened form, much resem-
bling the Early Harvest, but of evidently superior as a dessert fruit.
Plums, by Mr Bartlett — Italian Damask, very fine, large, hand-
some and productive.
By Mr Downer — A small early fruit, very sweet and good, a pro-
ductive kind.
358 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Apricots, handsome specimens, believed to be from the Messrs
Hovey.
Grapes. Handsome ripe specimens, both of Black Hamburg and
Chasselas, by Mr Mason of the Charlestown vineyard.
For the Committee, WILLIAM KENRICK.
Saturday, Aug. 27.
Pears, by Mr Manning — Skinless, or Sans Peau, a small, produc-
tive, fine old fruit; Summer Melting, a fruit so called, the original
name being lost ; a good sized fruit, but somewhat mealy ; another
fruit which was received from Burlington, N. J., as the Bellissirae
d'Ete, an old and very indifferent fruit, compared with many others
of modern date.
Apples, by Mr Vose, President of the Society — Early Red June-
ating, also Shropshirevine or Sops-of-wine and Early Harvest, all
handsome.
By Mr Richards — Red Juneating, Curtis' Early Striped, Shrop-
shirevine or Sops-of-wine, Early Harvest, and a kind without name,
a small, pleasant, striped fruit ; also Early Bow, a fine, large, well
known, sweet fruit.
By James Eustis of South Reading — The Simonds Sweeting, a
handsome, red, good fruit.
By Mr Manning — Red Astrachan, Calville Rouge D'Ete, Summer
Rose, a handsome white fruit with a pale blush, of good flavor.
Plums, by Mr Pond — Corse's Nota Bena, Catalonian Plum, Pond's
Seedling, large and handsome but not mature ; Apricot Plum, ripe
and very fine; Duanes Purple Plum, very large and fine.
By Mr Manning — Italian Damask, a fruit heretofore spoken of as
always productive, large and excellent.
Green flesh Persian Melon, presented by Mr Haggerston, from
Belmont, and the splendid conservatory of Mr Cushing. The fruit of
delicious quality. The seeds of this superior melon were distributed.
For the Committee, WILLIAM KENRICK.
Saturday, Aug. 27.
The contributions of flowers were very large, and the specimens
unusually fine. The praises bestowed by the visiters generally, on
the rare specimens of plants from the conservatory of J. P. Cushing,
Esq. of Watertown, are in themselves sufficient to show in what high
estimation such fine flowers are held; and it is but due to Mr Hag-
gerston, who presented the specimens, and who has the charge of
Mt Cushing's garden, to state, that, the flowers spoke in a language
GARDENEa's WORK. 359
much more powerful and eloquent than we can do in words, that he
is not only a master in his profession^^ but that he is a lover, an atten-
tive lover of those beauties of nature which have been committed to
his care. Several specimens presented by Mr Haggerston, were in
the highest state of perfection, among which we noticed Combretum
purpureum; Passiflora quadrangularis ; Hibiscus rosa sinensis; Ne-
rium oleander; do. pleno ; Cerbera thereta ; and a double flowering
Alth sea from China. Dahlia's var. Barrett's Susannah; Granta;
Uueen of the Dahlias (fine); Springfield rival (fine); Dennisii ;
Widnall's Adonis ; Passiflora alba ; Rose d'amour ; and Harriet Mar-
tineau.
From S. Sweetser, of Cambridgeport, nineteen varieties of Dah-
lias.
From Col. M. P. Wilder, of Dorchester, twentyeight varieties of
Dahlias.
From Hovey & Co. twentyeight varieties of Dahlias,
By Mr J. Locke, of Andover, a fine specimen of Alcea nigra.
From Mr Dennis Murphy, of Roxbury, a variety of choice flowers.
From Mr Thomas Mason, of Charlestown, a very splendid bouquet
which was much admired. Dahlias, var. King of the Yellows ; King
of the Whites; Dennisii; Globe: Magnet; Picta formosissima ;
Countess of Liverpool ; Bonny Dee , Transcendent ; Rose Constan-
tine, and Seedlings Bunker Hill and British Crown.
By Samuel Walker, of Roxbury. Bouquets, Violas, Dahlias, var.
Lord Liverpool ; Agrippina ; Belladonna ; Queen of the Yellows,
and Globe flowering.
For the Committee.
S. WALKER, Chairman.
Art. TX. — Gardener's Work for September.
Earth up celery as it advances in growth, but be careful in all
cases to avoid covering the hearts of the plants. Perform this
work in a dry day, and be careful not to bruise the stalks, which
would cause them to rot. Select the ripest and best seeds from such
plants as are most forward and vigorous, and you will improve your
breed of vegetables in a manner similar to that by which the breeds
S60 gardener's work.
of cattle are improved by the celebrated European breeders of cat-=
tie. New and improved sorts of wheat and Indian corn as well as
of peas, beans, dtc. &c. have been introduced, by observing among
growing crops some individual stalks, pods, ears, d&c. distinguishable
from the rest by a greater degree of luxuriance, productiveness, ear-
liness, or some other peculiarity, gathering and preserving them ex-
clusively for seed till sufficiently multiplied for propagation on a large
scale.
Turnip 'plants. The time for the first hoeing of turnips is when
the leaves as they lie spread on the ground are about the size of the
hand. But if the weeds are numerous and grow rapidly they should
be cut or pulled out before the plants arrive to that size, lest they
should be drawn up slender, and acquire a feeble and sickly habit.
It is said in Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, that dusting
rows of turnip plants, when they are in the seed leaf is effectual in
preventing the depredations of the fly. " A bushel of quick lime,"
according to that work, " is sufficient to dust over an acre of drilled
turnips, and a boy may be soon taught to lay it on almost as fast as
he can walk along the drills. If the seminal leaves are powdered in
the slightest degree it is sufficient, but should the rain wash the lime
off, before the turnips are in the rough leaf it may be necessary to
repeat the operation if the fly begins to make its appearance."
Pull and preserve your ripe onions. To preserve onions through
the winter they may be tied together, forming what are called ropes
or bunches of onions, and kept in a dry and cool cellor. Moisture
rots and warmth causes them to vegetate. A considerable degree of
cold will not injure them, for they resist frost in consequence of a
spirituous substance of which they are in part composed. Searing
their fibrous roots with a hot iron will prevent them from sprouting.
Fruit Trees. If, in looking over your orchard, you perceive any
limbs overburthened with fruit, you will do well to pick off a part, or
put props under the limbs, or perhaps do both. In most cases when
time can be spared it will be advisable to pick off the supernumerary
apples, peaches, &.c. " No error," says Mr Coxe, " is more univer-
sal than an anxiety for early productiveness in an orchard. It is gen-
erally obtained at the expense of much eventual profit and of a great
diminution of the size and vigor of the trees. Believing early fecun-
dity to be injurious to the vigor and perfection of plants, I am always
attentive to pluck from the trees these evidences of early maturity in
the first stages of their existence "
THE
AND
GARDENER'S MAGAZINE.
OCTOBER 1, 1836.
Art. I.— On the Culture of the Tulip. By W. J. P.
As I emerged from the dawn of my admiration of flowers, the
Tulip formed a prominent feature, and each successive bloom strength-
ened and confirmed my devotion to the cultivation of that lovely flower,
not forgetting or neglecting the Carnation, Pink, Ranunculus, Auri-
cula, &C., which may justly rank among the "beauties of the crea-
tion."
Numerous inquires having been made upon the subject, I am induc-
ed to make the following detailed observations on its culture, conceiv-
ing that it may be instructive and acceptable to those who ardently
admire the flower, — are doubtlessly wholly or nearly unacquainted
with the general treatment and nature of the plant, and are desirous
of obtaining information on the subject.
Soil. — The standard of soil for the Tulip should indisputably be a
strong, rich yellow loam, laid open and exposed, previous to using, to
the action of sun and air, for at least one winter and one summer,
turned over every few weeks, by which means it becomes thoroughly
decomposed and divested of all acrid and rank qualitiife, and in a
state congenial to the natural order of the vegetation of the plant.
Manure. — There is upon this point some little difference of opin-
ion, even amongst the oldest and most scientfic growers of the present
day ; but it is, I believe, admitted by a very considerable majority of
the most inveterate fanciers, that the intermixture of manure upon
the undermentioned principle is decidedly beneficial, and is acted
upon with the utmost success. It should be equal proportions of
horse and cow dung, laid up in a heap for at least eighteen months,
46
363 ON THE CULTURE OP THE TULIP.
turned about once a month, but in frosty weather more frequently, in
order to allow the frost well to penetrate it, as it must not on any ac-
count be applied to the Tulip bed until it has become completely
pulverised, and formed positively into a substance as fine as mould,
when it is entirely freed from every pernicious or injurious property,
and the existence of insects is nearly or wholly annihilated. Then
the application of one-third part of such manure to two-third parts of
loam as above described, will — I speak from the most certain results
of experience and adoption — be found highly beneficial in producing
a fine full green foliage, a strong upright stem, and a vigorous and
perfect bloom.
The Bed — should be about 4 feet wide, of a length proportionate
to the quantity required to be planted, varying from 12 to 15 feet in
length, planting seven in a row, the outer root to be about 3 inches
from the edge. The box, as it is termed, to be composed of strong
wood, not less than one inch and a quarter thick, and raised 10 or
12 inches from the surface of the ground, below which the soil should
be completely removed for at least one foot, filling up about one-half
of the space so dug out with some rather large cinder ashes, or clink-
ers, or brick rubbish, or any substance which will not adhere closely,
in order to admit of a good drainage under the bed^ then over that
fill up the remaining space upon a level with the regular surface, or
bottom edge of the boarding or box of the bed, with a good dry mel-
low loam, which has been exposed some months to the air; and then
proceed to fill the box with the composition above described, it being
first well mixed and united together, to within about an inch of the
edge on each side, and raised gradually from each side towards the
centre, so that the middle row will be some inches higher in the
ground than the outside rows, although planted the same depth, being
careful to plant the largest and tallest growing roots in the centre, and
the next size in proportion in each of the other three rows, the small-
est or shortoet being outside. Round my bed, when thus arranged,
I put a neat, lightly constructed, open green fence, made of one foot
single laths, not too close together, and painted green, so that it stands
just one foot high above the upper edge of the box of the bed, gives
a neat, finished and ornamental appearance to the bed, and forms a
material protection to the growth and bloom of the plants. When
the Tulip stage is then erected over, and properly covered in the
blooming season, the bed assumes a regular and handsome appear-
ance, and forms no inconsiderable scene of attraction.
ON THE CULTURE OF THE TULIP. 363
Planting. — The time to be selected for this purpose is from the
latter end of October to about the 12th of November, choosing durino-
ihat period the most open, dry weather, as that description of soil
ivhich is used for the growth of the Tulip cannot be disturbed with
facility except when at least moderately, if not nearly dry ; indepen-
dent of which, it must be found more inconvenient to plant (as very
many persons do) a bed of several hundred roots in wet, heavy
weather. I judge it, therefore, of much advantage to avail myself of
the earliest time above stated,, if the weather be fine.
Dibble, or Dibber, as it is termed. — The best that I have ever
seen or heard of is one which several friends and myself make use
of, which is made of block tin, about 6 inches in depth, 3 inches in
diameter across the top, narrowing to the bottom to about 2 inches,
with a mark or piece of solder outside 4 inches upwards from the bot-
tom. This has a strong handle projecting over the top, sufficiently
circular and large to be convenient to the hand, and each extremity
soldered well on the outside, near the top or upper rim of the dibble.
The material advantage derivable from this dibble is at once explained
and easily and quickly comprehended, inasmuch as by this method
the bed (being well settled and prepared for planting, and marked
out for the number of rows intended) is qot at all compressed and
disturbed,, because by gently pressing and turning this dibble round
until the mark above described reaches the surface of the bed, every
hole is made the precise and equal depth (4 inches) throughout the
bed, sufficiently large at top to admit of the hand to plkce the root
regularly at the bottom ; the dibble, as described, being smaller at
bottom than top, retains the earth, which is quickly turned out into
large garden pots, or on a bed or border close at hand ; and then after-
wards the roots, when in, can be covered, and the holes filled ^with
the same soil as was taken out, raking the bed over lightly and regu-
larly with a fine rake or spade, to settle the earth firmly and properly.
This is, by all who have seen and used it, admitted to be the most
perfect and convenient system. It is also an additional advantage to
dib the holes a week previous to planting, by which means the soil is
well exposed and sweetened, and the bulbs are afterwards less liable
to the attack of insects. Previous to putting in the roots, it is a great
advantage, and universally adopted by those initiated in the treatment
of Tulips, to put a table-spoonful of " sharp sand" in the hole. This
is the surest preventive of the attack of the earthworm, or any insect
whatever, and preserves many a sickly or damaged bulb from rotting.
364 ON THE CULTURE OF THE TULIP.
From the time the Tulip is planted until the latter end of March
or beginning of April, little or no attention is required, where the bed
is constructed on the principle above described ; but at that time, as
the buds advance in grovi^th, they are more or less susceptible of in-
jury from frost and particularly a superabundance of wet. With a
bed of choice Tulips, then, it is highly advisable, if not indispensable
that a temporary awning or covering, by means of large hoops and
canvas, should be thrown occasionally over the bed, to protect it, as
much as practicable, from heavy rains, hail-storms, sharp cutting
north-easterly, &c. winds, and the chance of sharp frosty nights,
which not unfreqnently occur at this season. There are many beds,
however, in which the choicest varieties are cultivated, that have no
such temporary protection afforded them ; but by being properly rais-
ed and drained as above described, the root is kept in a vigorous,
healthy state, and the buds sustain in general but little injury from
such mischances.
Bloom. — In the beginning of May, when the buds become suffi-
ciently matured, and begin to display their various stripes and tints,
it is time to prepare to place the upper or main awning over the bed,
which on a regular stage is so constructed as to admit of being drawn
up at pleasure by means of a roller with pulleys on each slope, so that
sun and air can be admitted or excluded as occasion requires, without
which conveniejjce the bloom can never be retained so long or in so
much perfection y observing always to give the advantage, if possible,
of very early morning sun, until the flowers are all in full bloom, and
by all means the refreshing air after sunset, if not too cold; but the
flowers to be wholly protected from the weather, and particularly the
operation of the sun and wind, with those exceptions. If the season
has been dry, and the weather be hot, the plants when in full bloom,
will probably exhibit symptoms of drooping ; it will then be necessary
to apply water moderately and cautiously between the rows, by means
of a fine rose watering pot.
When the bloom is completely over, let the covering be wholly
removed, be the weather what it may, and the plants fully exposed.
When the foliage and stem have become sufficiently brown and with-
ered, which will be about the 25th of June, by which time the root
matures and becomes in a state of rest, take up the roots cautiously
with a rounded trowel, strong, being careful not to touch or cut the
bulbs ; separate the largest offsets, and place them in a dry room or
shed, where the air has free access constantly, but totally away from
ON THE CULTURE OF THE TULIP. 365
the effects of sun or fire. When the bulbs are dry and hardened,
(isay in abput a week or ten days,) place them carefully away until
the time of replanting.
The method adopted by many famous Tulip bloomers, who have
many hundred named roots to tako care of, is to have shallow boxes
or drawers, with divisions or partitions in each, only large enough to
hold one root in each ; they contain seven holes or divisions from
front to back, and may be made any width that is fancied. These
rows are numbered from one progressively, by which means the roots
are placed in them in that order as they are taken from the Tulip bed.
The Tulips are of course planted in the precise order in which they
are arranged and written down by name in the Tulip book, and if
any mistake or error is discovered in the course of the bloom, the book
is then corrected. So the roots are taken np and disposed in these
boxes, by which means the book and the boxes agree as to order, and
any alteration or variation of roots for the subsequent planting can be
made at pleasure.
But as this, though a most superior and convenient plan, may be
found objectionable on the ground of expense and trouble at first (as
these boxes or drawers should, to be complete, be fitted into a case or
frame, after the manner of a chest of drawers, with open ribbed sides
and back, and kept in an airy, dry room, away from sun, and where little
or no fire is kept,) the best method that I am aware of, in the absence
of some such convenience is to put the roots singly in what is termed
technically " small hand" paper, one root only in a piece of paper,
one root only in a piece of paper, with the name of the Tulip written
on it. This is the best paper that can be procured for the purpose,
being soft and pliable, and not liable to injure the shoots of the bulbs
previous to planting.
Offsets — Should be planted about three weeks earlier than the
parent bulbs, and tolerably close in proportion to their size, with a
layer of sharp sand under them, and covered about two inches with
fine sifted soiL
The whole body of soil for the main bed should be first passed
through a screen or coarse sieve.
I have never known or heard of Tulips treated somewhat upon the
above principle, with reasonable attention that ever suffered to any
material extent from insects or v/eather. — Floricultural Cabinet.
Art. II. — On the Propagation of Annuals, ^c. by Cuttings.
By the Author of the " Domestic Gardener's Manual," C. M. H. S.
Arc annual plant is supposed by most persons to produce its flowers
and fruit (the seeds), and then to perish ; and it is treated accordingly.
The seeds are usually sown in the borders during the months of March
or April, and nine-tenths of the young plants perish by grubs and
worms, or by the acerbity of the ever-varying season. They who
have the good fortune to possess some erection where a little extra
heat can be furnished, frequently produce early plants ; and these are
placed in their allotted situations by transplanting, aud thus fulfil the
original intentions of the gardener. Things must remain pretty much
as they have always existed ; and as long as underground enemies
continue to live and propagate, we must be content to submit to losses
and vexations. There is a way, however, of counterplotting the
attacks of every common enemy, by striking, during the months of
September and October, such choice annual plants as it is desirable
to preserve throughout the winter, and to retain for the production of
seed or of cuttings very early in the ensuing summer. I have proved
that Balsams can be struck in the autumn, and be made to flower in a
short time ; the cuttings may be taken oflf any joint just below the
leaves, and of any length ; they strike almost immediately in common
soil. Balsams, however, can scarcely be retained during the winter,
owing to the absence of light. Schizanthus will strike by cuttings
six inches long, and flower. I have one by me now, that I caused to
take root in August, in loam and sandy peat, without the aid of a
glass ; it produced bloom in October and November, but failing to
bear seeds, it remains a stout and healthy plant, with two'^ branches,
Clarkia can be struck and preserved, so can Calliopsis (late Coreop-
sis) of several species. I mention a few only of the many beautiful
annuals that can thus be preserved, even in a well protected cold
frame of turf, with a good glazed light. The object is not one per-
haps of much importance ; and the subjects themselves do not appear
very ornamental during the dead months, but they mai/ prove very
useful even to the gardener ; and to ladies, and to young people of
taste, the practice of raising, or of trying to raise, plants by this pro-
cess, a fund of rational entertainment and some instruction, may be
procured. Of biennial and herbaceous subjects, such as Calceolaria
integrifolia, angustifolia, rugosa, — Salvia of many kinds. Wallflowers,
some Stocks, &c. &/C., numbers may be struck, and kept in health lor
VALLOTA PURPUREA. 367
early transplantation. A cold frame, a green-house, or even a sitting-
room window, will afford to many plants ample protection, which
would all be lost unless they were annually renewed by seeds.
The soil for such cuttings may, in general, be good border earth,
or maiden loam and decayed vegetable matter blended in nearly equal
proportions. If single plants be raised, a small pot should be filled
thus, above a good stratum of drainage, and then a hole being made
two inches deep in the centre of the mould, with a round stick, silver
sand, to the depth of half an inch, is to be poured into the hole ; upon
this, place the base of the cutting, keep it in the middle of the hole,
and fill that up with the same sand ; shade the plants till they appear
to have adapted themselves to their situation, and stand firm and erect,
or cover them with small glasses. In raising a stock of plants, Mr
Mearns' method may be tried. Put the soil into a broad and rather
deep pot, so deep only that the cuttings, when planted, shall not quite
reach its rim ; then make as many holes as there are cuttings — apply
sand as above directed, and finally cover the top of the pot with a
suitable piece of flat glass. A gentle sprinkling may at first be given
over the surface of the soil, and this should be kept rather moist, but
not wet; air ought to be freely given when the plants appear firm.
As the roots emerge, they readily reach the soil, which circumstance
I think is more conducive to their safety, than the removal would be
from a bed of pure sand into separate pots of soil. If these few loose
hints — for such only they are, — lead to any inquiry, I shall be happy
to furnish every kind of information within my power, — Floricultural
Cabinet.
Art. III. — Notice of Vallota Purpurea. With some RemarJcs on
the General Cultivation of the AmaryllidecB. Communicated by
XIOPE.
Perhaps no genus of plants affords to the botanist and the florist, a
more splendid group of favorite individua's, than the old Linnasan Am-
aryllis, which in later times has been so properly and remarkably
subdivided into a great many distinct genera. Whether we glance
at the antiquated Narcissus pseudo narcissus plenus, with its mon-
strous and distended yellow petals, which with a daring hardihood
expands even from beneath the snow under some warm exposure, in
368 VALLOTA PURPUREA.
some old fashion garden, a fit companion to the venerated paeony ; or
stop to admire the poet's narcissus of purest white and with " crimson
tipped" nectary, or pass hastily by these humble individuals to gaze
with unfeigned admiration on the gorgeous display from tropical spe-
cies,— now struck with the unique beauty of Neria radiata, the ele-
gance of Amaryllis belladonna, the magnificence of the Brunovigise,
the 'singularity of the Hsemanthi, the grandeur of Crinum in its
species, amabile ; or tired with these, recur to the few species
of our own country, pleased with the pretty Zephyranthes sta-
masco, (the flower of the west wind) or with the purity of the fine
Pancratium rotatum, both of the South : — from the early nodding
snow drop (Galanthus) and its sister, the later summer snow flake
(Leucopium) of the garden, to those more tender and costly varieties
which floriculture has produced in almost endless profusion, there is
the same feeling of delightful interest manifested in their singularly
beautiful economy. The " lilies of the field" convey to our minds
pleasing emotions. They are clothed with that magnificence and
beauty which nothing can exceed. Generally inhabitants of the
tropics, they serve a great end in adding to the floral luxuriance of
nature, which is then especially displayed. Thriving according to
their habits in almost every species of soil, they adorn the rich humid
shades of almost impenetrable forests, or the dry arid waste.
Agreeable to a correct and praiseworthy taste fcr the riches of
Flora, the introduction of some of the finest Amaryllideae, into our
private greenhouses and conservatories in this vicinity is becoming
quite prevalent. Rare and noble species are now thriving with that
success,which evinces a thorough knowledge of their worth and method
of cultivation. Though we do not expect to create a thorough reform
in the taste of our floricultural friends, nor were it even possible
would we, at least to the extent of our own, yet we could wish to see
more real species and less created varieties, and a still greater number
of genera. Thus Nerine sarniensis is by no means so common as it
should be, and as its real beauty recommends its adoption ; the Hae-
manthi are comparatively scarce plants; Leucopium vernale and au-
tumnale are seldom seen ; — while the gaudy and vivid varieties which
Colville and other eminent cultivators have introduced into fashiona-
ble notice, are better known than the more solid and attractive origi-
nal species from which they sprung.
A beautiful and very easily cultivated species is the rather common
Vallota purpurea, herb. Its specific is a poor description of its real
ON WATERINe PLANTS. 369
eolor; not an unusual circumstance in descriptive botany. Instead
of purple it is rather reddish scarlet. Surmounting a long scape, are
usually five or six large upright flowers, which expand nearly at the
same time, and are of long continuance. We know of no Amaryllis
so easily grown and flowered as this, not excepting the incomporable
A. formossissima. If kept perfectly dry during the winter, its season
of rest, and watered profusely when in a state of growth, it will re-
ward the cultivator with a rich display of flowers. The best soil is a
light and good compost of rotten leaves and sand. From its ease of
cultivation it recommends itself to indoor and parlor growth, where
the greenhouse is not convenieut. Judging from the strength and
vigor of the development of its leaves, it is not unlikely that in a
stove and furnished with constant moisture, an uninterrupted display
of flowers might be produced. This is the case with several of the
Amaryllideae, a mode of practice, however, not much admired, we
suspect, by some of our best gardeners ; and when applied to other
less vigorous kinds of the plants, must, ia the end, prove highly det-
rimental.
Art. IV. — On Watering Plants.
If you fear dry weather, do not defer too long before you water, but
do it gently before the earth is too dry, consideration being had to the
depth of your roots, and those that are deepest water most ; and when
you begin to water continue it as long as you find occasion.
Use not well water, for tender plants, for it is so strained through
the earth or rather barren sands or rocks, and for want of the sun so
chill and cold, that having no nourishment, rather the contrary, doth
more hurt than good ; Rivers that run quick and long on sharp gravel
are little better, but if you are forced to use such, let it stand some time
in tubs in the sun mixed with dung.
Let the quantity and quality of the dung mixed with the water, be
according to the nature of your plants; if your plants be great grow-
ers and require heat, then put horse dung in your water ; if your wa-
ter be bad then put dung in to help it ; let it stand in the sun and
open air uncovered : if your plants be fine and tender, then put sheep
or cow's dung, deer or asses' dung into the water ; the worse the
ground and more barren be sure to put in the more dung. Take
47
370 ON WATERING PLANTS,
care you water no plants with standing stinking ditch water, nor no
water that stinketh ; for sweet water, (not too clear) and fresh mould
(not musty or tainted by stinking weeds) is as proper for tender plants
as sweet and good food, warm and clean lodging for tender and fine
bred persons.
Rain water is very good if not too long kept, but if your vessel be
large, the oftener you stir it the longer it will keep sweet.
Large and navigable rivers, that receive much soil by washing streets
and the many sinks that run into it, and which by its own motion doth
cleanse itself from that which is noxious, both to man and plants, is
an excellent water for all sorts of plants.
The larger the ponds be, the better the water is for plants, the open-
er to the sun the better, the more motion they have, by horses washing
in them, or geese and ducks swimming, 'tis so much the better.
Water all seeds with the smallest or rain like drops you can, and
not too much at a time or too fiercely, lest you uncover them.
For flowers and plants whose leaves lie on the ground, water them
at some distance, by making a hollow circle about the plant and pour-
ing water into it, by which means you avoid annoying the leaves by
discoloring water, or chilling the roots by too sudden coldness.
Use not any liquors, for watering either naturally hot as spirits, or
artificially made so by heating over the fire.
In summer time or all warm seasons, the evening is best for water-
ing, because the water will have time to sink into the earth, and the
plant attracts it, before the sun's heat exhales it; but in winter or
cold weather the morning is the proper time, that the superfluous
moisture may be evaporated ere the cold night overtake you, and chill
perhaps kill a tender plant.
A plant that delights in moisture, or a drooping plant that you think
water will preserve may be watered by filtration, i. e. set an earthen
or wooden vessel on a brick full of water near your plant, that all
water may be higiier than the earth ; wet a thick woollen list, put one
end with a stone or bit of lead to it into the water, that it may keep
to the bottom ; lay the other end on the ground near the root of the
plant, and the water will distil out of the bowl or pot through the list,
because that part of it out of the pot of water, hangs lower than that
within, &LC.
All sorts of fibrous roots are assured in their growth by convenient
watering ; but for bulbous and tuberous roots, the Gardener's hand
ought to be more sparing. — Gleanings from Old Authors.
ON FLOWERING DUTCH BULBS. 37*1*
In the above extract no mention is made of watering over the fo-
liage. To newly removed plants it certainly is most beneficial, and
very much promotes their growth. Tn smoky neighborhoods, water-
ing or syringing over the leaves, in dry weather, cleanses them from
soot and dust, and enables them to perform their proper functions
with vigor. It must, however, be carefully boriie in mind, that the
top watering can only be safely performed when the sun has left the
plants in the shade. The only plants that I am aware of that form
an exception to this rule are the Chinese Chrysanthemums, the foliage
of which is very much benefited by being watered in the blazing sun.
In dry weather I always remove plants in the evening, and water them
well overhead, and which I continue to do, at the same period, so long
as appears necessary.
Art. V. — Directions for the Flowering of Dutch Bulbs in Pots
or Glasses. By Mr Saml. Appleby, Florist, &lc. Doncaster.
Hyacinths may be planted iii pots from the latter end of October
until December. The soil used should consist of about one-third of
white or river sand, and the remaining two-thirds equal proportions
of vegetable mould and loam. The pots should measure about six
inches across the top. When the bulbs are planted, the pots are to
be lightly filled with earth ; then the bulb maybepla«?;ed in the centre
and pressed into the earth, so that it may be about half covered. —
After this, the earth should be made solid all round the sides of the
pot, to fasten the root. When the bulbs are thus potted, they should
be removed into a cool place, in order that they may become well
rooted before the tops shoot up. Much light is not necessary at this
period ; indeed, this deprivation of light causes them to root more
quickly than they would otherwise do. For the first fortnight or
three weeks after potting, they may be placed upon a shelf in a shed
or a cellar, or in any other convenient place, providing it be cool. —
Little water is also requisite; once watering, immediately after the
roots are planted, being sufficient, if the situation is tolerably damp
where the pots are placed.
If the stock of bulbous roots, such as Hyacinths, Narcissus, Early
Tulips, &c., be large enough to occupy a small frame, the pots
may be put within it after planting, and they may be covered a
373 ON FLOWERING DUTCH BULBS.
few inches deep with rotten tan, or any other light material. The
pots will soon become well filled with roots, and the shoots produced
by bulbs previously well rooted will be stronger, and the flowers larger
than if they had been put in a warm and light situation. When they
are rooted, a few may be introduced occasionally into the room win-
dow or on the mantel-piece, if there be sufficient light. Light is
quite essential when the tops begin to grow. By this means a succes-
sion of flowers may be had during the greater part of the spring.
If it is wished to bloom Hyacinths in water glasses, — the glasses
should be filled up with water, but not so high as to come in contact
with the bulb. Too much moisture before the roots protrude might
cause the bulb to decay. The glasses may be put in a light, but cool
situation, until the roots are grown half the length of the glass, at
least. The longer the roots are before being forced into flower, the
finer the flowers will be ; and when rooted they may be kept warm or
cool, as flowers are required in succession. The flowers will not put
forth even when the glasses are filled with roots, if they are kept in a
cold place. The water should be changed about twice every week,
and rain or river water is better than spring water. Although the
practice of growing bulbous roots in water is common, it is by no
means preferable to growing them in earth. There are many failures
when bulbs are grown in water, which are chiefly caused from their
being more liable to rot before they begin to emit roots than when
grown in soil. Keeping the bulbs quiteelear of the water is a partial
but only a partial preventive. Another cause is, that when the roots
have attained some length they frequently decay, and the loss of the
flowers is the consequence. Should success attend the growing and
blooming of the greater part of those placed in water-glasses, the
bulbs will be good for nothing afterv^ards, but those grown in pots
might be planted the year following in the garden, and they would
make pretty border flowers for several years.
Similar treatment to that now described is required for the large
rooted Narcissus whether in pots or glasses.
To force early Tulips in pots, they should be placed about three or
four in each pot, just within the earth, which may be of the same sort,
and the management of the same as recommended for Hyacinths and
Narcissus.
Crocuses will force well. They should be planted near together,
say from ten to twenty in a pot, according to its size. Let them root
naturally after planting, before they are forced into flower. They re-
quire similar treatment to the preceding.
ON PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES. 373
In order that bulbous roots which have been forced shall not be
quite exhausted, they may be planted in the garden with the ball of
earth entire, as soon as the flowering is over, if the weather is favora- W,. '^J'
ble. They will thus mature their roots and leaves, and be strength-
ened sufficiently to bloom again the following season. If bulbs are
neglected when their flowering season is over, they will not recover
such neglect for a considerable time, but if carefully placed in the
garden till their leaves became yellow, when the root will be matured,
they may then be taken up and kept in a dry cool place until they are
wanted the following season for planting. — Cabinet.
Art. VI. — On Plants which are peculiarly adapted for'planting
in Beds in Masses ; each kind being showy and prof use in Flower-
ing. By Flora.
[Continued from our last.]
Commelina caelestis, Sky-blue Commelina. Triandria, Monogynia.
Comraelineae. The splendid blue flowers of this plant cannot be ex-
celled, and its profusion of blossoms renders it deserving of cultiva-
tion in every flower-garden. With me the plant blooms from the
middle of June to October. The roots are tuberous, and keep well
through winter, if taken up after the blooming season, and preserved
like Dahlia roots. Plants from the old roots grow, in good soil, from
three to five feet high ; those from seeds reach only from one to two
feet. The following is the mode of management I have practised for
the last two seasons : — I fixed upon a circular bed, eight feet in
diameter ; and in the first week in May I planted four feet of the
centre with the old roots, placing the crowns just under the surface
of the soil. The outer portion of the bed I planted with spring-sown
plants, that had been raised in pots placed in a frame. Both the
roots and plants were planted about six inches apart, Thus the cen-
tre of the bed being much higher than the outer part, the appearance
was that of a splendid blue cone of flowers, scarcely to be excelled in
beauty. Seeds are produced in abundance, and may be obtained of
seedsmen at a small cost.
Salvia angustifoUa, Narrow-leaved Sage. Diandria, Monogynia.
Lahiatse. This very fine blue flowered Salvia is a most charming
plant. The fine azure blue flowers are produced in profusion, and
the plant not growing higher than from a foot to half a yard, renders
ON' I*1AWTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES,
it a great favorite. It merits a place in every flower-garden . The
plant is a herbaceous perennial, and increases by division, or by cut-
tings of the young shoots, taken off close to the old wood, and struck
in heat they root freely. It is a native of Mexico, also of New Spain,
growing in dry elevated situations. It thrives abundantly with me in
the open border during summer. I plant it out at the end of April,
in a bed of rich leaf mould and loam. It begins blooming in June,
and continues to the end of the season. I then take up the plants,
and preserve them in pots or boxes in the greenhouse, or cool frame
through winter. A bed of this lovely plant, growing near the follow-
ing named species, makes a very pleasing contrast.
Salvia Cardinalis, syn. S. splendens rubra, S. fulgens. Diandria,,
Monogynia. Labiatse. This very splendid flowering Salvia was first
raised in this country, in the garden of the Earl of Egremont, Pet-
worth House, Sussex, from seed received from Brazil ; and in conse-
quence of its extreme beauty, free flowering, ease of propagation^
and its hardy habit, few plants have spread more rapidly and exten-
sively through the country than this. It is a most valuable addition
to the ornamental plants of a flower garden, or pleasure ground, and
will keep in bloom from June to November, or even later. The plant
is readily increased by cuttings, taking ofl" the young shoots, when
about six inches long, cutting them off" close to the mother branch y
they will root very easily at any period of the year, by placing them
in moist heat. The cuttings should be inserted as soon after being
taken from the old plant as possible, for if kept out of water or soil a
short time, they wither and do not often recover. The plan I pursue
with this plant is as follows. Strong plants will usually grow about
five feet high ; I therefore select a bed of tolerable size, that will
correspond with the height of the plant. Having done this, I take
the old plants for the centre of the bed, and young plants struck
either in autumn or early in spring, for the outer portion of it. These
latter plants feather down close to the edge of the bed, which gives
the whole a very striking appearance. The soil is composed of one
half fresh turfy loam, well enriched, and in order to give this addition .
to the bed I remove some of the old soil. Fresh soil is very essential,
as there will be a much greater profusion of flowers with it than oth-
erwise, it amply repays for the extra trouble. At the end of the sea-
son, I take off" a lot of cuttings, and strike them in a frame. The
young plants at the side of the bed, I take up and place them closely
together in large garden pots, or a box, leaving the plants about half
ON PLANTS ADAPTED FOR PLANTING IN MASSES. 375
a yard, or two feet high ; these I preserve in a cool frame, or if room,
in a cold part of the greenhouse. I planted out a bed of this plant,
and pegged them down, at the time of planting out early in May. —
The points of the shoots took an erect position, and formed flowering
spikes about a foot high. The bending of the stems checked the
growth of the plants, and caused them to flower in so dwarf a man-
ner. I adopted this method, in order to have the plant low enough
to correspond with contiguous beds of dwarf plants, and it fully an-
swered my expectation. I turned out some three or four years' old
plants into the shrubbery border, and they made bushes of six feet
high, and the same in diameter. These have stood the two last win-
ters, in the open air, and bloom profusely each summer; but the
spikes of flowers are not so luxuriant as are produced on the younger
plants, which I use for the centre of the bed in the flower garden.
Verbena chamcedrifolia, Germander-leaved. Synonym, V. Melin-
dres. Scarlet-flowered Vervain. Didynamia, Angiospermia. Ver-
benacea. This plant is a native of Buenos Ayres, growing through
a very extensive tract of that country. The dazzling, brilliant, scarlet
flowers cannot be exceeded by any other plant yet introduced into
this country. And blooming from April to November, in the open
air with us, makes it one of the most desirable plants in cultivation.
It is found to survive the two last winters in this country, but I fear
will not be sufiiciently hardy for a severe winter. It has been found
diffiult of keeping through the winter, even protected in a pit
greenhouse ; I find that old plants taken up and potted, generally
suffer from the operation and die; and that if runners are potted off"
into small pots, as late as October, they rarely survive the winter. —
By the following method I have, however, succeeded admirably, both
in cultivating and keeping it through the winter, both in doors and
the open air. The plant required a fresh soil, well enriched with
vegetable manure, or rotted hotbed dung. In the centre of a small
flower garden, I had a pyramid of turfy loam and dung, raised six
feet high ; and at the end of April I planted it with the Verbena, one
small plant every six inches, and gave them a good watering at the
time, in order to settle the soil at the roots. The plants flourished
amazingly, and throughout the summer I had a splendid scarlet pyra-
mid. Very little water was ever required, even in the drought of the
present summer I had them in full flower. Where there is an
unsightly wall, and it is wished to conceal it, nothing could do this
more pleasingly and effectually than throwing up a sloping bank of
376 COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS.
soil, and planting the Verbena. From the success of my pyramid I
am confident it would be a pleasing and striking object. In aflat bed
of this plant, I find it does not flower very freely during summer, un-
less the bed have a substratum of drainage made of broken pots,
stones, &c. ; and it is impossible to keep it through a mild winter in
the open air, without a good drainage, the cold damp of the soil des-
troying the tender roots. I find that the plants survive the open air
on the sunny side of my pyramid remarkably well ; and some plants
which had grown on a rockwork also endured the winter without any
injury whatever. From these circumstances, I am persuaded, it re-
quires a dry situation for the roots through winter, and if this be
attended to it will answer. With a small flat bed I had, I placed a
willow hurdle, (an old hamper lid,) about six inches below the surface
at the time of planting, and at the end of October, I took up the
plants and soil entire upon the hurdle, and placed it in a cool part of
my greenhouse, and it continued to flourish through winter. Early
in March, I took off a considerable quantity of side shoots and rooted
runners, potted them into small pots (60's,) and put them into a hotbed
for a fortnight ; they struck into the soil immediately, and furnished
me with an abundant supply for planting out of doors in April. I
tried to keep young plants through winter in small pots, but could not
succeed with any that were taken off the old plant later than the last
week in August.
Art. VIT. — Collections and Recollections.
Effects of Heat and Moisture on Plants. — In the economy of
bulbs and tubers, nature teaches a state of repose, aud a preservation
of vital energies as most conducive to future vigorous development,
experienced in the cultivation of the tulip, the hyacinth, and many
others. In the whole of vegetation, the important agencies of heat
and moisture are well known ; the former working chiefly by expand-
ing, the latter floats the nutritious matter into the minutest ramifica-
tions. Thus, the end of a creeping rose-shoot introduced into a hot
house, will grow several inches while not a bud moves on the plant
outside. In its own more fervid climate. Yucca gloriosa displays its
honors from the elevation of a stem : while in the open air in this
country, the stem remains latent in a bulb. Thus, their conjoined
COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. 37^
agencies may be traced in the revival of the fading blossoms of a
nosegay, by the addition of a little hot water to that already in the
glass. ^ Rep. of Di'ummond's Ag. Museum, 1834.
Anagallis Webbiana. — This plant never thrives if it be crowded
amongst other plants. It is always better to strike young plants every
year : the old ones seldom thrive more than a year. Cuttings taken
off at three joints, and planted round the sides of a pot, and plqnged
in a gentle heat, will strike roots readily.
Plumiera Rubra. — This beautiful stove plant succeeds best in
rich light loam, and requires but very little water at any time, but
it must be kept very dry when not in a growing state, which will
have a tendency to t!now it into flower. It is propagated by cuttings,
which should be laid to dry for a while, like those of Cacti, and after-
wards either struck in tan, or planted in pots.
Effect of Iodine upon Germination. — A series of comparative ex-
periments have been made by M. Canter upon the germination and
vegetation of plants moistened with water, solution of chlorine, and
solution of Idione, the latter of equal density. The following are
his conclusions : 1st. Iodine is generally more effectual than chlorine
in facilitating the germination of seeds; 2d. Iodine produces this
effect by stimulating the germen of the seeds in the same manner as
oxygen and chlorine; 3d. Iodine is absorbed by the growing plant,
but its affinity for hydrogen and the power of vegetation is soon con-
verted into hydriodic acid ; 4th. The germination of seeds, which
appear to have lost all vital powers, may frequently be excited by io-
dine. — Rep. Pat. Invent.
Planting Evergreens. — In planting evergreens in winter, a dull,
calm day answers very well, but in autumn or spring, a moist rainy
day is the best. Whether planting be done in a dull day, a wet day,
or a dry day, it is very necessary to keep in view the expediency
of keeping the plants for as short a time out of the ground as possi-
ble ; if only a few minutes, so much the better: and in all cases
when it can be done, where great numbers are to be planted, we
should, if possible, have some men stationed to take up the plants,
others to carry them, and a third set to put them into the ground. In
all seasons, situations and soils the plants should be well soaked with
water, as soon as the earth is put about the roots. — MNab on Plant-
ing Evergreens.
48
378 COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS.
Spontaneous Movements of Plants. — In Megaclinium fulcaturn^
the labellum, which is connected very slightly with the columna, is
almost continually in motion ; in a species of Pterostylis, there is a
kind of convulsive action of the labellum ; the filaments of Oscilia'
torias are continually writhing like worms in pain ; several other con-
fervas exhibit spontaneous movements; but the most singular case of
the kind is that of Hedysarum gyrans. This plant has ternate
leaves ; the terminal leaflet, which is larger than those at the side,
does not move, except to sleep ; but the lateral ones, especially in
warm weather, are in continual motion, both day and night, even
when the terminal leaflet is asleep. External stimuli produce no
effect; the motions are very irregular, the leaflets rise or fall more or
less quickly, and retain their position for uncertain periods. Cold
water poured upon it stops the motion, but it is immediately renewed
by warm vapor. — LindL Bot.
Cephalotus. — The most striking peculiarity o£ Ccphaluius con«
sists in the conversion of a portion of its radical leaves into ascidia
or pitchers. But as ascidia in all cases are manifestly formed
from or belong to leaves, and as the various parts of the flower in
phaenogamous plants are now generally regarded as modifications of
the same organs, the question is naturally suggested, how far the form
and arrangement of the parts of fructification agree in those plants
whose leaves are capable of producing ascidia or pitchers. The four
principal, and indeed the only genera in which pitchers occur, are
Nepenthes, Cephalotus, Saracenia and Dischidia, and the few other
somewhat analogous cases, consisting of the conversion of bractese or
floral leaves into open cucuUi, are found in Marcgraavia, and two
other genera of the same natural family. The only thing common to
all these plants is, that they are Dicotyledonous. It may also be re-
marked that in those genera in which the ascidia have an operculum
(lid), namely, Nepenthes , Cephalotus and Saracenia, they exist in
every known species of each genus, and the structure of those genera
is so peculiar that they form three distinct natural families ; while in
Dischidia, whose pitchers are formed without opercula, these organs
are neither found in every species of the genus, nor in any other genus
of the extensive natural order to which it belongs. — Philosophical
Journal.
Floral Phenomenon. — At the green-house of Mr Wm. H. Gardner
in this town, arranged among numerous members of the Cactus fam-
COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. 379
liy, is a fine specimen of the Grandiflora, or night-blooming Cereus
This very curious plant, it is well known, is exceedingly economical
in the production of its blossoms, and not less modest and coy in their
exhibition. It rarely produces in the course of any one season, more
than a single flower, never, we are told, more than two or three; and
generally, after a season of unusual fecundity, it remains entirely bar-
ren during a period of three or four years. This infrequency of
bloom has led some persons unacquainted with the respective plants,
to confound it with the flowering Aloe or century plant, to which it
has no manner of physical resemblance, and which is said to blossom
but once in a hundred years. On the evening of the 21st inst. the
only flower upon the specimen above mentioned began slowly to un-
fold ; at midnight it was fully expanded ; at five on the following
morning it began to contract, and at seven had closed itself, never
again to open. At the greatest dilation, it measured 21 inches in
circumference, and 5 3-4 inches in depth ; the calyx was a splendid
gold color, and the petals perfectly white. It emitted a frao-rance
similar to the odor arising from the preparation called Turlington's
balsam, with perhaps a somewhat sweeter scent. The appearance of
so rich and beautiful a flower, springing without a leaf of any descrip-
tion, directly from a naked, thorny stalk, forbidding and almost hide-
ous in its aspect and structure, is what constitutes a portion of the
singularity of this unique vegetable; its property of blooming in the
night is another peculiarity.
A reflective mind may gather sundry moral lessons, and profitable
withal from the strange contrasts thus displayed, — how that objects
both animate and animate, may sometimes exhibit the humblest, ru-
dest, most unpromising exterior, and yet possess inherent qualities
capable of ripening into glorious results : how that misfortune, infirm-
ity, afiliction, may eventuate in comparative prosperity and happiness
— for
" Sweet are the uses of Adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomus,
Bears yet a precious jewel in its head" ; —
how that those virtues which shun exposure to the broad glare of day,
are most apt to command the world's admiration ; and that the bright-
est deeds are often shrouded in voluntary obscurity — there being still
on earth some glorious spirits, who
" Do good by stealth, and blush lo find it fame."
380 HORTICULTURE IN MAINE.
On the occasion just noticed, in common with many gratified visi"
ters, we had an opportunity to observe the progress of the phenome-
non, now occurring for the first time in this place; and would add
that Mr G. is always happy to welcome his friends, to a view of his
extensive collection of floral rarities, his garden and grounds being
accessible at all times. — Nantucket Inq.
Art. VIII. — ' Horticulture in Maine.
We are always pleased with the progress of Horticulture, in what-
ever section of the country it may appear. It gives sure evidence of
a correspondent improvement and refinement of taste in the individu-
al or community who cherish and cultivate this interesting pursuit. —
As we have recently visited the cities and some of the flourishing
villages of Maine, we present to our readers a few hasty sketches of
what fell under our observation, and more particularly struck our
attention.
The approach to the city of Portland by water, is highly pictur-
esque and beautiful. Nature has done everything for the place. Its
situation on a promontory is well known. Its appearance as we pass
the fort, is perhaps equal in beauty, to any other city in the Union.
Nor are our expectations disappointed as we perambulate its streets ;
many of them are profusely adorned with shade trees, which appear
to be an object of some importance to the inhabitants if we may
judge from the number that have been put out within a few years. —
Attached to many of the residences, are neat gardens, though not
extensive ; some of them we had the pleasure of visiting.
The garden of M. P. Sawyer, Esq. contains the only green-house
of any note in the city or vicinity. This we visited, and found Mr
Milne, who has charge of it, a man well skilled in his profession,
and an ardent admirer of flowers. There are two houses upon it. —
The first a cold house for peaches and grapes, fiftythree feet long.
The trees and vines were planted in it about the 20th June, 1835.
The peach and some other trees are trained to the wall in a fine man-
ner, and will probably produce fruit another season. The vines were
in a highly healthy and luxuriant state, and though they were so re-
cently planted, yet they were loaded with fruit, mostly the Sweet-
water and Chasselas. Mr Milne states that he had made liberal use
of liquid manure, applied to the roots.
KORTICULTUUE IN MAINE. 381
The other building is a common green-house or conservatory, fifty
Feet long, devoted in part to grapes. We saw here in abundance,
large rich clusters of the Black Hamburg, St Peters and other varie-
ties ; also a choice collection of green-house plants including a few
measllias.
Very thrifty Isabella and Sweet-water grapes covered the garden,
laden with fruit, but so unpropitious is the season that to all appear-
ances very little of it will ripen.
In the garden are about fifty varieties of the finest pears, many of
them in bearing state ; also a good assortment of fine plums. We
saw some fine gooseberries and bushes trained to a trellis. The
climate is good for gooseberries and plums ; but the peach is not
successfully cultivated without protection, and is not often attempted.
The garden is finely laid out, with gravel walks and box. edgings,
and adorned with a profusion of flowers, among which were some
good seedling dahlias in great perfection. Plants o^ Lobelia cardina-
lis, the most perfect specimens we have ever seen, enriched the col-
lection of herbaceous plants. Mr Milne stated that he had raised a
great abundance of melons in some decayed hotbeds we observed in
a corner of the garden.
We visited another garden where preparations are making for the
erection of a green-house of respectable dimension, to be completed
this fall ; at this place we saw some fine flowers, but not in great
variety.
We were highly gratified with the opportunity we had to visit a
lady's garden, which though a small one, was perfect in its kind,
kept in fine order and displaying much taste in its enthusiastic pro-
prietor. She has the greatest collection in a small space we have
ever seen. Here were some fine dahlias ; we recognised among
them Dennisii, Widnall's Jason, Fulgida perfecta, and other fine va-
rieties.
The Dahlia is as yet but little cultivated in this city ; we occasion-
ally see them of inferior sorts, decorating the courts and gardens of
some of the houses, but there appears to be but few amateurs who pos-
sess the new and more popular varieties of this charming flower. From
the eminences at the west and east ends of the city, there are some
splendid views of the city, harbor and surrounding country. We
noticed with pleasure, that most of the vicinity of Portland was
highly decorated with numerous shade trees, in groves, groups, and
single, which the good taste of the proprietors of the soil have spared
S8SI HORTICULTURE IN MAINE.
as yet. Near the city is an extensive, and one of the finest groves
of oaks we have ever seen. There are some fine residences and
weJl cultivated gardens about Portland, but as a general thing they are
much below our expectations, and fall far short, in point of cultivation
of the environs of our own city. With the exception of apples we
saw but little fruit in Westbrook ; horticulture appears to be rather in
the back ground here, as well as in other towns about the city ; but
from small beginnings we witnessed in many places, we feel confident
that it will assume that importance in the minds of the community
that it deserves. The country from Portland to New Gloucester is
not very interesting ; there are, however, some fine orchards of apple.
The premature frost which had taken place a few nights previous had
cast a gloom upon everything, destroying upon low and level places
corn, beans, vines, &c. The hills were in a great measure preserved
from its destroying effects.
In New Gloucester there is a succession of fine orchards of thrifty
apple trees, interspersed with a few plums and pears, and here and
there an effort to raise a peach. Between this place and Danville we
passed a large tract of land, where there had been a prodigious waste
of timber and wood. For a number of miles, the land on either side
of the road, was covered with huge logs, partly burned, lying in
every direction, having the appearance of an attempt to cultivate a
few years since, but abandoned and left to grow up to a thick brush-
wood or second growth. In some places attempts were making to
subdue, reclaim, and convert it into fruitful fields, and was undergoing
the process of burning, piling logs, extracting stumps, dtc.
To those who are accustomed to all the refinements and luxuries of
modern horticulture the prospect is a cheerless one of converting
nature's wilds into blooming gardens and luxuriant orchards. We
saw in operation a stump extractor, an excellent instrument for raising
and moving stumps. In a wild country they must be of great im-
portance to the agriculturist. Where there is a scarcity of stones,
stumps are much used for fences, and when properly laid, make not
only a fence which man or beast cannot have much inclination to
pass, but durable, and in our estimation not unpleasant to the sight.
Danville is situated on the Androscoggin river, opposite to Lewis-
ton. Here is an immense water power, sufficient it is said for sixty
large cotton mills, of Lowell dimensions. What a hw years ago was
a lonely wild, is now growing up into a lively flourishing village; the
sound of the hammer is heard in every direction, giving evidence of
its increasing prosperity, and importance. Amid all the bustle at-
HORTICULTURE IN MAINE. 383
tendant upon the rapid rise of a new village, it gave us pleasure that
it does not engross the whole mind of some men, who are most deep-
ly interested in the plan ; but that some attention has been paid to the
introduction of fine fruits. We were shown a fine collection of pears,
cherry and plum trees from the Messrs Winship's nurseries, planted
the present season, most of which were in a flourishing condition;
al^o fifty rods or more of hawthorn hedge, planted at the same time.
The pear when properly attended to in this country produces abun-
dantly. We were told by a gentleman in this place that he had pur-
chased in a neighboring town, St Michael pears at tlie low price of
seventyfive cents per bushel. He further stated that this old and
highly esteemed variety had not deteriorated as it has done in the
vicinity of Boston — but was showing some symptoms of decay. We
would recommend to the lovers of fine scenery the inspection of
Lev.'iston falls, which when the river is not too low, forms an im-
posing and grand sight.
On the route from Lewiston to Augusta we passed many fine or-
chards, the trees bending with fruit. In no part of Massachusetts do
we see a greater quantity of apples, than are to be found in this re-
gion, especially in the towns of Monmouth and Winthrop : the qual-
ity of them is not so good, a greater proportion being natural Iruit.
Very little attention appears to have been paid to the more delicious
fruits. We saw a few fine looking pear trees, some plums, but no
cherries. The only fruit in Augusta market of any consequence,
was apples, and these not of the best quality. The country, for
twenty miles west of the Kennebec river, is very fine. We passed
numerous excellent farms, whose proprietors we should infer from out-
ward appearance, are men of independence. The Ruta Baga is cul-
tivated by many of the more thriving looking farmers, and better
crops we never saw. The town of Winthrop is adorned with a num-
ber of large and beautiful ponds. We noticed that these ponds had
protected the corn from the ravages of the frost. In one place in
particular we observed that on the west side of a large pond, corn,
potatoes, 6i^c. were as green as ever, while on the opposite side, every-
thing was seared. At first, this appeared unaccountable, until we
learned that the wind on the night of the frost blew from the east.
Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner are villages of importance, pleas-
antly situated on the Kennebec, and places of considerable business.
Augusta, the scat of government, appears to be the most flourishing.
Some taste is exhibited in many of the courts and gardens, and in
384 HORTICULTURE IN MAIN£.
some we saw the Dahlia in perfection. There are no gardens of any
great extent in the place.
The vegetable garden of Mr J. C. Steward, attracted our attention.
He informed us his leisure hours only had been devoted to it, and
while it has been a relaxation and source of pleasure, it has also
afforded him considerable profit from the sale of early cucumbers and
other productions, for which a ready market was found at the neigh-
boring hotels. We were shown a few Isabella and Sweetwater
grape vines, with fruit in good condition, and tomatoes trained to the
garden fence ; cabbages, and other vegetables very fine. We were
pleased with the taste and industry of the proprietor, as exhibited in
the perfect order and neatness of the garden — and we could wish
that his example was more generally followed by our mechanics and
tradesmen ; we think it would conduce much to their health and
comfort, should a few of the spare moments under the control of
every one, be directed to the cultivation of the useful and ornamental
in the few rods of ground they may have in possession. The hours
spent in the garden seemed not to have interfered with his profession
in his shop. We do not recollect of ever having seen a barber's shop
neater or in better style ; instead of the usual uncouth and vulgar
prints which too often disfigure the walls, we found here a well select-
ed assortment of maps, which to the traveller are much more inter-
esting and profitable ; and as to other accommodations we can only
recommend the passing stranger to call and see for himself Our
stay was so short at Hallowell and Gardiner, that we had but little
time for observation, and were somewhat disappointed in not being
able to visit the garden and green-house of Robert H. Gardiner, Esq.
of the latter plaee, who, we understand, takes the lead in horticulture
in this vicinity.
We spent an hour at the dam now building across the Kennebec,
half a mile above Augusta bridge, as the greatest curiosity of the
place. On account of the severe drought, the present time is very
favorable for its construction. It is said of the rivers generally in
Maine, that they were never known to be so low as they are now. It
was an interesting sight to look down from the high banks of the
river upon the numerous workmen, to the number of six or seven
hundred, on the dam and the bed of the river below. The banks of
the river are faced up with solid masonry. The water is to be taken
out on either side of the river in canals and carried down into the
banks which will supply water power for a great number of mills.
HORTICULTURE IN MAINE. 385
Leaving Augusta on the east side of the river, the same fine coun-
try extends through Vassalborough and China as on the west side. —
The crops of v^'heat, oats and barley have been abundant; in many
places the wheat was still green.
Through the whole country, the substantial of life seem to be
more attended to than ornament or the luxuries of horticulture. —
There is not that attention paid to the appearance of fences about the
dwellings, door yards, &c. as with us. A great destitution of shade
and ornamental trees in villages, and about farm houses is too com-
mon. There seems to have been a war of extermination carried on
among the trees in many sections of the country. In China, there
is a beautiful pond seven or eight miles in length, which ought to be
dignified with the title of lake. Its shores are mostly lined with
well cultivated farms : it is enriched with islands and capes, and
affords some fine scenery.
We noticed many fields of hops which are cultivated to much
advantage in this town : the crop is middling, not so good as it has
been for some years. From this place to Bangor agriculture is in its
infancy, and horticulture for the most part in the germ. In Dixmont,
there nre some exceptions ; we noticed in this pleasant village, excel-
lent gardens, extensive young orchards, and other signs, indicating
that horticulture was germinating at least.
Bangor has gone ahead at a rapid rate : the improvements made in
the city within a few years have been very great. The impulse given
to the place has not been entirely confined to business and specula-
tion. We rejoice to see a few who are acting the part of benefactors
to their country by encouraging horticulture, and showing the commu-
nity that two spears of grass can be made to grow, where only one has
heretofore. But manure at one dollar per cord, doe.s not speak much
in favor of great progress in the art, when so much land in the vicin-
ity of the city needs it, and a ready market is found for all the pro-
ducts of the garden and field. Yet so it is ; the best stable manure
can be bought for that low price, and hay at twenty dollars per ton.
We were informed that a horticultural society was about to be formed
in this city. Not only do we wish them success, but feel confident they
will succeed, only let those who are interested, put hand to hand, and
shoulder to shoulder and they will soon see that a combination of
forces will be an effectual means of creating a taste for fine fruits and
flowers, and of introducing a different state of feeling in relation to
49
^86 HORTICULTURE IN MAINE.
the subject, from that which too generally exists, not only there, but
in our whole country.
The most extensive and best garden we saw in this place, was that
of Dr Barstow, two or three miles from the city, containing about six
acres. Two acres of this was devoted to the cultivation of Ruta
Baga, and a finer field we never saw. This gentleman informed us
that he raised the last year at the rate of 900 bushels to the acre.
The crop will probably exceed that the present season. His cabba-
ges and many other vegetables were in great perfection. He had a
brilliant display of annual flowers, some of rare sorts. His Dahlias
have done rather poorly this year. Last season they flowered abun-
dantly.
The erection of a green-house is contemplated this fall upon his
grounds, which, in connexion with his garden and the Mount Hope
cemetery contiguous, will form a point of attraction and place of re-
sort for those who are fond of retiring from " the busy hauntsof care.''
Mount Hope cemetery is in imitation of Mount Auburn, and was
consecrated the present season. It contains thirteen acres mostly on
a steep, conical hill, ornamented by nature with evergreen and other
trees. The avenues and walks have been laid out under the direction
of Dr Barstow and are either completed or in a state of forwardness.
At the foot of the hill is a small run or brook, across which a
dam has been built and a pond raised. Passing this by a neat
bridge, we enter another lot of ten acres, which has been pur-
chased by the city for a public burial ground, and the whole is about
to be inclosed by a substantial fence in one piece, A sale of lots
took place not long since, and if we remember right, from sixty to
seventy lots were sold, the minimum price being twenty dollars per
lot, and the amount of choice money arising from the sales exceed
seventeen hundred dollars. Another sale is soon to take place, and
it was anticipated the results would be equally successful. From
the top of the hill, there is a fine view of Penobscot river near by,
the surrounding country, and part of the city of Bangor.
There are many other small gardens, with an abundance of vege-
tables, ornamented with flowers ; but no great attention appears as
yet to have been paid to fruit. The only kind we saw exposed for
sale in the mrrket was apples of an inferior sort.
We saw fine Dahlias in some of the gardens ; they appear to suc-
ceed well in this climate. J. B.
^m
Art. IX. — Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
Saturday, Sept. 3, 1836.
EXHIBITION OF FRUITS.
The exhibition of fruits was very attractive and it was greatly
indebted to the liberal contribution of Messrs C. «So A. J. Downing
of the Botanic Garden and Nurseries, Newburgh, N. Y.
By Hon. E. Vose, Presidentof the Society — Early Red Juneating,
Lady Haley's Nonsuch and Shropshirevine Apples — Corse's Nota
fiena, Green Gage and Imperial or White Gage Plums.
By Judge Jackson, Brookline, several beautiful clusters of Black
Prince, French Purple and Blanquette Grapes.
By Messrs C. & A. J. Downing, Newburgh, N. Y. — a seedling
(from the Washington Plum) two inches in length and two and a half
inches in diameter, of a pretty regular and oval form ; skin greenish
yellow, speckled with minute light yellow dots. Flesh yellowish
green, remarkably firm, juicy, high flavored and separate from the
stone, which is long and much compressed. Ripe from the middle
to the last of August. The committee have named this variety
" Downing Seedling" Plum — also presented by the same, Red Gage,
Purple Gage (supposed to be the Reine Claude Violet of the Pom.
Mag.) Cruger's Seedling Scarlet Gage, Violet Perdrigon, Kirke's, and
Flushing Gage (which appear to be the same as our Imperial Gage)
Plums.
By Edward Cruft, Esq. Boston, a beautiful specimen of Bolmer's
Washington Plum.
By Samuel Downer, Esq. — Williams' Favorite, River, Yellow or
Amber Siberian Crab, large Siberian do., small Siberian do., Apples,
all very fine, also an unnamed variety of Pears.
By R. Manning, Esq. — Orleans, Drap d'Or, (and a variety receiv-
ed as the) " Precoce d'Tours" Plums — also Bloodgood Pears, a good
bearer, anu is considered by one of the first Pomologists " to be the
best of the season ;" it is said to be new and a native of Long Island,
N. Y.
By Mr C. Cowing, Roxbury — Williams' Favorite Apples.
By Capt. William Clapp, Dorchester — Clapp Pears, grown on the
original tree, this kind greatly resembles the "old Catharine pear."
By Mr Samuel Phipps, a plum, the name of which is not ascer-
tained.
388 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
By Mr James Leonard, Tauntou — English Red Cheek — the tree
is healthy, vigorous and a great and constant bearer, but the fruif,
except for baking, is hardly second rate.
By Mr Samuel Pond — Pond's Seedling, White Gage, Duane's
Purple & Corse's Nota Bena, Plums, also Skinless Pears.
By E. M. Richards — " old Catharine" Pears, very large specimens
— this old variety is probably of European origin, the name of which
was lost — known in the market for many years as the " latten" or
" Katren" pear.
For the Committee, E. M. RICHARDS.
EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS.
Messrs Johnson, Sweetser, Hovey, Mason and S. Walker, were
the contributors of Dahlias ; we shall not give a list of all the varie-
ties which were exhibited, but name such only as we think were in
the highest state of perfection.
Mr Johnson's specimens of Cedo Nulli, were the best we have
seen of this variety, this season.
Mr Sweetser's Granta was an extra fine flower.
The specimens, by Messrs Hovey, of the King of the Dahlias,
Widnall's Venus, Douglass's Criterion, Hermione, Albion and the
Beauty of Sheffield, were splendid ; Metropolitan Calypso, and Wid-
nall's Apollo, are great beauties ; we never saw better specimens or
more superb flowers.
Mr Mason's Village Maid, and Dennissi were good specimens.
Two Seedlings, raised by Mr John Richardson of Dorchester, pre-
sented by Samuel Walker, possess many of the properties which con-
stituted a good flower ; we would not, however, until we have seen
further specimens class them with the best, yet we shall hazard little
by saying that three fourths of the varieties of Dahlias imported year-
ly, with long and high sounding names, are not so good. Desdemo-
na, Lady Milton, and Satropa were fine.
Mr S. Sweetser and Messrs Hovey exhibited some choice specimens
of the China Aster.
For the Committee,
S. WALKER, Chairman.
Saturday, Sept. 10, 1836.
EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS.
Pears, by Mr Manning — An unknown variety, medium size, and
bright russet color, the flavor somewhat resembling that of a Melon —
MASSACHUSETTS HOllTlCULTURAL SOClETlf. 389
may be the " Poire du Melon" of European Cat. Also, Dearborn's
Seedling, a good pear and will probably become a favorite.
By Mr E. M. Richards — Pears, without a name.
Apples, by Mr Vose, President of the Society — Lady Haley's
Nonsuch, a fine looking fruit.
By Mr Richards — Lady Haley's Nonsuch, Summer Gilliflower,
Early Sweeting, Curtis' Early Striped, Porter, (prematurely ripe),
Wait's Early, Benoni, Shropshirevine, Red and Green Sweeting
(a baking fruit) Early Harvest, Red Juneating, Early Bough, and the
American Summer Pearmain, a fine apple, also, two varieties without
names.
From S. E. Coues, Esq. Portsmouth — Specimens of a native vari-
ety, much in appearance and taste to the favorite Porter apple, but
more seeds.
Plums, from Edward Gruft, Esq. — A basket of Bolmer's Wash-
ington Plums, from his garden in Pearl street ; the unrivalled beauty
of this specimen excited great admiration ; they far excelled all oth-
ers which have been shown on the Society's tables.
By Mr Johnson — Bolmer's Washington, very large and fine. Gol-
den Gage and White, or Prince's Imperial Gage.
By Mr Vose — Bolmer's Washington, very fine.
By Mr Manning — Bolmer's Washington, fine ; Brevoort's Purple
Washington, handsome, and a great bearer, Grosse Reine Claude,
Prince's Imperial Gage and the Byfield Plum, (a native) small, but a
beautiful looking fruit, a great bearer and is reproduced from the
stone.
By Mr Pond — Magnum Bonum, Prince's Imperial Gage, Pond's
Seedling, Bolmer's Washington, Green Gage, Smith's Orleans, and
Duane's Purple. For the Committee,
P. B. HOVEY, Jr.
EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS.
The display of Dahlias today was very brilliant ; we have, at times
had a greater number of flowers on our table, but on no occasion do
we recollect to have seen so many fine specimens. Messrs Hovey
and Mr S. Sweetser exhibited some new varieties of great excellence ;
we noticed ten fine varieties by Mr Sam'l R. Johnson, of Charles-
town ; and about thirty varieties by Mr W. E. Carter, of Cambridge.
The Maid of the Mill and Lady Campbell, in the stand of .Mr Sweet-
ser; and Messrs Hoveys' specimens of Hermione, Zurah, Venus and
Black Prince were very superior. S. Walker exhibited fifteen varie-
SSW MASSACHUSETTS BTORTTCULTFKAI, SOCIETY.
lies ; among them the Beauty af Cambridge, also, two specimens of
Mr Jno. Richardson's seedling. This flower bids fair to rival all the'
seedlings produced in this country. The color is not equal to the
parent (Widnali's Perfection^) but the form and size we think are im-
proved. Another season, and after Mr Richardson has given it a
name, we shall be able to put in its proper place, thus far vi'e put it
with and call it one of the number ones.
For the Committee, S. WALKER, Chairman.
Saturday, Sept. 17.
EXHIBITION OF FRUITS.
Pears. From Mr Manning — Surpasse St Germain (Buel an